tim boyd

Tulio....yes, that is the car. You're exactly right on how I did the engine, too. Here are some more pictures (can't recall if I included this link in the earlier posting you mentioned....) Of course I knew that your was inspired you by alone. That's what makes it so cool to look at both the builds and see how closely aligned our thinking was.... Congrats again and looking forward to seeing your next project....TIM

Jeff....that is one sharp model....love the rake and the color, plus it looks great with the painted headlamp doors and grille. Really, really sweet. Cheers...TIM

Thank you Tulio! I love your '40 Ford Standard coupe as well. The earlier writer was referring to my cover article in the other model magazine, the October issue (IIRC), which features a mildly hot rodded Revell 1940 Ford Standard Coupe painted in early 1950's Buick Titian Red Metallic (which photographs as a blood red/burgundy color). As a result our two models ended up looking very, very similar, while still reflecting our own individual tastes and building styles. Best Regards and congrats on your projects.....TIM

Exactly correct. Let's hope the reportedly corrected Boss 302 kit from Revell fixes this omission in kit coverage of the most successful pony car of all time. TIM

Love those cat pictures. And yes, I have one who often joins me in the modeling room, and almost always when I am working in the office. TIM

I saw at least one Revell '29 A Roadster kit (the original issue pictured above) on sale yesterday at The Model Cave in Ypsilanti, Michigan for sale at $23. John and Melissa (the owners) do mail order, and sometimes their ad appears here alongside these MCM forum pages.....TIM

Dennis, I agree, that's what my research shows as well. As for the roadster cab itself, that portion IS shared between the Turtledeck and the Pickup body styles - only the rear clips are different. This is what makes a model kit offering both versions such a viable possibility. The Touring body, as you say, is completely different starting at the rear edge of the front door to all the way back from there. BTW, I also have a "bobbed" (for lack of a better word) '27 T Touring project underway - first constructed about 15 years ago, that appears largely similar to Art's image, except that it does not have the "dog legs" at the bottom of the rear quarter as shown in Art's pic. (Art, I'd love to see you finish your project!) I made mine from the front half of the AMT Touring kit body, along with a rear piece that is the kit's front bench seat back panel, slightly widened. In real life these "shorty" T's were nothing more than the front half of the touring body, including the front seatback which was a sheet metal part. TIM

I just revised the topic title to reflect that the Moebius prototype reveal at NNL Motor City was the subject of this thread, now that it has already taken place ....TIM PS - for those that have not already seen it, here are 24 pictures from Dave's display booth at the event. Again, please keep in mind that these are 3D printed prototypes from CAD files; Dave reports that there are a number of revisions to the various products shown here that are already underway and not reflected in these images. TB

Mild kitbash of Revell's 1940 Ford DeLuxe Convertible, a cover story from Model Cars magazine about ten years ago or so....TIM

Kitbash of Revell's 1940 Standard Five Window Coupe and Deluxe Convertible kits, along with Norm's tuck'n'roll interior, painted real 1954 Buick Titian Red Metallic from MCW Automotive Finishes. How-to steps covered in the October 2017 issue of the other model car magazine....more images here.... TIM

Guys....thanks for the feedback.....glad to know you appreciated the images and names of all these fine examples of modeling talent! .....TIM

K2....watching this one too....looking forward to your next updates.....TIM

R3....great project and really like your approach to showing how you approached the subject....can't wait to see your next updates....TIM

It's nice to see Fred's work finally see the attention it so richly deserves. Among many fine model builds in his collection, he put together what is (at least as far as I have seen) the pre-eminent assembly/build/detail of one of the recent Revell Midget kits. Believe me when I say, as good as this looks in this pix, it looks even better in person. GO FRED!!!! Tim

Yes.....good example....I built two blower intake manifold pop-off valves for this engine in my 1972 MPC National Customizing Championship entry. They're there, behind the upper blower drive pulley. I know they're there, but the MPC judges at the national finals that year (1972) probably missed them, as they totally ignored the far more important instructions with the model that instructed them to remove the header extensions to place the model on its matching trailer/pickup companions, and thereby disqualified the latter two pieces from my entry. There were certainly some well qualified judges at some of the MPC contests, but sadly that was not always the case. As many complaints as I still hear today about model contest judging, it is in totality still much better today than back then, when model contests were sometimes judged by those who knew little or nothing about model cars or kits....TIM

Dennis.....proportions and stance are everything with hot rods, and you've superbly nailed "everything" here, big time! What are you thinking about for a color scheme? TIM

My first job at Ford was very similar to the one the quoted by the gentleman in the link above. But I didn't get any requests for such a car during my time in that slot. TIM

Steve.....those are some way sharp model pickups. And that '70 Impala-Camino is one of the nicest car pickup conversions I've ever seen. Great attention to detail including the use of a wagon-based tailgate (just like the real car would have had, if it had been made). Thanks for posting these images.....TIM

