tim boyd

Chuck, I remember all of this very well as I was a Ford zone rep when the '80 came out...let's just say it was quite a let down for my dealers after selling all those '77 to '79 TB's, then I was in California when the '83 1/3 (to be precise) TB came out. Someone at work had shown me a picture of it about two years earlier (in prototype form) and I was so was incredibly anxious for it to show up. The first Ford advance Fleet Brochure (published around September, 1982) showed an optional vinyl roof (of course, cancelled before Job 1) and the Turbo Coupe tachometer was in the clock space in the center of the dash (moved to the instrument cluster for Job 1, which is one of the reasons the TurboCoupe was a couple of months late). There was also a dark solid green color shown in the Fleet brochure - almost a British Racing Green - listed as a color which didn't make Job 1 though it is in all the paint chip books for '83, and yes I ordered some from MCW Automotive Finishes. My own '83 1/3 was the bright red metallic, Heritage, with red velour and the TRX package...and yes, it looked fantastic, though it had some driveability issues with the EFI 5.0L powertrain. It was also the first car I ever had that had a sound system powerful enough to move the cuffs of my pants (from the door speaker) when cranked up. Of course, the '83 1/3 TB was a huge hit in California (one of our Orange County dealers was selling over 100 units a month), but it never really sold that well in other parts of the country. But it was a huge improvement over the '80-'82 as you say, and in my view helped warm up Middle America for the Taurrus which followed three years later, and we all know what a hit that was. I was subsequently able to get two additional clearcoat metallic colors into the paint lineup for summer '83 and also pushed to get the 70 series aspect ratio tires standard (vs. the 78 series tires) which happened later. So you could say that the Aero TB was, and remains so to this day, an area of considerable interest to me. TIM

Whale...sounds like we have alot in common. I too loved that Turbo when you hit it hard...I had an '84 TC in addition to the '87 and '88, and I spend quite a bit of time driving one of the first SVO Mustangs to come off the line in early '84, though that one did not belong to me. That car was phenomenal. When the boost came on, look out! Of course a certain Southern Bay Area (California) model builder knows what I am talking about (Alan....), as when I let him take it on a test drive in the hills above Woodside and Palo Alto and the road was a little damp, I told him to take it easy. Of course, he didn't, the boost hit, and we both nearly ended up going down the side of a mountain...and well...I probably wouldn't be typing this now. As for those 5.0s...would have to agree with you on those as well...and as for the new '11 5.0, which I am driving now....simply incredible! TIM

Heh Jim...I've been subconsciously admiring that '32 highboy in your signature line and then all of a sudden, it just him me. Is that a photo of your 1/1? If so, man you really nailed that one. Great color choice, great stance, killer looks. I guess I should have known. If yes congratulations, man, that one is WAY cool. I guess I really do need to find a way up to MSP soon and have you take me for a demo ride! TIM

JB - I would describe the engines as having enough parts to be very accurate, but not so many parts as to be fiddly in the assembly. And the engraving is consistent with the best of the work out of Revell in the last couple of years - very, very good. But what impressed me the most was the accuracy of the scale of the parts. For instance, the gear shifter that comes out of the tranny is incredibly delicate in its execution - much more realistic to its real 1.1 size than almost any other scale shifter I can think of, most of which, if scaled up to 1.1, would be 2 or 3 inches in diameter. Also, as I noted in the original posting way back there, there are fuel lines for the V860 and overall, the Offy looks like the best scale rendition yet of this iconic engine. But as alwasy, the truth will be in the building and as you say, that does not appear too far away (I am estimating mid November to mid December at the Hobby stores). Hope that helps....TIM

Thanks for weighing in on this, Jim. Until someone finishes the kit and shows it here, I'm with Jim on this one 100%. I am utterly stunned that after 40 years....F O R T Y Y E A R S!!!!....we've got an all-new - OFFSET funny car chassis and it is, from what I can tell so far, the most accurate funny car chassis EVER in a 1/25th scale kit. There are so many areas where Revell could have cut corners and they did just the opposite. Again, I always hold off final judgment on a kit until it's built, but so far, I am tremendously impressed. Actually, blown away. TIM

That chassis buildup looks just stunning so far. Thanks for the buildup Bill and Len....TIM

