The Moebius Lonestar

[Art Anderson]

Just got pics of the tooling mockup (masters made for tooling) of this tractor this morning, and WOW! Talk about what is shaping up to be one awesome truck! Let's just say, if I didn't know who was doing the project in kit form, I'd have sworn I was looking at mockups for a Tamiya kit!

Art

[mackinac359]

Art,

you can't just swoop in and drop a bomb like that without leaving a hint photo!!

Tim

Just got pics of the tooling mockup (masters made for tooling) of this tractor this morning, and WOW! Talk about what is shaping up to be one awesome truck! Let's just say, if I didn't know who was doing the project in kit form, I'd have sworn I was looking at mockups for a Tamiya kit!

Art

[rronning84]

I need pics.

[Mark R]

OK tongue hanging out waiting on sneek peek at this...

[Bryan H]

Comparable to a Tamiya kit? That's pretty serious. I'm with the others...make with the photos.

Bryan

[Art Anderson]

Photo's?

I would right now if I could, but until the mockup's been approved by both the Product Development guy at Moebius (I and another modeler are assisting with this process) and by Navistar, and gets committed to tooling, my hands are tied. However, I felt I could safely say what I just did--and I don't think anyone is gonna be disappointed!

Art

[Bryan H]

Art, thanks for keeping us updated. How'd you come to be involved in the development of this kit?

Bryan

[Art Anderson]

Art, thanks for keeping us updated. How'd you come to be involved in the development of this kit?

Bryan

Bryan,

Dave Metzner, who does product development for Moebius, was the brand manager for Polar Lights Division of Playing Mantis, where I worked heading up product development for Johnny Lightning diecasts from early 2002 until RC2 bought the company in mid-2004. Dave and I go back about 35 years or so, when we used to bump shoulders at IPMS meets all over Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

I was invited to be a consultant when Moebius first started thinking about a line of automotive subjects, and was asked to be available to assist in reviews of mockups and forthcoming test shots, something I've done off and on over the years with a couple of model companies.

As regards the LoneStar, the mockups show me a very nicely done kit. The chassis detail appears to be second to none as regards a truck model, nice and crisp, air suspension, appears to be the longest wheelbase available from Navistar. The cab is where it really grabs me though--as nice a set of bodywork as I have ever seen in a model kit, appears to have been engineered with flush fit windshield, no "bucket of clear plastic glass" there. The cab interior has full detail, and the long sleeper has a full interior in it as well, including cabinetry. The engine will be the new MaxxForce13, the new engine built to Navistar specifications by Cummins. The truck will have all the aero stuff on it as well.

The first all-new OTR tractor in model form in how many years???

Art

[Jim B]

Dude! Your killing me!!!

I guess you might not be able to amswer this yet; but does Moebius plan on other trucks in the future, or is sort of a "wait & see" depending on the sales of the LoneStar?

[Art Anderson]

Dude! Your killing me!!!

I guess you might not be able to amswer this yet; but does Moebius plan on other trucks in the future, or is sort of a "wait & see" depending on the sales of the LoneStar?

They, of course, will want to see how well the LoneStar does first, before just jumping into another project like this, I would think.

Art

[highway]

OK tongue hanging out waiting on sneek peek at this...

.....and don't forget panting and heavy breathing!!!!

[crispy]

I don't normally build trucks although I have a nice selection here at home. I am really looking forward to this. I'll support any manufacturer, especially ones that want to bring brand new tools of modern transportation to the table.

If Art has a hand in it I know it will be just fine. If he's excited about this I can only imagine what we'll be like when we get our hands on it.

Chris

[Wagoneer81]

.....and don't forget panting and heavy breathing!!!!

...and don't forget the drooling... I had to change my shirt after reading this post. Well, at least I kept it off the keyboard. I am really looking forward to the Lonestar's release. Yes, an all new tractor kit HAS been a long time coming and I don't think that Moebius could have picked a better subject!

[MICHAEL COLE]

full cab and sleeper detail, and all of the aero stuff with a long wheelbase, man that will be great. cant wait for it.

[MICHAEL COLE]

hey art, does the sleeper look like it will be the 73 inch hirise ?

[Art Anderson]

hey art, does the sleeper look like it will be the 73 inch hirise ?

It does to me! Long and tall.

Art

[MICHAEL COLE]

i just peed myself, lol

[Bryan H]

Having a kit contain a MaxxForce 13 engine would be exciting. Also, the Hendrickson Steertek fabricated front axle and mono-leaf front suspension that come standard on a Lonestar, along with modern Meritor rear axles and an accurate fifth wheel. I'd buy the kit just for the components!

