Hi again all you Armoramites!
As the Topic title may seem vague or even misleading, let me clarify:
I would like to try to determine the general interest in the Military Modeling Community toward a line of 1:35 modern civilian vehicles in Vacuform & resin. I have noticed a scarcity in the availability of anything in plastic (frequent discussions of the 1:32 Malibu Cop car spring to mind) and I find myself poised to "DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT".
To wit- with my current employment situation(i.e. none ), & SWMBO's home based business taking off beyond all reasonable expectation(Pet Care (++)), I find myself ready to re-start my own limited hobby business of resin casting. Force Perspectives was originally engaged in the local (very, very local) production & sale of scale architectural details for dioramics & 3D visual Imaging. Poor planning led to an aborted run, & improper storage & handling has cost me all of my masters & molds, but I do not despair! An Idea springs forth, fully realized!
All I need is a little info & support from my Brethren & Sistren (???) here at the Big 'A'.
So here then is the gist of it: How big would the market be for a series of limited run, combination VacForm/Resin modern civilian vehicles in 1:35 scale? I plan on the combination of media for several reasons: price of resin products is costly, Vacform plastic is closer to sheetmetal gagues, forms will be sturdier & therefore hold up longer, complex curves & bodystyles will be easier to mold, etc. To start off, I plan on a general run of 1 Japanese export Pickup/4x4(think Technical, Convoy escort, UN, general haulage), 1 Japanese export Sedan(think Taxi, Police, Traffic Jam), 1 european two-door, & 1 European sedan. More body styles/ chassis would be added as the line proves its worth. Of course, the Vehicles would by necessity be as 'Generic' as I could get them without being overly fanciful, as I have no wish to do battle with patent lawyers for something which will be a cottage industry . I am also toying with the Idea of "levels", that being a bare bones kit (body, chassis, limited interior),a midlevel (engine & drivetrain, modular interior) & Top(multiple trim options, different tyres, taxi signg, cherrytops,etc.) Perhaps even a "burnout" level, with seat springs, charred rims, punctured/dented panels, etc.


So, What say you? Is there enough interest for me to start this rolling for a launch in,say, July of this year? Would anyone out there be willing to pay a comparable price of a good plastic kit if the quality were high enough & the build simple & straightforward? Let me have it, Folks!
Thanks for your input-
RobH

Sounds great to me. I would definitely buy some from you. I recommend that the Japanese export Pickup/4x4 be a crew cab (4-door) as they are very popular in third-world countries. The burned-out vehicles would be great too. I hope this does get going. Good luck and let me know when you have something, I will be your first customer.

Heck Yeah!!!! Sounds like a good idea for sure!!!!

I would certainly buy several of such kits. I don't understand why no one thought of something like this before, what with the ever growing demand for Diorama accessories and props and stuff like that.

One suggestion though, I think if you include some WW II era vehicles, you will have a much larger market, simply because there is much more interest in WW II kits and dios.. which again is something I don't quite understand.

Also vac-form is a good choice to keep the price from going sky high. Like some companies that make WW II automobiles in resin and sell one car kit for $90 or more. That's just too much. IMHO ofcourse.

So, I hope you do decide to do this and I wish you luck if you do.

A potential future regular customer.

Hey, I just noticed you're from NC. I lived in Durham NC for about 3 years just before coming to Egypt. I have a sister who still lives there. I worked for while in the computer dept. at the Ofiice Depot right next to South Gate MAll. I don't know if you've ever been there. But this was back in 1990-1993. Anyway, sorry for talking too much.!!

Excellent idea! One of the biggest problems to modern armor fans are the fact that civilian vehicles are hard to find in most places, so lots of dioramas are too "military", and the only chance it´s to get some rather expensive and hard to find resin or vac kits or use die cast in 1/32.

Due to the fact that lots of modern time wars/conflicts have taken place into a urban enviroment, UN vehicles and civilian pick ups, cabs, etc.

Neat idea, I really think that you´ll be succesful in this adventure. Some ideas for kits could be Land Rover, Toyota and Nissan 4x4, Nissan pickups, Volkswagen Golf.....lots of possibilities!

Cheers and good luck

I would definitely be interested in the European cars. I have a number of dioramas in mind that require intact and/or burn't out cars. There is currently nothing on the market so I'm not rushing into those dios quite yet.

I like your idea of the vacu-formed shells. This would facilitate damage (bullet holes and/or dents) and it would be easy to build a vehicle anywhere from pristine to burnt out and/or completely cannibalised.

Also, a European hatch-back or compact (like a VW Golf or some such thing) would be very sought after.

Cheers - Dan

I would be buying some too! Bring it on mate!

Pedro

Civi. cars is a great idea.As for makes and era. anything that would fit in the time of S.I.K.FOR and UNPROFOR.I guess that would include Euro/Russian built cars from the '60s-'80s.

My two cents.

Jim

WOW! Great replies, gents, just what I was hoping for. It would seem that so far I've received 8 positive replies out of 100 odd views(the others being me checking up on the thread's progress-expectant daddy syndrome ), which, if I recall from my statistical sampling course gives me a potential market of 1000 interested parties on the Big A alone...
Hmmm...Not the best odds, but as someone once said: "If you cast it they will buy."or some such...
With that in mind may I make some observations & general replies as to the aforesaid Replies?

To Wit:
Have you also considered WWI/II Staff cars?
I think if you include some WW II era vehicles, you will have a much larger market
Yes, Fellows, I toyed with this idea, BUT- It would just not be worth it from an economic standpoint to go through the process of getting this to market, only to have it shot down in a review by some rivet counter with access to the original: imagine-" the left handed gerflinker was seldom seen on this ausfuhrung, and it is well known by all nitpickers that obergeruppslhepfluker hauptwittbarkaufskin preferred a tuck&roll interior to the crushed velvet presented in this kit.... " . Modern vehicles are accesible. On any given Sunday, I can hike down to my local dealership & take photos & measurements to my heart's content. As much as I would like to present an axis or allied WWII staff car, the only Museum within any driving distance would be quite unhappy with me for crawling under their 1936 Benz 6x4 to get accurate drivetrain shots . That being said, perhaps in the future I can strike a licensing deal...?

