Noble M12 models
Discussion
Hi there,
I did some work on this very subject about 4 or 5 years ago when Simon Hucknall was the PR guy at the Noble factory. Essentially they had gotten together with a local model maker (think the guy worked for the Games Workshop at the time)and he had measured the Noble M12 from front to back and made a mould to enable Resin 1/18 scale cars to be made.
These models would be supplied in either Kit form or 'ready built' and could be hand made to match any particular car. I think from memory they had approximately 300 kits at the factory and I was negotiating with the factory over quite a long period of time to try and buy all of the kits. I was then planning to build them and sell them on. The only problem with the kits at the time is that the windows and windscreen (clear plastic parts) were not the best quality and would really need remoulding. This was not a big job, more of a pain in the bum.
From memory Lee Noble and the factory wanted quite a bit of money for the kits themselves and the rights to sell the models using the Noble brand name, and at the time I could not see any real chance to make any money out of it.
The modelmaker who made the orginal mould was a great guy and had even started some work for me on a second run of kits to enable me to sell models of the GTO 3R. Sadly this never got finished as I could not some to an agreement with the factory about price.
Luckily I still have two Noble M12 models, one of these is a fully assembled model of a Silver M12, and the second one is a unassembled kit (although the body has been painted red). I will get some pics of the model and kit in the next couple of days and post them here if anyone is interested.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Tim
I did some work on this very subject about 4 or 5 years ago when Simon Hucknall was the PR guy at the Noble factory. Essentially they had gotten together with a local model maker (think the guy worked for the Games Workshop at the time)and he had measured the Noble M12 from front to back and made a mould to enable Resin 1/18 scale cars to be made.
These models would be supplied in either Kit form or 'ready built' and could be hand made to match any particular car. I think from memory they had approximately 300 kits at the factory and I was negotiating with the factory over quite a long period of time to try and buy all of the kits. I was then planning to build them and sell them on. The only problem with the kits at the time is that the windows and windscreen (clear plastic parts) were not the best quality and would really need remoulding. This was not a big job, more of a pain in the bum.
From memory Lee Noble and the factory wanted quite a bit of money for the kits themselves and the rights to sell the models using the Noble brand name, and at the time I could not see any real chance to make any money out of it.
The modelmaker who made the orginal mould was a great guy and had even started some work for me on a second run of kits to enable me to sell models of the GTO 3R. Sadly this never got finished as I could not some to an agreement with the factory about price.
Luckily I still have two Noble M12 models, one of these is a fully assembled model of a Silver M12, and the second one is a unassembled kit (although the body has been painted red). I will get some pics of the model and kit in the next couple of days and post them here if anyone is interested.
Hope this helps.
Regards
Tim
Very interesting.
So what you're saying is, is that there are probably just under 300 Noble kits gathering dust on a shelf somewhere! Such a shame, especially now that areas such as windows are a bit easier to achieve now with newer materials and techniques.
Reminiscent of the Jordan 192 models with the Barclay sponsorship on the side that sat in the Jordan factory for quite a while, I'm led to believe.
Would love to see some pics.
So what you're saying is, is that there are probably just under 300 Noble kits gathering dust on a shelf somewhere! Such a shame, especially now that areas such as windows are a bit easier to achieve now with newer materials and techniques.
Reminiscent of the Jordan 192 models with the Barclay sponsorship on the side that sat in the Jordan factory for quite a while, I'm led to believe.
Would love to see some pics.
Edited by Red Firecracker on Saturday 17th January 08:45
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