tim boyd

Jeff - Alas...no more pictures. I try to take pictures without people blocking the view, but this car just kept attracting the crowds. Pretty cool, heh? TIM

http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/2011-cobo-autorama-/2012-cobo-autorama-/2012-autorama-extreme-/ Well over a hundred pictures of the traditional/"rat rod" basement section of the yearly Cobo Autorama (considered by many to be among the two most important hot rod shows of the year). Photos of the main floor attractions are also loading now in a seperate folder and should be ready for viewing by 6pm EST or so this evening. Thanks for looking....TIM

Thanks Harry for continuing to set the record straight. I don't recall us having the first NNL in response to Mark's editorial, but more in response to the overall championship model car scene back then which, shall we say, was not really conducive to modelers getting together, showing their work and enoying our great hobby in general. As I recall, we sent invitations to most of the major winners in the MPC National Championship series, and, well, just six of us showed up. But the idea was good, apparently, and things built from there. Of course, the fact that Mark's editorial had recently appeared was mentioned during our get together, as most if not all of us had been approached about participating and chose not to for various reasons. The fun loving spirit of the original NNL's was born on the spot. Before we left Tom's garage that afternoon, the new "group" had christened itself Nameless National Luminaries...later shortened to NNL's. Best,.,.,.TIM

Jack,,,if you ever build a ski boat with that Jet Drive, please let me know or send pictures! TIM

Sorry guys, my note was referring to the sedan delivery body only, from the B-pillar forward, I did not mean to imply that the Barnabas kit included the fenders, hood, etc. Those parts are found in all issues of the MPC '32 Chevy Cabriolet, which is a fairly easy kit to find amongold kit resellers. TIM

Another excellent source for resin 1960's/ealry 1970's drag slicks is Steve Perry's company, Calnagacastings.com Yes, this is the same Steve Perry who did the FreightTranin on the cover of this month's ModelCars magazine. In his typical fashion, he's modified (accurized) all his resin drag slick masters so they are very accurate. And he keeps a running inventory so he can ship quickly. TIM . I'm really liking all the Comp coupe and roadster model projects shown in this post - keep it up, guys! TIM

To add to the knowledge base here, GTX nameplates were added to 1972-1974 Roadrunners only when the 440-4bbl engine was ordered. (And apparently there were a few - generally thought to be about 3-6 cars - I have the actual latest number around somewhere) 440 4bbl's produced very early in the 1972 model run before the engine option was cancelled. BTW, many (if not most) of the current staff and contributors to Model Cars magazine own current generation Mustang GT's, but did you know that two of Model Car's contributors purchased and owned factory-new 1974 Plymouth Road Runners? They were both black with black interiors - and both were owned for a long period of time - one for 16 years, the other for about 25 years...

I agree with Chuck's assessment of this kit, AND...don't look now but the entire '33 Chevy Sedan Delivery body is still there in unmolested from from the B=pillar forward. Lotsa possibilities there....TB

Sean....you have just taken what I have always viewed as one of the most poorly designed Mopars of all time, and made ii highly desirable. You've probably single handedly doubled the value of originbal unbuilt kits of this model. You are truly an artist. Congratulations! TIM

JB...right you are. If you don't need the plated parts, or can use Alclad II. Norm's Triumph is the way to go....TIM

Fan...I just found in my references library a list compiled by Norm Veber (Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland) of the AMT Triumph Bonneville Motorcycle parts included in AMT's 1962 Annual kits. According to that list, all four wheel halves of the Triumph motorscyle were in the AMT 1962 Thunderbird Hardtop annual kit. Maybe you could find one of those kits (even a cheap gluebomb kit on eBay.com might have the part), in case the PIF referenced earlier does not materialize for some reason. Best regards....TIM

Greg...presuming that is a Flathead Ford....very, very, very cool and super-original. What's the backstory on this model? TIM

