tim boyd

Eric....greatly inspired work here Not only your innovative fabrications techniques, but your design decisions.....that wrap-under grille is highly imaginative and is the perfect capstone to your body design..... like Tom, Fred, and many others here I very much look forward to seeing this one in person at NNL Nats #37 this fall....TIM

Two comments....first, Travis, this is a really, really sharp build. Love your choices in terms of kitbashing mods and color schemes, etc. Second, I was going to mention the 2017 NNL Nats "Vintage Beach Racing" Cult Theme and how great this model would look "parked" there, but I see Tom Woodruff already did that above....in any case, will really be looking forward to seeing this project completed. TIM

The 2001 Harley DynaGlide Sport bike was a terrific and unsung addition to this kit - one that makes the kit well worth adding to your collection, and (due to the licensing/economics issues Mark mentions) one that is highly unlikely to be reissued. I did a how-to on building the bike in factory stock form (painted to replicate 2001 Harley Concord Purple), and also another article on kitbashing the bike into more of a mild chopper style form, in two issues of MCM in the mid 2000's Might be worth looking up if you want to build the bike yourself..... More photos of the kitbashed version here....TIM

Yikes.....I read about this on another web site this morning and hoped it was an unsubstantiated rumor. I didn't know Pete well, but the very few times I had chats with him (some related to my career responsibilities, others just about hot rodding in general), he was every bit the gentleman -and the visionary - that this article suggests. Very sad......TIM

Fred is spot-on here. It's a superb kit and great fun for experienced modelers like the readers of this forum. Fred previously built another Midget from the Revell kit several years ago, hands down it is the finest build of this kit I've seen. I'm expecting his new Offy here to be just as good..... TIM

Yep....any flathhead V8 (Ford or otherwise) would work.....actually, you could probably get by with a flathead V12 too..... I'm not an expert on Auburn speedsters, but the '35 model, IIRC, was quite a bit different than the Auburn Speedsters that preceded it..... Overall, though, sounds very neat. This is exactly the sort of originality that plays so well with NNL Cult Theme participants......Tim

Excellent link....thanks! TIM

UPDATE 30 September Our "Vintage Beach Racing" Cult Theme is shaping up to be yet another NNL Nats Cult Theme Barn-Burner. For all who are attending, once you get past the registration desk, go straight back along the wall on the left...the Cult Theme table is last on the left, just next to the photo setup for the Model Car Magazines. If you have a new or old model that fits within the guidelines below, we'd love to have you show it there. Remember , the Cult Theme section fills up pretty quickly. All other models? There are still a bunch of other theme tables throughout the event, all model cars are welcomed. Most of all....Have Fun...! TIM UPDATE 11 August 17: Reminder.....reposting the notification below as the 2017 NNL Nats is two months from this weekend....2017 Cult Theme is "Vintage Beach Racing", inspired by the Race of Gentlemen and other vintage hot rod racing events here in the States and oversea.... One update from the text below - we're relaxing the 1/1 scale stipulation about no headlamps.....if you already have headlamps, no need to bust them off your models. If you want to put scale tape or screens on them, cool but not required either. IE Let's have FUN with this Cult Theme. See you in October! TIM ************************** The 2017 NNL Nats Cult Theme is "VINTAGE BEACH RACING". This theme was inspired in part by the favorable reaction of many 2016 NNL Nats participants to John Strick's '27 T Turtledeck "Gow Job" model displayed there (and pictured below). You've probably heard of "The Race of the Gentlemen" and perhaps other similar vintage-themed events here in the States and overseas. These events highlight pre-WWII "gow jobs" and early postwar "hot rods". We've decided to base our "Vintage Reach Racing" Cult Theme on a similar approach. Visit the Race of the Gentleman website, and you'll see some basic restrictions for entries there. General guidelines are 1934 or older car bodies, American makes only, and 1948 or older engines (1949-53 Ford Flatheads also OK). No early postwar OHV V8's, alternators, automatic transmissions, disc brakes, etc. Other guidelines are no headlights, no whitewalls, no fenders on hot rods, and the addition of visible race numbers (but no modern era graphics). Era-correct speed parts, modified bodies, chopped tops, channel jobs, etc. are encouraged. We'll have a "friends of Vintage Beach Racing" section next to the Cult Theme for "street driven" era-correct cars that meet all requirements except the "no headlights, add race numbers" stipulations above. Motorcycles that meet The Race of the Gentlemen rules for bikes will also be welcome (quick...someone find the vintage Henderson Motorcyle that came in the 1966 release of MPC's 1932 Chrysler Roadster kit!) Cult Theme Models should be in 1/24th and 1/25th scale only, please. (For all other hot rod models and bikes, there will still be the normal Hot Rod/Street Rod and Motorcycle display sections in the main NNL event). With the recent activity in the 1/1 scale hot rod world, and the various new and reissued model kits (i.e. check out the speed parts in the Round 2 AMT '29A Roadster Double Kit), this Cult Theme is ripe for your creativity and scale craftsmanship. As with prior NNL Cult Themes, there are no "awards", just the pride and camaraderie that go with being a Cult Theme participant. We'll also do a full photo album for Tim Boyd's annual NNL Fotki Album coverage. Consider this your invitation to join the "Vintage Beach Racing" Cult Theme at the 2017 NNL Nats in Sylvania, Ohio. Signed...TOM WOODRUFF - JOHN STRICK - TIM BOYD PS - for more pictures of John's 1927 T Turtledeck Gow Job...see here. PSS - there are more than a few talented builders of this type of model car who regularly post at this forum (you guys know who you are!)....so if you have ever considered attending the NNL Nats for the first time (or returning after years of missing the event), the 2017 NNL Nats Cult Theme display would be a great reason to do so. We'd love to see your work in person....and show it to the many NNL Nats Participants who many not be aware of the great work you are doing...... TB

