tim boyd

That and also, the design of the windshield header made it nearly impossible to see stop lights and overhead signs. Outward visibility is a key consideration in an off-road type 4x4 vehicles. The contemporary FJ was a cool idea and a really creative design theme, but the execution had some issues which greatly limited the ultimate success of the vehicle in the marketplace. Nevertheless, and not too surprisingly, I hear that good used samples these days are considered borderline collectables and demand high prices accordingly. TIM

Interesting...... While in the early 1980's many high school parking lots and freeways and shopping centers were full of rusting 5-10 year old pony cars, in Northern and Southern California those same places were full of new, or nearly new, Toyota SR-5 4x4's! They were everywhere, enhanced by three-tone graphic tape treatments across the broad side panels (sounds bad, but they were actually a real visual enhancement). Will have to take a look at this kit....I don't recall having an original issue in my truck kit stash. TIM

Very interesting discussion on the frame rails. During my working career of 35+ years at Ford, I was appointed Ford Specialty Vehicles Marketing Manager in March of 1995. The primary responsibility of the job was to serve as the overall team leader of the Ford Special Vehicle Team. It also included conducting frequent media events on the SVT lineup and product philosophy. As at that point the SVT Lightning was in its third year in the marketplace, and we were doing ride and drive media events with small groups of very knowledgeable media personnel (primarily selected magazine writers/and syndicated local newspaper journalists.) Among these various media events, I don't recall us suggesting that the Lighting used F250 frame rails. But it is certainly possible; and it would have aligned with our SVT product philosophy to do upgrades throughout the vehicle to enhance performance capabilities. Someday when I go through my old SVT stash I will be looking for any information that proves - or disproves - this piece of info. In the meantime, enjoy the Round 2 reissue of this kit.. TIM

Once again....thanks everyone for your comments and thanks for your interest in this show and in the models and model builders who exhibited there...….TIM

Interesting, everyone assumes the Tamiya kit is better, and it is in whole, but one area where the AMT kit excels is the engine. There is more real, life=like detail in the AMT kit in some areas (check out the fuel injection pump). Pretty interesting given that the AMT kit was tooled 50 years prior to the Tamiya kit. Of course, the Tamiya see-through belly pan/chassis rocks. One area that surprised me was how much larger, physically the Tamiya kit was. But I measured them both (albeit not in the final assembled from with bumpers added), and they both appeared accurate in dimensional scale. My recollection from building the AMT kit when it first came out was that it was pretty fiddly in fit and finish. Enough so that the builder had to be pretty skilled to pull it off all the way through final assembly. TIM

Lloyd....those projects of yours sound exactly like the kind of models we love to see at NNL events....TIM

Greg I saw the announcement on another board and was really happy to hear the GLMFAA was returning as you guys were such a major part of the early NNL shows. But I never got out of the NNL booth during the entire event on Saturday....were you somewhere in the Toy Show part of the room? So Sorry I missed you guys.....TIM

Wow....what a great box art illustration....TIM

Lloyd, as John says, the "non competitive, non judged" idea was/is at the very core of the NNL movement from the very first event in Tom Woodruff's garage in the summer of 1980. Here's a copy of the flyer/invitation to the NNL West #2 in January, 1983 that helps to explain the NNL "idea". See the paragraph on the lower left called "What the **** is the NNL?"

Phil.....grouping like models together has been a part of the NNL ever since the "Merc Deuce Reunion"/NNL Nats #4(?) in the fall of 1981 (you can read about it in Scale Auto Enthusiast c. early 1982, or on the "35 years of Scale Auto" CD offering from Kalmbach. I don't know the exact count of NNL Categories (each signified by an NNL "license plate" designed by Tom Woodruff), but it is probably 15 or more.... including Primer Projects, the Theme Table, Cult Theme, Street Rods, Street Machines, Customs, Sports Cars, trucks (light and heavy duty), motorcycles, and several categories of race vehicles....TIM

Moebius and Round 2 have moved to the Detroit Motor City NNL over the last few years. For full coverage of the NNL Nats #39, see my post in the "Contests and Shows" folder (scroll down to near the end of the Forum home page.... or click here....TIM

Dave - thanks for resurfacing this thread ************************************* Some really cool building skills and creativity on display here from all who've posted. Congrats to all. ************************************* And Bernard....some more pix on that killer gold metalflake channeled '27 T Turtledeck, please? Somehow I missed this one previously. ************************************* Best regards to all....TIM

Lloyd....there are now NNL or NNL-like non-competitive events all around the country, and indeed, overseas (including South Africa and Australia). Many of these shows are showing growth in participation and entries (contradicting the view of some that "the hobby is dying"). As noted in one of the other threads in this folder, some believe that the NNL Motor City may pick up some of the recurring participants in the NNL Nationals after next year, and I expect other established NNL events will do the same. Thanks for the "thanks" on posting the images, too. TIM

Thanks everyone for your comments and feedback. I love this show, and I love sharing it with all of you. If it inspires one more model to be built, or one more partially built model to be completed, it's all worth it. See you all there next year....TIM

