N gauge crowdfunded cars (discussion thread)

[DJM Dave]

Hi everyone,

 

This is something i've been thinking seriously about for some time, and its' come more to the fore since the announcement of the Farish Motorail wagon.

 

I've put a plan together to propose a crowdfunded pack of 5 different 1960's to 1970's era cars.

These will be plastic, with a fully molded and detailed body, separate chassis and wheels, and clear glazing.

Each car will be painted (not left plastic colour), and have painted wheels, hub caps, number plates, radiator grills, head and tail lights and where possible indicator lights.

I've reached an agreement that after 500 packs have been produced the run will change colour to other authentic colours of the day, and this will keep going per 500 run to keep things different. 

 

As a modeller, you've either got to go to the trouble of repainting your cars yourself (and if your like me, i can never get them as good as the factory finish) or stick with the same colours as per the factory left them. Heck, some of them are left in their plastic molded colours too. 

 

In this day and age it not impossible if there's a will, to do it the way i'm suggesting so that common cars can be seen in the same street on your layout, or indeed on your motorail train etc but with different colours.

 

I also envisage the possibility for fellow modellers getting together to swap cars depending on their tastes and needs etc.

 

Anyway, the nitty gritty...... the cost.

 

OK, in the scheme of things this doesn't sound too bad, but its' still monies needed up front to make the project a go'er. (please remember these are plastic and will be very light on car transporters so that you can model scale length trains without the need to double head etc to move them as you might have to do with metal cars.

 

If i get 1000 orders the cost per customer is £41.70   per pack of 5 cars

If i get 2000 orders the cost per customer is £26.40   per pack of 5 cars

If i get 3000 orders the cost per customer is £21.32   per pack of 5 cars

if i get 4000 orders the cost per customer is £18.79   per pack of 5 cars

If i get more than 4000 the price will drop further but as you can see from above, the price drop will slow up each 500 - 1000 produced.

 

This price difference between the quantities is purely the math used to amortize the fixed tooling cost which comes down per amount produced.

Obviously the 1000 customer price is a no go, but for 5 cars maybe 3000 sales are possible?

 

I envisage an RRP of £24.95 when and if they go on sale in stores.

 

Anyway, the choice of cars is as follows..... Vauxhall Viva, Morris Allegro, Morris 1100, Ford Zephyr, Rover P5B

 

If i can get this project off the ground the second series of vehicles will include other cars such as the early Fiesta and Princess models.

 

Right, over to you. and please be as candid as you think in your posting here.

Together i think we can make this one work, what do you think?

Cheers

Dave

 

 

 

[60006]

Interesting prospect. Would there be chance of any more modern vehicles appearing if this proved popular?

[DJM Dave]

Interesting prospect. Would there be chance of any more modern vehicles appearing if this proved popular?

Hi,

 

oh yes, i would intend to produce era relevant car packs of 5 if this takes off.

I'd also produce panel vans (think white van man) etc as packs as well somewhere along the line.

 

cheers

Dave

[John M Upton]

If I recall correctly certain car manufacturers such as Ford have to approve any model made of one of their vehicle products past and present. Does this prevent any models from potentially appearing or has these royalty/approval costs already been factored in?

 

Will be following developments with interest however.

[Revolution Mike]

Hi Dave

 

I think this is a great idea - we really need more vehicles in N (even if my personal preferences are for more modern (80s onwards)!).

 

I'll drop you a PM.

 

Cheers, Mike

[Phatbob]

Hello Dave,
As I've mentioned before here on other threads, a Hillman Imp would be a good choice as all the new ones were shipped-out from the Factory at Linwood by rail.
A pack of five imps would be just right for one carflat.  You coud even do them without the number plates asbrand new cars are.
If you need a full-sized Imp to scan, I have one parked outside!
Cheers,
Bob.

[David41283]

Sounds great.

 

Personally I consider that the 1960's era is (relatively speaking) well served by the existing suppliers - the mid 70's to mid 80's is the glaring void in available products.

[Neil]

Though I'm not in the market for n gauge vehicles it's fascinating to see the significant savings made as the order sizes increases. I think we all know about the principle of economies of scale but seeing the figures up front really makes it clear just how much of a factor it is. At 3000 subscribers the price per car of about £4.30 sounds most reasonable to me, particularly for a decent specification and what will hopefully be a more accurate shape than some of the blobby examples that have previously graced the n gauge market.

[DJM Dave]

If I recall correctly certain car manufacturers such as Ford have to approve any model made of one of their vehicle products past and present. Does this prevent any models from potentially appearing or has these royalty/approval costs already been factored in?

Will be following developments with interest however.[/quote

 

Posting edited to reflect link pertinent to posted question.......

