no more tammy parts?

[Jnewboy]

Tamiya is discontinuing kits??

[tankme]

Tamiya is discontinuing kits??

Yup, lots of them. Tamiya spares have become really scarce also.

[r32]

Someone asked Tamiya himself at the recent Shizuoka hobby show and he denied there were plans to cease development of the 1/16th scale tank line.

[tankme]

They may be concentrating on smaller scales at the moment which is what is leading to the temporary discontinuance of the 1/16 parts and tanks. Covid did a number on manufacturers. They have discontinued certain tanks and brought them back at a later time.

[r32]

They may be concentrating on smaller scales at the moment which is what is leading to the temporary discontinuance of the 1/16 parts and tanks. Covid did a number on manufacturers. They have discontinued certain tanks and brought them back at a later time.

Yep, the 1/16 tank line is very complex with multiple large parts sprues, use of different materials, not to mention electrics and electronics. Even then, a company needs to survive and they can't keep every of their dozen or so discrete tank models in production or in stock all the time. It occupies a lot of molding capacity that could be better off manufacturing static scale models or children's models, which by virtue of low cost, contribute hugely to turnover.

I feel that Tamiya regard 1/16th RC tank line as one of their flagships, if not their premier product line, where turning a profit is not as important as showcasing their capability and inspiring the next generation of modellers. I know I was, I started out with a wired remote 1/35th scale Abrams and spent a decade and a half on their RC cars, all the while coveting their RC tank models like the Leopard, Gepard and King Tiger. Took me years to finally afford one, and another, and then another......