tim boyd

According to the kit's original engineer/designer, the design brief for the kits called for replicas of 1/1 scale hot rods that are capable long-distance drivers, like the rods built by Roy Brizio. Even today, most of those have Ford diff/rears on coil overs, as they are the most reliable, smooth riding, and non-noisy choice out there. Meanwhile, the "Traditional Hot Rod" movement was gaining steam as these kits were in the design phase, and for those, Halibrand quick changes on transverse leafs were the popular choice, in spite of some 1/1 scale operational drawbacks. So the scale hot rod Model A's came with the Ford diffs. If I had designed the kits, I'd have gone for the Halibrand/Leaf Spring setup. But as you say, it's still a 9 out of 10, and for those of us who want a 10/10 model, swapping in such a rear driveline is fairly easy to accomplish.....TIM

Hey Pete...just saw this. Looks really, really sharp. Congrats.....TIM

Got my latest issue in the mail yesterday. Major feature on the original Uncertain T and the clone built in New Zealand and shown at 2019 SEMA. And some new info about Steve Scott and the original car, plus a little new news on the original model kit origins. TIM

X2. subscriber since the second issue. This magazine consistently has authoritative, in depth info you won't find on the internet. Highly, highly recommended. TIM

Well,,,,,in 40+ years of writing about model cars, I've been called many things, but this is the first time I ever recall being called "Hypocritical" in a public forum. Ironically, at certain times that's what I've privately thought while reading comments that put import kitmakers on a pedestal reading "those who can do no wrong" while continually bashing (sometimes with full justification, other times not so much) the domestic kitmakers. You wanna talk about one piece blobs of chassis detail found in domestic kits tooled in the 1960's? OK, fine, let's compare those to the import kitmakers' "kits" tooled in the 1960's.....yes....those incredibly poorly rendered, distorted blobs with battery powered engines.....not today's newly tooled kits from all the kitmakers, be they domestic or imported. Incorrectly flipping the inner door structure ribbing on the '30A Coupe kit....well, that's a far more relevant comparison, although in my own view it doesn't quite match up to omitting an entire upper engine and engine compartment structure. Getting basic body proportions wrong...well now that's a pretty major fail that deserves every bit of criticism that applies. That makes it much less likely that a given kit will be built...just as an omitted engine compartment also makes it less likely a kit will be built (at least by some of us). Guys, I respect and even cherish the various views expressed here, and am greatly encouraged that this forum brings a voice to a diverse group of younger (relatively speaking) model builders who bring much needed fresh perspectives to our hobby. One of those perspectives is that clearly that some (or even many?) of you do not place the value on completely detailed innards - specifically in the engine compartment, that some others of us others do. Fine, viva la difference! And i am not going to begin to suggest that Revell, Round 2, Moebius or anyone else for that matter, consistently belongs at the top of the kitmaker pile. I also wish to acknowledge my appreciation for today's imported kitmakers, particularly so Tamiya, for their vast range of modeling kit topics (including some subjects that the domestic kitmakers should have, but declined to, put into kit form), the new techniques and innovations that they have brought to the hobby and the art of kitmaking, the assembly quality and fit/finish they achieve, and their unwavering support of the publications that chronicle kit building in all its forms. There is no doubt that they have been a great contributor to the success of model car building. But they, nor any of the kitmakers of this world, are above criticism when the shoe fits. And in this case, the lack of an engine compromises what this kit could have accomplished for the hobby and for the kitmaker, not to mention those of us builders out there who still believe that for the price these kits demand, they should be complete in every detail. In this forum, I readily acknowledge that I am clearly in the minority in this view, but this is my strongly held belief and I will stick to it until the day I die. Nevertheless, I acknowledge the right of other members of this forum to express their strongly held views as well. I hope we can continue this discussion, but hopefully without name calling going forward. Best to everyone...TIM

You guys already know how I feel about this so I will make it short and brief It amazes me that once again Tamiya gets a breather for omitting the engine - arguably the single most important part of a race car - from this kit. Sorry, a few pieces depicting what looks like an engine from underneath does not even get close to cutting it in my book. The rest of the kit looks just great - but without the engine it is just becomes a huge fail, and a huge missed opportunity not only for us kit builders, but for the kitmaker as well. TIM

Heh Atin....noticed your last name.....are you any relation to someone named Harish Mistry? I worked him during my career at Ford. At the time (over 15 years ago), he was working in Land Rover's design organization at Gaydon. If you are related, please tell him I said "hello".....TIM .

