What's next from Moebius - How about a 70 F-100 4x4 and a 65-66 F-100

[youpey]

i hope they fix the issue with the warped hoods. i bought 2 kits from them both had really warped hoods. i am doing my best to unwarp them, but i am not having much luck.  i emailed them on sunday to see if a replacement hood can be sent, but i havent heard back yet

 

i googled it and it seems like a common problem. 

[thatz4u]

10 hours ago, youpey said:

i hope they fix the issue with the warped hoods. i bought 2 kits from them both had really warped hoods. i am doing my best to unwarp them, but i am not having much luck.  i emailed them on sunday to see if a replacement hood can be sent, but i havent heard back yet

 

i googled it and it seems like a common problem.

I built 4 of the kits, 3 had usuable hoods, 1 won't need the hood. let us know what you find out..

[youpey]

10 hours ago, thatz4u said:

I built 4 of the kits, 3 had usuable hoods, 1 won't need the hood. let us know what you find out..

 

Thanks, I heard back yesterday and they told me they had none and i could try back at a later time to see if they got some at a later time. Right now i have the hood taped down to exactly where i want it and i put it back on the shelf in hopes that if i keep it taped down for a week or 2 it will take that shape. the other hood i tried both hot water and a blow dryer and i ended up messing the hood up pretty bad so that one would only be good on a junker i think. 

I was surprised they just said sorry we cant help you. It really makes me think i will not buy another one of their kits again. i understand stuff happens, but i would have thought they would have put in a backorder or something for me, not just tell me to keep trying later on. Especially with the costs of kits these days

[niteowl7710]

On ‎4‎/‎4‎/‎2018 at 8:00 AM, youpey said:

I was surprised they just said sorry we cant help you. It really makes me think i will not buy another one of their kits again. i understand stuff happens, but i would have thought they would have put in a backorder or something for me, not just tell me to keep trying later on. Especially with the costs of kits these days

Well keep in mind they just got sold to Pegasus Hobbies, so there's a good chance the inventory of kits - whatever that might be - is currently in transit to the new owners and right now they aren't in possession of any of them.

[highway]

On 4/4/2018 at 8:00 AM, youpey said:

 

Thanks, I heard back yesterday and they told me they had none and i could try back at a later time to see if they got some at a later time. Right now i have the hood taped down to exactly where i want it and i put it back on the shelf in hopes that if i keep it taped down for a week or 2 it will take that shape. the other hood i tried both hot water and a blow dryer and i ended up messing the hood up pretty bad so that one would only be good on a junker i think. 

I was surprised they just said sorry we cant help you. It really makes me think i will not buy another one of their kits again. i understand stuff happens, but i would have thought they would have put in a backorder or something for me, not just tell me to keep trying later on. Especially with the costs of kits these days

 

7 hours ago, niteowl7710 said:

Well keep in mind they just got sold to Pegasus Hobbies, so there's a good chance the inventory of kits - whatever that might be - is currently in transit to the new owners and right now they aren't in possession of any of them.

I agree with James, it might be because of the sale to Pegasus because a couple of years ago I had an issue with one of the trailer kits and after a couple of emails and pics of the bad part, I had a new one in maybe a week or two. One of the bumpers for whatever reason was short shotted missing the entire tail light section on both sides from the middle of the bumper outward. I sent them both pics below, also explaining that the second sprue in the second pic was from another one of the three trailer kits I had at that time to show the comparison of the bad part to what it should look like, and shortly after that the new replacement piece was in the mail. 

[garagepunk66]

On 11/28/2017 at 7:55 PM, SteveG said:

 

 

 

 

 

On 11/28/2017 at 7:55 PM, SteveG said:

Here's a few detail photos,  all these wheel choices will also fit the current F-100 kits. 

 

 

 

 

Some observations of things that need addressing before production....

The crown of the roof and windshield header seem to be too flat in profile and in frontal views. 

Sides are too flat. It has the dreaded lack of inward curvature toward the bottom that seems to be common on far too many newly tooled kits of 1960's subject matter (IE Revell Bronco, et.al.)  

