tim boyd

Just to clarify here, it was late summer 1978 when Lesney bought AMT. Art and I were both doing contracted work for AMT in the mid 1970's, and I had also just interviewed in early 1978 for a Marketing position after graduation from college, and some of the info I learned was a result of that interview and the subsequent letter telling me that I would not be hired in spite of my credentials, etc. So we both can offer perspectives here that most may not know Art is exactly correct here; and to add a bit more texture, it helps to understand that in early 1978 the AMT plant in Troy Michigan endured a strike by the UAW (which represented its workers there) and senior management was opposed to making an expensive settlement. Faced with this and declining sales over all, AMT management decided to shutter the Troy facility and move all production to their newer and more automated second production line in (IIRC) Baltimore, MD. Of course, the Troy facility also included all of AMT's product development staff. Under these circumstances, turmoil was a given. Though I have not built the '79 Indy kits, I did build the earlier Indy Eagle kit, the Grant King Sprint car, and the Dirt Track Car kits (these date from the '74-'76 period). These all exhibited the same issues that are cited above in the '79 Indy kits, and it is entirely possible that the tools all came from the same source This may be as much of a factor as the turmoil at AMT during the '79 kit development. TIM

Everyone is entitled to their opinion here. I don't know all the history behind these decisions, but I do know some, and I can offer somewhat enlightened speculation on related issues as well. First, I can assure you that the primary people behind this project (the late Roger Harney as well as model kit development engineer/project manager John Mueller) were and are bona-fide car guys and far more knowledgeable about hot rod related subjects than most in the model car and 1/1 scale automotive worlds. John even carries the credentials of having built a magazine-quality-featured '34 Ford Street Rod in his own garage a few years back. Second is that the model kit development process is far more complicated than most people realize. It is also subject to the whims and demands of a number of constituencies, and those demands can have an impact on the final design of the kit. In the particular situation of this kit, the original development work included a firewall that represented the 1/1 scale configuration. I have been told that there was a decision along the way to change the firewall to its current configuration so that a future version of this kit would be able to include a hood (thus requiring the ledge on the firewall that you see in the finished kit) You may or may not agree with that decision (I suspect that most who are following this thread would not agree with it), but that is what happened based on what I have been told. As for the roof opening, I don't know any "insider" info on this, but I can speculate that there were probably one or two considerations here. First was the desire for an open roof to show off what the product development team called the "skeleton" interior of the channeled version. Second is the complexity of getting consistent molding output from a piece of styrene that is pretty complicated and already has thin sections in the A-pillar/windshield area. Sometimes a mold design has to be altered from the actual 1/1 scale design to deliver consistent output from the tool. That may have been the issue here. Or, alternatively, since this is a one-off custom design and not based on any single 1/1 scale design, it may have simply been a decision by the development team to format the roof opening in this manner rather than choose strict adherence to the original 1/1 scale design. If I hear any more info on this subject, I will post it here. What I do take issue with here is the idea that Revell did not do their "homework" here, and that the kit designers did not know their subject. Most people who have actually built this kit or the companion '29A Roadster kit know just how much Revell DID do their homework on this subject. Yes, there are elements that can be made more similar to the original 1/1 scale prototype, and yes there are some kit design decisions that some of us wish had been been different (e.g. a Halibrand Quick Change/transverse leaf/Model A Rear Crossmember rear setup, and any early OHV V8 choice other than yet another scale SBC), but I defy anyone to actually build and complete this kit and not acknowledge that the Revell team got most of it right, and did a great job in the process. That's my opinion.....TIM

For those that have not yet seen issue #201, Darryl's coverage of the NHRA Museum drag racing collection is a real highlight. Marc's info above adds significant information to the subject, and this must have been quite a project for him to repair each model after its overseas shipping. Thanks, Marc!!! My own belief is that we as model car hobbyists should pay more attention to subjects like these, including the International Model Car Museum in Salt Lake City, Utah, as they represent the best of our hobby and should serve as an inspiration to all of us. TIM

Thanks Curb for reminding everybody about this.....TIM

I am continuously highly, highly impressed by the talent and creativity shown by many members of this Forum who exhibit their in-process and completed traditional hot rod models in the "on the workbench" and "under glass" sections of this forum. Your insistence on period-correct authenticity and realism is an inspiration to me, and I suspect, many others who frequent this forum In the new issue #201 of Model Cars magazine....which just arrived at my doorstep on Friday, July 2nd, there is a five page, full color article on how to choose historically accurate paint colors for traditional hot rod model projects I worked on researching and preparing the imagery for article over several years, and I would like to thank Harry for his layout and formatting of this article, and Gregg, Darryl and Harry for choosing to place the article in this issue It really seems perfectly timed with the concurrent arrival of Revell's '30 Model A Five Window Coupe kit, and should give you many ideas on how to go about picking a historically accurate color scheme for your hot rod model builds. One minor correction to note...for the image at the left center of page #20, the Corvette is painted '57 Corvette Venetian Red, and the '40 Ford Coupe is '54 Buick Titian Red Metallic, not the reverse of this (as the caption reads). I know some of you do not really look at the magazine; concluding that only this forum is needed for your modeling inspiration. In this case, may I suggest that it might be well worth your time and effort to search out the issue. I hope you find the article and its suggested approach to be relevant and of interest to you. Cheers.....TIM

Great info, Alan. Thanks for posting....and educating us all! TIM

Thanks Keyser...that is what I was trying to remember correctly. Cheers....TIM

See my discussion of this topic earlier in this thread, including links to photo albums of both '28/'29 and '30/'31 Model A Five Window Coupes.....Cheers....TIM

