tim boyd

Richard.....thanks for the comments on that old Dodge Funny Car entry......long, sad story about that one. Bottom line it's been a pile of parts in a box for just over 50 years.....BUT at the end of January I started repairing and restoring it. I'm not about 75% done. I'll post the whole story (including the sad part) here when I'm done. As for the 1969 Flint and 1970 Detroit contests, the Charger I still have and it is in pretty good condition for being nearly 50 years old and after having been shipped back to me with NO packing materials after the 1970 MPC National finals! The Detroit show 'cuda's chassis was repurposed under a new Mustang body and its in great shape (and displayed in my Fotki photo album). The original 'cuda body, built in just a couple of weeks to be ready for the '70 Detroit contest, self destructed within a month. I too just started restoring that one by removing the 30+ coats of paint. I'll start working on it in earnest after finishing the other one. Thanks again for your comments and interest! TIM

I am hearing from multiple trusted sources that the Dodge pickup kits were ordered by distributors and shops at a much higher volume than Round 2's production plans forecasted. Some shops are getting only 50% or less of what they ordered. Production will eventually catch up with demand, of course, but if you want the kit now, best buy it at the first place you see it. TIM

I'm with you guys as well. Pure simplicity, $29 a month; that's it. A former work colleague told me "Tim, that's not a smart phone, it's a dumb phone". I kinda like that. And I take it as a badge of honor, so to speak! TIM

This one? TIM

Again, my understanding is that the Ranchero business case simply didn't make sense on a standalone basis. The cost for the tooling changes to do an accurate Ranchero turned out to be so expensive that the expected kit sales did not generate a profitable return. Or stated another way, the same financial investment in some other project (either a different tool revision or partial payment for an all-new tool on another subject) would be likely to generate a greater return for the enterprise. Presumably that would still be the case given the new financial situation/reality you've described above. This is my general understanding of what happened....but it is certainly possible that others might have taken away a different understanding,,, TIM

Not to contradict anyone, but Ed told me well before the Hobbico Bankruptcy that they had investigated in depth the possibility of doing a '57 Ranchero, but that there were so many changes to the tool required for an accurate replica that the project became unaffordable. TIM

And as many of you know, many of Phil Jensen's model truck article builds are on display at the International Model Car Museum....TIM

Congrats Mark! That Paul Sable Merc was part of what inspired me to do my full custom chopped Merc (with a correct top shop) that finished 2nd nationwide in the 1976 MPC National Customzing Contest series. I'm encouraged to see the interest in the modeling community for historic topics like this and the ones that Richard acquired a couple of days ago. I've been told by some of the "experts" that this was not a topic of interest to the modeling community, but I've always thought that might not actually be the case. Best of luck on your restorations and new projects relating to this acquisition. TIM

Curt.....way, wAY, WAY cool! Great idea, and great execution, too. Congrats! TIM

Mark....real world, that's most likely what will happen, but very encouraging to know that you like the idea of (not) doing any changes! ****** Everyone - thanks for the comments and feedback! TIM

I'm curious to know where this model display occurred. (Maybe the NNL Milwaukee yesterday???) Having said that, it appears totally legit to me. The AAR project was nearly completed before the Hobbico debacle, as was the '57 Sedan Gasser (which required more tweaking to the base tool than you might imagine, as it turned out). In fact, the AAR was originally planned for a 2017 debut but was sent back for further work/refinement. I've not seen the result (nor do I know exactly what the refinements might have been) but I am very anxious to see the result. Thanks for posting! TIM PS - now we need to get after Revell to finish fixing the '30 Five Window Coupe Hot Rod tool and get THAT back on the market!!!! TB

Richard.....what a FIND!!!! In particular the Phil Jensen Mustang was one of the most ambitious projects to ever appear in that magazine. It is great to see it in such a restorable condition, and to know you are going to finish putting it back together. Funny you should mention this at this time. About 2 1/2 months ago I started a restoration of my Car Model Magazine/MPC/Dodge Funny Car entry that ended up placing fourth nationwide in that contest. It has been in hundreds of pieces since shortly after the contest results were announced, for reasons that I will detail later. After five decades of parts sitting in a box, it's been quite a project to put it back together, and even now I am only 2/3rds of the way through the restoration. That aside congrats again on winning the bidding, and on your pending restorations. Will be watching for updates!!! Tim

Yes please!!! TIM

Actually...the fuel filler cap is on the instructions. Image attached below from my original post which includes all pages of the instruction sheet. Now, as to whether that is produce correct for 1978, I'l leave that to the 1/1 scale Dodge Pickup experts!

No I don't, although I have read his blog for probably 15 years now. Sometimes I agree with him, sometimes I don't, but he is generally more tuned into the reality of the auto industry than many so called "authorities". I did know Matt DeLorenzo, formerly of AutoWeek and then Road and Track. He was one of the very best car journalists I interacted with during my years with Ford SVT and Ford Design. IIRC, Peter and Matt are brothers. TIM

Thanks guys for thanking me for the presentation. So many great builds, and so many great builders, and so many great build ideas! Cheers.....TIM

To quote a well-known 1/1 scale automotive commentator, "notgonnahappen.com". Or at the least, notgonnahappenhow. To further quote an excellent modeler at the show last Sunday, whose feedback also often appears in said commentator's website feedback section, "Be a Modeler". I.E., if it bothers you, fix it yourself. That sounds a little harsh in the written word, but it was funny at the time. You gotta trust me on that. Seriously though, this would be about the most simple fix one could imagine. One square piece of .040" sheet styrene on each side would block the opening. Still, I wouldn't be too surprised to see Moebius fix this on subsequent production runs of the kit. So for that reason alone, thanks for noting it! TIM

That may not be the most current info any more.... don't expect them to appear any time in the near future, but it may be premature as well to conclude they will never appear at all .. TIM .

Darin.....that was certainly my reaction when I first saw this circa 1975, and even more so today after looking at it up close. TIM

Guys......Dave is not the kind of guy who would pull an April Fools stunt like that. Dave said that they are just starting the project, but given that it will reuse a number of parts from the other trailer projects, and that most of the surfaces are flat rather than shaped, he expects it will come together much quicker than some of their car and truck based projects......TIM

...and visual proof/confirmation (again) of prior kits with the mini-bike....as several of you identified the Rupp mini-bike in the new MPC D100 kit as having come from the MPC 1976 (faux) B-Body Road Runner/1977 Dodge Monaco/1978 Dodge Monaco annual kits. I had an MPC 1977 annual kit in my storage unit, so I pulled it out to compare with the new D100 kit.... ….and in these box art side views, you can clearly see that the D100 kit mini-bike (here at the top center) is the same as the 1977 MPC Dodge Annual kit mini-bike (here at the bottom left). Proof positive...and thanks again guys for the feedback/direction....TIM

What Russell said.....also extensive photo coverage of the museum (from a few years back) here.....TIM

And....voila! More on AMT stillborn projects, as revealed earlier today by Tim Rice, who was the model shop manager at AMT during the 1970's....

Latest display at the DAAM Show 31 March 2019....

Dave Metzner of Moebius Models had his usual display at the DAAM show today. At least to my knowledge (I'm sure you guys will quickly correct me if I am wrong), he showed a preview of an upcoming project that I've seen rumors about but never confirmation until now....a 48 foot spilt axle trailer Then...he showed built up prototypes of several members of the future Moebius 1965-66 F100 family.... This is the 4x4 version... These projects will appear on the shelves ranging from probably late April/early May through early 2021....and the speculation is that the first round of production under estimated actual demand, so best to grab at least one the first time you see it, then add in extras as needed later in the productions cycle... A few more images here.... TIM