tim boyd

Thanks for posting, Greg. Many cool cars in the Rodder's Journal coverage. With apologies in advance to those of you who already know about the following, it seems to me that many users of this forum do not regularly view or purchase the two major model magazines. For you non-purchasers out there who like these beach racers, you might be interested in the February 2018 issue of the other model magazine. It has an in-depth article on building models of "The Race of Gentlemen" type cars, with many ideas, hints, and sources of parts for this type of project. It also shows a few of the basic steps in building this "TROG"-themed model... TIM

Scott.....Tamiya recently released a new pearl yellow spray paint color in their "TS-" line; I haven't used it yet but it might be a reasonably close approximation of the main color in the Piranha drag car.....you can order it from the Tamiya website if you don't have a well stocked hobby store nearby.....TIMa

Nice to see the "Spirit of '57" Gasser reappear. This chassis lends itself to many kitbashing projects. Wonder if the front axle remains in the dropped format used for most of the original kit reissues, or the straight axle of the original release? As for the McEwen dragster, I'd bet on the Ramchargers kit as the base rather than the Garlits/Young American, as the former was released in 1968 vs the latter in 1970. Still, based on the picture posted above, looks like the Garlits/Young American is closer in content to the actual car. TIM

According to an authoritative source quoted in a book from the era, with just minimal tweaks, was to became the production 1980 Corvette. You can read more on this in my new book ….. and I think that this "factoid" (if you choose to believe it) makes it more than worthwhile to own this kit. TIM

Thanks Dennis....yesterday Rodder's Journal newsletter posted a link to their photo album of the 2018 TROG and there was a '30A Coupe there that looked just like mine (different colors, but otherwise a near match). It's just such a fresh departure from my usual rod building tastes/themes. Anyone who loves to build trad hot rod models should try a TROG-themed project... All above....thanks again for your comments and feedback. Tulio.....I'm working on couple of additional albums, and yes, one will be of all my '48 Fords including the Woody. I'll post here when done... Best regards everyone......TIM

Justin: Sharp, sharp, sharp! Good luck and best wishes bringing this one home! TIM

My kit #T560 was (as I recall) a first issue release, and the decal production date (printed on the back of the decal sheet) was 11/21/75, indicating it was probably on-sale in stores around January of 1976. TIM

Ken....thanks for the feedback and the overall vedict. Both I and the CarTech Editor for this project, Bob Wilson, did a pretty intense "flyspec" for errors on the initial book mockup, and we found a number of them (probably some due to Auto-Correct as well - e.g. "Sports Fury" instead of the correct "Sport Fury") that fortunately got fixed. Any that remain are probably the result of our own oversights rather than auto-correct features. Having said that, I am keeping a list of any tweaks that would improve the accuracy. Your examples above are very helpful, there are at least a few others (mostly minor factual errors, and mostly involving the full size car discussions rather than the models) that I noticed as well in the final published book. If the book goes into an additional print run, the intent of the publisher and myself is that we will correct any known errors. If you (or anyone else reading this thread) come across any other errors, you are welcome to send me a note at my email addy and I'll add them to the list of tweaks. Thanks again.....TIM

Greg.....let's hope for the best, but at this point, I'm not optimistic. TIM

Greg, the plan was to make the second release of the roadster kit incorporate the SBC Chevy powertrain instead of the Nailhead Buick, followed by the Coupe kit with the Nailhead Buick. The original tool was designed to allow both of these configurations....TIM

As my old buddy Jim Kampmann used to say ".....Ooooooooh…...ahhhhhhhh…" when he saw a really sharp hot rod,...what a tasty build of the Revell Model A kit. Of course, I am all over the use of a Ford engine in the car, and the Matt/Debbie Hay kit was an inspired choice for that. Lotsa really tasty tweaks and an awesome wheel/tire/stance setup, too. WAY TO GO, Rodney! TIM

