Tamiya getting into classic 32 Ford hot rod kits dream!

[1972coronet]

I'd like to see Tamiya offer a line of body colour paints for U.S. models (e.g., Chrysler GB5 blue , Grabber Green , Monaco Orange, Big Bad Blue, etc., etc.) in aerosol and bottle.

[Ace-Garageguy]

OK everyone...hold your breath.

[Richard Bartrop]

There's nothing wrong with letting the manufacturers know what you want.

[Ace-Garageguy]

2 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

There's nothing wrong with letting the manufacturers know what you want.

As I believe somebody else already said...there's already almost everything imaginable available to build any flavor '32 Ford you can think of.

The existing AMT 1/25 and Monogram 1/24 '36 Ford kits are pretty good as far as proportion and line go, though the last partial retool from AMT is oddly awful in some ways.

Any correct '34 Ford would be nice, but since tooling designers seem to be almost universally measuring-and-math-challenged today, I won't hold out much hope.

A '26-'27 Ford rod, a very popular real-world thing, based on the current Revell '29 and '30 offerings, or even on one of the '32 kits, is such an obvious slam-dunk it's surprising nobody's done it yet...though it was proposed right here many years ago.

 

 

Edited January 9 by Ace-Garageguy

[Can-Con]

13 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

As I believe somebody else already said...there's already almost everything imaginable available to build any flavor '32 Ford you can think of.

 

 

The thing is Bill, it's like the 1/1 world. There's people like us who'd gather the parts they like and build something unique and then there's those who'd rather just buy a kit, build it strait from the box and be done with it.  I could say more but I think you're familiar with the concept. 😉

Sorry about the name mistake Bill. 😔

Edited January 9 by Can-Con

[Ulf]

I read an interview with Mr Tamiya in an MC magazine in the 80s. He had a very clear strategy about how they (he) chose. The MC that they chose should be unique and have something special (it was an MC magazine). I have been told that this methodology is still in place and permeates especially MC but also the cars, regarding tanks they seem to be more mainstream. Tamiya's cars are quite extreme Porsche 959 and GT2, no dozen cars. I think they want to sell to a customer who wants to build a high quality model kit more than a car interested modeller. The modelling itself is the goal. Another rumour concerning Tamiya claims that there is a challenge, a puzzle in the kit, something that gives the modeller a reward, a dopamine kick. Tamiya has made fantastic kits but far from all of them appeal to me or make me want to build them.
Tamiya's MCs leave me cold but I know that several of the most incomprehensible to me are best sellers, such as the Honda CX500 Turbo. I myself put great hope in ICM's Ford model A, it combined with MONOGRAM's coupe or Roadster pickup can perhaps reach a new level.

[Force]

On 1/7/2024 at 3:45 PM, Mark said:

Unless American hot rods become more than a niche item in Japanese culture, I wouldn't hold my breath.  Believe it or not, the items they do produce are chosen pretty much for the home market, meaning Japan.  Any additional sales are icing on the cake for them.  Besides that, in all likelihood they would go with 1/24 scale whereas the vast majority of American automotive kits are, or are claimed to be, 1/25 scale.  Monogram was the lone holdout for 1/24, and they flipped to 1/25 thirty years ago with the exception of their NASCAR kits which they no longer produce.

1:25 scale kits from Monogram came after the merge with Revell wich happened in 1986 when Odyssey Partners bought both companys, before that most Monogram models were 1:24 scale but they did both larger and smaller scales.
One thing is that the Monogram developed snap Peterbilt and Kenworth semi trucks wich originally was issued 1982, that will say well before the merge with Revell, were 1:25th scale and they also did semi trucks in 1:16 scale.

[Mark]

Monogram's switch to 1/25 for car kits came in 1993 with the '59 Eldorado convertible kit.

[Force]

On 1/13/2024 at 2:19 PM, Mark said:

Monogram's switch to 1/25 for car kits came in 1993 with the '59 Eldorado convertible kit.

Well Revell and Monogram was the same company under the same roof by then and I don't think they developed many new tool kits in 1:24th scale after Oddesey Partners merged both companys into one in 1986, they continued with the 1:24th scale where the kits were spinoffs based on earlier 1:24th scale kits like the NASCAR, Pro Stock and Funny Car kits wich originally was Monogram kits developed before the merge.