Nice one Harold. Here's mine, TIM Link to ten more pics of Tim's model of his 1.1 scale '87 T-Bird Turbo Coupe....My link

Guys...I gotta line up with Art on this one. I had a real '87 and '88 Turbo Coupe, and that nose was long....like really L-O-N-G long. The model to my eye very nicely captured the proportions of the real one sitting in my driveway. I didn't do any tape measuring, so those of you have measured and say it's too long may very well be technically accurate. I built one of these and I believe it is on my Fotki site, I'll see if I can find the picture and post it. And just to be clear here, the Pro Stocks were the first of the Aero T-Bird kits,,,,they came out in 1984 if I remember correctly. That was the first time I ever got a set of test shots from Monogram, and that baby was built lwaa than two weeks later. It really impressed me. I built it pro-street style (no decals, and a wraparound bodyside molding added to make it look more like a stock body). Best regards...TIM

Just a quick reminder that the "Cult Theme" for this year's NNL Nationals on October 9 is "Front Engine Rail Dragster Cacklefest" All NNL Nationals attendees are invited to participate - new builds, box stock, old builds, scratchbuilds, all are welcome. See you there....TIM BOYD

Ken Block Fiesta Wild Gymkhana FreestyleCheck this out! TIM

I followed Jim's link and printed off the eight page instruction manual. Wow, looks like a really killer funny car kit. Thanks Jim....TIM

Darin....as I looked over the parts trees and digested what I saw, thoughts of the original Monogram Pro-Stocks, Nascar series, and Sprint Cars and their ground breaking nature came to mind, as well as their original Boss 429 Mustang, which when introduced in 1982 was the first really serious, super-accurate muscle car model kit of the time, in my view. Then I told myself, let's not get carried away, Tim. Buy the kit, build it, let it sink in, then make the call. But yes, the thought did occur to me. As far as the possibility of Revell ever doing front engine rail kits, a few years ago I would have said never in a thousand years. But then again, I would have said the same about a chopped '49 Merc, a truly accurate new tool Chi-Town Hustler, and, well, a series of midgets. Imagine the possibilities...they could call it the 1/25th scale Cacklefest Series....oh...there I go again, getting carried away. TIM

Eric....you just summed up in a few words my overall reaction to the Midgets kits...TIM

Jim...I understand the Edelbrock Midget was the inspiration for the V860 version. A look at the picture at your link only further confirms that. The trailer is also plainly based on the Edelbrock trailer. However, as an example of the fine tuning of the kit, the wheels and tires I saw for the trailer matched the '48 Ford Woody/'50 F1, rather than the chromed reverse wheels on the Edelbrock trailer. Best...TIM

Bob...same here. TIM

Len...it is similar in design to the Offy in the old AMT Indy Watson Roadster, but much superior in execution and scale fidelity. TIM

Mike...yes they use a Quick Change. IIRC, it is multi-piece in construction (two sides and an end plate), nicely engraved, and may be on the Satin Plated chrome tree. I don't have any idea of the price at this point. TIM