Front end is too flat. The top of the front fender in profile needs to be raked inward more at the bottom and the filler between the hood and grille is too shallow. The "porkchop" of the fender immediately behind the front bumper juts out too far also. There is also an inherent too-square "blockiness" of the frontal view of the grille and hood. That body style has a lot of large radii curves that seem to have been made far too abrupt here. I cant pinpoint the specific things exactly... maybe the roll-over of the hood is too abrupt. 

The 66-style dog dish hubcaps are too flat. They are pretty conical in reality  

The horizontal divider in the 65-style grille  is a peak. The vertical bars form a shallow angle in a sectional view. I can attest to that as I spent many an hour wet sanding the grille and bumpers  of my 1 to 1 '65 F100 long box that I owned from 1989 to 2000.  Not my pics below but images from the web showing some of the problems.   

 

 

 

Edited April 6, 2018 by garagepunk66

[SteveG]

1 hour ago, garagepunk66 said:

Some observations of things that need addressing before production....

The crown of the roof and windshield header seem to be too flat in profile and in frontal views. 

Sides are too flat. It has the dreaded lack of inward curvature toward the bottom that seems to be common on far too many newly tooled kits of 1960's subject matter (IE Revell Bronco, et.al.)  

Front end is too flat. The top of the front fender in profile needs to be raked inward more at the bottom and the filler between the hood and grille is too shallow. The "porkchop" of the fender immediately behind the front bumper juts out too far also. There is also an inherent too-square "blockiness" of the frontal view of the grille and hood. That body style has a lot of large radii curves that seem to have been made far too abrupt here. I cant pinpoint the specific things exactly... maybe the roll-over of the hood is too abrupt. 

The 66-style dog dish hubcaps are too flat. They are pretty conical in reality  

The horizontal divider in the 65-style grille  is a peak. The vertical bars form a shallow angle in a sectional view. I can attest to that as I spent many an hour wet sanding the grille and bumpers  of my 1 to 1 '65 F100 long box that I owned from 1989 to 2000.  Not my pics below but images from the web showing some of the problems.   

Dan,

What your looking at above are the 3D prints which have already had many revisions, not test shots.  1st round test shots haven't even been shown here in any detail yet and probably won't be as there are already change orders on those too.   Hopefully I'll have the second round test shots in a few weeks.  I'll post photos of those once I get the OK.   Feel free to comment then ...

Steve

[mk11]

hmmmm...

Maybe this pic is a figment of my imagination

Anyways, as these are labelled the first test shots and it's been reported that changes are due for the next round, it behooves us to patiently wait for the results. The real beauty of these trucks in 1:1 is in the body curves and shape. Obviously there are some things evident on the cab that are in need of an experienced eye and knowing hands to correct and we can hope those kind of people are being allowed to help with their input. Perhaps, with experience gained from the last foray into truck design, a truer shape and scale roof and body will result. 

 

mike

Edited April 6, 2018 by mk11

[leafsprings]

 I'm assuming Moebius does not have the luxury of using official blueprints like AMT had when doing the 60-'63 F 100 back in the day when the trucks were new, so, what is being used to research and sculpture parts? Is 3d all off photos?

Edited April 6, 2018 by leafsprings

[Art Anderson]

19 hours ago, leafsprings said:

 I'm assuming Moebius does not have the luxury of using official blueprints like AMT had when doing the 60-'63 F 100 back in the day when the trucks were new, so, what is being used to research and sculpture parts? Is 3d all off photos?

Uh, nowadays, it's "go out, find original 1:1 examples, take hundreds, if not thousands of photographs, from every angle possible, most with a "marked"  (every other inch blacked out) carpenter's folding rule along with a non-stretchable cloth tailor's measuring tape (or a metal measuring tape, if the subject vehicle is old and perhaps just a bit rusty--believe it or not, old unrestored, but correct and complete vehicles make super reference material--dull paint, with a bit of surface rust here and there, give the best information in photographs!),  much of which can be far better than "factory drawings" from decades ago.                               FWIW, I learned the basics of doing just exactly that, when researching some of my AAM resin-cast models,  then "honed" that a bit more when I was working up "Binders" for directing the mockups and tooling for Johnny Lightning Diecasts (1/64, 1/24, and 1/16 scales) and now, with Dave Metzner who is the Product Development Mgr for Moebius Models.  As for "original" factory drawings, those would be very hard to use, considering that they are quite large--often were drawn to 1/8 scale or so--some even larger, and with their having details, many of which can be well over the top for any model kit--pretty much useless for scaling down to 1/25th, which is the scale (along with 1/24th) is the scale that virtually all tooling mockups for models of US cars, done by US companies (regardless of what continent they are mastered, tooled and produced), as opposed to 1/10th scale wooden mockups of not only the various parts and components carved from white pine or basswood, tediously by hand,  before the days of CAD, and CAM.

