Post by jeklywekly on Jul 17, 2009 10:23:33 GMT
Many automotive model builders have been waiting years for a manufacturer to release a 1:12th scale builder's kit of the infamous Ford GT40 MKII. So when Trumpeter stepped up to the plate and announced they would be 'the' manufacturer builders around the world took note. Hundreds of customers placed reservations for our GT40 MKII Super Detail Kit and we have kept everyone up to date on our activities.
About two weeks ago we received our Trumpeter sample kit and immediately jumped into evaluating every detail. You can imagine how excited we were to have such an early opportunity and to report back to all the customers that placed reservations over our web site.
Our first impressions were good, the only negatives we could see was the extensive use of chrome parts and the incorrect molding of seat details. The body appears to be perfect and the wheels excellent but the tires too balloon like and out of proportion. All in all not too bad for Trumpeter's first effort into the field. We felt the problems identified could easily be corrected with our super detail kit. But in order to fully evaluate the Trumpeter kit we needed to get further into understanding it, the same way we did by visiting the Holman/Moody Garage in North Carolina last January and spending a day with Lee Holman studying the original engineering drawings taking thousands of detailed photos and hours of video. Holman/Moody was the garage chosen by Henry Ford back in the early 60's to build a team of GT40 MKII's along with the Shelby team to beat Ferrari at Le Mans.
Scale Motorsport spent a great deal of time and expense on research we felt it was the only way we could move ahead with confidence and speed knowing our details would be right on. After assembling the engine, suspension components, mounting the wheels and body we have come to the conclusion that we will not be investing our development time into a super detail kit for the Trumpeter GT40 MKII. Our view is the kit is too 'toy-like' and regardless of the amount or degree of detail we could create it wouldn't be enough to make economical sense for Scale Motorsport, nor our customers to spend the time and money it would take to build the kit into what it should have been. We applaud Trumpeter's efforts for their first attempt at a large scale automotive builder's kit it is a good effort, unfortunately the result is not where Scale Motorsport believes it needs to be in order for us to bring to market the type of product our reputation has been built on and our customers expect.
The 1:12th scale GT40 MKII is the Holly Grail of builder's kits, and as Scale Motorsport is all about building, we encourage you to grab one of the Trumpeter kits for yourself before they are sold out. Since 1:12th scale subjects are so rare these days you will be amazed at how different it feels to hold parts of this size in your hands. And speaking of parts, the parts in the Trumpeter kit do fit extremely well, practically snapping together with little to no modification. Also make sure to get yourself a gallon of bleach, you will need it to remove all the chrome from all the parts!
We greatly appreciate everyone's interest in a Scale Motorsport GT40 MKII Super Detail Kit. The volume of reservations we received tells us there are enough interested customers out there to make our development commitment worth it, but only for the right 1:12th scale kit. Unfortunately the Trumpeter GT40 MKII is just not that kit.
Matthew Wells
Live Long ........Build'm All!
www.scalemotorsport.com
Mathew, for whatever reason, there seemed to be a lot of spaces in this post. In order to make it easier to read, I've closed it up, hope you don't mind.
Nick.
About two weeks ago we received our Trumpeter sample kit and immediately jumped into evaluating every detail. You can imagine how excited we were to have such an early opportunity and to report back to all the customers that placed reservations over our web site.
Our first impressions were good, the only negatives we could see was the extensive use of chrome parts and the incorrect molding of seat details. The body appears to be perfect and the wheels excellent but the tires too balloon like and out of proportion. All in all not too bad for Trumpeter's first effort into the field. We felt the problems identified could easily be corrected with our super detail kit. But in order to fully evaluate the Trumpeter kit we needed to get further into understanding it, the same way we did by visiting the Holman/Moody Garage in North Carolina last January and spending a day with Lee Holman studying the original engineering drawings taking thousands of detailed photos and hours of video. Holman/Moody was the garage chosen by Henry Ford back in the early 60's to build a team of GT40 MKII's along with the Shelby team to beat Ferrari at Le Mans.
Scale Motorsport spent a great deal of time and expense on research we felt it was the only way we could move ahead with confidence and speed knowing our details would be right on. After assembling the engine, suspension components, mounting the wheels and body we have come to the conclusion that we will not be investing our development time into a super detail kit for the Trumpeter GT40 MKII. Our view is the kit is too 'toy-like' and regardless of the amount or degree of detail we could create it wouldn't be enough to make economical sense for Scale Motorsport, nor our customers to spend the time and money it would take to build the kit into what it should have been. We applaud Trumpeter's efforts for their first attempt at a large scale automotive builder's kit it is a good effort, unfortunately the result is not where Scale Motorsport believes it needs to be in order for us to bring to market the type of product our reputation has been built on and our customers expect.
The 1:12th scale GT40 MKII is the Holly Grail of builder's kits, and as Scale Motorsport is all about building, we encourage you to grab one of the Trumpeter kits for yourself before they are sold out. Since 1:12th scale subjects are so rare these days you will be amazed at how different it feels to hold parts of this size in your hands. And speaking of parts, the parts in the Trumpeter kit do fit extremely well, practically snapping together with little to no modification. Also make sure to get yourself a gallon of bleach, you will need it to remove all the chrome from all the parts!
We greatly appreciate everyone's interest in a Scale Motorsport GT40 MKII Super Detail Kit. The volume of reservations we received tells us there are enough interested customers out there to make our development commitment worth it, but only for the right 1:12th scale kit. Unfortunately the Trumpeter GT40 MKII is just not that kit.
Matthew Wells
Live Long ........Build'm All!
www.scalemotorsport.com
Mathew, for whatever reason, there seemed to be a lot of spaces in this post. In order to make it easier to read, I've closed it up, hope you don't mind.
Nick.
