tim boyd

Great job! TIM

Norm (as in Norm Veber, Replicans and Miniatures) has just finished a new resin package with hop-up and detail parts for the Manx engine. It's really well done. Recommend you contact him for further details - his ad is usually in the first few pages of the mag (each issue).... btw.he doesn't have a web site....I would imagine Gregg will get a sample soon and can show you the full details. TIM

Art's observations here align closely with my views on the topic. Added to all that, a new company was emerging that was starting to encroach on AMT's turf. MPC was still getting underway in 1966, but its founder was one of AMT's best executvies and the loss of that talent undoubtedly hurt them. But MPC would really hurt AMT by 1968, when they took away some of the prime yearly Promo contracts and fielded a diverse choice of pretty killer annual kits. I was once told that the '65 Galaxie was AMT's attempt to see if a Trophy-Series level of detail would help sell more annual kits. Evidently it did not work. But we got a really fine kit in the process. Best regards...TIM

Hmmmm....can you say _ _ _ _ _ _? Many, if we could only wish....TIM

Thanks Virgil....and best regards....TIM

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=56887 See the link above for photos of the MPC Hydro-Vee Charger Boat kit referenced by a number of you....thanks. TIM

Here's the box art. Unfortunately, the scale is larger than 1/25th (guessing between 1/16 and 1/20), but the kit itself is very nice, if somewhat simplified. I picked up mine off the 'Bay at around $85 IIRC, which was a very good deal as this kit is seldom seen and when it does appear, it can go for big bucks if there are multiple bidders. For more on 1/25th scale Drag and Ski Boats (this is for those who have not looked at my Fotki site before), see my Fotki album at the following link: http://public.fotki....yd-model-boats/ UPDATE 3 Feb 2013 - try this link if the above does not work... http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/tim-boyds-124th--12/boyd-model-boats/boyd-boats-/ Thanks for looking....TIM

The Hot Wheels Snake and Mongoose Dodge D700 Transporters. The matching, fully restored pair is featured in the new Traditional Rod and Kustom magazine....given the iconic appeal of the subject, such kits could have multi-generational sales appeal, and could support and entire reissue program of past Revell and Monogram "Hot Wheels" drag racing kits. Of course, the corporate guys at Mattel would have to moderate their Hot Wheels licensing fees to make such a deal viable (some licensing revenue is a whole lot better than no licensing revenue, guys!) A few years ago I would have totally dismissed such an idea, but with the success of Revell's '49 Merc, '57 Black Widow, Chopped '48 Ford, and Kurtis Midget kits, such a specialized and admittedly eccentric kit topic might actually be worthy of consideration. They would need to keep the detail of the kit somewhat simplified (but please, not a curbside!!!) to make the tool affordable. (That means leaving the tool boxes on the transporter bed without any interior detail, and molding the leaf springs with the chassis rails, for example.) To further recoup the investment to produce such a kit, according to TR&K the Mongoose transporter was originally sold by Chrysler to Sox and Martin, making the potential for a S&M transporter as a third licensed property off the tool. Of course, to make use of that, our friends at Revell would need to either 1) go ahead and tool up that all-new 1970 'cuda kit we've been begging for all these years....(turns out that the '70 S&M 'cuda Pro Stock was stunningly close to a factory stock 'cuda that year and would be an easy second derivative of a stock '70 'cuda kit...)...or 2) do a new '68 Cuda body on the '68 Dart Hemi GTS kit tool (but the wheelbase would have to be shortened for the 'cuda body)....or 3) find the old JoHan '71 S&M tool, buy it, and refurbish it (the tool must be around somewhere, and it still has the best bi-scale E body 'cuda body casting - tied with the MPC '70 'cuda kit - ever put to styrene). Of course, my vote would be for the new '70 'cuda as that would open up many kit spinoffs over subsequent years, just as Revell has done with their '32 Ford Street Rod series...but I digress. Oh well, just some random Good Friday dreamin' out at the Boyd model ranch.... Happy Easter everyone. TIM

Wow...well said Bruce! Now isn't that the truth???!!! TIM

Greg...where did you get these images or these kits? I have both the original issues of these kits but as far as I knew, they were the only issues. These are clearly different boxes, the overall art direction (font, layout, text) looks to be derived from the original kits but the photography is all new (for those of you who have never seen the original box art, the original kits had illustrations instead of photography). If you have these kits in your possession, is there anything (copyright date, date on back of decal, etc). that would indicate when the kit was reissued. Just when we thought we knew everything about the hobby....TIM

Don't look now, but Gregg and Harry snuck what appears to be a peak at the future into the Contest Issue. On page 27 there is a Model Cars subscription ad, and it caught my eye because I did not remember having seen John T's fabulous Blower Bentley in the mag. I looked a little closer and then I saw the photo of my own Allison Rayson-Craft how-to, which definitely hasn't appeared on the cover to date. I soon realized the ad included mockups of what appear to be the covers of the next two issues, alongside the current issue. Check it out. And congratulations to all whose work appeared in the Contest issue. Best regards....TIM