Tony is right in that the overall floor space is much, much bigger than the NNL Nats in Ohio. The kit manufacturer presence has also mostly migrated to this show as well. However, the built model car display remains much smaller than the NNL Nats - although it too has shown impressive growth over the last several years. As the NNL Nats 40 year run ends with the final show October, 2019, there is considerable speculation that the built model display at the Motor City NNL will gain many additional participants in the next several years... TIM

Checkout the Contests and Shows' section of the forum (scroll way down on the Forum home page) for full coverage of the 2018 NNL Nationals #38......TIM

Greg.....I missed the announcements as I was talking to someone when the announcements were made and could not hear the PA system very well I do know that Rick Hanmore was awarded the Tony Hill Memorial Family award for his Deora-style transporter and Bonneville Streamliner Go Kart combo. I also was told that John Pizio was voted the "Junk in the Trunk" Theme Award and the Overall Show "Most Popular" awards for his 1963 VW van...... I did not hear the rest of the awards and would welcome anyone who can fill us in with this info.... I always want to caution people that the NNL "most popular" awards are not intended to honor necessarily the "best" overall model at the show, but instead to honor the most popular model - that is, the one that you would most like to load up, take home, and display on your own model shelf. There are plenty of excellent model car contest events these days that single out the "best overall model"; whereas NNL's are all about displaying your models and hanging out with your modeling friends in a non-competitive environment.... Best.....TIM

For your viewing enjoyment and modeling inspiration.....TIM 2018 NNL Nationals Full Coverage

Richard....I did not mean to imply that anyone disregard the photos. I DID mean to express that I do not believe it is valid to make a final, definitive judgement on ANY new kit until one has painted and built it and examined it in its final 3D glory (or not). Photography alone sometimes does not tell the whole story. As for this particular kit, draw your own conclusions based on the photography presented so far. Beyond that, I was fortunate enough to see and briefly handle a completed (but not painted or detailed) test shot of the kit. I was favorably impressed. But I still want to hold off a final determination (i.e. my own personal conclusion about the new kit) until I see assembled and painted examples by members of this board and others, and possibly assemble the kit myself. I apologize as it appears that I have been less than clear about the above points.... Cheers.....TIM

Out of the box, my vote is solidly behind the Revell snapper as the most authentic body (thought not perfect).. I address the issues of all these kits (including the MPC '71/'72) in my book, and yes, as some of you mention, I also conclude that an all-new tooling of a full detail 1970 Chevelle SS454 LS6 kit is must. Personally I'd like to see what Moebius would do with this, but since the guts (engine/chassis/suspension) of the new Revell 1968 Chevelle are also correct for a 1970, the new Revell Germany would be the obvious choice for such a kit. This presumes that they will do further North-American-specific kits - still an open question at this point. TIM PS - for those of you that want to work with the Revell snapper, an article on detailing this kit is scheduled for a future issue of a different publication......TB

For those looking for images on correcting both the 1967 Camaro and Revell 1966 Impala kits, check out the highlighted photo albums dating from about four years ago...there are also detail photos of other 1/1 scale cars referenced in this thread at this folder link.....including the Revell 1969 Revell and 1970 'cuda, and Chuck's all time favorite kit of all (Not!). I did not mean to imply that photography alone prohibits you from finding errors in a given model kit (as several of you have thoroughly demonstrated above); but only to say that do draw an overall conclusion of the total worth of a given kit, you need to give it the benefit of being built and painted in three dimensional form (just as you need to see a real car in three dimensional form) to come to a solid, final conclusion about its design. Photography is a great help, but it alone can't get you over the finish line. And while Chuck's experience is otherwise, mine is that paint and chrome (i.e. BareMetal) is absolutely essential in drawing a conclusion about a given model kit. Like Chuck and I, your experience may vary...…:) TIM

On the 1965/66 kit, by all indications I can determine, was tooled and produced by AMT, not MPC. Not an ironclad conclusion, though. (For anyone unfamiliar with these kits, the AMT-branded 1965 Barracuda kit box art is pictured in my book in the chapter on all the Pony Cars except Mustang and Camaro....). I also checked the Paul Bender promotionals guide book (caution.....my copy is dated 1995 so it is well out of date); it said the 1967 Barracuda promo was by AMT, not MPC. So Dennis and the Paul Bender guide (unless corrected in later editions) seem to have drawn different conclusions as well. I have come up with one person who was there at the time and might possibly know for sure, I'll try to contact him this week and see if he can shed any light on it. Until then, let's continue to presume both alternatives are plausible......cheers....TIM

Dave......I appreciate the added info. I've known Dennis for over 40 years now and trust him a great deal as an accomplished modeler, writer, and historian. In this case I am going to stick to my guns....I believe that the AMT '67 Barracuda was an AMT tool, derived from the 1965-66 tool, and then migrated to MPC for the 1968 run. To the best of my knowledge, the only MPC-tooled kits that were originally sold under the AMT are those that carried all the elements cited in my earlier post. But I think you also have compelling rationale for your conclusion, so I guess this is one where we maybe need to agree to disagree. Too bad Mr Toteff is not around these days, I'll bet he could tell us for sure... TIM

Richard....thanks for your thoughtfully worded counterpoint. I'm looking forward to seeing how this project progresses.....TIM

The 1969 Dodge Daytona and 1958 Corvette were the first two Pro-Modeler series kit of automotive subjects. The Torino GT followed a couple of years later IIRC.