tim boyd

Duplicate post; sorry...TB

Danno....thx for the comments and questions. Those pods were called "sponsons" if I am remembering correctly. They were typically found on drag racing boats, but not the ski boats. The idea was that they would help the hull rise above the water and sort of "capture" air beneath to mostly eliminate the friction of the water and be able to go faster. Worked a trick until something got unstable underneath and then....look out. I'm sure there are those reading this thread who can provide more details and add to or correct the above explanation. As for how the boat equipped with the sponsons got off the trailer...good question....perhaps it was "floated" off the trailer as suggested above...or perhaps more likely, there might have been a dedicated trailer with features accommodating clearance for the sponsons that AMT omitted from their single kit trailer. Best...TIM

Coming together oh so nicely!!! TB

I've been slowly going through my built models and posting them at my fotki site. In doing so, I had forgotten the level of detail I'd invested in this project. It dates back from 1984 or 1985, just after Monogram released their NASCAR kits. It might even have been built from one of the test shots Monogram sent me, and I recall it being the subject of a column in Popular Cars magazine (a Car Craft mag from the publishers of Street Rodder). I don't believe it has even been seen in color outside of my house until now.... Highlights include the really neat blown Boss 429 from the Monogram "Vandal" and "Vanbulance" custom van kits and a graphic layout from a series of 1/144th scale airline decals that I bought from the legendary San Antonio Hobby Shop (IIRC) near San Jose, CA back in the day. A few minor adaptations for the street included head and taillamps and a license plate. At the time my 1/1 scale rides were a 1983 Heritage T-Bird with the TRX package, followed by a 1984 T-Bird Turbo Coupe. As there was never a factory stock kit of either of these, this model was the closet I could get there in scale. And to think now I built it nearly 40 years ago...how time flies. Thanks for looking...TIM

Hi Chris....that's the way the kit came. Interesting observation, now I need to dig out all my old magazines with drag and ski boat articles and see what the norm was back in the 60's when this kit was first engineered.....thanks for asking. TIM

No insider info here, but I would bet there are many other potential kit cloning ideas that would rank higher than a reboot of the 1963 Rayson Craft kit. Apparently boat kits in 1/25th have never been particularly strong sales subjects, which is why there have been so few original tools built, and so few reissues over the ensuing decades. Not that I wouldn't love to see the Rayson Craft kit come back some day, but sadly my guess is it would never happen.... Good news, if there is any on this one, is that you can piece toether a Rayson Craft model by buying a glue bomb and restoring it by using some of the parts that were shared with the Kindsvater kit that is being reissued now. That's exactly how I built both of these IIRC.... TB

AMT has created 2 1/2 boat tools...#1 - the original 1960 Trophy Series 3 in 1 with stock, custom, and race versions, which has been reissued a number of times, #2 - the 1963 Rayson Craft Trophy Series kit, which sadly has never been reissued, and #2 1/2 - the 1968 "Hull Raiser" which was a major modification/update of the Rayson Craft kit with an all-new Kindsvater boat hull and the engine converted from an FE to a SOHC V-8, with reduced build options vs. the Rayson Craft. This later version included reissues with a 1968 Firebird custom-only tow vehicle in 1968, the original Aqua Rod with the Chevy Van around 1975, the Model King reissue with the MPC 1970 Bonneville convertible tow vehicle around 2005, and this updated Aqua Rod reissue in 2023. If I m recalling correctly, all these AMT boat kits were illustrated and discussed in my boat kit article in Model Cars mag around 2005 or so....TB

Some interesting comments on the Aqua Rod kit.... * The new, second graphic treatment is derived from the original c. 1975 or so AMT kit catalog announcement illustration of the kit. That graphic treatment never made the very abbreviated decal sheet that actually appeared in the original Aqua Rod kit. I suggested they look at adding the catalog graphic treatment for the decal sheet for this reissue and they actually did it! Bravo to John G, Steve G. and the Round 2 team. * In an article on 1/25th scale drag and ski boars in Model Cars mag about 15 or so years ago, I revealed that the boat hull was a dead ringer for the 1/1 scale Kindsvater boat of the mid to late 1960's. But it was never referenced as such until this new kit release, which actually confirms the Kindsvater connection (see the side panel art in the December Round 2 video). (Prior kit releases did not specify the brand of the boat hull). * In preparing for this release, John G. had all the gates opened in the boat tool to see what if any of the original 1963 Rayson Craft Trophy Series kit content might still be present. Answer - virtually nothing except the parts that carried over for the 1968 "Hull Raiser" kit and its subsequent combo kit releases. Don't know about you guys, but I am sure looking forward to this one....TIM

