No Stock R/C Kenworths

[JonBailey]

Here is what I have concluded regarding scale commercial trucks.

No hobby manufacturing company now offers a complete kitted "all in one box" scale R/C model classic Kenworth truck anywhere in the world that I know of for the serious hobbyist. We must exclude Kenworth toys for little boys. Kenworth scale modelers from complete manufactured kits are limited to static models that sit on the shelf and collect dust.

I am now finding the current R/C market to be very lame. :mad:

[tadder]

This rc part of the hobby is not lame ....I'm thinking your new to this side of it ...there is nothing out there stock that resembles anything that we have on north American roads or even over seas for that matter what make this a challenge aside from say rc aircraft is most of the parts in the semi truck and even more so in the construction end of it are all custom made use you imagination and get out that hack saw or milling machine and start cutting up broad way it's the only way to make it your own we all have different skill levels of creating something from nothing just kit bash the **** out of a stock tamiya king hauler. ..I did and now I have a mack granite heavy haul and at the moment making a hiab crane for it and let me tell ya I thought rc aircraft were expensive I had know idea.....this is a totally different game

[RCP57]

I agree that the number of kits are limited BUT if you can't buy what you want, build what you want by piecing things together. The supply of parts is only limited by your imagination or depth of your pockets.:)

[JonBailey]

This rc part of the hobby is not lame ....I'm thinking your new to this side of it ...there is nothing out there stock that resembles anything that we have on north American roads or even over seas for that matter what make this a challenge aside from say rc aircraft is most of the parts in the semi truck and even more so in the construction end of it are all custom made use you imagination and get out that hack saw or milling machine and start cutting up broad way it's the only way to make it your own we all have different skill levels of creating something from nothing just kit bash the **** out of a stock tamiya king hauler. ..I did and now I have a mack granite heavy haul and at the moment making a hiab crane for it and let me tell ya I thought rc aircraft were expensive I had know idea.....this is a totally different game

Is the RC model industry, the commercial manufacturers of kits and parts, appealing to the American market even? Wouldn't most American RC scale modelers want quality scale model kits of full-size classic American vehicles on the road? I have no machining, welding or even painting skills. I still hate sloppy cosmetic workmanship. I will pay 300-500 dollars for a good paint job on a scale model done by a competent model painter.

It would be relatively cheap and easy for an RC model kit manufacturer to just cast all the scale Kenworth cab parts in plastic molds the way Testors, Revell and Monogram does. There are lots of static Kenworth assembled die-cast/plastic models out there as well as assembled plastic boxed kits on runners.

That there are so many Euro scale models and so few American ones suggests there is low American interest in scale RC trucks, period.
Is our current economy bad for this hobby in general?

I just emailed Tamiya begging for a Kenworth W900 kit.

[bigford]

if you have a hundred thousand dollars or more to pay to paccar for the rights
to use kenworth,peterbilt or any other paccar product.
i will get you tamiya world office address then you can give
them the money to pay for the rights and tamiya will make accurate
peterbilts and kenworths... Or you could buy a shapeways W900 kit
and turn a king hauler into a kenworth i think the second idea
will be cheaper way to go

[TRUCKMAKER]

Mr Bailey, you need to go after the truck manufactures not the model companies. Spending some time reading and learning on this forum would help. There are a large amount of parts available to build a 900, it's a truck not rocket science.

[Tamiya Cowboy]

Is the RC model industry, the commercial manufacturers of kits and parts, appealing to the American market even? Wouldn't most American RC scale modelers want quality scale model kits of full-size classic American vehicles on the road? I have no machining, welding or even painting skills. I still hate sloppy cosmetic workmanship. I will pay 300-500 dollars for a good paint job on a scale model done by a competent model painter.

It would be relatively cheap and easy for an RC model kit manufacturer to just cast all the scale Kenworth cab parts in plastic molds the way Testors, Revell and Monogram does. There are lots of static Kenworth assembled die-cast/plastic models out there as well as assembled plastic boxed kits on runners.

