tim boyd

Thanks Robert...did you see the purple horn in the engine compartment photo? (It is just barely visible in the lower left of the photo, ahead of the radiator wall structure and forward of the alternator). That old Testors light purple color is very close match to the real thing! Wasn't able to do the little 1/1 horn decal , though, that said something like "Voice of the Road Runner".... Cheers...Tim

I'm sure Amazon will restock quickly. I also suspect (but don't know for sure) that the reason it shows temporarily out of stock is because of all you guys who pre-ordered yours and essentially used up all the copies in their first order from the Publisher. The book is definitely here now, I just got my own author's copies last night, delivered by the CarTech warehouse in SE Michigan. Best....TIM PS - thanks for all the pre-orders, guys, you rock! TB

Ricky....no, sadly it rusted away in good old Michigan. I kept it for 16 years, putting 140,000 miles on it. Mechanically it was bulletproof, the only non-recurring maintenance item was that the intake had to be pulled and have the carbon deposits scraped/chipped out of the heat riser crossover. Body wise, it was BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH. Visible rust on the rear quarters after three years, did a complete repair job, that lasted only another two years, then started again. Eventually the floorboard gave way. Gave it to a Service Manager at one of my Lincoln Mercury dealers in St. Louis who was a closet Mopar enthusiast; he wanted it for his kids to drive around a makeshift racetrack he had at his farm! Before I started working for Ford in 1978, I was 100% a Mopar guy who hated the "railroad tie" bumpers on most Fords back then. But Ford offered an excellent career path, and they made me a job offer (Chrysler chose not to). Then came the 1979 Fox Mustang (I ordered a Ghia 2-door with a 5.oL 4 speed manual)...and then the 1983 1/2 T-Bird Turbo Coupe, then all the great stuff that came later. So essentially 100% Ford since 1979....smile. And thanks for the comment on the build! TIM .

For the first and only time since the c.1966 initial release of the MPC 1932 Imperial Eight Convertible kit, Round 2 has restored the 1927 Indian Ace to the kit contents. Not only that, they've completely redone the clear parts tree and redesigned the motorcycle wheels spoke pattern to a more accurate rendition of the real thing. Shown below is the original 1966 kit, along with the brand new August 2020 reissue featuring all new and very detailed box art. In addition to the parts for a very nicely rendered 1932 Imperial Eight convertible, MPC included all the "Gangbusters" parts for a Gangster getaway car and a police car build version. While you can see a small amount of flash on some of the parts trees, I didn't see any on the critical parts of the kit. The engraving on this kit is really exceptional, as seen in the tiny logos of the wheel hub covers and the super-accurate engraving of the seat surfaces. The December, 2005 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine has an excellent 13 page full color story on the 1931, 32, and 33 Imperial 8 lineup; well worth searching out if you need subject reference material. The motorcycle, while fairly simple in its construction, yields a very detailed replica of a 1927 Indian Ace (some experts feel it is the nearly identical Henderson Ace). Don't let the spoked wheel execution scare you; it actually comes off pretty well, as you can see from a slightly modified example I built up a few years ago from an old eBay.com gluebomb kit (this build does not show the new, improved spoked wheel parts). Not to mention it's a perfect candidate for a scale "Race of Gentlemen" theme entry. A the link below, I've also included 12 overall and detail shots of a similar 1/1 scale 1930 Indian Ace from the 2018 Concours of the Americas at St. Johns a few years ago. I wish there was more interest in the modeling community about Classic Era model kits. Whether from MPC, Monogram, Jo-Han, or even the Heller and Italeri kits, they're all exceedingly well detailed and yield very eye catching replicas. They were the "Fujimi Enthusiast Series" kits of their era of 1960's and 1970's model kit tools (Terry Jessee did a very thorough and informative kit history on all these many years ago in the other model magazine, it's an excellent reference). Why not give one a try, especially now that the new Round 2 reissue of the MPC Imperial is available once again? Click this link for 53 images of the new kit, a built example of the kit's vintage motorcycle, and overall and detail shots of a similar 1.1 scale vintage bike. Thanks for looking....TIM Disclaimer: For this reissue, I helped Round 2 with their research in trying to locate the motorcycle clear shot parts on the original tooling, and also provided reference photography of a real 1/1 motorcycle similar to that in the kit. I purchased the kit with my own money from one of the well-known mail order model kit retailers. TB

