TSM Cancels the McLaren MP4/4 and MP4/5 Models • DiecastSociety.com

TSM Cancels the McLaren MP4/4 and MP4/5 Models

Just hours ago a press release from the team at TrueScale Miniatures suspended the development of their remaining 1:18 McLaren MP4/4 and MP4/5 models.  Seems resin isn’t playing fair. Hey TrueScale Miniatures, maybe consider the good old diecast metal material as a substitute.

“Dear Collectors.

After careful consideration we have made the decision to suspend development of the remaining 1/18 McLaren MP4/4 and MP4/5 models due to problems that we have faced in our efforts to create a resin model with removable parts.

The goal of doing these models in resin material was to create models that could easily be modified to different race specifications and still be produced in very limited quantity, with the idea of creating something unique and very limited for collectors. This material does present several challenges however, and is prone to shrinking when exposed to different temperatures. This makes it quite difficult to deliver these items according to our needed quality for this project. Additionally, we try to make every part as close to the original scale as possible, but this also makes certain parts of this model more fragile than normal. The combination of these two things we have been battled over the last two years but we feel we have made limited progress to our own standards.

During the production and QC check for these models the pieces fit together perfectly and without issue, but the rapid temperature swings during shipping caused variable amounts of shrinkage on the model parts. This results in a non-perfect fit for the final model when it arrives to the final collector. Though this issue has not been experienced by all distributors we have been attempting to address this issue without full success over the past years and at this stage have decided it is better for us to focus our full efforts on other projects where we can have more consistent results without the risk of defects.

We do apologize that this project could not be delivered as intended, but we may consider the option of continuing these projects as 1/18 diecast models instead. If we proceed with this option, we will announce the items again and collect new orders.

Thank you for your kind understanding.

Best Regards,

TSM-Model Team”

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5 Responses to "TSM Cancels the McLaren MP4/4 and MP4/5 Models"

  1. JS Coleman says:

    Yes! Make them as diecast models!

  2. Roger says:

    I wouldn’t get too hopeful that this would mean more diecast from them, probably non-opening resin only. Their diecast releases have had more than the usual share of issues: melting wheels on the P34, terrible decal/paint application on many Porsche 935s, poorly fitting body panels on the Lotus 56 and of course, this.

    I hope engineering and QC get better with TSM because when done right their cars are really great but currently it seems like a crapshoot whether a new TSM car will be acceptable or not.

    I love the value of TSM models, but that’s only for the ones that arrive new without issue. In all honesty I’d almost prefer paying a little higher price for better QC if it meant getting a nearly perfect car every time (and one that doesn’t disintegrate over time).

    • JS Coleman says:

      What do you mean by “melting wheels”?

      • Roger says:

        I should have said melting tires. The tires on the first release degraded over time and look like they were microwaved. Something about the paint used on the wheels reacting to whatever the tires were made from.

  3. Bob Johnson says:

    This is ludicrous… does it really cover up other problems such as licensing.. such as the cancelled Chaparral models… two part resin when cured survives well in usual temperature ranges,, not true for urethane base like Starter used for years…

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