Greg....my point exactly. They've become the "knee jerk" powertrain solution for '32 Ford builds. I have no issue with historic hot rod replicas/recreations based in the late 1950's through mid 1960's when 283 and 327 Chevy engines really were the best choice for 1/1 scale builders. First Gen Early OHV V-8's (Hemis, Olds, Buick Nailheads, and Ford/LIncoln Y-Blocks) are all cool as well. But beyond those genres, Ford engines should be found in Ford street rods. If you're in the 1940's or early 1950's, there's many great Ford Flathead V8 choices; beyond the mid 1960's there's 289, 351W, 351C, 427,428, 429, and 460 Fords that all are better choices than SBC's for 1/1 scale and 1/25th scale Ford street rods. 1/1 scale Street Rods have become way too generic,and plopping in an SBC just adds to the generic-ness. People always used to defend their SBC's by saying they were less expensive than Fords, and could be made to run faster than Fords, and fit the '32 Ford engine compartment better than Fords. That was all true for many years, but it's no longer true now - the 5.0L Ford V8 has literally revolutionized the engine aftermarket over the last 20 years, and Ford engines won both categories in this year's Popular Hot Rodding Magazine Maxiumum Horsepower Builders competition. I realize many disagree with me on this, but that's my view and I'm holding to it. At least until we see a bunch of Ford 5.0L V8-powered '69 Camaros and Tri-Five Chevies materialize! Best regards...TIM

Bandit...it will be all new tooling from what I understand. The decision to add this to their catalog was taken shortly before the October '11 Hobby Show, again from what I understand, so it will be some time before the kit appears (I usuallly plan on about a year, if there are no problems requiring retooling before it is released). This kit should have a number of pretty cool parts that will make it well worth waiting for. But if it was me doing it, I would substitute a blown 5.0L Ford engine for the lame SBC in the 1.1 scale car. (Until we start to see lots of '69 Camaros with 5.0L Ford engines, Chevy engines have no business being in Ford street rods. That's my POV and I'm sticking to it! TIM

...and here's a shot of the AMT Triumph Bonnevillle (build in the custom version from the '63 Apache kit - the "custom" parts being the ape hangers, the seat, and the rear tailamp), As noted above, the front wheels are similar to the '27 T Tub fronts. More pictures of this one and all my 1/25th bikes are at this link: http://public.fotki....-scale-cycles-/

Here's my 100% box stock build of this '27 T Tub from the original '27 T/XR-6 kit. More pictures at the link....thanks for looking. TIM http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/boyd-street-rods-ra/

Fan....Thosee front wheels have a drum brake cast in them, like the front wheel of a 1960's motorcycle. I don't recall seing them in any other AMT kit from that era. They do look similar to (though I can not verify that they are the same as) the front wheels in the AMT 1962 Triumph Bonneville 'bike that was in the 1963 AMT Chevy Pickup kit and offered (with a few pieces in each kit) as a bonus in some of the AMT '62 annual kits. Better news on the rear wheels and the Fronty engine. The correct rears are Halibrands, fairly deep offest, with small windows, These wheels and the Fronty can be found in almost all the reissues of the '27T Tub kit, including the most recent Vintage Police Car version from Stevens International in 2007. Those wheels have always been a favorite of mine. I buit this kit just a couple of years ago. I'll see if I can post pictures, and someday I plan to get around to writing an article on it. Enjoy and have a great time with your build....TIM

OK Terry, I bit. Or, to be more accurate, bought. Ordered one from Don a couple of nights ago based on your original post above....I am sure surprised to see a kit of this car....er...truck. Now...who's gonna do a '67 to '72 Ford F150? TIM

Not sure if we're talking past each other, but the source of the "Wiktor" name used on the cutout is disclosed in my post at the bottom of page 11 of this thread. Apparently Mr. Wiktor's time at AMT predates my involvement with the team at Maple Road AMT, and I think my time working with them corresponds to Art's time working with them (more or less), though we did not know each other back then. TIM

Today I took a few minutes to build the cardboard background from the new Round 2 reissue of the Manx kit and pose that Model Cars poster car on the background. Here's how it looks.....TIM By the way, if you've never heard of the Wiktor drive-in chain, it's because it doesn't exist. The name came from AMT's former Art Director Ken Wiktor. During the 1960's and early 1970's, a number of AMT's decal sheets included such "insider" messages...a sure sign of a team having fun! TIM

