tim boyd

Tom....see my post just above.....TIM

OK guys, just got a look at the final release an hour or two ago. Of the "missing" parts Casey shows above, the only flares and the fire extinguisher appear to be missing in the new kit. The cement blocks, tire rack, and gas can are on a separately packaged runner (non-plated), while the jack and the trophy top (a miniature 1934 Ford pickup) are on a second, separately packaged small runner of plated parts. And yes the tonneau cover is there as well. The instruction sheet is a rebop of the original c.1962/3 AMT Trophy Series sheet; of the page Casey showed above only the fire extinguisher and flares are missing from the instruction sheet. The instruction sheet also includes the "Kustomizing Hints" attributed to George Barris from the original kit release. The chrome reverse wheels are on a new, separately packaged plated tree; they are slightly simplified in detail vs. the 1936 Ford Round2 kit parts illustrated earlier in this thread. Five wheels are provided (including one for the fender mounted spare). The 1980's style pseudo billet wheels from the Lindberg releases are still there on the large plated parts tree, but not mentioned in the instructions. The decal sheet appears to be largely an enhanced rebop of the original....I believe the colors for the Ford service oval are new on this sheet vs. the original. The tires are five pad printed wide whitewalls. The box itself as illustrated above, is of the typical large Round 2 size, not the narrow/smaller size of the Trophy Series original. The kit is molded in white styrene. Nice to have this kit back in circulation; with some of the original flavor restored, too! TIM

Oliver.....very cool project and how-to photos so far....looking forward to your future progress......TIM

Guys.....just want to clarify that the kit as you see it from Bill's images above is 100% the work of the "old" Revell product development .....this is exactly what I saw (except for the decals and box art) when I visited their "old Revell) offices a little over a year ago. Same with the Boss 302 kit. Also, there were additional spinoffs of existing tools that were well underway at the "old" Revell that have yet to break cover....should they actually materialize we need to make sure the proper team receives the credit. Like many (most?) of you, I had my frustrations with some of the work of the "old" Revell (such as the 1967 Camaro kits), but I also think that that product development team rightfully deserves the credit for the "right" work they did...and I think it is a huge loss to the hobby that the Revell team was disbanded just as they seemed to have reached a new level of competency in their kit development. Just my 2 cents....TIM

For what it is worth, the subject of model car kit box art, how and why it has developed, is addressed in considerable detail (including input from industry insiders) in my latest book...TIM .

Folks....there are many angles to this story. Automotive News, the respected worldwide tabloid covering the auto industry, is a good source on the latest developments (www.autonews.com). One angle being alleged by some, not mentioned in the thread above (and covered extensively in Automotive News) is that the entire episode is a "coup" engineered by Nissan leadership to revisit the terms of the Nissan/Renault/Mitsubishi alliance on terms more favorable to Nissan/Japan. The Wall Street Journal has also extensively reported on this series of events, including speculation that Ghosn was headed to Japan for a Board Meeting where he planned to fire the recently promoted CEO of Nissan. There is probably yet much more to surface on this (on both sides of the issue) in the weeks and months to come. TIM

Bill.....the wheel lips were also at the top of my list. I also included your comments about the intersection of the roof with the leading edge of the C-pillar (at lest I recall you as being the first one to notice that). I've also pondered the location of the body crease vs. the real car.... Given the difficultly of tweaking body tools these days (as explained to me by those who understand the Chinese tooling approach vs. the US/Windsor Canada tooling sources used previously), making even minor refinements to bodies is a far more involved (and expensive) process than it used to be. I'm not expecting much, if any refinements, but hope to be surprised. TIM

Ah....the always observant Luc breaks news once again. This one has been in the works for at least a couple of years....I had provided Revell with an extensive list of possible refinements to the body casting and it will be interesting to see if they incorporated any of them in this latest extension of the kit tool (I was told they would not, but....). TIM