[StevenGuthmiller]

I would hope that if Tamiya were to jump into the classic  American car market, they’d go for something a little more unusual.

Do we really need “another” ‘32 Ford? 🙄

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Richard Bartrop]

1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Do we really need “another” ‘32 Ford? 🙄

 

If they can do it better than anyone else, then yes.  Especially if someone makes a decent stock version.

Some cars are iconic.  Everybody wants at least one, so it's probably good to have one in your catalogue, just like every list of plane podels has at least one Spitfire, and at least one Bf-109.

Personally, I ask if we need yet another boring generic malaisewagen, but the market seems to think differently.

[JollySipper]

I don't see why they couldn't do some late-model muscle cars..... I bet they would do a bang-up job with them! I really would like one of the Mustang GT4s, just haven't picked one up yet.....

[StevenGuthmiller]

3 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

If they can do it better than anyone else, then yes.  Especially if someone makes a decent stock version.

Some cars are iconic.  Everybody wants at least one, so it's probably good to have one in your catalogue, just like every list of plane podels has at least one Spitfire, and at least one Bf-109.

Personally, I ask if we need yet another boring generic malaisewagen, but the market seems to think differently.

Well, then why not do another’57 Chevy?

Or maybe another Mustang or Camaro kit?

It’s unlikely to happen anyway, so I shouldn’t have to jump off a bridge. 😑

 

 

 

Steve

[Richard Bartrop]

1 hour ago, StevenGuthmiller said:

Well, then why not do another’57 Chevy?

Or maybe another Mustang or Camaro kit?

It’s unlikely to happen anyway, so I shouldn’t have to jump off a bridge. 😑

 

And yes to all of those too.   Except for jumping off a bridge.  Please don't do that.

And seeing how Revell has just spent a lot of money to make a totally new Mustang kit,  it looks like some people who are actually in the business think this might be a sound business strategy.

What could be a bigger cliche than a 1932 Ford Roadster, and yet Revell has released a new 1932 Ford roadster, and bless them for doing so.

ICM is giving us a new tooled Model A.  It's a touring car, but if their Model T kits are any indication, we can expect variations on that too in the future.

[Bugatti Fan]

Tamiys making American Rods and Customs? Wishful thinking. Not going to happen.

One only has to look at Tamiya's core worldwide market to see this.

[StevenGuthmiller]

10 hours ago, Richard Bartrop said:

And seeing how Revell has just spent a lot of money to make a totally new Mustang kit,  it looks like some people who are actually in the business think this might be a sound business strategy.

What could be a bigger cliche than a 1932 Ford Roadster, and yet Revell has released a new 1932 Ford roadster, and bless them for doing so.

ICM is giving us a new tooled Model A.  It's a touring car, but if their Model T kits are any indication, we can expect variations on that too in the future.

Which is exactly why they should go in a "different" direction.

 

I think we've already had enough redundancy.

 

 

Anyway.

It's not going to happen, so there's that.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[Richard Bartrop]

In the aircraft and military side of the hobby, it seems there's no such thing as too much redundancy.  It just makes sense to go for a popular subject, especially if you can do a better version, or a variation nobody else has done.

One big gap in the '32 Ford kit offerings is a decent stock version.  Right now, our only option is the AMT version, and at the risk of starting another holy war, by modern standards, it's pretty horrible,

On the hot rod side, as nice as Revell's '32 Fords are, a great deal of test has been generated about all things they should have.  Instead of the high tech example posted at the beginning of this topic, how about a roadster that goes the full traditional route?   Imagine an exhaustively researched roadster kit with leaf springs all around, and a detailed flathead V-8 with period correct speed equipment.  All the details are there, with photoetch detail parts.  Neopreme bif & little tires that actually look like rubber tires.   Wheels with trim rings that actually look real, or a set of photoetch Kelsey-Hayes wheels.  Best of all, everything fits, so you don't have to fight it into submission.   Of course, a kit like that would probably end up in the three figure range, but people are always moaning that we're too cheap.

Would there be enough demand to justify something like that?