Just a heads-up that as of today, Friday August 28, the book is showing temporarily sold out at Amazon.com. They will probably restock soon, but you can order now from CarTechBooks.com. It will also soon be available at modelroundup.com, AutoWorld.com, and the Model Cave in Ypsi, Michigan, among others. TIM

David...always happy to help..... All new build of a 1974 Road Runner E58 360 - a detailed replica of my real 1.1 Cheers...TIM

This is my 1/25th scale replica of my own factory ordered 1/1 scale 1974 Road Runner code E58 360 Hi-Po V8. It was built during the last two months, and completed a week ago today. The model uses the original c/1974 MPC kit body, combined with the chassis/suspension/engine compartment of AMT/Ertl's 1971 Charger R/T, a kitbashed E58 engine based on the 340 Wedge in AMT/Ertl's 1971 Duster 340, and lots of other kit sourced parts along with Revell 1932 Ford Street Rod kits big/n/bigger tires with aftermarket "B.F.Goodrich" rwl decals, and 1971-74 Mopar B-Body "bazooka" exhaust tips from Missing Link. The engine compartment is fully detailed with major emissions plumbing, heater hoses, a Mopar Cruise Control servo, battery cables, throttle return spring, brake booster vacuum hoses, et al. The paint is two coats of Tamiya Gloss Black, rubbed out and waxed (no clearcoat to avoid issues with paint buildup and because factory single stage gloss black looks best, well, without a clear overcoat). One disappointment is that the while the updated Round 2 decal sheet from their latest 2020 reissue included the graphics in red as well as white and black, apparently their vendor did not print a white backing on the outer edge pinstripes of the red "Up and Over' tape stripes, That meant just the center of the red graphics stripes show against the black paint; the outer border stripes are essentially invisible. While Round 2 did include the underlayment white on the matching hood stripes, the register was off making those unusable at all. Thus I returned to the way the car was ordered at the factory - I thought the hood stripes were standard on the Road Runner; they were not. So my car did not have them and it was delivered with just white "360" decals on the side of the hood bulge. So that's the way the model was completed. (I later ordered the hood stripes from the Plymouth Dealer parts department and added them to the real car, as you can see in the pictures of the real car below). I also added the Mopar Accessories decklid rack (sourced from the AMT/Ertl 1972 Corvette, as supposedly the "Tier Two" vendor provided the exact same rack to both GM and Mopar for this application), and lower body rocker moldings (1974 Satellite Sebring Plus parts I ordered from the Plymouth Parts Department). The interior was slightly modified to represent the 1974 vintage Road Runner Interior Decor Group option, and I added to correct "Tuff" steering wheel and the MPC original issue Slap Shift (the Round 2 reissue kit was updated to the 1974 1/2 and later knob style shifter; my early 1974 production car still had the slapper). Also, I added power window switches to the door panels, as with that option all four windows rolled down (with my real car, I did not order power windows as they had been problematic on my Dad's Dodge wagons), and that meant the rear quarter windows were fixed - they did not roll down. Had I known that, I would have added this upgrade as I ordered my car without Air Conditioning and the "Upper Level Ventilation" (aka "Strato Vent") option I did order was essentially useless. This is a model I've planned, well, since November of 1973 when I took delivery of the real car. I waited because until recently, there were no really accurate body graphics in scale in the correct shade of red along with fully correct "road runner" graphics in the C-pillar area. I wish the Round 2 decal sheet issue hadn't occurred (the red stripe would probably still work OK on a car painted white, but not so on other 1974 paint colors that could be ordered with the red stripe, including Silver Frost Metallic and Lucerne Blue Metallic. BTW, those (at the time) mega-buck G-60-15 and H-60-15 BGF's on the real car were the prize (....you just can't make this stuff up....) for my 2nd Place Nationwide finish in the 1976 MPC Customizing Contest series!) There's no way I could have afforded to buy those on my own back then, what with also facing car/insurance payments and college expenses). Overall, I'm happy with the result and happy to share it with you now. And a big tip of the hat to several builders on the various model car boards and forums, including James Tester, for their ideas on how to pull of this conversion. And to Dave Darby for his ideas on how to paint headlamp lenses that he shared with me a while back. Seven more pictures below, and thanks for looking! TIM