Further to James' point, to the best of my knowledge, Dave Metzner himself builds the Moebius box art models. Dave is a really, really busy man with all the Moebius projects he is currently overseeing, of which some underway are not known to most of the hobby yet. I am sure he invests the best amount of available time to build his box art models in combination with all the other responsibilities and activities that account for his time. Think of it this way - would you rather see that molding painted in, or know that the same amount of time was being invested in bringing the next Moebius car or truck replica tool to the market a little quicker or with a little more refinement? In that context, I think we can forgive a lack of painting in a window molding. That's my view, but I acknowledge that others will see this differently, and that is fine, too. TB

What James said. That's the way it was in the 1970's when I did box art and national annual sales meeting display models for AMT, and pretty much the same today from what I hear. Dave Darby can probably add further insight on this. Plus, the pay (as an hourly rate) is very minimal, too. TB

Jim...the 340 stayed for the whole model year 1973. The E58 360 was 1974 and later. I ordered mine in early October, it was built in Windsor and delivered in early December, 1973. I think it was one of the first 360's down the production line. Generally Mopars with buckets and automatics had a column shift unless a console was ordered. My '73 Duster 340 that I traded in on the RR had buckets, no console, and a column shift. I really didn't like that very much, which was a contributing factor (though not the only one) in my decision to order the RR one year later... The thng I liked best about the '73/'74 SSP was the moldings that went all around the DLO (daylight opening) of the side glass....the Sebring (notSSP) didn't have that feature. TB

Correct amundo back at 'ya. In fact I would have ordered the power windows had I known they made the rear windows operable instead of fixed. Not only would that have made my RR a true hardtop, but being able to roll down the rear windows in conjunction with the "Strato air vent" option (or whatever they called it, which was otherwise useless) it would have made for a poor-man's A/C (yes, I passed on that option on my car. I did, however, order the tach, tuff steering wheel, console/shifter, speed control, and radio delete (as referenced above). I didn;t learn about the power window factoid until many years later, BTW. TB PS- yep, that was Bill Coulter. Went on to write many articles for SAE and Model Cars Mag, plus a number of books on modeling too.

The Satellite Sebring Plus was available in 1973 and 1974; it was a very sharp piece. In fact, I would have preferred it over my RR, but you could not get the E58 360 4bbl in the SSP, which was a "fatal flaw" for me. Plus a RR with the interior Decor Group was almost the same as the SSP, and the price was noticeably lower. TB

Thanks John for posting the 1974 data. I ordered the Exterior Decor Group on my '74 RR which apparently was also the source of the trim ring upgrade. I recall that many of the 1/1'73 and '74 RR's out there had the Exterior Decor Group, but some did not and still had the trim rings. As you said, maybe a dealer upgrade, maybe assembly line mistakes, but I clearly recall this as I thought the lack of trim rings on the 1969 GTO Judge was a really dumb move on their part, and that view carried over to other manufacturers who did the same thing later, including mother Mopar on the Duster Twister and Dart Demon/Sport equivalents.... TB PS - Bill Coulter - yes that Bill Coulter - also owned a factory ordered '74 RR 318 with factory duals (as I recall, the 318 duals was rated at 170 net hp vs. 150 for the single exhaust non-RR 318)....Bill's was an automatic, also black with both exterior and interior decor groups like mine but with white stripes; quite a show in Tom Woodruff's Jackson Center OH driveway when we both met there for models meets prior to the start of the NNLs...you can just get a glimpse of his RR in the background of the middle picture here... PPS = my '74 RR E58 about six months after I took delivery in December of 1973....and just before the first of several sets of mags ...