Once the CAD files are approved--by Dave, with input from a couple other modelers along with myself, then tooling mockups are made--3D printing comes into play here--of every part of each new product,  each and every individual piece and part, which the factory does clean up, do such smoothing (3D printing still gives even a slight indication of the "layering" that necessarily will be there), primered in flat grey, then assembled, and sent to Dave--this is where the critical phase really begins:  Bear in mind, that the tooling prototypes have to travel nearly half the circumference of Earth, and the carton, regardless of how carefully it's packed (along with stickers announcing that it is FRAGILE) gets beat and battered around--so often there will be "repairs" needed.  And the real fun begins (after Dave gets everything fixed that was damaged--usually small detail parts).

I get the call to make the 110 mile drive from where I live, to Dave's home, where his full basement is dedicated to Moebius (along with his own model projects).  We go over the tooling mockups with an increasingly passionate review--comparing just about every part to the hundreds of reference pics we took, along with further information and pics that can be gleaned from Google Image Searches--and then the discussions really can get deep, even a bit passionate at times.  But in the end, we both come to a "meeting of the minds" as to accuracy and more importantly, inaccuracy.  Once CAD files of the corrections can be seen and approved, then the "trigger" for tooling gets the action.  Given that you could buy a top-end 1:1 luxury car, or even a decent house, for the cost of all of this--a lot of $$ rides on all this process.  Once the tooling has been cut, then test shots are forwarded to Dave, and I get a set as well--along with a couple of other modelers, whose names I won't mention here (for their privacy) who also review those parts.  Most generally, the only corrections are needed, but once in a while, something major can crop up--which means a bit of a delay.

Once the final test shots are approved, then the tooling is polished (even that has gotten forgotten at the factory once or twice) the tooling is hardened, and placed in production.  Along the way, box art, and instructions have to be created, and approved--and once so, in a few weeks time afterward--kits start arriving!

Long-winded I know, but I believe it is time that this all has been said, laid out.

Art Anderson

 

[Art Anderson]

21 hours ago, SteveG said:

Dan,

What your looking at above are the 3D prints which have already had many revisions, not test shots.  1st round test shots haven't even been shown here in any detail yet and probably won't be as there are already change orders on those too.   Hopefully I'll have the second round test shots in a few weeks.  I'll post photos of those once I get the OK.   Feel free to comment then ...

Steve

Just this past week, I reviewed the CAD files for the corrected roof shapes, and gave my approval to Dave.  MANY pics of the trucks he and I took at that "collectible but unrestored cars and pickup trucks" dealer in far-western IL almost 2 yrs ago (the one that had the disastrous fire about this time last year) clearly show the upward "arch" of both windshield and back window, and the much higher, curved "crown" to the roof--it's already in the process of correction--so sit tight.

Art

[mikemodeler]

Hey Art, can you or anyone connected to Moebius tell us when the F-100 4x4 kit will be on the shelves? I have asked nicely several times with no answer!

[SteveG]

17 hours ago, mikemodeler said:

Hey Art, can you or anyone connected to Moebius tell us when the F-100 4x4 kit will be on the shelves? I have asked nicely several times with no answer!

The last information I had was that both the 70 F-100 4x4 and the 65 AFX Comet were ready for production,  and the ownership transfer to Pegasus would probably cause a short delay.  That information is several weeks old.  Typically your looking at about six weeks before they hit the shelves once production starts.   

[Classicgas]

On April 4, 2018 at 7:00 AM, youpey said:

 

Thanks, I heard back yesterday and they told me they had none and i could try back at a later time to see if they got some at a later time. Right now i have the hood taped down to exactly where i want it and i put it back on the shelf in hopes that if i keep it taped down for a week or 2 it will take that shape. the other hood i tried both hot water and a blow dryer and i ended up messing the hood up pretty bad so that one would only be good on a junker i think. 