Some ideas for kits could be Land Rover, Toyota and Nissan 4x4, Nissan pickups, Volkswagen Golf...
a European hatch-back or compact (like a VW Golf
Excellent Ideas, Gents, & something I will definitely take into account- however, as stated in my original post, these vehicles will be as 'Generic' as possible, so as not to attract the attention of the copyright lawyers(for instance, the 'Japanese 4x4 Crew Cab' will more than likely carry the appelation "G.P.Q. 001, Gino P. Quintillani having been the first to point out such a salient point to me. I also might expect to see tyres or decals emblazoned with such maker's marks as "Rhinox Tuff", "Haikal Hi-Lift", 059Piper01RT, & of course "MLeese Custom", to name a few.) Don't worry, though, these products will be instantly identifiable as believable/authentic,& applicable to the MOUT settings encountered by today's troops.

anything that would fit in the time of S.I.K.FOR and UNPROFOR.I guess that would include Euro/Russian built cars from the '60s-'80s.
MARVELOUS idea! Please see the above pertaining to the WWII staff cars, however. Not having been a part of said operations, I must assume that these vehicles would be of the Tatra/Zighuli/Yugo heritage, with(especially in the case of Somalia) some Fiat/Citroen makes as well? Not having easy access to the above makes, any & all photos of these particular autos(in urban and/or conflict settings) with some frame of reference(e.g., wheel size...) would move these kits a step closer to reality...

Well, with that long-winded mess out of the way, let me once again thank you all for your input on this matter. I hope to proceed with this project so that all of my fellow Big 'A' members can have a certain gap in their collections filled. I sincerely hope that nothing in this most recent post comes across as arrogant or condescending. All of your input is valued, it's just that committing to such a project is a major step, & I just want to be as certain as possible that the start is as fortuitous as possible.
Gino, Matt, Hisham, JimC-I will be PM'ing you in the near future for more detailed info re: your experiences, documentation(if available), and your more than generous offer(s). Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU!

So, Any other thoughts on this matter??? Positive or Negative, I'd love to hear from you!

Thanx,
RobH

A basic Vac-u-form shape would work fine for me......
nothing like a little real modeling..... :-) :-)

Good luck Robert, and don't forget those licensing fees.....

I am honored and humbled to have a model named after me. :-) :-) :-)

Sounds great. Hope to see them soon.

I'd like to get some of those "Haikal" tyres also

As for the WW II era vehicles, I'm with Grumpy.. just a basic shape of something that looks like it's from that era would be enough. It doesn't have to be of a specific model that actually existed.

Also, concerning cars from the 60's and such. I can take some pics of cars here in Egypt. We have a lot of old cars still running around. But as far as measurments.. I don't think people here would understand what I'm doing, They'd probably think I was planning to steal the car or something!!

A good source I was thinking of is (card models). I was checking out a site that sells card models and they have a lot of different models in 1/24 scale and some even in 1/32. I was toying with the idea of getting one of them and trasferring the measurmants to 1/35 and scratching it, but I found out I was not skilled enough for that. But they would a good source of ready made drawings and measurments for you to work from. Anyway, I'll include the URL for that paper models store and you can check it out. If you think these would be useful to you, hell.. I would be willing to invest in a couple of them and sending them to you.

http://www.e-papermodels.com/catalog/

Well, hope to hear some good news of your venture soon.

Come on, guys. We're always complaining about how the big companies don't give us all the things we wish for. Now there is someone trying to fill a gap in our hobby. There should be more support than this.

Sorry, I'm just really hoping this project does take off.

Bring them on!! I will buy them for sure.

The Japanese pickups would be great as would a John Deere 6X6 garden cart, ATV, and American (armored) SUV.

You can count me amongst the many who would partake of them!

As for WW II cars, maybe a basic shape like this would be easy to make into a generic vehicle.

http://www.users.bigpond.com/cpitman/gaz3.htm

Read the thread and can tell you that it sounds like a good idea.
You certainly have planned pretty well so far. I would encourage you produce as far back in time as you can and still put out a good product. There is a ton of desire to include civi stuff, but no kits. I do see your point on 'rivet counterizm'.

One other thought - 1/48 scale. This is becoming popular now. I don't know the civi market at all in this scale. Corgi may be close enough for some, or some knock off matchbox type/????? I just don't know.

Robert

Sounds like a great idea Maybe throw in a reasonable facsimile of some older pre-Chrysler Jeeps? I have never worked with vac-form Is it easy or hard?

That's a very good idea Robert !
Talking about VW cars, there's already a 1/35 vacform Golf 2 on the market (it has been released by HSV) but this only means that you have plenty of other possibilities ! What about a VW Passat like the ones that seem to be ubiquitous in Middle East streets :


Frenchy

I cannot add much to this. Agreat idea, fills a gapinghole in the genre.

Hey guys, sorry I haven't gotten back sooner. (Hisham thanks for the shout-out)
Been coughing up blood for 6 days now, saw the doc yesterday & got back a 'questionable' X-ray & tentative diagnosis of Pneumonia...doc wants a specialist to look at it.
Will be back to respond in detail to all of you when I can sit in one position at keyboard for 5 min. without decorating it in pink foam...
L8r, RobH

Sorry to hear you are not doing well. Take care and keep an eye on it. Hope you are feeeling better soon.

Health is more important than anything at the moment!!!