tim boyd

Following up on Casey's comment, I found the instructions sheet to be lacking in terms of the specific location of the front inner fenders to the floorboard/fender unit. I totally messed up, and couldn't fix it after I glued the parts in the wrong alignment I had to do a new assembly with parts from a second kit to recover. Other than that, I was able to figure out most of the issues. I found that the kit still has the issue first reported in Phil Jensen's initial Car Model Tidewater Trucker kit review back in 1972 - the front bumper hangs up on the grille when the body is tilted forward. Also, the air cleaner assembly may be a smidgen too high, and the floorboard interferes with the top of the radiator preventing the body from sitting flat on the chassis. In spite of all that, it's a neat kit and the Ford SuperDuty 534c.i. V8 is way beyond cool! TIM

With the 35th NNL Nationals coming up this fall, I wanted to go back and post some coverage of past NNL Nats, including many models you never saw in the magazine coverage of the events, and with all the builders identified. Here's a link to 170 photos of 90 different models of all genres that appeared at the 2007 NNL Nationals #28. We'll tease you with a photo of Gary Kulchock's Enzo Ferrari.... Full details and coverage here: http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/model-car-events-co/2007-nnl-nationals-/ Thanks for looking....TIM

I just re-read this entire thread, including the pictures from my old friend Hans Kihlen of Sweden (Hans did a Modeler's Corner type column for Sweden's "Wheels" magazine for many years...). I also compared the info here with what Dennis Doty told me back in the day (in the 1970's, Dennis lived in Old Redford, a neighborhood on the northwest edge of Detroit, and he would do projects from time to time for Joe Hanle). The descriptions here of Mr. Hanle do not seem too out of line with what I remember Dennis telling me about him. Earlier on in this thread, Mark and others commented on JoHan's move into drag and racing topics circa 1971 or so. Just to agree, these kits were among the best offered in the industry at the time. So for those that haven't already seen it, here's a link to a buildup I completed 2 1/2 years ago of the JoHan Mickey Thompson Mustang Funny Car kit. Best Regards....TIM http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/tim-boyd-on-line-mo/tim-boyd-on-line-ho1/

Very cool, Jairus! TIM

John and Mike - thanks for the pictures! The NNL West carries on its tradition of eye-catching, creative builds from all model car genres! TB

In fact, the entire '70 Sox and Martin Pro Stock is much closer to factory stock than the '71 S&M, which was one of the points I made to Revell when I recommended this as a second version of the '70 'cuda tool (I'm sure others also recommended it). The version that I was referring to was in a five page feature color article in the October, 2009 issue of Popular Hot Rodding magazine. As Bill mentions, it had the stock front seats, and the hood scoop is close to, but I can't quite tell if an exact match, to the one in the article. TB

Oh dear....that is overstating it by about 2000%. We were just model car builders who loved our hobby and were lucky enough to have won multiple awards at the MPC Contest series from 1969-79. Very famous? Not really. Brilliant Achievement? No Way! Then, I remembered. It was Mark that picked the word "Luminaries" to describe us, not ourselves! (Smile). (For those not close to this subject, there has always been ongoing, good -natured, back and forth two-way ribbing between the NNL organizers and Mark in his role as Chair of the GSL. It's just part of our shared heritage!) TB

Danno...the other two were... - Gary Dale, MPC National Customizing contestant (IIRC, he won third nationwide in 1977) and won Best of Show a number of times at MPC Regional events, and brother of David Dale who we all know is a very active builder these days and not so well known, an MPC Contest winner back then as well. - Bob Bost, MPC Contestant and winner, representing himself as well as Al Cozby, who also won his share of MPC Contests back then. Best....TB

For those that don't know, Mr. Andy Martin (aka Modelmartin) was amongst those six lonely Nameless National Luminaries who showed up at Tom Woodruff's garage for that first-ever NNL event in the summer of 1980. I'll never forget Andy's totally awesome models that he brought with him, nor his enthusiasm for our hobby and get-together! The atmosphere there was totally charged, and Andy certainly did his bit to contribute to that result! TIM

Tom...this description so wonderfully captures what I think we've all been striving to achieve with the NNL idea. Congrats to you and your team. It's been ever so many years ago that we got that inquiry from John about doing an NNL East. I remember some discussion of the request, but I think everyone knew we couldn't say no, and it certainly sounded like he was completely tuned into what we were all about. The legacy of NNL East since then, and the spirit shown in your description, suggest you guys got it, and continue to get it, every year you do your show. And ONE of these years, I plan to get there and experience it first hand. Best regards and thanks for all you and your NNL East team do...>TIM

Neil...got it. You are so serious (and talented,...) with your builds, I just presumed you were just as serious with more mundane subjects....sounds like we gotta meet one of these days....Cheers....TIM