All - thanks for your comments; I find it really interesting to hear which ones are your favorites and why. Particularly the feedback on the copper one, that is the one that is most kit-based of any on this page (the other one being the Green/Black blown SBC one). These were both built straight from the box, with no mods whatsoever, from the Revell kit. And I think, a good sign that the kit, in spite of such minor "flaws" as the firewall and a few controversial decisions in terms of content (the roof opening which has been seen on 1/1 Hot Rods but is not the typical design, and the Ford diff/coil springs out back, which is still a popular 1/1 scale build choice but not within the strict confines of a pure traditional hot rod genre), was a really good effort on Revell's part. And a sign that kit the strongly deserves to return to the market under the new German Revell ownership scheme. TIM

Phil....I think nearly all of us share your thoughts here; thanks. TIM

There are four people in the world who are probably most responsible for my branching out from Funny Car models (some can be seen in old issues of Car Model Magazine) to Hot Rod models(or street rods as they were called back then). They are my younger brother Robert, famed auto journalist Pat Ganahl (who ran an article on kitbashing a '29 on '32 rails rod in a mid 1970's issue of Street Rodder magazine), the late Bill Burham (who built a 1/1 scale bright yellow '29 on '32 rails that showed up in a couple of mid-1971 Hot Rod annuals and prompted my first real street rod model project), and most important of all, the above poster, ""misterNNL", aka Tom Woodruff. Back in the late 1960's and early 1970's, Tom was building street rod models when no one else was, and his superb building style made him a continuous winner in the old MPC Model Customizing Contest that ran from 1969 to 1979. I first met Tom at the 1971 Dayton, Ohio, MPC contest, and from that point forward to today, he has been an endless source of model car l inspiration and personal friendship to me - thanks Tom! TIM

Chris...as of a month or so ago when I last talked with him, Norm had stopped producing his '30 A Chopped Coupe. As you probably know, his body was different from the Revell body in a number of ways, enough so to justify building models using both bodies, in my opinion. At this point, I suspect it will be a long time, if ever, we see the Revell Coupe kit back on the market, so I sure would like to see Norm put this one back in his lineup....TIM PS - the corrected Firewalls are either the Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland parts, or ones I scratchbuilt from the Revell '30A Tudor kit, as the Monogram firewalls didn't look adaptable to this body. I showed how to do the Revell approach in my article in the April 2017 (I think) article in the other model magazine.....TB

Cale.....hearing feedback like that is music to my ears and a big source of motivation to keep on doing articles like this.....thanks for the feedback!

MCW Automotive Finishes/Dave Dodge offers the '63 GP for those interested IIRC - TIM

Here's a complete tutorial with 39 pictures on the Mustang/Pinto JoHan kit. I don't know if this will help you or not, but thought I would offer it up anyway....good luck with your project. TIM

To all who've commented, thanks for your thoughts and your conclusions. This book was quite the project, pretty much a half-time job for about nine months last year. It is very reassuring and rewarding to hear that you are seeing value and interest in the contents. For those who are considering the purchasing the book but are unsure, here is a link to a "preview" excerpt of the book on the https://www.cartechbooks.com/ website, it shows various pages from the first half of the book.... https://www.cartechbooks.com/collecting-muscle-car-model-kits.html And here is the table of contents which summarizes the overall subjects covered in the book: Chapter 1: In the Beginning: The Origins of the Model Car Kit Hobby Chapter 2: The Four Waves of Model Car Kit Evolution and the Envy Factor Chapter 3: Laying the Groundwork for Muscle Cars: The Pre–Supercar Era Chapter 4: The Supercar Is Born, Part 1: Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Buick Chapter 5: The Supercar Is Born, Part 2: Chevelle and El Camino Chapter 6: Dearborn Responds: Ford and Mercury Performance IntermediatesChapter 7: It’s All about the Packaging: Chrysler and AMC Supercar Intermediates Chapter 8: The Pony Car Brigade, Part 1: Mustang and CamaroChapter 9: The Pony Car Brigade, Part 2: Everything ElseChapter 10: Smaller in Stature, but . . . the Story of Junior Supercars Chapter 11: Flash, Space, and Grace: The Family Supercar Chapter 12: The Domestic Sports Car Chapter 13: Today We Call Them Tuners Chapter 14: The Model Car Kit Collector Chapter 15: Afterword There are also sidebars in most chapters on subjects various, including a "Missing in Action" sidebar in Chapters 3 through 13 which lists potential new muscle car kit topics that nost need to be brought to market. Again, thanks for all your favorable comments and your interest. Best Regards.....TIM

