Don't You Think It's Time For New Tool Modern American Big Rig Kits in 1/24 - 1/25 Scale?

[chuckyr]

It's been a while.

[Fat Brian]

If it was up to me they would focus on  old trucks. The new trucks don't interest me.

[chuckyr]

I bet you bought the new Ford Bronco kit or the recent Meng f350 kit.

[Fat Brian]

22 minutes ago, chuckyr said:

I bet you bought the new Ford Bronco kit or the recent Meng f350 kit.

I did get a new Bronco but modern heavy duty trucks just don't do it for me. Especially in comparison to older stuff.

[Mark]

I'd go back in time, to postwar trucks through the early Sixties.  That's the romanticized era of trucking: illustrated magazine ads depicting friendly, helpful, dedicated, hard-working truckers, as well as the "truck driving song" sub-genre of country music.  Some of the existing truck and trailer kits could probably be backdated to get a toe in the water, with new kits being done later if sales bear out the popularity of the initial offerings.

[chuckyr]

44 minutes ago, Fat Brian said:

I did get a new Bronco but modern heavy duty trucks just don't do it for me. Especially in comparison to older stuff.

So this thread wasn't for you.

[peter31a]

It would be interesting to know how well the Moebius International kits sold. That could explain why we don't see more modern big rigs done. But on the other hand Italeri seems to do well bringing out modern European rigs.

[iamsuperdan]

16 hours ago, Fat Brian said:

If it was up to me they would focus on  old trucks. The new trucks don't interest me.

 

That's what they've been doing though. Repopping kits from the 70s and 80s, ignoring anything even remotely modern.

 

 

Although the old truck kits sell, the manufacturers are alienating a large part of the market. 

I know I haven't bought a new truck kit in literally years. And the most recent kit I bought was an Italeri issue of a new truck.

I know Moebius released a couple of newer kits...about 10 years ago. So those aren't even new anymore. 

And honestly, I can't see myself buying yet another reissue of an old Kenworth or Peterbilt. Oh look, same old kit from the 70s, new decals. Yawn.

Even when a newly tooled kit comes out, it's just a re-tool of a very old kit. Admitted, that International cabover was an excellent kit, but I'd be more excited if it was a subject matter that wasn't already on the road when I was born.

 

 

[Force]

I would like to see some new truck kits.
Freightliner Cascadia
Kenworth W900L and a few other KW models
Peterbilt 379, 389(X) and a few other Peterbilt models
But I'm not so keen on the Kenworth W990 or the Peterbilt 589.

[vincen47]

Just about any new modern truck kit would be welcome.

[RoninUtah]

That’s where 3D printing comes in. This is the lineup on my kitchen counter- Peterbilt 579, Kenworth T-680, and Freightliner Cascadia, all with 3D printed bodies, scaled to 1/25,on various donor chassis. The W990 is from A&N and is a beautiful kit, if a bit challenging to build.

If you want a plastic kit that’s easy to glue together with the help of instructions, that’s probably not gonna happen. But there are other options out there.

I find the old vs new trucks debate a little tiresome. I love them all, and my collection spans from 1908 to 2025, with most in the 50s and 60s. My favorites are from the golden age of American trucking, 1950-1980. But the current trucks are an important part of history too and deserve a place on the shelf as well.

 

Edited January 19 by RoninUtah

[stavanzer]

On 1/17/2025 at 6:39 AM, peter31a said:

It would be interesting to know how well the Moebius International kits sold. That could explain why we don't see more modern big rigs done. But on the other hand Italeri seems to do well bringing out modern European rigs.

IIRC, the Prostar and it's Cousin did not sell up to Moebius's expectations. So, that might be why any company is hesitant to spend tooling dollars on a new truck kit. Coupled with the near incessant griping from the Model Truck community about the choice of truck kit that was tooled. From reading Truck Modeler's comments on various Forums over the years, I suspect that just getting a list down to just two choices, is well nigh impossible. Given a list of Five Choices, I doubt any kit would be able to must more than 25% of the Vote. So, Just choosing a Subject is going to lead to lots of heat and smoke, and maybe even a bit of fire. No wonder nobody want to tackle it.

Italeri.... They serve a different market with completely different needs. And, there seems to be less heat and more consensus about what to tool up, and how well it sells.

My Guess, Un-scientific as it is,  is that we will never see a new American Truck kit tooled. Resin or 3D printing are going to be the only way forward from now on.

[RoninUtah]

Agreed. The market for modern truck models is too limited, and the cost of tooling and production are too high to speculate on for the big manufacturers. Not to mention the cost of getting the proper licenses from the truck manufacturers.