Guys....you need to double check me on this but I understood that the "long ram" and "short ram" intake manifolds appeared to be the same or very close to the same on the outside The "long" and "short" referred to how long each individual cylinder head intake tube in the manifold ran separately (long ram), vs. joined (siamesed) together internally (short ram) for part of the length of the ram tube intake. Steve....this car (the '62 300H) would be a great subject for your Mopar building expertise....can't wait to see how it works out for you, and good luck on fixing that '65 Fury III hood paint TIM

Very, very tasty Cliff! Like that comparo shot too! Thanks for posting....TIM

Agreed, agreed, Mark!!!! TIM

A number of you have PM'ed me on the use of this new Revell kit for kitbashing various other bodies of 1928/29 and 1930/31 Model A's. Having known that these kits were in the works over the last several years, I've been collecting photos of the various bodystyles for future reference, and that "future" is now, well, now! Here's a link to each of the photo albums - * 1/1 scale 1930/31 Model A ROADSTER bodies - * 1/1 scale 1928/29 Model A FIVE WINDOW COUPE bodies (plus a couple of Sport Coupe body images as well) - * and for comparison, 1/1 scale 1930/31 MODEL A FIVE WINDOW COUPE bodies - One of you emailed me that a 1/1 scale Model A body panel supplier stated that the roof and rear window panel of the 1930/31 Five Window Coupe was carryover from the 1928/29 Five Window Coupe, and that the only difference between the two above the beltline was with the quarter window panel shape and window height. If that info is correct, that would simplify (to a degree) using the Revell Model A Five Window Coupe top on the '28/'29 Roadster body, but remember that the Revell roadster body has rear wheel well openings that are raised upward vs. a stock 1928/29 Roadster configuration. It might be easier to base a '28/'29A Five Window Coupe conversion on the old AMT 1929 Model A roadster body (which is due for reissue by Round 2 within the next couple of months). Hope you guys considering kitbashes of the new Revell Five Window Coupe kit find this info useful And by all means, post your projects here as you begin to work on 'em! Cheers....TIM

Thanks Jeff, Harry, and the rest of you for your feedback on this review. Makes me want to continue to do this on selected kits that I think will have broad appeal to the MCM Forum members..TIM

Dennis is exactly right in pointing out the importance of, and the rarity of, properly configured blown SBC engines for street use. Historically, some of the earliest kits with a street-configured blown SBC were the four variants of the MPC "Switchers" kits first released in 1972, and their derivatives/reissues over the ensuing years. Much more recently, the Revell '62 Corvette Gasser also has a blown SBC with a water pump, Delcotron, and associated fan belt/pulley configuration. Here's a picture... In fact, when you compare this engine (particularly the blower assembly) to the blown SBC in the '30 A kit, you'll see some design similarities (though there are major differences too) . If you'd like to see more on the Rat Roaster engine that Dennis mentioned, as well as the Corvette Gasser engine, check out my online "grudge match comparo" presentation at this link...here's a view of the associated components from both kits.... .....thanks for looking. TIM PS...oh by the way, if I was doing that comparo today, the blown SBC in the new '30A Coupe kit would have been the hands down winner....just in case you wondered(!) TB

Thanks guys for the comments and feedback so far. And if any of you are looking for building ideas....check out this album of 122 images of 1/1 scale '30/'31 Model A Coupe hot rods..... TIM

Make sure to check out this newly-posted, detailed review of the kit contents, if you have not already done so.....TIM

Well it is FINALLY here! Click this link to see my 45-photo review of the kit contents including an emphasis on what's new (hint - a lot!) vs. the '29 A Roadster kit introduced last year. Make sure to use the "Roll" feature to see the photos and captions together - you really need to read the captions to get the whole story. Thanks for looking....I can wait to see your under construction photos posted here at the MCM forum in the near future.....TIM

Got the last two of the initial shipment of kits to Nankin Hobby in NW Metro Detroit earlier today. Apparently the entire first shipment sold out in under 48 hours/two days. Will post a "what's new" review by COB this Monday. TIM

Dennis....both of those are very sharp! TIM

Thanks guys for the additional info...the guys at Round 2 are also checking on this....not a clear answer yet. If someone can post detail pictures of the c2004 reissue, I can compare those to the Prestige Series and earlier released here in my stash...including the front fender nomenclature, grille, interior patterns, etc Best...TIM

There was apparently at least one post "2+2" tool modification release of this tool labeled as a "Pontiac Bonneville", circa 2004 or so But the evidence (so far) seems to suggest that this may have been a mislabeled reissue of the "2+2" kit version, rather than a return of the tool to Bonneville status Given the number of "error" box arts from RC2 and its various iterations back then, it seems possible that this is the case Having said that, does anyone have a copy of the circa 2004 "Bonneville" reissue? If so, what's inside - an original Bonneville, a "2+2" as would be suggested from the above, or a new set of contents that would suggest the tool was returned to a Bonneville in a semi-original form after its foray into "2+2" territory? Thanks....TIM

You're welcome, Chris. No worries whatsoever. Cheers.....TIM

Chris....I sure don't ever remember writing something like that (then again, my memory is not always that reliable, it turns out). Plus I handed over the Modeler's Corner gig to Mike Carroll in September, 1995 when I took over as the team leader for Ford's SVT project and began dealing with the 1/1 automotive media professionally. So I'm thinking maybe Mike wrote those immortal words.....???? Cheers....TIM

Dennis....sure does. Maybe I need to dig that one out and do some modern day photography on it.....thanks for the suggestion.....TIM