tim boyd

Going back to John;s original post in this thread, Rider's in Grand Rapids is one of the two best model car hobby stores in Michigan IMHO. The owner/manager really gets it. He and his team do a great job there. The origin of Riders Hobby Shop, by the way, started back in Ann Arbor where I grew up. The hobby shop dated from I don;t know when, but it was old (probably 1950's/early 1960's). When the owners Mr. and Mrs. Rider got too old, they sold the store around 1973 or 1974 to Jack Busch and Bob Statler (I believe it was Statler...). Jack and Bob did a great job bringing the store into the modern hobby world of the mid 1970's, with plenty of emphasis on model cars and kits. Eventually they franchised throughout Michigan. The best spinoff stores were Flint, Lansing, Kalamazoo, and Grand Rapids. The worst were several in the Detroit area (for instance, the Canton store). About ten years ago, the franchise/chain went out of business. The Grand Rapids (and the Flint store, I think???) still operate independently, and the Grand Rapids store in particular carries on the tradition Bob and Jack started in the 1970's.... (The other "best" model car store in Michigan is "The Model Cave" in Ypsilanti, 30 miles west of Detroit.) TIM

I typed a long reply to Bill Geary's Mopar question on Thursday. It wouldn't post, instead yielding the "404 Error" message others of you have apparently seen. So I copied the text to Wordpad and then tried pasting and reposting on Saturday and Sunday. Exact same error message each time I tried. Other newer Boyd replies posted OK, In the meantime, I finally gave up on the Bill Geary response as by then several others had posted the same info that was in my text.....TIM

Harry...this weekend I dug out my own Beatles anthology CD set after reading an article in the Friday Wall Street Journal explaining the creative process that resulted in Strawberry Fields Forever. I too find these earlier mixes and versions to be fascinating listening. Also it jogged my memory that perhaps the most fun cut of all is on Anthology 2, Disc 1, track 19..."And Your Bird Can Sing". This is the version where one of the Beatles blows several lines in the first verse or two, then they all bust out laughing near the end of the song... TIM

On another message board, the owner contacted Round 2 and IIRC, he reported that the Prudhomme kit will be the 1972 Garlits RE kit mostly intact, with some newly tooled parts to replicate the Prudhomme injection/blower hat setup, new front wheels, and a new decal sheet replicating the yellow 1972 Prudhomme rail (not the later Wedge). So if this info is correct (or if I remembered the info posted there correctly), and the info above about the Round 2 Wedge kit is correct, we'll be getting two new rail dragster kits from Round 2. Cool! TIM

Yes. those old Monograms are 1/24th instead of 1/25th, but in this particular case the Monogram bodies are more like 1/24th 3/4....they are very, very close to 1/25th. As far as I'm concerned, they can be swapped just as Jairus has suggested and we'd be very hard pressed to tell the difference.... J., I'd love to see what you might do with that Phaeton! TB

Dave....thanks! I've really liked that A Coupe in your picture in part because it runs a SBF instead of an SBC and looks super-cool all the while. All...here are some detail photos of 1/1 scale '30/'31 A Coupes that I shot about a year and a half ago in anticipation of the debut of this new Revell kit. Lotsa detailing photos including the roof top opening and the firewall areas....and some cool engine ideas. Also posted are overall shots of 1/1 scale '30/'31 A Chopped Coupes I've shot over the last two years to give you plenty of kitbashing ideas for this kit once it hits the market.... Best Regards...TIM

today I saw a 1.1 Ford GT/manufacturer's plate prototype on I-94 just west of Ann Arbor, Michigan. It was painted camo dark flat green, wearing all the correct body panels (no add on foam). This is the first time I've seen the new GT out on the road, and it was truly stunning. The entire car was no higher than the fenders of the cars running next to it on the freeway.

Actually, the 1966 Imperial was the last body on frame....the Imperial moved to the existing (1965-1968) C-body in 1967. Prior to that, 1958-1966 Imperials were all derived from the 1957 Imperial, which was claimed at the time to be different than the 1957 Plymouth/Dodge/DeSoto/Chrysler platform. TIM

Not sure if this was mentioned previously, but the '78 MPC annual kit was a Stepside, and it was 2WD. I do not recall this kit having a 4WD option, but since I don't have the box art in front of me, I can't say this with 100% certainty. It was a very well done kit; excellent SBC casting (down to the finger grips on the oil filter IIRC) and some very nice custom version accessories. I built it when it came out, and it sits in my case today. TIM

Guys...once again, the first round test shot is correctly molded with eight spark plug leads. I find it highly unlikely this would have been changed in subsequent test shot revisions. So until/unless someone gets the final production kit in their hands and shows us a distributor photo with seven instead of eight leads, we should anticipate that the distributor is indeed correct in the final tooling, and move on to other issues.... TIM

The specific box art nomenclature for the MPC bikes is: "Suzuki 250 Motorcross Bike" (per box art for 1977 Dodge D150 pickup kit #1-7709) "Yamaha 250cc Trail Bike" (per box art for 1972 Chevy Stepside [longbox] Pickup kit #1-0411) The Yamaha parts breakdown includes wheel/tire molding (x2), engine/frame molding (x2), front fork, front fender, exhaust, seat, handlebars, kickstand, and a # roundel. Best Regards...TIM

