tim boyd

Gerry...many thanks for your in-depth reports from the show. When combined with what I am expecting we'll hear from Revell later this quarter, 2015 is shaping up to be an extremely exciting year for the model car builder. Gentleman, the Third Golden Age of modeling (a topic that I will have much more to say about later this year) is well underway!!!! TIM

Yes they were. Bonnevilles had longer rear decks along with longer wheelbases for most of the 1960's. This was GM's way of allowing Pontiac to differentiate their B-Body based top of the line models (the Bonneville and StarChief....the later replaced by the Executive later in the decade) vs. the Catalina/Ventura, without graduating to the C-body that Olds and Buick used for their top of line models and Cadillac used for all their models (except the Limos). Having said that, the lens Gerry used may be adding to the elongating the effect....recommend we wait and see the real thing before we worry about this too much. I also immediately noticed the C-pillar touchdown error but I also agree that it should be easy to fix - for us initially, and hopefully for Moebius later. TIM

Jim...that is way cool. That original SuperChief in the 1968 Car Craft mag was the inspiration for one of my most winning model cars (the '69 Charger F/C with the working axle/driveshaft/blower drive). This version appears to me much more sympathetic to the late 1960's funny car configuration than many of today's so-called "nostalgia" funny cars.....TIM

Yeah CHRIS! Finally, sweet revenge for all those SBC's stuffed in Ford Street Rods. Now, where's that 5.0L Ford powered '69 Z-28 I've been looking for? (GRIN)....TIM

JB - See above comment for the Piranha back story. Also, AMT set up a separate division (located in Phoenix) and originally planned to produce the Piranha for sale as a real car. Or so several stories from the era stated. The Vicky kit shown was the first commercial release (in 1963) of the AMT '32 Vicky kit that has been available in various guises ever since. To get this version, Round 2 will have to backdate the kit to the original side headers, 6x2 carb setup, and other pieces. It was sold as a "Trophy Series 3 in 1" kit with restored stock, street rod, and drag versions. A very, very nice kit that had a far more detailed 1932 Ford frame than the earlier Roadster, Sports Roadster, and Five Window Coupe Trophy Series kits. It was also sold through Ford dealers and other Ford promotional venues in a different box art, which may have preceded (slightly) the retail availability timing window. It has no direct link to the '32 Ford Custom in the old '32 Ford/'40 Willys Double kit, other than that the Double Kit instructions aluded to swapping the Tudor body with the Vicky body in a kitbashing project IIRC. The Corvair funny car was addressed in other threads, but it is basically the original AMT Barracuda Mid Engine Funny Car kit with the '69 Corvair body, a front spoiler, and a few ancillary pieces to adapt that body to the FC frame. Best...TIM

Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland has the "3 in 1" Triumph Bonneville 650 circa 1962....I did an article on this kit in MCM several years back. Also, the 2001 Revelll Ford F150 Harley Davidson has a very nice Harley Dyna Super Glide....also did an article on this one 6 or 7 years ago in MCM...r..TIM PS - Also see my 1/25th scale Motorcycles Portfolio for additional ideas.... http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/tim-boyds-124th--12/boyd-scale-cycles-/

I'd like to see it too....TIM

For anyone working on an ultra-authentic Nova build using the otherwise excellent Revell kit, I photographed several of the real cars at the NSRA Street Rod Nats Plus in Kalamazoo a few weeks back. Four different shots of the rear taillamp area (which needs to lean inward as the surface goes downward - a fact that has always cooled my jets on building the Revell kit ever since it came out), and also of the front and rear wheel well openings which have been critiqued as well, with equal justification. Sorry I couldn't get any straight-on side / profile shots...cars spaced too closely together. Here's a link...http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/correcting-or-kitba/1968-72-chevy-iinova/ TIM

Thanks for the update Nick....TIM .

Nice job Randy fixing that grille! TIM

This image came from my Fotki site folder on the '67 Camaro non-RS grille...here's the link to the entire album with about 35 pictures including some RS grilles.....TIM

I just got a second kit from Model Cave in Ypsi, Michigan. The last time I was there (before this trip), they didn't have any (that I saw), but they did have a supply (which apparently sold quickly) when the kit was first released a few months ago. Hopefully this means some outlets in the Distribution chain sold out the first allotment and had to wait for a second allotment to restore the supply. TB