 

http://ipkitten.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/bgh-decides-in-opel-toy-car-case-opel.html

 

Cheers

Dave

[jbqfc]

i think this is a great idea i would up for cars from the 70' and 80' even some from the 60s

[DJM Dave]

Though I'm not in the market for n gauge vehicles it's fascinating to see the significant savings made as the order sizes increases. I think we all know about the principle of economies of scale but seeing the figures up front really makes it clear just how much of a factor it is. At 3000 subscribers the price per car of about £4.30 sounds most reasonable to me, particularly for a decent specification and what will hopefully be a more accurate shape than some of the blobby examples that have previously graced the n gauge market.

It is isn't it, and I think that sensible prices for accurate models should stand for something.

[roundhouse]

Excellent idea.

 

I model either early 60's or present day N scale so not quite my era but just in case I do i would certainly buy some especially if there was a Hillman Humber (my first car was a Humber Septre) and Ford Capri.

[grahame]

I'm certainly interested in 60s/70s motor vehicles in 1:148 scale. But they do need to be bog standard common saloon cars rather than the high end luxury/sports jobbies that have been the vogue and are currently available.

 

G.

[DJM Dave]

Hi Grahame,

 

There's probably only one that might fall into that category as I'm fed up myself with just the sports car types available.

A nice e-type could be good, but how many will you sell?

 

More sales from common cars than sports cars anyway IMHO

 

cheers

Dave

[Pixie]

I would certainly be interested in several packs (particularly if there were two sets of colours available), but as per the others they'd need to be the 'porridge' specification model.

 

To be honest, if they were to the standards of the Tomytec N scale cars, I would be willing to pay the top rate of £41.70 for a pack of five.

 

Cheers,

Pix

[Ed-farms]

I would certainly be interested in these, can certainly see potential of having packs of plastic cars to fill trains.

 

Probably would get a few of the 1960's but if you did the 1980's I would buy plenty.

[Boco_D1]

It's a great idea, to me I'd be interested in cars of the 80s but most certainly the 90s which is very under represented in my opinion and I have resorted to modifying those horrible plastic cars you get off eBay to look like something recognisable (the large ones can be made to look like a Ford Sierra). But I would certainly be happy with those everyday cars such as the fiesta, nova/corsa, and Mondao. If it goes ahead I'm sure I'll go for at least one pack of 70s cars to represent a few old bangers/classics.

[bluedepot]

nice idea i would buy some cars if they were more 1980s era as not that much choice at present from Oxford or Farish

[D826]

For the car flats they need to be sixties and seventies early 80s latest. A Morris 1100 looks enough like the MG 1300 my Dad had for that to work for me.

 

People will need them for the car flats Dave - plan A sounds good.

 

Best regards

 

Matt W

[Revolution Mike]

The carflats were still being used at least as late as 1988 on Motorail services - link to pic on the NGS Carflat thread.

 

Cheers, Mike

[jpendle]

Good idea Dave.

 

I with Mike on this as I need more modern stuff, but I'll probably chip in for a set to show solidarity for crowdfunding.

 

Regards,

 

John P

[Phatbob]

If I recall correctly certain car manufacturers such as Ford have to approve any model made of one of their vehicle products past and present. Does this prevent any models from potentially appearing or has these royalty/approval costs already been factored in?

Will be following developments with interest however.[/quote

 

Posting edited to reflect link pertinent to posted question.......

 

http://ipkitten.blogspot.co.uk/2010/01/bgh-decides-in-opel-toy-car-case-opel.html

 

Cheers

Dave

 

Dave,

There shouldn't be any "copywrite" issues for you if you wish to produce any erstwhile Rootes cars.  The Association of Rootes Car Clubs has all sorts permissions courtesy of Peugeot, who owned the rights having bought Chrysler (UK) Ltd. in the day of "Peugeot Talbot".

These good people http://www.rootesarchivecentre.org.uk/ have pretty nearly all the drawings etc. to aid your research.

So Roundhouse can have his "Arrow Series" Humber Sceptre in 'N'. 

[Claude_Dreyfus]

I certainly agree this is a great idea, but do wonder if the choice of vehicles is rather too close to the 1960s, which is already well covered - particularly the Morris and Rover. Not wanting to wishlist here, but I do wonder if cars such as the early Vauxhall Astra, Ford Escort (mark 2 or 3) or Cortina, Rover 3500 or even Triumph Acclaim may go more towards filling that void of mid/late-70s onwards, but still being suitable for the motorail stock?

 

Perhaps by pitching more towards the 'more of the same', this could generate greater interest and therefore wider era selection in the future?

 

In any event, it is great to see this proposal, and I would certainly be prepared to place an order to make this happen.

[Guest]

What about an Original Mini? (provided it's not being produced already).

One of the more numerous classics - still see a fair amount of them around today.

Regards,

Matt

[definate maybe]

fantastic idea. I find the actual railway side of N gauge keeps developing but the rest of the details you need to create a model are still lacking behind. Wrong Era for me but if you choose the 90's I would certainly be interested.