Single axle....TIM

I was recently invited to take a sneak peak at the finished test shots of the new Revell Midget Series. As I understand it, the first of the two Midgets, the Edelbrock V8-60, goes into production within a few weeks, which means it could be here, I'm guessing, maybe mid November to early December. Here are my initial impresssions: 1. I expected this to be around a Skill 2 type of kit - a relatively quick and fun build, but setting no new standards for kit fidelity. To the contrary, my Revell sources had suggested it would be a very detailed, perhaps even challenging kit to build. Having looked over the parts trees, I now understand why they said this. 2. Perhaps the most surprising attribute of the kits is the scale fidelity. We are going to need to be very careful assembling these kits - the thin (and thus, highly accurate) sections of parts like the nerf bars, radius rods, etc., go beyond even the newly tooled parts in the '32 Five Window. 3. While the Offy and V860 kits share the majority of the parts, there are significant differences beyond the engines. The entire front sheet metal (grille insert, grille shell, hood, hood sides) are different as well. 3. Revell has apparently pulled out the stops on accuracy. Beyond the scale fidelity mentioned above, each kit will contain a photo-etched fret with hood retention belts, steering wheel arms, and a killer instrument cluster panel. These photo etched parts are comprised of chrome plating over a copper base and provide quite a distinctive finish as a result. In the Offy kit, there will apparently be both a tree of chrome plated parts and a tree of satin plated parts. Both the Midget and trailer tires appear newly tooled, and they are all hollow style castings. There are scale fuel lines for both the injectors on the Offy and the carbs on the V860. 4. These kits will be a treasure trove of kitbashing parts sources for those of us who like to build traditional hot rods and track style street rods. Between the first-ever V860 in 1/25th scale (that I know of) to the track style grille shells and hairpin radius rods alone, I can see these kits becoming the de-facto soure of hot rodding accessory parts. I can see buying ten of them just for that reason alone. 5. These kits will have what appears to be the most detailed trailer ever to be included in bi-scale kit. Even to the point of including restraining straps for the ramps when they are folded up, the parts here will become a "must" for adding detail to any trailer project you might be contemplating. Interestingly enough, and perhaps subtly hinting at Revell's ambitions for the kit, the trailer has a discreet support rod to be used when the Midget is on the trailer, because as with some of the best Model Airplane kits, without forward ballast it will tip the completed model rearward. As was reported previously, the trailer will include made-to-fit hitches for both Revell's '48 Ford Woody and '50 Ford F1 Pickup. 6. I have not seen the decals, but I am told that in addition to having decals for the Midgets, each kit will also include matching "tow vehicles" decals, sized to fit the kits noted above. That's about the extent of what I can remember; if I think of anything else I will post it here as an update. Bottom line, I think Revell is trying to make a statement here. I see virtually no short cuts with this Revell model; in fact, quite the opposite (the only thing I see that might be criticized is that the V860 engine block casting, if I recall correctly, includes the oil pan, rather than casting the oil as a seperate part, thus requiring the file and sand treatment along the joints). Revell is clearly pushing the envelope of 1/25th scale kit fidelity here, and I'm guessing that their product development team really enjoyed doing so, to boot. Of course, as I always remind myself, you can't properly evaluate a kit until it's built. But based on what I've seen so far, I do know that these kits just jumped into the very top tier of my personal "What's Next" build list. Thanks for looking and best regards....TIM BOYD

When IMC first tooled up this kit, they scaled it based on a stock L700 that did not have a trailer attached to it. With the rear springs uncompressed, it definitely had that "rake" but it was factory correct. There is a straignt on "profile" (Side View) picture of the unladen L700 in the original Dodge Truck brochure, and it matched the rake of my builtup L700 exactly. TIM So if you are displaying the tractor without a trailer, leave the rear suspension as is, but if you are adding a trailer, it would definitely be approrpriate to drop the rear end ride height slightly.

Jon, yes it was the first issue, a circa 2000-2001 Harley Dyna Glide Custom, along with the aftermarket Harley trailer that was shown at the Chicago Auto Show when Ford introduced the Harley F150. Also yes, it is a seperate, stand alone tool that theoretically could be inserted into any kit box (as long as there was room). I would prefer it to be reissued with Harley licensing and tank decals, even if it cost a bit extra. I did a buildup of this kit in Model Cars magazine a couple of years ago. Here's what it looks like, updated (more or less) to 2006 Dyna Glide Custom specs. Best regards...TIM

**************** Here's a picture of the 1/24th scale Cherry Bomb Harley built box stock. TIM

William, the Grease Set contained two "kits" - the BSA and Triumph Custom combined, and the Honda and Harley combined. I built the Harley pictured above from the Grease issue. Two of the van kits that included Mini-Bikes were the Monogram Tom Daniel "Vandal" kit and the tandem rear axle conversion of the 1975 1.2 Ford Econoline by AMT that was done as a licensed tie-in for a movie featuring a boxing kangaroo....TIM

[ Here's a photo of the Honda 750 Andy refers to above - it was in the MPC 1980 Monte Carlo annual kit, which was just reissued by Round 2 AMT recently.... Norm will produce the MPC 1927 Indian Ace from the Gangbusters setupon request (at least he did for me), Andy is right, this bike is WAY cool and a hidden gem from the early MPC era....TIM

Randy....I'm really liking the start of your project. Very cool and very period. And we know from history that 1970's custom vans are just a few years away from being "in" again so you are ahead of the game here. At least one other very well known modeler is heavily into a throw-down 1970's van project right now. Can't wait to see both of them (his and yours) done....TIM