tim boyd

Oh come on now, Andy. There has never been a mini NNL in Mark's garage and you know it! That makes about as much sense as putting a small block Chevy in a Ford street rod (oh...wait)....and those guys were from Ohio and Michigan, not Oregon...and it was summer 1980, not 2005....oops...now I'm the one that is confused. (Full of insider jokes here). Smile....TIM

Dave....yes it will be the first-ever V860 Ford Flathead in 1/25th....how cool is that? TIM

Bob. thanks for the quick response. I find the omission of a complete engine by Tamiay to be inexcusable. Sorry to be old school on this, but the engine is a huge part of the Aston Martin brand and experience. A case of a model car company truly misunderstanding the core brand DNA of the subject they are reproducing. That's my view and I'm not changing it. TIM

Bob...so does the kit have a stand-alone engine? Thanks in advance...TIM

Great choice for a build topic and really nicely done. Cool mods to the body and really sharp engine detailing1 TIM

OK Guys....against my better judgment I'm going to have to weigh in here.... I strongly disagree with the statement that the '48 Chevy is not a popular topic. Since the days of "Street Rodding" in the early 1970's, the 1946-48 Chevy has been a popular topic with the "Bored with Ford" crowd. It has ALWAYS been a hot commodity with the Lo-Rider community. And after going through a period of less popularity (all 1.1 scale automotive topics do this at one time or another) it has streaked back up the popularity scale with the rat rod/nostalgia rod/gasser crowd. Inasmuchas model car building follows the 1.1 scale crowd, the '48 Chevy was a very logical subject for a model kit when Gary made the decision to go forward with it. It was never intended (at least to my knowledge) to be a top-volume seller, but to appeal to a niche of knowledgeable model car enthusiasts who, up until that point, had no alternative but the TKM '48 Chevy (a resin kit I started over 30 years ago and gave up on due to its truly misearable quality). As some of you have commented, and as I made the point in my recent article about Revell's '48 Ford converible kit, the lack of a contemporary front and rear suspension setup/ride height probably accounted for some of the kits that were purchased but not built (that was the case for me, too). But ironically, the current trend in 1/1 scale hot rods now once again favors a building style and ride height that can be achieved pretty much out of the box with Gary's kit. A couple of other comments. Point #1: The engine in this kit is in my opinion, the best Chevy six in a kit, bar none. The hot rod vesion of the engine is superb. Point #2. If you look at the kit carefully, you will see that the main body casting is engineered in such a way as to support a stock '41 Chevy front end. As is the case with Jairus, Gary has recently suggested to me that he is working on something new but he has not divulged what it is. In my case, I would sure hope that the '41 Chevy is on the consideration list as it is in my view the best looking of all Chevy's prior to the 1950's, whether in stock, street rod, or gasser form. Just my view....TIM

Wow. Wow! WOW!!!! Great work John. TIM

The first issue of this kit (in 1960) had only the tuck'n'roll interior and the seperate bucket seats for the coupe. The first major retooling of the kit (in 1965) included a re-engraving of the tuck'n'roll tub to the diamond pleat, and all subsequent reissues up until the new Round 2 had the diamond pleat. The kit was never available with both the tuck'n'roll and diamond pleat together in one kit box. Best regards....TIM

Well it seems my computer does not like the new Board hardware here....the screens to insert the links are too far to the left of the screen....so anyway if you want to cut and past the URL....here it is. http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/2010-detroit-cobo-a/2010-detroit-cobo-a/ Sorry for the difficulties....TIM

As shown in my article in the other Model Mag about on '70 Boss 302....Mustangs of this era showed underbodies in primer gray, primer rust, or what is called "slop" which was a primer apparently put together with the accumulated factory overspray from the exterior color paint booths, and manifested itself as varied shades of grayish/bluish/purplish/greenish primers depending on the car and what colors had been shot on the assembly line in the preceeding period. In any case, the bodycolor overspray from the sides of the car did carry over onto the bottom, as correctly shown in several of the photos above. Hope this helps...TIM

