It’s been a journey for sure, but all good things are worth the wait. In July, Kiwi Replicas launched the first 1/64th diecast models in its New Zealand Stock Truck Series.

If the weather gods count for anything, then Kiwi Replicas owner and Model Barn co-owner Jeremy Welsh can be confident of the future. After a horrid week of weather, Saturday, 2 July saw the clouds roll back and the sun shine on the 70 or so guests gathered at the Model Barn premises at Orongo on the Hauraki Plains. They were there for the launch of the first two 1/64th scale diecast model trucks in the Kiwi Replicas New Zealand Stock Truck series.

“After such a journey to get to this day, I didn’t want the models just arriving and then filtering out. I wanted to mark the occasion, something simple that we can replicate to make each release a thing of its own,” said Jeremy.

The first 10 models in the nine-axle stock truck series are based on the Volvo FH Globetrotter chassis, with five from each island planned in the liveries of actual Volvo FH Globetrotter stock trucks.

As readers will know (New Zealand Trucking May 2022, Not-so Stock Units), the first two cabs off the rank were Graeme Wright General Carriers of Puriri in the Thames Valley, and Transport Services Ltd (TSL) based in the Southland hamlet of Nightcaps.

“It is just so good to have Graeme Wright and TSL co-owner Wayne Williams here for the launch,” said Jeremy. “It’s a long way to come for Wayne. In fact, it’s as far away as is possible, so he’s set the bar high for future owners.”

None of the models had left the model barn before the event. “It’s only right the first two should go to the owners,” said Jeremy.

At 1pm, with the actual Graeme Wright General Carriers FH16 Globetrotter sitting majestically on-site, Graeme and Wayne were both presented with the first two models, opening the floodgate for sales to commence. As refreshments were served, both owners were available to autograph the boxes, and in some cases the actual models of those who had secured theirs on the day.

At 3pm, Jeremy then announced who the next two in the series would be via a poster reveal.

“It was a great little ceremony, and so rewarding to see the looks on the faces of people as they took delivery of their model. At last, we have a proper nine-axle Kiwi diecast truck.”