I saw it in built-up form. The front end was much, much better. TIM

John.….and I didn't know that the Air Grabber hood was not available with A/C....don't recall reading that in the Salesperson's Guide info either, but it does make sense and I bet I'd find it listed if looked close enough. What I meant to say on the standard SuperBee tailamps is that, as you mentioned, they were shared with the (base) Charger and Charger S/E (my personal favorite), but when the painted bumper group was ordered on SuperBees, the tailamps were changed to the Charger 500 and R/T lamps, thus meaning that those of us building the AMT/Ertl "SuperBee" kit in factory stock form need to paint the car in one of the colors available with the Elastomeric bumpers, and dechrome/paint the front and rear bumpers as well. (Not to mention correcting the engine back to 383 or 440 magnum/six pack or swapping in a "correct" Hemi) The stripe issue I was referring to is that in all but the latest "Dirty Donny" kit, the stripe had an incorrect jog where it crosses over the base of the C-pillar. It could be massaged during decal application but most builders missed the error and applied it as it came from the kit. The Dirty Donny version corrected the decal with a smooth and correct sweeping curve over the rear wheel well opening/below the base of the C-pillar. The fix on the front tire alignment was detailed in a how-to in the April, 2002 issue of the other mag. It still shows available here. Thanks again for the tip on the A/C and Air Grabber!!!.....TIM

John....I presume you are referring to the "Hemi" engine....from what I recall being told by an AMT/Ertl insider, this was patterned after a real 1/1 conversion setup intended to allow engine builders to make a 'pseudo Hemi" (my description) out of an R/RB engine. Agree with you on the Air Grabber hood and "Bazooka" exhaust outlets.....those would have been in the R/T version of this tool if I had been in charge. The kit was also flawed in that the split bench seat was not a factory option on the R/T version that was the first release of the tool (although it was offered on the Super Bee), and the rear taillamp setup is wrong for a SuperBee unless the car building built was painted one of the several colors that included the painted front and rear elastomeric bumpers. Finally, though the manual driver's side rearview mirror is technically correct, virtually every R/T and Super Bee I've seen since the day they were introduced has the dual racing mirrors upgrade from the factory option list. Those building the model should be aware that it positions the front wheels/tires too far forward in the wheelwells. It's an easy fix, detailed in my two articles on these kits in Scale Auto and Car Modeler Annuals circa 2001. And the side stripe in the R/T version of the kit is wrong, which was finally corrected in the "Dirty Donny" kit reissue in recent years. Tim

Fascinating thread; thanks for posing the question, Tom. After well over three decades in the auto industry, I was considering retiring for several years before actually pulling the plug. At one point, Tom (who at that point had just recently retired himself) told me one of the biggest changes vs. the working years was sometimes waking up and not exactly knowing which day of the week it was. I have experienced that myself a number of times after finally retiring five years ago after 35.5 years at Ford, and working another eight years of part time jobs before that including high school and college jobs. Of course, I still do magazine articles and to a little bit of an extent that is work, but it is also a really good motivator to get in the shop and pound/paint some plastic. The book project (Collecting Muscle Car Model Kits") was the exception; that was pretty much of a 30+hour a week job for nine months last year. As several of you have done, during the first month after the big day, I sat down and inventoried my partially built projects. As I recall (now five years later) it was around 65 partially finished projects. Nearly all of those are still partially finished (little or no progress) but a few have made it to the finish line, along with many other new projects that started after that date. And like others have mentioned, I am amazed at how my time gets eaten up with other things, most especially, household tasks, upgrades, and repairs. I had largely ignored my the new home during my working years, and now have finally completed many long-planned tasks and repairs, along with some much needed remodeling and updates. And I have much more time to share on the various model car forums; I have learned so much more about our hobby and those that love it from my participation here/there. Thank you all for that! Overall, I am glad to read of your continued enthusiasm for modeling, and the various ways each of you interact with the hobby and find joy doing so. And for those of you facing health and other challenges, let's keep you in our thoughts and our prayers. TIM

In my recent book, I have a section at the end of each chapter called "Missing in Action". This includes both muscle cars that have never been kitted in 1/24th-1/25th scales, and muscle cars that need a newly tooled kit (due to past kits being poorly rendered, permanently out of production, or otherwise unavailable at any where near reasonable prices to today's collectors and builders). Chapter 4 covers Pontiac, Olds, and Buick muscle era car kits. Don't have a picture handy, but below is a copy of the text of the "Missing in Action" box at the end of that chapter:. The 1967 GS-400 discussed in this thread is, of course, one of the "MIA kits in the list below. MISSING IN ACTION A> GTO/442/Gran Sport kits yet to appear in any 1/24th-1/25th scale kit * 1970 & 1971 GTO Judge Hardtop and Convertible (1970 with optional RA-IV engine, 1971 with the 455 HO engine) * 1971 GT-37 w/400 4-bbl * 1973 GTO or GrandAm Coupe with (for extra credit) the planned – but not produced – 455 Super Duty engine ***** * 1964 & 1965 442 * 1968-1970 F85/Cutlass with W-31 package * 1970 Olds Rallye 350 ****** * 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971 & 1972 Gran Sport, including 1969-1972 Stage 1 * 1967 GS-340, 1968-1970 GS-350 B> GTO/442/Gran Sport kits that need a new/modern kit offering * 1965, 1967, 1968, 1970, 1971, and 1972 GTO (1970 to include RA-IV engine; 1971 to include 455 HO engine) * 1968 442 Hardtop and Convertible * 1970-1971 442 Hardtop and Convertible with W-30 package Also....FWIW I hear that there may be at least one kit released next year that falls within the 1964-1972 GM A-Body BOP category....hope it actually materializes! TIM