As many of you know, Model A Five Window Coupes are about as hot as it gets for a traditional hot rod project these days. That also makes them popular subjects for model car projects. While the newish Revell kit still remains in model car production suspension, coupe bodies have been available in resin and several of these models contain 5W Coupe bodies using that medium. Each of these models has been constructed within the last five years; five of the models here were the subjects of how-to articles. One (the #44 Washington Blue, Caddy V8 powered version) was covered in a recent Model Cars Magazine how-to, others appeared in how-tos in the other model magazine, and the pale green/white scallops car was the subject of a four-part "Hot Rod Hints" how-to presented elsewhere in my Fotki album. At the following link, each model is presented in multiple photographs, including engine and interior close-ups, and underbody chassis shots. Several of these models were based on the now-hard-to-find Revell Model A Coupe kit, but several others featured resin-cast bodies instead of the kit parts. Here's a teaser look at each of the models featured at the link above. Thanks for looking! TIM PS - yes, I need to dust off a couple of these before photographing.....TB

Michael....glad to hear it. Your're right about the amount of info, too, this is not a one night read; not even close. Thanks for posting your feedback, much appreciated! TIM

This confirms my understanding the last time I discussed the topic with Revell management, which was now a quite a number of months ago. Given what's happened in the interim, it's anybody's guess as to whether this will actually take place, and if so, when. TIM

Guys....this morning John Greczula at Round 2 asked me to post this message from him on his behalf.... "Gentlemen, After receiving multiple direct emails and learning of this thread, I feel the need to quell some of the lather that seems to be foaming over the edge of the glass of conjecture: Make no mistake. The '28 Ford project has been on the radar, in the hopper, etc. for quite a while now. A certain veteran AMT Kat and I discussed it at length, years ago already. The tool exists but is far from usable in its present state. As you all know, the majority of it was repurposed for the '29 kit. There is VERY little left in the tool and the gaping holes left by the removed inserts would need to be filled with new blocks containing sprue lines designed to flow plastic to what IS there. This is not a trivial or inexpensive process. However, it is something that I want to see happen as much as the rest of you. As for just including the parts with a reissue of the '29 pickup/woody, well, I'd rather do it right. Some parts no longer match with the '28 parts. Further, if we were to spend the money to resurrect this kit, we'd need every sale possible. A large portion of the mass market clientele would not want to have to "figure it all out" for themselves. You guys? Sure, you could do it with your eyes closed. But to make the investment worthwhile, it'd have to be a little more accessible to modelers of lesser skill. Rest assured, it's at the top of the list of kits to try and bring back. I make no promises, as there's always some unexpected problem that gets in the path of making headway on some of these cool projects, but we do listen, we do care, and we do what we can to keep the entire available market at least a little bit happy. Thanks for your interest and support. John " **** PS - Greg or other Mods....please delete the image below from this post....I am unable to do so for some reason.....thanks TIM

Dennis......that is SO tasty....man, you gotta finish that! Is the engine the Olds from the Revell Roth Outlaw kit? TIM

Thanks Chuck....of course, I didn't show this picture.... Yep....that's a simulated milled aluminum instrument panel and velour cloth to simulate carpet!!! Talk about the '80's! Cheers....TIM