[Force]

On 1/14/2024 at 9:56 PM, StevenGuthmiller said:

I would hope that if Tamiya were to jump into the classic  American car market, they’d go for something a little more unusual.

Do we really need “another” ‘32 Ford? 🙄

 

 

 

 

Steve

Yes we do.
The Revell 32's are good but the chassis and some other stuff are a bit too modern.
It would be nice to get a traditional 32 with stock firewall, 32 frame rails with a 34 frame cross, a original or Model A or T rear cross member, transversal rear sping, quick change rear axle, I-beam front axle with hair pins, maybe a good 59AB or 8BA flathead with hop up parts, 39 gearbox.
I would buy if one came out.
Allthough I don't find it likely that Tamiya would do a 32 Ford.
And most of the car kits they do are curbside wich is unfortunate...they do very good kits but that takes the fun out of it.

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

Maybe they could do something different and do the Model 40 justice. AMT offerings suck.... -RRR

[Rocking Rodney Rat]

6 hours ago, Force said:

Yes we do.
The Revell 32's are good but the chassis and some other stuff are a bit too modern.
It would be nice to get a traditional 32 with stock firewall, 32 frame rails with a 34 frame cross, a original or Model A or T rear cross member, transversal rear sping, quick change rear axle, I-beam front axle with hair pins, maybe a good 59AB or 8BA flathead with hop up parts, 39 gearbox.
 

One can find almost all of those items in existing kits.... -RRR

[T-Ray]

I dismissed this idea at first but after thinking about it, I think that a decent case could be made for a Japanese manufacturer to make a kit of a '32 Ford (Or any "old school" Hot Rod for that matter). Granted, I would not hold my breath for it. One thing in Japan, at least from what I can understand, is that they have a fondness for the "idea" of American culture. This fondness permeates things like Video Games, anime, etc. There is actually a greaser "movement" for lack of a better word, there. So, I can sorta see them making a kit of an iconic American car like a '32 Ford because let's face it, you can't get more 50/60's than a 32 Ford, except for maybe a 57 Chevy or something. The major problem would be that due to it being a foreign manufacturer, everything would be 1/24. 

https://www.messynessychic.com/2015/01/07/the-tokyo-subculture-of-1950s-rockabilly-gangs/
https://japanesefashionblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/greaser-fashion-in-japan/
dangerousminds.net/comments/retro_rockabilly_gangs_of_tokyo

[peteski]

As I see it, if you really think that Tamiya will produce a (1:24 scale of course) model of '32 Ford, you will have to wait for a very, very, very long time. As in "past your life span".  Like Tom wrote "don't hold your breath".  The odds are more likely that one of the Eastern European model companies would make such models.  Some of companies make some excellent quality models (almost in Tamiya's league).

[Richard Bartrop]

Oh, I'm not holding my breath.  I see it as an interesting thought experiment. 

Me, I'm hoping ICM survives long enough for their Model A to hit the shelves here, and that we see other vintage Ford products from them.

As for 1/24 kits, it's already been covered multiple times that the actual kit scales can vary from 1/22 to 1/27, and in practice the variations blur out any actual distinctions between labeling a kit as 1/24 or 1/25.

Edited January 19 by Richard Bartrop

[peteski]

1 hour ago, Richard Bartrop said:

As for 1/24 kits, it's already been covered multiple times that the actual kit scales can vary from 1/22 to 1/27, and in practice the variations blur out any actual distinctions between labeling a kit as 1/24 or 1/25.

I mentioned 1:24 for the 1:25 scale purists.

And yes, in the past, there were scale variations you mentioned, but most modern kits (where CAD and often actual factory drawings were used to make the molds), are usually quite close to their specified scale.    Scale doesn't bother me.  I build vehicle models anywhere from 1:6 to 1:160 scale.

[Force]

On 1/16/2024 at 11:14 PM, Rocking Rodney Rat said:

One can find almost all of those items in existing kits.... -RRR

That might be true, but buying several kits and rob the parts you need to do a traditional 32 hot rod or street rod gets expensive and aftermarket parts are not cheap either.
So in my opinion the Revell 32 kits are not bad but could have been a lot better with more timeless traditional hot rod parts, pretty much like the recent Model A Ford's Revell did.