The FRIULMODEL company intends to close the business, according to an announcement on their website.
This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/friulmodel-is-closing
This is partial text from the full article (usually with photos) at https://armorama.com/news/friulmodel-is-closing
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Read that yesterday … gutted … no Cr1 tracks for me then …
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Likewise saw that yesterday, it’s very very sad news.
It’s hard to imagine AFV modeling without the Fruilmodel option. Their tracks were available ~1980’s, when I returned to hobby. Took until the early 90’s to find a reliable source. From earlier folding hook style to the wire pins have used both styles.
Hopefully, Sector35 or similar will be able to acquire the molds and keep the products available.
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Read this a few days ago on their website. I don’t know what to say. Friul has always been a staple in the hobby, like Aber and Eduard. I thought the business was a lot bigger than that but I guess not. Here’s hoping someone buys the business and continues the line - I know there are alternatives out there but where would we be without good old Friul?
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Personally, I’ve never been a big fan of Fruil. The “weight” did nothing for me as I can achieve the same thing with plastic, resin, and now 3D printed tracks. I also felt that they were crude in detail compared to other options. 20+ years ago, when there were few options available - essentially Fruil and Modelkasten - they had their place. But I don’t think they’ve ever updated molds and they have been overtaken by so many others - the white metal castings from Masterclub, as an example, are so much better in my opinion. And the rise of 3D printing - well, we can all see what is happening there.
But I do cherish the loss of another long term hobby company, although this one won’t hurt me as much as MK35, TMD, Archer, etc.
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I would have to agree totally with what you’re saying. I used them once on a VT-34 conversion I did several years ago and they were very nice. But there are and have been better options for a long time it seems.
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Is there a generational thing happening here? Fruil, TMD, Archer have all been with us for several decades, so their owners are now hitting retirement in an industry of “one man bands” where there is nobody younger to carry on the business. It’s a shame to lose these old friends, but that seems to be the way of it…
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The company didn’t evolve. The quality was always hit or miss, and the clean-up made them less-attractive. It would be nice if someone could come in and improve things. I have purchased hundreds of dollars of Friuls once-upon-a-time, but avoided them in recent years for Master, resin and now 3D printed ones like T-Rex.
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Not surprised. The writing is (has been) on the wall. We’ll be seeing more traditional resin AM producers going away, too. Although Frui was revolutionary and a pioneer, times have changed, and the market is too small. I blame 3D printing for all these legacy AM companies going away.
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I’m not surprised either. Over time, the tooling for any kind of moulded items degrades, and subsequently the quality of castings degrades overtime.
3D printing doesn’t have that issue, as there is no tooling / moulds to wear.
3D printing has its own issues though, the print quality varies wildly between different suppliers. T-Rex seems to always have good quality prints, but on the other hand I have heard that FC Model Trends have a ‘different’ print quality.
However…. oh my lord…… a set of T-Rex tracks from BNA Models seems extreeeeemely expensive at the moment, jaw droppingly high.
To make matters worse, my latest set of T-Rex tracks I can’t seem to get the pins in without breaking something…… definitely not as robust as white metal!!
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I think this is the case Tom, it is a generational thing. It is exactly 30 years ago when the AFV modeling market really exploded and all of these aftermarket companies came on the scene. All basically one-man operations. Now everybody (including us) is at retirement age and simply too tired to maintain a one-man at-home production line and shipping service. It’s inevitable, no matter what the media.
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It really is impressive how the hobby has grown these last few decades. As you and others above have stated the aftermarket biz is 30ish years old, and the products available today were, at best, fantasies way back when. Well, times they are a changin’ - as they continuously do (frustratingly so, on occasion). I look forward to seeing what the new Gen of Aftermarketeers come up with. But I will miss Friuls - usually frustrating, to some degree, to work with, but always happy with the finished product.
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Yes, I found the same- they were usually worth the work. Sad to see them go.
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More than 3D, Friul was killed by the chinese. Rmodel and San Xin made a cheaper metal track sets, very well detailed and far easy to assemble (pre-cutted track pins that simply snaps in place). It´s very sad to say goodbye for a company that make a “before & after” in military modelling (I brought a set only 2 months ago by their website), but this is like life itself: Born, grows, get old… and die.
All I can say: Thanks for the products, the fun, the memories and a happy retirement.
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I’m sorry to see any company go out of business. I think about the family that will be impacted.
That being said. I used their tracks ones, and didn’t like them. After drilling holes and adding wire to link them together, I found I spent as much time building the tracks as I did building the model. And I think I only got 40% of the holes drilled right.
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I have a couple T-Rex Panzer IV set…hate the pins…so…bought 2 sets of R Models Panzer IV metal pins…fits perfectly. I’ll use the plastic ones that come with the Rex set for rivets. 
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I understand the sentiment of the responses. The quality might not always have been the highest, yet Friul had tracks of vehicles no other firm does. Like the Land Wasser Schlepper.
I surely will miss his tracks…
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Fruilmodel’s Quality?
Agreed, it was uneven over the last several years until the owner reestablished total control over the process.
FWIW - The very worst set of Fruilmodel tracks I ever assembled required ~ six hours of extra clean up work, nearly every link required a mild hone to get flash out of the holes or open them up. Yet, that crappy set of Fruilmodel’s was still 10x superior to the best set of new school Link & Length kit tracks I’ve built.
I always felt Fruilmodel provided an excellent alternative, typically superior to what came in the box with most kits but not necessarily the idea track link.
The 3D printed tracks are pretty impressive etc A+.
Of course, we all have our differing preferences.
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I visited their site a while back because they seem to have been the only ones that offered tracks for the Cat D 7 . I robbed some links from one of my kits in the stash for the logging arch scratch build thinking I could replace them with Fruil tracks . I hesitated to order and when I decided to pull the trigger the site said they were closed temporarily due to health reasons. Now it looks like I am too late.
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