August 2025 N Scale Release from Wiking

[cfritschle]

Wiking has dusted off some “vintage” tooling from the mid-1980s, and has a new run of a 3-car set consisting of a BMW, a Ford and a Mercedes.  The prototypes for all three models were marketed in North America!  And, I remember how happy I was when these model vehicles arrived at my local hobby shop (Boise actually had a hobby shop that carried N scale vehicle models back in the mid to late 1980s).  At that time, I was trying to move my modeling era from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s, but the newest N scale vehicle models I could find represented late 1960s to early 1970s prototypes.  And if my Wiking tracking spreadsheet is correct, the last time this set was released was in 2004!  Here is the link to the set on Wiking’s website:  https://www.wiking.de/en/shop/drei-klassische-personenwagen.html

My first set is shown in the photo below.  The cars and the years that the prototypes were marketed in North America are from left to right:  1986-95 Mercedes-Benz 260/300 (became E Class in 1993), 1985-87 Merkur XR4Ti (Ford Sierra in Europe, but marketed with the Merkur badge at Mercury dealers in the U.S.), and 1985-87 BMW E Series.


The three models were typical of Wiking “First Generation” N scale tooling.  The three chassis were molded on a single sprue with the non-rolling wheels attached.  The window inserts were clear and colorless plastic blocks, and the bodies were molded in three different colors.

[Mark5]

Although too new for me, this is good news. Especially nice that they didn't "limo tint" (ie color them black) the windows like they did on "recent" legacy releases.

[peteski]

I'm also very happy to see that Wiking decided to go back to clear window inserts in their model windows.
EDIT:
Um, wait  . . . Carter, is the photo your posted of your own models back from the '80s, or is it a photo of the current production run?  The detail painting on them might mean that these are older models. We might be praising Wiking too soon.   

[cfritschle]

I'm also very happy to see that Wiking decided to go back to clear window inserts in their model windows.
EDIT:
Um, wait  . . . Carter, is the photo your posted of your own models back from the '80s, or is it a photo of the current production run?  The detail painting on them might mean that these are older models. We might be praising Wiking too soon.   

Pete,

The photo in the OP is of my set from the 1980s.  However, if you follow the link to Wiking's website, the Mercedes definitely has a clear and colorless window insert.  As for the BMW and Merkur, I am not sure if the window inserts are clear and colorless, but it does look like some light is filtering through those window inserts as well.

[peteski]

Pete,

The photo in the OP is of my set from the 1980s.  However, if you follow the link to Wiking's website, the Mercedes definitely has a clear and colorless window insert.  As for the BMW and Merkur, I am not sure if the window inserts are clear and colorless, but it does look like some light is filtering through those window inserts as well.

Yes, I just looked at the photo you posted. Looking now at the photos on the Wiking page does seem to show a bit of  tinting on the other 2 vehicles.  Still, nothing like the almost opaque dark tint they started using few years ago. Seems they finally came to their senses (maybe due to some pressure from modelers?) It's a great news.