tim boyd

Smile! Thanks Mike....TIM

At this link you'll find 34 pictures and captions summarizing the entire kit contents and the latest round of refinements to the Moebius '61 Ventura kit tooling. I am advised that other than a couple of very minor fit interior fit refinements, final polishing of the tool, and completion of the decals, assembly instructions, and box art, this one is just about ready to go into production. As before, due to differences in camera lenses, focal lengths, photography angles and the like, I caution you against making any final determinations of the body accuracy by attempting to compare these photos to 1/1 scale photos of '61 Ventura. Also, I have started a new thread since this is a look at the actual future kit contents, but if the Forum Moderators what to move this to the previous thread discussing the future kit, please do so. Thanks to Dave Metzner at Moebius for providing us the test shot...and now...take a look at what we found by clicking the highlighted blue link in the first sentence above. Cheers...>TIM

Just to reiterate, I did do an article with this conversion a number of years ago in the other model magazine. The major change is the cylinder head configuration (particularly on the intake side) which is completely different than a Ford Y-Block. If someone needs the specific issue, send me a PM and I'll look it up. IIRC I used the Revell '56 Ford Pickup block for my conversion, but the other Ford Y-blocks mentioned above would work. I used the valve covers from the AMT Chris Craft Drag/Ski Boat 3 in 1 Trophy Series kit, first released in 1960 and reissued several times in the 1990's under the Buyer's Choice program. The AMT Trophy Series Lincoln engine most closely approximates the MEL V8 first introduced by Ford in 1958 (which like the Chevy W-Block, places the combuistion chamber in the engine block rather than the cylinder head, meaning that the cylinder heads attache to the engine block at less than the normal 45 degree angle seen in nearly all other V8 engines). The valve covers on that engine replicate (IIRC) the Lincoln Mark II Y-Block units rather than the normal Lincoln Y-Block, but don't quote me on that as being solid fact. BTW, we nearly got an all-new Lincoln Y-Block in one of the kits issued in the last several years, but even with a number of people (including myself) providing documentation, it apparently was not enough to make sure the final result was a quality product, so the idea was dropped during kit development. TIM

Somewhat surprisingly to me, the 348 engine in the Revell '58 Chevy Impala is one of the (maybe even "the") nicest "W" block motors in scale. Highly recommended, both for stock builds and period//traditional hot rod models....yes....use it instead of a bloody SBC for a change! TB

Here's a link to a summary from AutoBlog,com, and a copy of the official Ford press release (viewable if you scan down the post by AutoBlog). The press release I scanned said that the Ford GT, Raptor, and ST models were 1/32nd scale, but scalable by the user to other scales including 1/25th. TB http://www.autoblog.com/2015/06/12/ford-3d-printing-models/

Not to mention the '64 Dodge and '64 Plymouth versions, which were (for the Fury) 116" wb....TB

Gregg and Harry already know what I think of the "Bent Road Incident" (I sent them a congratulatory note as soon as the issue arrived last week), but for the record, I tremendously enjoy reading Bill Borgen's articles, both for the entertaining "setups" as well as his outstanding modeling skills in creating antique "might have been" models. Great job, guys. TIM

A couple of comments 1) The Monogram Uncertain T was actually a pretty cool kit, other than the body casting which was compromised in its execution. 2) I did an article on this kit for Model Cars a number of years back....unfortunately about 1/2 the article and photos/captions were not printed in the mag at the time. 3) The coolest part of the kit was the fuel injected Buick Nailhead, but the new Nailhead in the upcoming Revell '29! blows the Uncertain T kit Nailhead outa the water! 4) Roger Harney personally told me a number of years back that the tooling for the Uncertain T was scrapped at some point in the past. Best Regards...TIM

A third vote to add to Richard's and Mark's - JoHan's was the best first/second gen Logghe chassis in scale until the fairly recent Revell new tooled chassis of a few years ago. It also served, I was told, as a rough basis for the Polar Lights chassis, although that one was not as well detailed and had some build issues. It was also included in a circa 1968 JoHan '64 Dodge Funny Car/Super Stock kit and a '64 Plymouth Nascar/Super Stock kit, both derivatives of their earlier annual kits. The funny car chassis was dropped from later issues of these two kits. TIM

It's intended to be the 394 cubic inch (factory displacement) Olds V8. Though not shown above, another very cool feature of this kit's engine is that it includes a water pump, pulley, and fan belt, so that the engine with its supercharger can be used for models intended for street applications (hot rods, street gassers, et al.). Very few supercharged engines in 1/25th scale kits include the water pump/fan belt elements. TIM

Bill...that's very sweet; really, really promising! Hope to see you finish it some day....TIM