Bob...the new kit has the chrome tailight and custom tailamp lense as one unit, plus the clear red lenses of the original issue custom version. Apparently, ,same with the stocvk version taliamps (although I did not confirm this when I opened the box). To build it with the clear red lenses, you'd have to cut away the molded in tailamp from the plated bumper/lense assembly. Should be pretty easy in theory. Doing the stock version with the clear red lenses would be more involved due to the stock tailamp lense configuration. The instruction include a message for the stock and custom versions that the clear red lenses are included, but that the kit will have to be modified to use them. Best...TIM

Snake...this has always bothered me about the Revell '69 Nova kit - I noticed it as soon as I opened the box on the first version of the kit. Last week at the NSRA Nats North I took some detail shots of the '68-'72 Nova rear end for reference if I ever build the Revell kit, because this would be a "must" change for me. Also some shots of the front and rear wheel well openings. Ten rererence shots at this link: http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/correcting-or-kitba/1968-72-chevy-iinova/

Here are some reference pictures of the non-RS '67 Camaro front grilles that I took at the NSRA Nats North in Kalamazoo last weekend. None of these cars are 100% stock, but the grille closeups are intended to show how the 1/1 scale car gets the proper emphasis on the two horizontal bars that do not seem to be visually emphasized on the Revell model....TIM 25 reference photos (including the rear end as well) plus about 10 more of an RS style '67 Camaro (again, not 100% stock) at this link: http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/correcting-or-kitba/1967-camaro-ss-with/

Excellent kit history, as usual. Minor point, Monogram actually acquired Revell and joined it together with Monogram as a new, combined company operating out of the Chicago area Monogram facilities. The Monogram staff carried over into the new entity. I'm a little foggy on the exact details (not near my reference library right now), but this was the jest of the action. Thanks again for the great kit history info...TIM

Thanks Chucky...I just sent them my ideas. Really appreciate the info and the link....TIM

Frank, I heard rumors a couple of years or so ago (from sources outside of Revell) that such a project had apparently been considered. Haven't heard anything since, either from inside Revell or sources outside. I personally think the '48 Ford Custom Chopped Coupe was a brilliant move on Revell's part, but I also believe an unchopped/restored stock and street rod version would also be successful, as long as it would include the dropped suspension parts that were in the Custom Coupe version. That's part of the reason why I was so surprised by the number of (unchopped) '46-'48 Coupes at the Nats North. Thanks...TIM

Thanks Andy. I finally gave up on the weather at 12:30pm on Friday when it started raining (for the third time that morning). Weather didn't get much better (judging from what I drove through back home and the weather there hours laters). Ugh. The Orphan show was today, but I wasn't there (had other obligations to my girlfriend). But the weather today was about the same - about 20 degrees below the normal temps for this time of year. Best Regards....TIM

Frank...yes there were....I posted a separate album of just the "unchopped" '46-'48 Ford Coupes here.... http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/correcting-or-kitba/1946-48-ford-un-cho/ Best regards...TIM

Andy....near as I could determine, it was. But it was just too blasted cool and damp to get on the ground and look underneath the front fenders to tell for sure. Best...TIM

...all hiding out at the attached link. Thanks for looking....and be sure share your model projects here if they are inspired by any of these photos.... TIM http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/11-scale-automotive/2014-nsra-nationals/

Got to give Howard Cohen credit for this one... Our 2014 NNL Nationals 'cult theme' is "Vintage Model Preservation Society". Basically, your favorite models that you built prior to summer 1980, which marked the date of the first-ever NNL meet in Jackson Center, Ohio. If you have any models that meet that criteria, be sure to bring them along with all your others.... Thanks Howard! And thanks all in advance for those of you who are able to make your plans to attend the 35th NNL Nationals....TIM

Harry makes a good point here (and I know some of the other board members have said the same thing as well). No inside line here, but my guess is that there might be one or maybe two factors involved: 1) the model car companies today are extraordinarily short-staffed vs even ten years ago, much less decades ago. There just simply isn't time or manpower for them to consistently maintain a view of the boards and respond. Stated another way, if there are only so many hours in a day, I'd rather see them working on new kits for us, than shuttling that aside to man the message boards. 2) companies in general (not so much the model companies specifically) have sometimes found that when they attempt to respond to criticism on message boards, it turns into a very negative situation. E.G. the situation worsens rather than resolves itself. They sometimes get better results by responding to individual messages rather than posts on a publicly-accessible message site. Again, I have not spoken to the model companies about this in detail, so it's only a guess on my part. But as Harry also noted in an earlier post here, there is a downside in that rumors, innuendo, and guesses (such as mine here) don't always tell the true story. Now, I have to get back to work myself! TB

Good point. I'd only be interested if they do it all new, from the ground up. Just like Moebius did with the LoneStar/ProStar. TB