History of this excellent MPC kit, including the original c.1971 box art and the kit's linkage to the "BearCats" TV program, was detailed in the "Classic Kits" feature of the February 2017 issue of the other model car mag. Check it out! Cool kit buildup, Dominik; great to see you took the effort to build this kit in fine form.....TIM

Scott.....don't give up hope just yet. In the interim, there's the Replicas and Miniatures rebop…...TIM

Bill, photos on page 1 and 2 come through fine here. Really interesting and relevant topic and build process. Glad it got brought back to the front of the forum folder as somehow I missed it when you got started on the project a couple of years back. Thanks for taking us along for the ride....and look forward to seeing progress as it occurs in the future….TIM

Thanks Richard! TIM

Thanks Jim and Snake. Send me a PM or post here any errors as I am keeping track and will make corrections if there is a second print run... Best....TIM

That was the November, 1982 issue of the other model car mag. Looks like it is sold out on their back issue section of their website. I would say that the info/conclusions in that article are still largely valid when it comes to the four kits that were reviewed in that article. I'd also like to think that it subtly encouraged the model kit makers to up their game in terms of accuracy and fit/finish, and to also pursue derivative body styles and features vs. just more and more kits of the exact same topics (in this case, three of the four kits were '57 Bel Air two door hardtops....whereas now we have a whole series of '57 Chevy kits and bodystyles, even including the base 150 sedan....) TB

Cool!!! TIM

Also check out Scotty Gossen's excellent book "Show Rod Model Kits" (CarTech)….. TIM

Bill....thanks for the added info. I have the original combined release somewhere in my kit stash, so I knew about that part. But I remembered that the subsequent woody-only reissues had dropped all the hot rod parts and built only the (mostly) stock version. Just checked my kit stash, (I have the 1974 and 1997 Woody-only reissues), and was surprised to see the Riley Two Port, and even the dropped front suspension option parts there in all their glory. So thanks for clarifying....TIM

Aaron....there was an article on early vintage hot rods (up until the mid 1930's) with ideas and examples, in the February 2018 issue of the other model car magazine. It is still available in the back issues section of their website. Also, to the best of my knowledge, the Revell Riley Two-Port was only in the Revell 1931 Ford Tudor and (faux) Sedan Delivery kits, while the Winfield version was only in the Revell 1929 Ford pickup kits. Both kits otherwise share a whole bunch of additional brand name early hot rod accessories (details in the article referenced above). If all that is not enough, check out these references: Tom Woodruff's Rajo powered speedster: Tom Woodruff's Frontenac powered speedster: And these two on-line buildups: https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/tim-boyd-on-line-mo/tim-boyd-on-line-ho-11/tim-boyd-on-line-ho/ https://public.fotki.com/funman1712/tim-boyd-on-line-mo/tim-boyd-on-line-ho-12/tim-boyd-on-line-ho/ Plus, Tom Woodruff has just discovered this site with info on vintage racers and engines: https://www.nwvs.org/index.shtml (UPDATE....I missed that Bill had already posted this same link earlier in this thread....I agree with him, it's the most informative link I've seen yet on this topic....TB ) And finally, the Speedway Motors Museum has photos of many early hot rod era vintage engines... https://www.museumofamericanspeed.com/displays.html Hope that helps! TIM

Wow.....really well done! TIm

This photo was taken at the 1978 MPC National Championship in Omaha, NB in early April. This was just two weeks before I started my 35+ year career at Ford, and about six months after I had started doing the Modeler's Corner column for Street Rodder magazine. My, how time flies! I've lost track of Bill, but last time I talked with Bruce he was still doing very specialized tooling/design/modeling work for GM. TB