Steve....fully agree with your comments on Norm's Ford Flathead Hot Rod Parts; I have most of them in my stash. You are also correct that Rik mastered a number of the parts, and that the Thickstun heads were popular for Marine racing, in that (as I understand it) the did an excellent job of sealing the sparkplug wires from shorting out due to water. I was saving the Thickstun head for another Boyd boat model, but never got around to building it, and this model needed an eyecatching engine....so....voila! Meanwhile, your engine above looks super sharp! Thanks for posting....TIM

Wow....yet another Model Cars project close to my heart. As my own first new car was a 1973 Duster 340, bought off the floor at Highland Chrysler Plymouth in Grand Rapids in late December, 1972. Mine was Silver Frost metallic (a silver gray with a lot of flake) with a blake interior and stripes, no vinyl roof, and the Space Duster package. Within a few months I had added factory chrome wheel lip moldings, G70 14 RWL Goodyears in back to go with the E70's in front, cranked the t-Bars down in front, and was running 14x6/14x7 Appliance Aluminum wheels. I've had the MPC kit set set aside for what....47 years now....maybe one day I will finally get it built. Meanwhile, I did just finish another model of the new car I bought a year later, using the Duster as my trade in....a factory ordered 1974 Plymouth Road Runner E58 360 hi-po..... Good luck Curtis with yours....it's looking really good so far....TIM

According to David Dale who pre-ordered his copy a few weeks ago, he received a notice yesterday from the seller that the book is now in stock and his copy is on its way to him. Good news! Thanks everyone for your interest, and especially thanks to all of you who pre-ordered the book! Cheers...>TIM

Thanks again, everyone, for your comments and feedback on the Extreme "Z'ed" '31A tudor, as well as my several older Model A PIckups. Just wrapped up a different major build project; now have some home issues and projects to deal with, then hope to get back to this one and get 'er wrapped up ASAP. Best regards...TIM

I too have had eye issues, in part due to my near-sightedness. Floaters, staring in college, have become extensive over the years. Eyesight deteriorated to 20/200, though it has come back about 30% (to 20/140) over the last few years. Started losing ability to read up close while wearing contacts about 20 years a, and soon discovered that some of my models built over the several years prior, while wearing contacts, didn't have the best quality of workmanship, especially in paint detailing. More recently, early stages of cataracts though apparently nowhere needing surgery at present. Finally, started experiencing flashes in one eye in December, which I had been told to see an Opthamologist immediately if it ever happened due to my nearsightedness and floaters. I did the following Monday, was immediately referred to a Retina Specialist and ended up having retinal laser surgery that afternoon, having experienced a retinal tear in my right eye. All this as the pull-ahead due date for completing my book project was just days later. Then the same thing happened with my left eye in early March; again retinal eye surgery the same day. No further deterioration but floaters remain a big distraction. Doctors all told me my model building was not a cause of the eye issues. Took a while to get back to modeling but I did, having completed several projects since then. Big help was getting some flip-down magnifying lenses from Micro-Mark. Bottom line, see eye doctors as least once a year, try magnifying lenses or fixtures of various types until you find one that works for you, and take care of your eyes no matter what, even if it does mean stopping modeling. TIM