Slight correction here. None of the Revell '48 Ford kits have the Columbia two-speed from what I recall. The AMT Ertl 1941 Woody (as noted above - but just the stock version, not the street rod version), and the Revell Pro-Modeler 1940 Ford Convertible and subsequent stock-only tool derivatives (e.g. the1940 Standard Coupe) all have very well detailed Columbia rear ends. Hope that helps...TIM Best regards...TIM

Chris....just wanted to say....really nice job on this, the Chevy pickup history, and the Ramcharger history. Best regards....TIM BOYD

******************* Guys...I know for a fact that the model companies do listen intently to what the modeling community says, as well as pay attention to what the modeling community actually does (e.g. spend money on newly manufactured kits). Unfortunately, in recent years )mabye the last 15 years or so), pickup kits (both newly tooled and reissues) have not sold that well. I am hoping that the limited reissues that we are seeing this year (including those 1970's vans) represent an attempt by the modeling companies to see if fresh reissues of pickup kits might be ready to reverse that trend, and sell well enough to justify reopening the pickup tooling banks for more reissues, and someday down the road, some fresh tooling. My point is simply this - don't assume the model companies aren't listening if they don't issue a kit of your favorite subject. They do listen, but in the end they are businesses that have to manufacture and market successful products or they won't be around the day after tomorrow. They have to be cautious and combine customer input with many other factors (including historical and recent sales trends of similar subjects) before they take action. Apologizing in advance for those of you that already know this....and I hope this was helpful insight for the rest of you. TIM

OK guys...here's mine. Built straight from the box....fadeaways added....'46 Cad grille....tailights that are in the bumper guards....photographed without hub covers and no rear skirts, without hub AND rear skirt, and with wheel covers and no fender skirts. I had a ball putting together this kit. If anyone is interested in how I built this kit or in seeing some tips to improve your build....there's an On-Line How-To posted at this link....http://public.fotki....d-on-line-ho-1/ Thanks for looking....TIM

Looks sharp Gregg.....TIM

Dennis...that is one sharp street rod and a fine, fine job of modeling it as well...congratulations.....TIM

Ben, I think you mean the Testors (not AMT) Miss Budweiser, correct? If there was an AMT Miss Budweiser kit, that's new news to me and I would like to hear more details. Thanks...TIM

Try Steve Perry at Calnaga Castings.....TIM

The entire Kart, plus the Bonneville racing shell and a second set of wheels/tires, was in the 1963 (not 1962) annual kit issue of the AMT Ford F100 Pickup. TIM

My only paid work for the model car industry occured in the mid-late 1970's while I was in college. I did box art models for AMT, built-up product samples for AMT's Sales Meetings with their sales reps, and in a number of cases, partially to substantially scratchbuit display samples of upcoming kits based on AMT factory blueprints. It didn't pay well at all, but it did allow me to learn quite a bit about the industry as well as prepare myself for future full time employement in the industry that, well, never actually materilalized. Since then, several of the model companies have consulted me about their future kit ideas, and they have solicited my own ideas (a few of which have actually - or may yet still - materialize as kits). I think this soliciting of ideas is a somewhat common practice with a number of long time model car hobbyists/builders and writers. I have never been paid a single penny for any advice or ideas that I have offered. When I was writing the Modeler's Corner column for Street Rodder, some of the companies would send me samples from time to time, which wasn't income but could be considered to offset some money I might have spent myself, but that practice pretty much ended sometime nearly 20 years ago. And in recent years, Revell has asked me several times to build up advance samples of their products and share them on the Internet, and in a few cases (but far from always) I have agreed. Haven't been paid for that either, just afforded a pretty cool sense of satisfaction in knowing that I am being allowed the privilege of sharing a new kit with everyone before it is widely available for them to buy. As one of you mentioned above, this is very much a niche hobby these days and there are just not the resources at the model companies to pay people for their involvement in helping out. Still, it's a cool hobby so no complaints here. So that's my story,....anyone else want to offer theirs? TIM

That MPC '71 Demon was one of the rare instances where the model was actually better than the 1.1 scale car. That's because the wheel openings for the Dart and for the Valiant/Barracuda were different from each other. So when Dodge took the Duster body and added the Dart front fenders, the front and rear wheel openings were mismatched (same with the '71-'76 Plymouth Scamp, by the way). But when MPC took their '71 Duster annual kit and modified it at mid-year to become the Demon 340, they never "fixed" the front wheel openings, so the model carried over the Duster wheel openings on both the front and rear fenders, and as a result, the model looked much more cohesive a whole than did the real car.... Not to mention the box art on that Demon, taken straight from the Dodge catalog, was super-cool! TIM

Virgil, this was one of my top two favorites at the show, and probably would have been my vote for the Ridler award. The color in the photo is very accurate to the color of the real car, and like you, I really liked it. But to me, the very coolest thing about this car was that amidst all the fantastic craftsmanship and finishes throughout the car, the engine itself looked nearly 100% restored stock, right down to the perfect Pontiac Engine Blue paint. That sealed it for me.... Best regards...>TIM

And thank you, again, Harry. Just hope my memory is correct! TB