Right you are.....that cover Merc custom, and the Merc chopping article, eventually led to a model that won second nationwide in the 1976 MPC National Model Car Customizing Championship, the largest model car contest in the world back then, and in some ways comparable to today's GSL in terms of its significance back then.....TIM .

You're welcome, Steve, as well as the others how have posted similar comments.....Cheers....TIM

Great to hear your latest update, Harry. You ARE making progress, and that's great to see. I hope you know that virtually the entire enthusiast model car community is hoping and praying for your continued recovery. Best Regards.....TIM

It's the AMT 1968 Shelby GT500, a kit that has been reissued multiple times over the ensuing years. TIM

The method for chopping Mercury tops that I showed in that Scale Auto article (and earlier in my Modeler's Corner column in Street Rodder) was based on an article by Jerry Weesner on how real 1/1 scale Mercs were chopped, as appearing in Street Rodder magazine c. 1975 or so; the issue where Pat Ganahl first featured chopped Mercs. I was very surprised years later when I saw a reprint of a classic 1950's reference on customizing (part of the Dan Post reprint set from Rodder's Journal) that showed the exact same approach. Not to suggest my approach is the best one overall, only that it has a good deal of historical accuracy behind it....TIM

Tim do you mean discontinued till the tool can be repaired or permanently? Guys.....I have the same questions as you. Sorry I don't have any clear answers to offer......TIM

There is a single tool that produces both versions of the kit (various gates are blocked off for one version or the other). Wheels/tires/chassis/suspension/frame/headlamps/tailamps and certain interior components are shared across both kits; the body, most of the interior, and engine are unique to each version. Both kit #'s ('29A Roadster and '30A Coupe) have been discontinued by Revell. TIM

Between the Revell '29A Roadster kit and the Replicas and Miniatures '30A Five Window Coupe body (which is in various details a nice variation vs. the Revell Coupe body), you can make your own '30A Coupe. I submitted an article to MCM on how to do this just about a year ago....here's what the result looks like (picture from October 2016 NNL Nats Cult Theme coverage) It's not a difficult conversion for most participants of this Forum. So if you see any '29 Roadster kits out there (and you want to build a '30 Coupe in the interim), my advice? Grab 'em. TIM

It's supposed to be a 394, although it could theoretically be any displacement that size or larger. The 394 was the last of the first generation Oldsmobile OHV V8's and the kit includes the cylinder heads/individual exhaust header layout that was a relatively late revision in the 15-year run of this engine (1949-1964); earlier versions of the engine had siamesed center exhaust ports and 3-downtube headers or exhaust manifolds, as opposed to the four-downtube headers in this kit. TIM