That there are so many Euro scale models and so few American ones suggests there is low American interest in scale RC trucks, period.
Is our current economy bad for this hobby in general?

I just emailed Tamiya begging for a Kenworth W900 kit.


I boils don't to licencing with the big truck makers it costs too much so we get what we get and build the rest. Buy a cab from True Scale Rc goose19 on shapeways they will have what you want.

[bigford]

I know these are not KW's i'm a pete guy myself. aftermarket hoods and fenders
on 3 of these trucks

http://i1335.photobucket.com/albums/w671/bigford550/fleetpic3_zpswn21oeuz.png (http://s1335.photobucket.com/user/bigford550/media/fleetpic3_zpswn21oeuz.png.html)

[JonBailey]

I boils don't to licencing with the big truck makers it costs too much so we get what we get and build the rest. Buy a cab from True Scale Rc goose19 on shapeways they will have what you want.

Apparently, Tamiya was able to get licensing from a big American company, FoMoCo. They had a least one Ford AeroMax listed in their offerings.

What an outfit like Tamiya could do is offer royalties to PACCAR. 10% of the profits for every Pete or KW model sold. I would gladly pay that amount in royalties.


Besides the cab, I would need sources for scale cab-related hardware and trim:

1. working headlights
2. working cab marker lights
3. front bumper
4. hood
5. chrome air filters
6. chrome grille
7. Kenworth hood emblems: "KENWORTH" on the hood sides and KW logo on the grille
8. opening cab doors with handles
9. windshield and windows
10. cab interior: steering wheel, dash and seats
11. fenders
12. visor
13. mirrors
14. cab driver figure
15. chrome stacks
16. windshield wipers
17. chrome window trim

[RCP57]

You can't expect them to make every make and model of truck. You may want a W900 but I want a 925 and Joe Blow wants a T800 then Jay Bone wants a Pete and Polly Cracker wants a Mack Superliner ect. That's the reason the aftermarket exists. You can get whatever you want. Just open your wallet wide enough and all is yours. I'm not trying to be a jerk but you are missing the point of the hobby for most of us. We don't want a kit truck. We use what we need from the kit and customize the rest. It's what makes it fun.:)

[TRUCKMAKER]

Apparently, Tamiya was able to get licensing from a big American company, FoMoCo. They had a least one Ford AeroMax listed in their offerings.

What an outfit like Tamiya could do is offer royalties to PACCAR. 10% of the profits for every Pete or KW model sold. I would gladly pay that amount in royalties.


Besides the cab, I would need sources for scale cab-related hardware and trim:

1. working headlights
2. working cab marker lights
3. front bumper
4. hood
5. chrome air filters
6. chrome grille
7. Kenworth hood emblems: "KENWORTH" on the hood sides and KW logo on the grille
8. opening cab doors with handles
9. windshield and windows
10. cab interior: steering wheel, dash and seats
11. fenders
12. visor
13. mirrors
14. cab driver figure
15. chrome stacks
16. windshield wipers
17. chrome window trim

Most everything you listed above is available on this forum through vendors and hobby shops!?

[jjackso5]

BigFord, great looking fleet. thank you for sharing.

Jim

[JonBailey]

I just found the True Scale RC website. Besides a cab by goose 19 this firm maybe able to help me with other aspects of a custom truck build as well, even paint if the price is right. I am going to ask them about doing a Bruder cement conversion as well.

So, the Tamiya King Hauler 1/14 scale kit should be my platform for a custom truck build for what I have in mind?


Depending upon how my budget works out and the availability of hired custom cement mixer work, I could just go for a custom painted KW tractor
or a custom painted KW mixer. The thing is, a scale semi trailer can be expensive too. A tractor needs a trailer as a companion. The mixer is a stand-alone vehicle.
I am going to ask True Scale about a motorized Bruder mixer barrel that can be variable speed and reversible as well controlled by radio.

[bigdogrod]

i'm sure for a couple grand in labor, plus a couple grand in parts, pretty much any of the talented builders on this forum could get you what you want...

how deep are your pockets?