John, exact same experience here. TIM

Wow! WOW! WOWWW!!!! Great work, John, congratulations.....TIM

Thanks everyone for your feedback. This was a really enjoyable and relatively quick (as least as my builds typically go) project. If any of you do your own 1/25th scale drag or ski boat projects, please post them here or send the pictures to me. Thanks again...TIM

I've received quite a bit of positive feedback on my article in the most recent issue of Model Cars featuring a kitbashed Revell Hemi Hyrdo boat. If you enjoyed that article, you may want to check on the 30-+ how-to steps involved in creating this dual-engined, center cockpit drag boat inspired by several real 1/1 scale boats of a similar design back in the 1960's. Included are basic and advanced bodywork, basic engine wiring, building an engine subframe, and an overview of the nine-color metalflake panel paint job, plus plenty of photos of the finished project. It's all posted at my Fotki site an this link: http://public.fotki....oyd-online-how/ Here are a few teaser photos and the captions that go with them.... Back in the day, you couldn’t be much cooler than to have a drag or ski boat hooked up to your El Camino or Ranchero pickup. Let’s revisit those days by demonstrating the steps for building a custom-designed, dual-engined drag boat in 1/25th scale ************* To someone who wasn’t there in the 1960’s, the idea of a how-to article on a Drag Boat may seem a strange diversion for a hobby called "Model Cars". But to others, this could be a welcome reminder of just how much drag and ski boats were a part of the car-guy/hot-rod scene back then. In a retrospective article, Hot Rod DeLuxe noted in its November, 2011 issue that its namesake, Hot Rod magazine extensively covered the drag boat scene back in the 1960’s. Back then, no one had a better finger on the pulse of the automotive market than Hot Rod magazine, and if you made the cover, you were it! And sure enough, a drag boat was the lead cover image on the cover of the September, 1966 issue. Yet another hint of how hot drag boats were back then is that in AMT Corporation’s 4 page (!) ad at the front of the June, 1963 issue of Car Craft magazine, their new Rayson-Craft Trophy Series Drag and Ski Boat kit was featured in three separate “advertorial articles”. Yes, Drag Boats were big – real big! For both those who remember, and those of you who are new to all this, we’re featuring a drag boat kitbash here as an On-Line How-To. It’s based on the Model King/AMT-Ertl reissue of a combo kit featuring the old AMT “Hull Raiser” Drag Boat along with the MPC 1970 Pontiac Bonneville convertible (kit #21547P, issued in 2005). It’s combined with the engines, several other parts, and decals from the Round 2 reissue of the AMT “Drag Team” Double Dragster Special Edition (kit #AMT627, issued in 2010). For further information and ideas about this time when drag boats were nearly as popular as “T” Rods, Deuce Coupes, and Gassers, I recommend you buy the book Drag Boats of the 1960’s by Don Edwards (Iconographix, 2008). Additionally, you may want to check out the 1/25th scale Ski and Drag Boat Models folder at the writer’s personal Fotki site ( http://public.fotki....ts/boyd-boats-/ ), which features 13 other 1/25th scale drag and ski boat projects. So are you ready to splash a bunch of 1/25th scale water? I am! Let’s go! ************************** Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy the story at the link....TIM

Updates....the original link in my message was on the business card from the ModelCave....like you it goes to a non-correct website for me, so either use the facebook link posted above, or even better, look at the AnnArbor.com story on the business (see the linnk posted in the responses above) which is a link from the Ann Arbor newspaper on a full story about the business and model car kits in general. The two Ann Arbor Riders stores (Liberty St. and Carpenter Road) are now closed. I recall hearing that one of the principals of the Carpenter Road store has joined with a Toy Store in Ann Arbor to offer some of the products of the prior store; I have not been there so I guess I should hold comments until I visit there. Meanwhile, model kit afficianadoes should check out the ModelCave. Trust me on this one. Best regards....TIM