Jonathon's comment about getting free kits and having that influence a review in the hopes of continuing to get more free kits, is a legitimate area for further discussion. During the years I did my monthly Modeler's Corner column for Street Rodder (1978-1995), I was placed (at their determination) on comp kit lists by several of the model companies. When I ended that my editorship of that column in 1995, most of the companies dropped me from their comp list. Since then, probably 95% or more of my kit purchases have been with my own dollars. Thus, for the last twenty years, most of the articles I do are with kits I have paid for; today I generally purchase these at one of three businesses I frequent for such purchases - The Model Cave in Ypsilanti, MI, SpotlightHobbies.com,, and Nankin Hobbies in Farmington Hills, MI along with occasional purchases from other suppliers such as HobbyLink Japan or eBaycom and Amazon.com retailers. As an example, the articles I did on the Revell '30 Ford Coupe in the current and the upcoming April 2017 issues of one of the magazines, were purchased by me at Nankin Hobby and the Model Cave - not provided for free by Revell. On the other hand, the occasional "kit previews" I post at my Fotki site typically are provided at their discretion by the Model Companies at no cost to me, as the kits are not yet in the distribution channels. I have generally tried to disclose this fact in the texts that accompany my on-line previews, and perhaps need to be sure that I ALWAYS do that. (By the way, I never make any promises to the model companies that I will do an on-line review if they send me a kit. It is entirely my own determination, based in part on whether someone else has already posted an on-line review that covers the subject.) Finally, I no longer do one-page assembled kit reviews but at the time I did so, the kits I reviewed came from the magazine that published the reviews, not the model company itself. Again, while I cannot speak for others, model kits at no charge is a nice gesture by the companies. But personally I would NEVER compromise my own integrity by giving a model kit a better-than-I-think-deserved review. Having been involved in varying degrees in the industry itself since the mid 1970's, perhaps I understand better than most the challenges faced by the model companies in bringing products to market, and I am also a relentless cheerleader for the hobby itself, and so I may take a more positive attitude as a whole about the model kit industry and its products than other reviewers and participants in the hobby, but nothing is more valuable than the truth about kits as I, and indeed, all of us, see it. And I do think being more clear about the source of kits that are reviewed. whether it be in magazines, websites, club newsletters, or YoutTube videos, would be a plus for the hobby. TIM

I understand this is a widely held view about kit buildups and reviews in the magazines. As some of you know, I contribute "expanded kit reviews" for SA, and though I no longer currently do regular (e.g. one page) kit reviews there, I have done so in the past for that mag as well. While sometimes the Editor has mildly altered my text for what is in his judgment improved comprehension or page space issues, I don't EVER recall him editing out my negative comments or constructive criticism about the kits I review. If that ever did occur, I would never do another review there. Also, I have NEVER had a kit review omitted in the mag because of it being too negative (I saw the Editor's comments this week on the other board, but it has never happened to me personally.) I can't speak for MCM as I generally don't do straight buildups of new kits there, but I have done buildups of historic kits (such as the Surf Woody, the XR-6/Tub Double Kit, the Uncertain T), and again, I don't ever recall my negative comments being omitted in the final article. Of course, many others do kit reviews for magazines; I can't speak to their experiences, but the above are mine. Just wanted to convey my own personal experiences here.....TIM .

The '69 Town and Country was really equipped more like the lower-series Newport, but wore a front grille from the top of the line New Yorker series and the interior seats from the 300 that year. His 300 grille swap sounds very cool but it wasn't built that way at the factory... as you correctly note. It was one of the higher-priced Chrysler models that year, but it really looked great (as you noted) and seemed to hit a spot in the market that year. Sold around 21,000 units if memory serves me correctly And it looked best (IMHO) in that good ol' F8 Jade Green Metallic, too. Cheers.....TIM ,

Alan.....congrats on those terrific model boats! As you know, I've seen the Bel-Air based one, and raved about it before, but the other two are new to me. Great job on both of those, and thanks for fighting with the slow image transfers to get these images to us. Hope all is well, mate.....Cheers! TIM

This is a 1970 300 (check out the grille, which is the giveaway), and therefore the color is Chrysler Jade Green Metallic, Code F8, My Dad's 1969 Chrysler Town and Country wore this same color. TIM

I don't have a picture of a body I painted with this color, but I agree with Casey = the first image in this thread is a fairly accurate representation of the color that comes out of the can....mine having perhaps just a little more lime gold tint to it than this image portrays...TIM

Thanks Danno....much appreciated as well. Cheers.....TIM

Thanks Craig....I've ordered a few items from Best Model Cars but never made the connection. Much appreciated.....TIM