[Cossett]

Also another thing when building a rig or any thing the paint is the last thing you do as you have to be sure all body parts line up properly in mock up stage
Not get parts from here and there and discover something is wrong as chassis and chassis bodies may vary is length
Unless you find a builder that will make you a complete truck with the trimings and you have DEEP pockets ,
Them you will also need radio gear which is a personal thing as we want all want different features and functions, then there are the electrics as well, which adds $100's to the build
But where is the fun and learn letting someone do all the work for you incase something break later down the track them you start complaining I got this truck built and it wont run,
There are a lot of first time builders that start with the base King hauler / Knight hauler kit and customis them into a great trucks taking there time and working out how to solve problem in this LAME hobby
Instead of b@tching how this company doesing make this part or that part
And in the end for a compamy it comes down to how much the licence frees will cost / cost of making the new molds, what is there main market and how many they expect to sell, but the first one determines you hole question.

Ms Cosset

[JonBailey]

Also another thing when building a rig or any thing the paint is the last thing you do as you have to be sure all body parts line up properly in mock up stage
Not get parts from here and there and discover something is wrong as chassis and chassis bodies may vary is length
Unless you find a builder that will make you a complete truck with the trimings and you have DEEP pockets ,
Them you will also need radio gear which is a personal thing as we want all want different features and functions, then there are the electrics as well, which adds $100's to the build
But where is the fun and learn letting someone do all the work for you incase something break later down the track them you start complaining I got this truck built and it wont run,
There are a lot of first time builders that start with the base King hauler / Knight hauler kit and customis them into a great trucks taking there time and working out how to solve problem in this LAME hobby
Instead of b@tching how this company doesing make this part or that part
And in the end for a compamy it comes down to how much the licence frees will cost / cost of making the new molds, what is there main market and how many they expect to sell, but the first one determines you hole question.

Ms Cosset


As a matter of prudence, I first have to figure out bottom-line costs. In this hobby, project management should be important to practice. I can shave a lot of costs, however, by buying a number of things at amazon.com like the Tamaiya King Hauler kit, the MFCU, Futaba radio (I have owned them in the past), batteries, chargers, the stock Bruder toy truck to swipe its mixer barrel (and donate the Mack Granite chassis cab remaining to charity) and such. I may need a special tool like a hobby knife to trim up things nicely like the plastic differential housings and maybe some hobby sand paper.

All the paid aftermarket custom builder would have to do for me is the painted day cab/fender/door/hood assembly complete with interior and driver figure (a guy in a hard hat) to plop onto the Tamiya chassis and perhaps the custom electrics and chassis mounting provisions for a Bruder mixer conversion also so I can plop that on and hook up the wires. I want that cement mixer body to bolt on neatly, not in Mickey Mouse fashion.

All the rest I can handle at home. I have been a fleet truck mechanic (light wheeled vehicle mechanic, motor pool) in the US Army for seven years and I am also a graduate in a IT/Computer Science major. I built this PC of mine at home even with about $1,500 in parts from Fry's Electronics and software invested. I am confident I have the aptitude for MOST of a model RC truck build. The cosmetics as painting as well as sheet metal, machining and welding skills is where I am tender. As a diesel mechanic by trade I was a vehicle parts changer, not a custom truck parts modifier or fabricator.

I have decided not to go with custom brown but settle for the stock blue that the Bruder cement unit is molded in to shave costs and employ the KISS principle. Only the special-order Kenworth cab would have to be painted in a simple solid blue color to match the mixer unit with a simple fabricated door logo decal.
http://i1252.photobucket.com/albums/hh579/roysummers85/scale%20cement%20mixer%20blue_zps1tx6z8ku.png

[Cossett]

Your not going to have the room in the daycab for the mfu / interior and the other electrics, battery and why most daycabs have the windows blacked out so they can fit everything in the daycab with no interior
Also others fit smaller light kits / esc / battery / receiver so they can keep the interior and along with fitting the battery between the chassis rails
Have a good read though the daycab builds in the different forums and Show us your daycabs and you will see what your asking wont fit into a daycab
And having a painted cab is trouble with out capital T till you can be sure every thing fits proper,
Once you happy with how every thing fits nicely take the cab and mixer barrel to a local spray painter and get then to paint it for you and get a small tin of the color the cab is painted so you can touch up any part it they get scratched