Most of you already know this, but I don't see it specifically mentioned in this thread. So for those that do not it, Round 2 recently retooled some of the parts that were missing for the Kart, and included all the entire Kart parts from the 1962 annuals and the 1963 F100 kit (except for the Bonneville shell and wheels/tires) in their recent 2019 reissue of the AMT/Ertl 1960 Chevrolet Apache kit. As for the kart's Bonneville shell and wheels/tires, a betting man would suspect that they will reemerge in some form from Round 2 in the future. TIM

Andy, there is not a firm date from Revell at this point for the Coupe release. From what I hear, the most probably accurate speculation (and speculation is all it is) would be early 2021. See my answer to Brian's post as to why the Roadster kit remained available after the Coupe production stoppage. TIM

The coupe and roadster kit shared roughly 75-80% of the tooling. My understanding is that whatever caused the production shortfall (insert your favorite theory here) applied to the entire tool, not just the Coupe portions. Stated another way, Revell could not have run the the roadster version without the entire tool being intact. The roadster kit did seem to be readily available for a while after the Coupe issue sold out, but I suspect that was due to selling out the roadster kit stock that was already in the distribution system, not another production run of the roadster after the coupe production stoppage Brian, that's my best understanding. I don't expect we will ever hear an explanation directly from Revell on all this, but the above is my best understanding of the situation.....Cheers.....TIM

This flyer was in some MPC car kits around 1970. Apparently it has been reissued during the Round 2 era, presumably due to the sci-fi interest. Pretty interesting late 1960's vision for manned interplanetary exploration, eventually missed by decades and still not on the plate 50 years later....TIM

Casey.....based on discussions with both the kit's designer and the team (at the time the kits were under development) at Revell.....the answer is "no". TIM

Guys....keep buying those 1960's pickup kits and I think this one just might come to pass. Personally I'd prefer to see a '67/'68 out the door first, but it does seem the majority seems to prefer the later ones in that truck cycle. BTW, I know a lot of you no longer look at either of the model car mags, but you may want to make an exception right now as there is an eight page kit history of Chevy and GMC full size pickups in the current issue of the other mag.... TIM

Images comparing the AMT and Revell '29A bodies. Like most of you, had it been my choice I would have retained the stock rear wheel openings. In fact, this was the first thing I noticed when Revell sent me the first round test shots in February, 2014. I never got an entirely clear explanation, but my takeaway was two points. In the early 2000's, there were several high end hot rod builds that moved the rear fender openings upward, and this may have influenced the project. Second, I suspect there was a desire for the opening to match up with the locations of the rear tire OD in both the Highboy and Channeled build versions. As for the firewalls on both the '29A Roadster and '30A Coupe, my understanding is that there were two different positions here - the desire of the kit designer to be true to the 1.1 scale original, vs. the desire of the kitmaker to retain the possibility of the addition of hoods to future kit updates. In this case the kitmaker had the final decision. Again, not the choice I would have made, but in comparison to how much good there is in these kits, really it is a minor nit. Comparison photos for your viewing follow below. TIM

Russell....that came out great! Congrats.....btw what color is the paint? It is perfectly matched to the build era of your model...…. TIM

Thanks guys for the comments....much appreciated. TIM

Claude,...you're most certainly welcome. Cheers...TIM

In some ways, the Revell body is actually more accurate of the two. One example is the ribs inside the rear fenderwell. AMT got it wrong, Revell got it right. The best of course would be to combine elements of both bodies.....just my 2 cents.....TIM

After all these years, finally got around to photographing my scale Corvette model collection. 118 photos, almost all new studio photography, of my 10 Corvette models build over the last nearly 50 years. Each model includes chassis, engine, and interior (if visible) images. Some are detailed kit builds, others are kitbashes. Basic descriptions of the models in the first ten album photos. Hope you like 'em, and thanks for looking....TIM C1, C2, and pre-Catalyst C3 Corvette models album Here's a preview of each model....

Extensive portfolio of about 30 Model Car Events here....including NNL Nats from the last 10+ years with all builders identified......have fun! Cheers....TIM https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/model-car-events-co/

x3 what Keyser said....TIM

Great News, James, thanks for the update! TIM

Thanks Danno...as of this afternoon they have now found a usable box....so they are all set. Thanks for your offer, though.......…...TIM

AMT LaFrance "Ladder Chief" kit in good or better condition? If so, Round 2 would like to borrow it so that they can use it to recreate the original box art and packaging for this kit, for a reissue release planned for the next few months. They already asked me, and several others that regularly help them with this type of request, and we've all come up short (my oldest was the c.1975 release with the Ladder Chief in Firetruck Lime against a white background, and the don't want to use that version for the new release), nor do they want to use the one with the red truck against a white background. . The original box art that they are seeking was the Ladder Chief in illustrated in red in a firefighting scene. Typically Round 2 would send you materials to pack the box up and ship it to them at no cost to you, and then you get the box back a few month later no worse for the wear (and I can firsthand vouch that is how it has worked for me on the boxes I have loaned to them). You don't get paid per se, but you do have the satisfaction of knowing that you helped to recreate an original-type AMT kit that model builders and collector can acquire the kit once again in new condition. If you have an original issue (1972 ish) one that you'd be willing to loan to Round 2, please send me a personal message at the "funman1712@aol.com" email addy and I will pass your name and contact info onto the project manager at Round 2. Thanks....TIM

Yep, didn't mean to suggest that they could be restored to stock. To add to Mark's point, AMT's new President at the time, Tom Gannon, was a hard-nosed businessman who according to several people I've interviewed over the years probably saved AMT from going out of business. The Modified Stockers series was an attempt to redeploy unused assets to generate new sales revenue. The other alternative was to scrap these old tools for tax writeoff purposes. That's what happened to other old tools like the AMT 1963 F100 and Apache pickup tools. TIM