I was surprised they just said sorry we cant help you. It really makes me think i will not buy another one of their kits again. i understand stuff happens, but i would have thought they would have put in a backorder or something for me, not just tell me to keep trying later on. Especially with the costs of kits these days

I got a replacement frame for my 53 Hudson just a couple months ago.

[thatz4u]

garagepunk66 commented on the dog dish caps being too flat. I dug out my Revell 64 Fairlane 2n1 #85-2076, this kit has the caps, & they do have a conical shape...

[mikemodeler]

11 hours ago, SteveG said:

The last information I had was that both the 70 F-100 4x4 and the 65 AFX Comet were ready for production,  and the ownership transfer to Pegasus would probably cause a short delay.  That information is several weeks old.  Typically your looking at about six weeks before they hit the shelves once production starts.   

Thanks Steve! I guess it will be summer before we see these, which is fine by me, I have a few others to finish up.

[Ron Hamilton]

On 6/1/2017 at 7:14 AM, mikemopar70 said:

I bought every Ford Pick-up model from Moebius, i'll buy all of the 4x4 versions as well.

Really nice kits!!

Same here. I can't wait for the 65 and 66 versions. I would love to see a 67 and 68.

[Luc Janssens]

14 hours ago, SteveG said:

The last information I had was that both the 70 F-100 4x4 and the 65 AFX Comet were ready for production,  and the ownership transfer to Pegasus would probably cause a short delay.  That information is several weeks old.  Typically your looking at about six weeks before they hit the shelves once production starts.   

Good to hear, been wanting the 4x4's since day one

 

 

[garagepunk66]

On 4/6/2018 at 4:26 PM, SteveG said:

Dan,

What your looking at above are the 3D prints which have already had many revisions, not test shots.  1st round test shots haven't even been shown here in any detail yet and probably won't be as there are already change orders on those too.   Hopefully I'll have the second round test shots in a few weeks.  I'll post photos of those once I get the OK.   Feel free to comment then ...

Steve

I totally get it Steve. It's just that Moebius has a not-great track record of glaringly flawed final product in terms of body shape and proportion even after real test shots are made and corrections vetted. I sincerely hope that they get it right. I have a very big soft spot for these trucks.

[chuckyr]

5 hours ago, garagepunk66 said:

I totally get it Steve. It's just that Moebius has a not-great track record of glaringly flawed final product in terms of body shape and proportion even after real test shots are made and corrections vetted. I sincerely hope that they get it right. I have a very big soft spot for these trucks.

I also agree.  The flaws are unexceptable. Moebius should cancel this project and stop making pick up truck models altogether.

[Rob Hall]

52 minutes ago, chuckyr said:

I also agree.  The flaws are unexceptable. Moebius should cancel this project and stop making pick up truck models altogether.

That's a bit extreme..they just need to work on their accuracy and quality control...raise their game.

Edited April 9, 2018 by Rob Hall

[mikemodeler]

8 hours ago, chuckyr said:

I also agree.  The flaws are unexceptable. Moebius should cancel this project and stop making pick up truck models altogether.

Let me guess, they should only focus on class 8 trucks, right?

[chuckyr]

2 hours ago, mikemodeler said:

Let me guess, they should only focus on class 8 trucks, right?

 

2 hours ago, mikemodeler said:

Let me guess, they should only focus on class 8 trucks, right?

Exactly.  And semi trailers.

[mikemodeler]

2 minutes ago, chuckyr said:

 

Exactly.  And semi trailers.

So then why do you keep posting in the light truck topics? If you want to get their attention, then do it in the appropriate topic for semi trucks. I haven't seen people posting light truck requests in the semi truck topics.

[chuckyr]

1 minute ago, mikemodeler said:

So then why do you keep posting in the light truck topics? If you want to get their attention, then do it in the appropriate topic for semi trucks. I haven't seen people posting light truck requests in the semi truck topics.

I have.  In fact the typical post starts with:

 

"I don't build semi trucks, but..."