The spirit of the NNL as a loosely organized, no rules type of activity? And a sponsorship of any kind? Nah....not a chance. But that doesn't mean we can laugh and have a good time at the idea! TB

That is hilarious and totally in keeping with the fun-loving spirit in which the NNL was originally created, per Tom's note above. Thanks for posting, Danno. TIM

Again, not my role here to defend Revell, but a number if people who've built their '57 Ford Custom or the '50 Olds Custom would suggest that those are among the best new-tooled kits on the market at the moment. Not to mention that they are selling for 1/2 to 1/3 the price of 1/24th scale newly tooled imported kits. But it's nothing more than a theoretical argument at this point anyway, because Revell hasn't announced any new light duty truck subjects that I am aware of....TB

I'm not going to suggest that Revell would win, but the company/team you are describing has moved on considerably over that decade and a half. My guess is that you would find them to be a very formidable competitor. TB

I kinda understand/sympathize with the sentiment here. But based on Revell's new '70 'cuda kit and all the factory-correct options that single kit includes, I don't think one should assume that a newly-tooled Revell Ford pickup kit would cover only one version, and/or that it would be the least desirable version at that. And while I have absolutely zero insider knowledge that would suggest such a project is under consideration, I would love to see Revell do a kit of the all-new, aluminum-bodied 2015 Ford F150. If they did, wouldn't it be cool to do a "fight to the death" duel/comparo between that kit and this new Meng F350? TIM

Mark...not at all. I think I read somewhere a long time ago that every year you live seems to go by twice as fast as the year before, and with two months to go until I turn 60, that sure seems to be the case here. Having said that, I sure don't feel anything like I'm 60 years old. Maybe model car building keeps us young at heart??? Best...>TIM

Brett.///...that is certainly some hot news! Thanks....TIM

Pat...the block castings are identical between the Parts Pack version and the Miss Deal version. And they both have the upper bellhousing as part of the castings. But to my understanding, only the real 331 Hemi had the integral bellhousing, it was removed for both the 354 and 392 Hemis that came later. Best regards...TIM

I don't want to rain on anyone's parade here, but I think I have to speak up once again about what constitutes an NNL Model Car Event. The intent of the original of the NNL was a group of model builders who wanted to get together in a non-competitive venue for enjoying their model cars and their friendship. Because of this, there was no contest judging, and most importantly, no awards. None. Not a single one. As the NNL grew, some of the folks who later took the lead in organizing the event decided to incorporate a people's choice award, voted on by the participants. Note that it was "People's Choice", not "Best of Show." Big difference there. Over the ensuing years, this has grown to typically a Peoples Choice, a Junior Builder award, and an Event Theme award. These vary by NNL event, but the common point is that they are 1) voted on by participants (not determined by judges), and 2) they are few in number. Because, at its core, NNL's are "Non Contests". They are not about who has the best model, they are all about showing cool models and enjoying camaraderie among each other. There are plenty of great model car contest for those who want to compete against each other. And more power to those of you who prefer to compete this way, and for the organizers who put in all the long hours and effort to make these contests work so well. But if you are traveling to an "NNL" that has a bunch of awards listed on the flier, and/or, it is not clear that any award is based on participant votes instead of judging, then most likely you are not traveling to a true NNL, regardless of what the event may be called. Part of the whole NNL idea was to keep things loosely organized and focused on fun, not rules and politics. So this NNL distinction between "non-competitive" and "competitive" events may not be as clear as it could be. As one of the organizers of the original, first ever NNL, and a strong supporter of the idea for the nearly 35 years (!) since then, I think the model car community needs to be reminded of this from time to time. For those of you who want to know more about this, I did a Commentary on this subject for Model Cars Magazine several years ago, you might want to look that up. Again, no intent to rain on anyone's parade here, just a kindly reminder about the core of what make an NNL, an NNL. Best regards...TIM

Sharp!!!! TB

Chuck...that is a great idea! For those of you considering this, just make sure your Ardun is from the second issue of the Revell '50 Ford Custom pickup (circa 2007 or so), as the Ardun in the first version of the Custom Ford Pickup was wrong in several areas (including siamesed exhausts that were great for a regular Flathead but completely wrong for an Ardun which has four separate exhaust ports on each head). TB

Pesonally, I would use the AMT '49 Merc engine. It is well designed, correct for the marque and model year, and includes desirable features like correct, separate exhaust manifolds. The '50 Ford truck would be an OK swap, but the '48 Ford is a prior generation Flathead, with the distributor in a different location and the water hoses from the radiator connecting in a different location, so it would not be a prototypically correct choice for a '49 Merc Woody.....TIM

Mark...that looks very sharp. And here's how I used it on one of my projects...http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/from-the-pages-of-y/from-the-pages-of-m/ TIM

Just to confirm...everything Mark says here I agree with....TB