Dennis....yep, another great DL project coming home.....needless to say, I so agree with your approach to using different paint finishes to arrive at a realistic appearance! Good luck with final assembly....TIM

Guido....that sounds right. It was so, so long ago. But it almost has to be that one....North side of Ford Road east of Wayne, right? TIM

What John said about the Hamtramck Registry. It's a priceless resource once you figure out how to navigate the website. TB

John....my all time Holy Grail car is a 1971 Charger SE with a 383 Magnum or 440 Magnum, buckets with console, Tachometer in the Rallye Gauge Cluster, and the F-60-15/15x7 Rallye setup. I always preferred a little more understated appearance combined with a few luxury touches and a killer powertrain combo under a (non-scoop) hood. And of course, Dodge was my favorite make until I started my career at Ford. Before I bought my new 1973 Duster 340, I looked at a two year old 1971 Charger SE with a 383 4-speed. The owner said it was a originally Chrysler "brass hat" (executive lease) car. I was concerned about the expense of clutch replacements (I was a college student at the time), so I passed and went for the new car instead. According to Galen, there were just 29 1971 Charger SE's built with the 440 Magnum and 4-speed. About fifteen years or so ago, I called on a 1971 Charger SE 440 auto for sale that had all the right stuff except for the paint I can't remember the exact details; but I think the car was 1971 Gunmetal metallic (the feature color that year for Charger SE's, but NOT a favorite for me); and he had switched the vinyl roof color somehow (from black to white???) when he had it restored. Otherwise it was complete, including the SE bumper outline moldings and the SE molding along the front pan beneath the bumper. I recall him wanting $30k at the time, which was no steal, but probably a reasonable price then, it if was as he represented. Still being incredibly busy with my career at the time, I passed. A few years later, a similar car appeared on the cover of Mopar Collector's Guide, a burned up hull. Sadly, it was the same car. Apparently the wiring harness caught fire where it entered the interior (apparently a known issue with 1971-74 B-bodies), and he didn't have a fire extinguisher. He said he might try to rebuild it, but that would have been a real challenge. Don't know what happened to it. The late "Viper Dave" on another board had a dark green '71 Charger SE he bought new, I can't recall if it was a 383 or 440 magnum, but it was really nice. HIs had the 14x6 Goodyear Polyglas tires on the Mopar Road wheels. Don;t know if it is still in the family after he passed. The only other one I've seen was a Dark Gold (can't recall the exact name and I'm away from my reference library right now) SE with a Gold roof and interior; I presume it was one of the Magnum engines based on the Bazooka exhaust tips. It was in nice unrestored condition, sitting in the parking area of the Meadowbrook Concours also around 2005 or so. But it wasn't for sale. And yes, I have been collecting parts to build a model of my dream '71 Charger SE. For years though I have not been able to come up with the preferred color combo to use..... As for the 360 E58, I totally concur with your comment. It didn't wind at the top end like my '73 Duster 340, but my '74 E58 Road Runner had low and mid range torque that Duster 340 could only dream of, in spite of being in a considerably heavier body. It was a great, and to this day still largely unsung, effort by Mother Mopar to preserve and continue their performance heritage in the hostile mid 1970's. Thx for jogging the memories....TIM

Ever since the 1970 model year, I've wished for one of those "340" package Challengers. I only ever remember seeing one at a dealership that year, on Ford Rd. in Westland, Michigan if I am remembering correctly. Seemed to me the perfect combo of non-embellished Challenger style combined with the best overall powertrain (always thought the 340 was better than the 383 Magnum; the E58 360 better than the 400 4bbl), upgraded suspension, and all that combined with a smaller price tag (every dollar counted back then!) Thx for activating the memories! TIM.