James...my point is simply this. Don't jump to a conclusion until you have the kit and its hot little distributor in your hand. You may soon eat your words. Or Not. Cheers...TIM

Hmmm....another point of view.... a - It is difficult to properly evaluate the importance of a minor mistake (such as seven instead of eight spark plug leads on a distributor) until you can evaluate that mistake in the context of the total completed kit, in its built up/completed form. b - Being ready to blame myself for missing such an obvious flaw during my contracted work evaluating the test shot quality et al, I just checked the first round SBC test shots I built early in this kit's development. Guess what? Eight, not seven spark plug leads around the edge of the distributor, plain as day. Could this have changed between the first round test shots and the near-final test shots shown at NNL West last weekend? Possibly, but I'd think that would be fairly unlikely... How to explain the difference? I don't know. . Therefore, in light of the above, a suggestion: - it's always best to be cautious about drawing definitive conclusions and editorializing about an upcoming kit preview, until you've had a chance to personally evaluate that actual kit and build it on your own. Just sayin'.....Best regards...TIM

From what I've heard (sources outside of Revell), this one has been in the plans for quite some time (e.g., at least several years back...). I was surprised, though, when I heard just a few months ago that it was just around the corner to production status. Since this info came from outside Revell....take it with a grain of salt, please. Still....interesting. I think you guys would be surprised at just how far in advance this company (and at least one other model car maker as well) thinks about possible new products. The best thing you can do if you want to see more of 'em (for example, additional Model A Hot Rod kit variants), is to buy the current most closely related product in the marketplace. Me? I can't wait to place this new '48 Coupe body on the lowered chassis and rodded Ford flathead V8 from the '48 Chopped Custom kit (the one I loved and many others hated) from a few years back....... TIM

Sharp!!! TIM

Regarding the comments on the "skeleton" interior.... The horizontal rib with the half circle on the upper section of the front door interior structure and the structure directly below the window opening does appear reversed, but the rest of the shape of the skeleton interior structure appears correct to me....here's the first 1.1 scale picture that popped up in an image search....1930 Model A interior passenger side door structure.... Maybe that's what you guys are saying and I misinterpreted...but at first read I thought you were saying the entire skeleton structure was inverted.. and I do not believe that is a correct statement. Feel free to prove me wrong on this with photographic evidence.... Also, Dennis is correct - the Steelies are also in the kit. ....TIM

Mike....excellent pictures....thanks. These pictures are doubly interesting as at least in this picture, the body and top appear as a single casting, vs. two separate pieces earlier in its development. TIM

Chris...that car was always one of my favorites and you did a great job with your replica. Wouldn't mind seeing some more pix...particularly of the chassis/engine....Cheers...TIM

Aaron....That's a highly ambitious project and you did a great job of delivering! Congrats...TIM

You are most welcome, Jairus. By the way...just picked up and read a copy of Slot Cars magazine issue #3....although the subject content is not my personal cup of tea, it's obvious you have a real love for the topic and I was highly impressed with the way you edited the magazine, along with your editorial contributions. Very, very impressive! Cheers...TIM

Andy....I like those ideas! A '32 Roadster pickup was also on a suggestion list I gave Revell (at their request) nearly nine years ago now.... TIM

Greg...to the best of my knowledge, the designs were their "own", using their respective knowledge of the subjects as inspiration rather than any single 1.1 scale hot rod. TB

Greg....while I don't have details here, my general understanding is that both the Coupe and Roadster kits were designed by Roger Harney and John Mueller (with input from many others), using their own ideas and those of various 1.1 scale hot rods that inspired them. While not all of us may personally agree with 100% of the design decisions that were made, my view is that these guys had more than enough of the respective "1/1 scale car guy" C.V. (resume) entries to fully qualify them to design these kits.... Best Regards...TIM

To be a little more precise...I believe it was the 1973-76 Darts that used the '69 Barracuda hood....which I always found to be a fascinating re-application of old sheetmetal....something our friends at Mother Mopar did time and time again during the 1950's-1970's.....TIM

Michael....thanks for the question. Simple answer - the versions I built are two years old now and represent the status of the project just after the initial tooling had been completed. There were countless changes that resulted from that buildup (primarily quality, fit and finish type changes) so the examples I have are not at all representative of the final status of the project. Plus they were unpainted and assembled (mostly) with non-permanent glue so they are not in a presentable condition now. Also, Revell and other model companies work closely with their distribution channels and to make sure that they get key information (such as pictures of the final product) first. For right now, the best reference is the picture of the red coupe that is in the second quarter Revell announcements flier. I realize that is not the answer you want, but on the other hand, I think Revell has been extremely flexible in allowing me to post advance info (without pictures) on both versions of this tool....hopefully soon we will all be able to get a closer look at the kit in its final form. Again, thanks for the question....TIM