The Ford Ranger (the current version, built in Thailand and other locations) is now the best selling new pickup in Europe......TIM

There are apparently at least three issues of this kit. The original double kit, a very rare reissue of the double kit with the box art showing actual buildups of the models set against a scale landscape (e.g. model railroad type scenery), and the cardboard box version referenced by Mike above, which was molded in black and the stock version only (no second body or hot rod parts). The original kit dates from 1963, the cardboard version came later. possibly in the very early 1970's. Author Graham's statement that Monogram still has the molds is news to me. Never say never, but highly unlikely is my view. I built both versions of the kit around 1980 and covered them in my "Modeler's Corner" column in Street Rodder at the time. Though they were in total more accurate than the AMT '34 5@ dating from 1975, I would find it hard to recommend the kit for anyone other than kit collector. The 1/24th Monogram and 1/25th AMT-Ertl 5W Coupe are far more accurate models. TIM

Here's a link: http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/correcting-or-kitba/193031-model-a-roadster/ to 12 overall and detail photos of a brand new Brooksville Roadster all metal 1930/31 Roadster body. I was hoping to be able to do a quick kitbash from the Revell '30 Model A Coupe body ( or some combo of that and the Revell '29A Roadster body), but as these photos show, there is more to it than just that if you want to do a truly accurate Roadster body. Still.....personally I would love to see one of this Forum's highly talented model hot rod builders take on a project like that with posts on their progress.....TIM

I took this on (doing a 1/25th scale 1934 Ford kit based on the earlier 1/16th scale assembly kits) point blank with Revell management (maybe ten years ago or so). I was told that they loved the idea, but it was physically impossible to pantograph a 1/25th scale tool from a 1/16th scale kit, and the original wood masters were long, long gone. Having dug the kits out a few years ago to refresh my memory, I somewhat sadly noted that what was truly state of the art in 1988 is WAY out of date for today's hot rod/street rod design aesthetic. Anyway, I too would love to see a Revell 1933/34 kit series developed in the same vein as the current '32 series. But personally, I'd like to see a '26/'27 T Turtledeck (and derivatives to follow) first, because the AMT/Ertl '34 Five Window is already a pretty good starting point, and as we all know, there is no styrene equivalent for a ''27 T turtledeck at this time. TIM

Just to add fuel to the fire here (now I would never do that, would I???), I have been told by executives of at least one company that I recall, and possibly another, that it was standard kit development practice to increase (not decrease) engine size by 10% relative to the rest of the model. This was to done to deliver, in their judgment, a more realistic appearance for the model builder and observer. Obviously, in cases like the Buttera kit, this would not apply due to space considerations. I was further told that due to material stackups (again, the issue of the thickness of model car hoods in styrene vs much thinner metal in real cars), as well as the 10% size increase, these same engines were then sometimes sectioned (horizontally, like the body of the "Polynesian" Olds built by Valley Customs in the early 1970's), to fit into the completed model's engine compartment. Again, I can't recall all the specifics, but I do believe that this applied more to muscle car era model kits and drag racing kits, than it would to hot rod kits where space is a big constraint. Let me caution again that, I am familiar with one or (perhaps two) product development staffs that took this view, but I would not suggest that it was an industry-side practice, nor that the staffs in question applied this philosophy to every model kit that they developed. The take away from this is that the modeling companies and their product development staffs had very strong views about what constituted an accurate appearance in a completed model, and they were not shy about departing from precise scaling of components if it led (in their minds) to a more desirable end product. As the modeling world has changed over the last 30 years or so (i.e., the adult modeler became the majority source of kits sales), the leading edge of the hobby (represented in part by the participants of this forum) have become much less accepting of products that do not scale exactly to the cars they are intended to replicate. Having said that, the late Racing Champions era AMT/Ertl engine faux pas such as the second gen Ala Kart engine, and the Y-Block engine in the 1956 T-Bird American Graffiti kit (which is so woefully misshapen to the point where one does not need calipers or rulers to document the mistakes), remain a mystery for all of us, other than they point to the mistake RC made when they laid off all of the remaining, highly experienced Ertl model kit development staff just after the turn of the century. TIM

As a zone manager for Ford in the late 1970's I asked some of the older dealers in my rural zone about the Unibody pickups. The answer they gave me was that the pickups were engineered to easily handle the rated payload capacity, but farmers being farmers (their words), they typically vastly overloaded the pickups (beyond their rated capacity) and that resulted in the body torsional issues. (FWIW, and based on my personal and professional knowledge of how pickups are engineered, I personally doubt that a different type of frame crossmember would have made any difference.) TIM

Thanks guys for the feedback.....glad you enjoyed the show and the coverage.....TIM