Bryan

[Jim B]

I wonder how long it will take thw aftermarket guys to make conversion kits for this kit to make other modern Internationals.

[MICHAEL COLE]

i wonder if you can build a prostar with a hood and bumper swop? does it use the same cab and sleeper?.

[chuckyr]

Bryan,

Dave Metzner, who does product development for Moebius, was the brand manager for Polar Lights Division of Playing Mantis, where I worked heading up product development for Johnny Lightning diecasts from early 2002 until RC2 bought the company in mid-2004. Dave and I go back about 35 years or so, when we used to bump shoulders at IPMS meets all over Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.

I was invited to be a consultant when Moebius first started thinking about a line of automotive subjects, and was asked to be available to assist in reviews of mockups and forthcoming test shots, something I've done off and on over the years with a couple of model companies.

As regards the LoneStar, the mockups show me a very nicely done kit. The chassis detail appears to be second to none as regards a truck model, nice and crisp, air suspension, appears to be the longest wheelbase available from Navistar. The cab is where it really grabs me though--as nice a set of bodywork as I have ever seen in a model kit, appears to have been engineered with flush fit windshield, no "bucket of clear plastic glass" there. The cab interior has full detail, and the long sleeper has a full interior in it as well, including cabinetry. The engine will be the new MaxxForce13, the new engine built to Navistar specifications by Cummins. The truck will have all the aero stuff on it as well.

The first all-new OTR tractor in model form in how many years???

Art

So will the cab be a multi-piece panel set up ala Italeri, or a one piece ‘tub’ in the style if the old AMT and Ertl kits? The multi piece system, I have found to be superior. It, by its natural permits more scale detail, truer door and cab panels and is easier to cut for opening doors. I talked to Moebius and thought 1/24th scale would have been better, but they decided on 1/25th scale.

[mackinac359]

I agree with Chuck, the multi-piece cabs seem to lend them selves to better/crisper detail than the

"tubs" of the old kits. I'd rather see 1/24th also as there are no other modern truck kits in 1/25th.

The newest model kit was the Volvo VN and Western Star Constellation both almost 10 years old now. Before that Italeri introduced the two Peterbilt kits around '96.

Modelers are asking for new trucks. I sure home the Lonestar kit is the spark that ignites the fire for more new truck kits.

Tim

[mackinac359]

As soon as a creative builder gets ahold of a test shot to make hoods, etc - and then cast the parts.

I'll bet it won't be long!

Tim

I wonder how long it will take thw aftermarket guys to make conversion kits for this kit to make other modern Internationals.

[chuckyr]

As soon as a creative builder gets ahold of a test shot to make hoods, etc - and then cast the parts.

I'll bet it won't be long!

Tim

Moebius Models implicitly stated to me that if the kit sells well, there definitely will be more big rig kits.

[Art Anderson]

So will the cab be a multi-piece panel set up ala Italeri, or a one piece ‘tub’ in the style if the old AMT and Ertl kits? The multi piece system, I have found to be superior. It, by its natural permits more scale detail, truer door and cab panels and is easier to cut for opening doors. I talked to Moebius and thought 1/24th scale would have been better, but they decided on 1/25th scale.

I believe that the shell of the cab and sleeper will be one-piece units, as that is pretty much the expected standard in the US market and it's far easier when one does not have to align cab sides, ends, cowling and roof all the while being careful to get those parts together cleanly; but the pics of the mockup do show a "platform" interior, that is separate floors and side panels, which of course are much easier to detail, in addition to making it possible to have scale-appearing high-relief surface details molded in. This has become the expected standard for model car kits, no reason it shouldn't be done in a truck kit as well.

As for 1/24 vs 1/25 scale: This kit is being done primarily for consumption in the US, and 1/25 scale is by far and away the most popular scale of the two, for street vehicles of all types. 1/24 scale, oddly enough, seems to be the standard in Europe and the Far East, for reasons which escape me, given that 1/25 is much easier with which to work in both English (feet & inches) and in metrics, as a scale inch equals both .040" AND 1mm, great interchangeability. But more than 50 years ago, Monogram Models sort of popularized 1/24 scale, and given their penetration into the markets in Europe and Japan, that scale was adopted wholesale in both regions of the World. However, IF one has a 1/24 scale model, done to exact 1/24 scale, and a 1/25 scale model done exactly in that scale, the dimensional difference is less than 4%, hardly noticeable unless you compare the same part from each kit, side-by-side.