[JonBailey]

Your not going to have the room in the daycab for the mfu / interior and the other electrics, battery and why most daycabs have the windows blacked out so they can fit everything in the daycab with no interior
Also others fit smaller light kits / esc / battery / receiver so they can keep the interior and along with fitting the battery between the chassis rails
Have a good read though the daycab builds in the different forums and Show us your daycabs and you will see what your asking wont fit into a daycab
And having a painted cab is trouble with out capital T till you can be sure every thing fits proper,
Once you happy with how every thing fits nicely take the cab and mixer barrel to a local spray painter and get then to paint it for you and get a small tin of the color the cab is painted so you can touch up any part it they get scratched

Perhaps you have a point here. This guy has a day cab interior but no diesel engine sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9Wr7cnqn6A

Are working vehicular lights even possible on this Mack mixer?


This Ford AeroMax mixer has a "small" sleeper cab and seems to also have the trucks sounds and a cab interior.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSuBxW3KY3Y


Wow, there are more compromises in this hobby than I ever thought before.

What components go under the hood?

[JonBailey]

Perhaps you have a point here. This guy has a day cab interior but no diesel engine sounds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v9Wr7cnqn6A

Are working vehicular lights even possible on this Mack mixer?


This Ford AeroMax mixer has a "small" sleeper cab and seems to also have the trucks sounds and a cab interior.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSuBxW3KY3Y


Wow, there are more compromises in this hobby than I ever thought before.

What components go under the hood?


Ok, Cosset, let's say I do have to stuff a MFCU into my day cab,
how about neatly pasting or framing pictures of a cab interior with driver right behind the window/windshield glass instead of blacking out the windows? I probably would not even need functional opening cab doors either unless they would be handy to access electronics inside the cab.

Probably the next advancement in RC electronics will be to scale down all the R/C "guts" super tiny/ultra compact to the delight of the dyed-in-the-wool true-scale fanatic.

Houston, we have a "space" problem!!

In theory, however, having simple interior images (maybe holograms???) behind the window glass should still be cheaper than having a detailed painted 3D cab dash, steering wheel, driver figure, gear shift lever, brake pedal, clutch, gas pedal, fan, CB radio and seats.

On scale model passenger cars for trains, simple silhouettes of people are common in windows.

[JonBailey]

Ok, Cosset, let's say I do have to stuff a MFCU into my day cab,
how about neatly pasting or framing pictures of a cab interior with driver right behind the window/windshield glass instead of blacking out the windows? I probably would not even need functional opening cab doors either unless they would be handy to access electronics inside the cab.

Probably the next advancement in RC electronics will be to scale down all the R/C "guts" super tiny/ultra compact to the delight of the dyed-in-the-wool true-scale fanatic.

Houston, we have a "space" problem!!

In theory, however, having simple interior images (maybe holograms???) behind the window glass should still be cheaper than having a detailed painted 3D cab dash, steering wheel, driver figure, gear shift lever, brake pedal, clutch, gas pedal, fan, CB radio and seats.

On scale model passenger cars for trains, simple silhouettes of people are common in windows.


How about custom decals of cab interiors and people figures that could be inserted and applied right behind the window panes?

[schmoking]

my advice would be to forget about project management and bottom line cost.. its going to be expensive!!!
start out with the w900 parts from truescale and a king/grand hauler and go from there. the way u want to do things may change along the way.
there are other soundunits than the mfu.. many people (in europe anyways) will swap this out for better alternatives like beier or servonaut.

[bigford]

a bunch of guys do day cabs with mfu and full interiors
i think you should build a king and play with it stock for
a while then try to modify it

[up9018]

i think you should build a king and play with it stock for a while then try to modify it

I would highly agree with this statement. I'm fairly new and did just that, and you will learn quite a lot before diving into the deep end.