Not Wayne, but that looks like a very excellent buildup of the JoHan 1970 Gene Show Challenger Funny Car kit, (later sold as the "Ram Rod" after the Snow licensing agreement ran out). It's an excellent kit, but was last available new some 25 years or so ago....TIM

The AMT/Ertl '34 Five Window was first issued c. 1995 or so, with an all-new body/interior, paired with the chassis and running gear from the AMT/Ertl '34 Ford Tudor kit, dating from 1987 or so. The Tudor body on that one was thoroughly panned by most builders, and it has never been reissued. John Mueller did the body on the Five Window Coupe....which was great as he had (and to my knowledge, still has) his own '34 Ford Five Window in 1/1 scale sitting just out the door in his Iowa garage. The pure stock Five Window version is very good, the street rod version has an excellent body/interior, but the chassis has a clumsy, out of scale independent front suspension and a generic SBC engine (and you guys know what I think about SBC's in Ford Street Rod models, right?). Still, the street rod version can be kitbashed into a great looking model. BTW the other model car magazine has a feature on this very kit, shown in the upper right corner of the cover of the current issue. The AMT '34 Three Window kit, as noted by Bob above (as well as Bill's post which just appeared), was an entirely different kit, very poorly done and only issued once in 1975. Don't waste your money on that one. Best Regards...TIM

Appreciate the feedback, Scott. If I can find the time, I'll see if I can add those Polar Lights comparison photos in. And if I do it, I'll lever everyone know here. Thanks....TIM

Gene...did you click on the link (third word in on my original post)? Here's the actual URL if you are having trouble with the link http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/first-look-at-all-n/new-moebius-65-plym/ Cheers...TIM

At this link are 53 photos and commentary on the new Moebius '65 Plymouth Satellite kit. (Kit provided in advance by Moebius to several model car journalist/builders for advance publicity purposes, including this writer). From first impressions, this looks to be a great kit - have a look and see if you agree. Of course, as always, the final verdict will be how it appears when fully painted and assembled. By the way, Moebius advised that the kit is in production now and should be available for retail purchase domestically sometime in July. Thanks in advance for your interest. TIM (PS - I recommend against posting pictures of real '65 Satellites and comparing them to the pictures herein, as differences in camara lenses, focal lengths, photography angles, et al make it virtually impossible to draw accurate conclusions about real vs. kit body proportions and accuracy.) (PSS - Board Moderators - I posted this as a separate topic since it is a detailed discussion of the actual kit, vs. the existing thread which is mostly pre-introduction in topic content. But feel free to move this to the previous topic thread if you prefer). TB

I'm not aware of any changes whatsoever to the Dodge Slant Six....TIM

Last time I was there, John at Model Cave in Ypsilanti, MI, had at least the two-door in stock there....TIM

For that Surf Shop dio (way cool idea, by the way), I recommend you get the Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland surfboards offering, which includes resin copies of many different surfboards from 1/25th&1/24th scale model kits over the years....TIM

What Art said.....look at the front doors of the Galaxie kits....during assembly this area is covered by the extended front fenders of the '46-48 design...but underneath....you'll see the '41 Chevy sheet metal////err////styrene, fully intact on Galaxie's body casting! Now that the '46-'48 is to be available as a five window coupe (the previous kit had the aero sedan bodystyle that wasn't available in the '41 IIRC), now all this needs is what Art mentions above. The '41 Chevy is my personal favorite among all the pre-war Chevies, and I would really enjoy being able to build a 1/25th scale of that car (probably as a nicely kitbashed 1970's style retro-rod...). TB

Gerald...great choice for a scale replica, and a most excellent job recreating it, too! Thanks for sharing....TIM

Thanks Guys....yeah, it's mine. TIM

Mike...that's a really interesting idea or two there. I'll try to make sure it gets passed on to the Board of Trustees....TIM

There are any number of good modeling books - the aforementioned Dennis Doty books, the many Kalmbach modeling techniques and genre books authored by Bill Coulter, Terry Jessee, Pat Covert, et al. Even my own out-of-print book under the MBI label "Collecting Model Car and Truck Kits" - although it is getting really pricey these days, and Terry Jessee's "Hot Rod Model Kits" from the same publisher. But my hands-down pick as the first priority is the same one Nick mentioned above -Bill Coulter's new book on Mustang model car kits. It is just outstanding on every possible level. It features over 200 full color pages on every generation of Mustang kit - plus many how-to building tips and projects. Our own Harry Pri. did the graphics layout and it is outstanding as well. Highly, highly recommended. TIM

Once again, Don is right on the money here. This book is a treasure and a wonderful source of ideas for the hot rod model car builder. TIM