If I am recalling correctly, the 383 4 bbl non-Magnum (330 gross hp. vs. 335 for the Magnum) was an option for non-R/T 1970 Challengers....and those Challengers came standard with non-scoop hoods....TIM

Thanks guys....also great to hear about your Mopar models and real cars....and those '71/'72 Mustangs....which were and remain today my most favorite of the pre-"Mustang II" early Mustangs. I've got two of those partially built....an AMT 1971 Mach 1 in Grabber Lime with the dark green interior ....and an MPC 1972 Mach 1 in Bright Lime with the white with black interior. The '71 needs a 429 Cobra Jet (from the Revell 1970 Torino/Cobra Kit) and the '72 needs a 351 Cleveland (from the Revell 1970 Mach 1 kit)....someday I'll get back to those two....TIM

Scoop detail....the kit will have four different hood scoop layouts and two hoods to facilitate them. Don't know which ones are correct for the Jenkins Pro-Stocks, but they're all four there. Here are some pics from the kit preview I posted at my Fotki site a few weeks ago.... . TIM

Always glad to serve! Thx for the compliment, too! Cheers....TIM

Tom....I think this is the one that you are talking about....but this one was a Scale Auto Enthusiast article from what I recall....so..... So maybe it was this one, which was a Street Rodder Modeler's how-to series..... This one got finished to the point of a complete chassis and suspension, but never got to the engine. Many more photos of both are available at this link.... thanks for asking....TIM

What Tom said. There are a number of other R&M of MD hot rod flathead Ford parts on that engine as well....including the clear fuel pump bowl which you can just barely make out in the photo at the back of the engine. When finished it will will be wearing the R&M of MD Thickstun air cleaner atop those carbs....TIM

.....Revell '31 Model A Tudor sedan with interior adapted from the "skeleton" interior parts from the channeled version of Revell's 1930 Model A Five Window kit along with a real wood floorboard. The fully detailed and wired Thickstun Flathead Ford V8 uses parts from Norm's product line. An extremely "Z'ed" frame was modified from the modestly "Ze'd" frame from the channeled chassis version of the REvell 1929 Model A Roadster and 1930 Model A Five Window Kits. Paint is House of Kolor Clear with multi-colored mini-flakes over black primer, followed by House of Kolor Candy Organic Green. Windshield and backlight also tinted green. This was originally to be a magazine project car, but based on recent developments that no longer appears to be the case. But still hoping to finish the model, maybe later this year. Thanks for looking....TIM PS - this image was posted in response to an e-mail question from MCM Forum member Randy C.

Scott....there have been several discussions about an AMT history book with several reputable authors and at least two possible publishing sources. One of the issues is that AMT's history and kit catalog is immensely larger than those of the companies Mr. Graham has covered so far, so I am not sure that the format he used in the earlier books would work for an AMT history. Right now, my publisher is concentrating on the new book we just announced, to I doubt they'll be interested in something like this for at least another couple years at the earliest. Several of the key original AMT execs are still alive and well, and I briefly interviewed two of them for my new Drag Racing Kits book (though not in anywhere near the detail the subject deserves). I do hope that someday someone (both author and publisher) will take the plunge on this subject, especially as these folks are both (mid 80's to early 90's) and we may not have them around for another decade or longer. TIM PS - Graham's books were helpful resources for several fact checks for my latest book; I completely agree that they're excellent reference materials. And Bob Reder, who was the longtime #2 at Monogram, self-published a book on Monogram's history which was also very informative; unfortunately he passed away years ago and I think finding a copy of that book would be exceedingly difficult. TB PPS - Bob Johnson, the longtime product manager at Monogram and then Revell, is also compiling information from employees of Revell and Monogram, as part of building a further reference source on those two companies, but I don't believe he has near-term plans to publish the info per se, at least at this time. And for many years Dennis Doty was also compiling a reference base on AMT kits, if I am remembering correctly. TB ' r