[mcl fabrication]

I would highly agree with this statement. I'm fairly new and did just that, and you will learn quite a lot before diving into the deep end.

yes this is true that is how I started from the first semi truck, now all doors are open and anything that comes to mind can be manufactured by my own hands.

[janderson]

Since I work for Tamiya I have some background on some of your posts. As far as why we or any manufacturer does not make every make and model of truck, there are many reasons.
Licensing
Design Cost
Tooling cost
Molding costs
(Just to name a few)

On top of that the number of pieces sold as not everyone would be interested in every model type.

And at the very top is the USA market in R/C is Ready-To-Run. The USA market would rather buy and drive than build.

These rigs are expensive enough to have RTR versions would be through the roof. Not to mention once built they are more fragile so the do not ship well and land in one piece.

Hope that helps. I do agree as a builder and such, in stead of diving in the deep end you must learn how to swim first. Build a truck and start modding it. You will learn alot from the build that will give you more insight on the hobby.

[bigford]

out of the mouth of tamiya america....

[janderson]

out of the mouth of tamiya america....

:lol: :jaw::lol:

[Pippoe]

Hmm.. I don't see the problem. Ten years ago everything was do-it-yourself.. But today.. the possibilities these days are almost endless..

3D-printed cabs, resine-cast or metal cabs.. even toys from Bruder or Ertl have such a great level of detail that they can serve as a basis for a build.

..and then there is everything else..

You get all kinds of mechanical components: gearboxes, axles, tires, wheels and electronics, plastic, metal, 3d-printed, laser-cut or photoetched..

Sorry, but putting together the model truck of your dreams has never been as easy as these days. Of course you can't expect it to fall in your lap..

Good luck!

Pip

[Roundabout]

get the servonaut sound/light system, only takes up a fraction of the space the mfu does, and you get more an better options with servonaut, also use the servonaut motor/gearbox, then you will be able to have interior in a daycab with driver and every thing ;)

[1985 kenworth]

if you have a hundred thousand dollars or more to pay to paccar for the rights
to use kenworth,peterbilt or any other paccar product.
i will get you tamiya world office address then you can give
them the money to pay for the rights and tamiya will make accurate
peterbilts and kenworths... Or you could buy a shapeways W900 kit
and turn a king hauler into a kenworth i think the second idea
will be cheaper way to go

i agree with you on that bigford:D

[1985 kenworth]

Since I work for Tamiya I have some background on some of your posts. As far as why we or any manufacturer does not make every make and model of truck, there are many reasons.
Licensing
Design Cost
Tooling cost
Molding costs
(Just to name a few)

On top of that the number of pieces sold as not everyone would be interested in every model type.

And at the very top is the USA market in R/C is Ready-To-Run. The USA market would rather buy and drive than build.

These rigs are expensive enough to have RTR versions would be through the roof. Not to mention once built they are more fragile so the do not ship well and land in one piece.

Hope that helps. I do agree as a builder and such, in stead of diving in the deep end you must learn how to swim first. Build a truck and start modding it. You will learn alot from the build that will give you more insight on the hobby.

so true ..build a truck first ..its not as hard as you think

[1985 kenworth]

i have been in the r/c hobby for about 32yrs now and have been in the r/c trucks for awhile now and its true ..the companies cannot build every truck out there because as mentioned before ..who will buy it and the cost of the rights to put there name on it would make these kits unreachable to lots of people..i can give you a perfect example of stupid money..i have a real 1985 Kenworth W900B and for a plain set of mudflaps for the front fenders behind the front wheels are about $50pr ..to get the same style set with the name Kenworth on it around $180pr ..just because the name is on it ..you cannot even build something that you are selling and call it a registered trademark name without paying some sort of royalties to the owner of that registered name .look around this site here ..you will see tons of builds that would and could qualify to fullfill your need for a W900 and all built by scratchbuilt and machine made parts :D and not to mention the process of 3d parts makes it easier to have what you want in record time without the hassle of scratchbuilding

[ittigger]

I know - old thread.

I agree with the previous posters - half the fun is building it.