Chuck....it would be a crime against humanity (well, almost) if that kit doesn't have a full, stand-alone engine. Bob....thanks for the scoop....that's a really big piece of news in my view.... TIM

Great choice Gregg......TIM

Cheeezzzz Harry....I have a 2010 GT convert just like Gregg's (even the same wheels) except it's a different color....what is it about Mutang GT's and model builders???? TIM

Heh JB....thanks for the feedback on the article. Your's is looking mighty sharp! That bright yellow is probably a whole 'lot safer out on the scale salt flats than my metallic blue which would kind of fade into the distance. Congrats on a fine build...TIM

Not long ago I ran across a full page ad for the "McCulloch 300 Racing Kart" in the June, 1962 issue of Car Craft (p.12). The simularities between this Kart and the AMT Kart are many - leading me to now conjecture that the AMT Kart was based on a McCulloch Kart chassis (as well as McCulloch engine), probably the immediate predecessor to this "300" Kart which is billed as "new" in the ad (and thus would have postdated the intro of the AMT '62 kits). On another board RICHNV has just posted a picture of a mini bonneville streamliner from the December 1961 issue of Hot Rod, that while not identical to the AMT streamliner body, certainly has many simularities and could have influenced the AMT team to include this addition in the '63 F100 AMT kit. Best regards....TIM

Correct. It is also on the panel ahead of the hood,in the center of the "outline circle" decal, and on the trunk (IIRC) on the far right edge. My factory ordered 1.1 scale '74 RR had them in those four locations. TIM

Mine came in the mail last night (ordered directly from Round 2). As suggested above, it has the right instrument panel and the right dual exhaust chassis (the builder must shorten the rear of the chassis - takes all of about one minute I reckon. The decal sheet is especially nice - all three factory colors of the hood and the fender/roof stripe (yeah - now Bill and I can both build our stock 1/1 scale '74 RR's - his with the white stripe, mine with the red stripe). There are two complete sets of correct air cleaner decals, with both 340 (for '73) and 360 (for '74), 400, and 440. There are very finely registed hood stripe displacement callouts, and roadrunner cutout lettering for the side stripes. I could not however find the "bird" decal which should be in the center of the front circle logo, the side stripe and on the trunk lid. Body looks nice, molded in white, but those who ordered the Exterior Decor Group (that includes Bill and I) will have to wing the wheel opening moldings on our own. Nice box art and the Dukes tie-in should certainly help sell some kits. Bottom line, nicest reissue since the original annual kit and by far the best decal sheet ever. TIM PS - the kit still has the 400 four barrel and non-stock tri-power, but the engine displacement decals are correct for all the optional engines in '73/'74. TB

Mine came in the mail last night (ordered directly from Round 2). As suggested above, it has the right instrument panel and the right dual exhaust chassis (the builder must shorten the rear of the chassis - takes all of about one minute I reckon. The decal sheet is especially nice - all three factory colors of the hood and the fender/roof stripe (yeah - now Bill and I can both build our stock 1/1 scale '74 RR's - his with the white stripe, mine with the red stripe). There are two complete sets of correct air cleaner decals, with both 340 (for '73) and 360 (for '74). There are very finely registed hood stripe displacement callouts, and roadrunner cutout lettering for the side stripes. I could not however find the "bird" decal which should be in the center of the front circle logo, the side stripe and on the trunk lid. Body looks nice, molded in white, but those who ordered the Exterior Decor Group (that includes Bill and I) will have to wing the wheel opening moldings on our own. Nice box art and the Dukes tie-in should certainly help sell some kits. Bottom line, nicest reissue since the original annual kit and by far the best decal sheet ever. TIM

According to my sources, the chassis is corrected, the interior instrument panel is corrected, and for the first time ever the kit has correct 1974 hood and side/roof graphics, in black, white, and YES....red (my real 1/1 scale factory ordered '74 360 HiPo was black with red stripes). TIM

Showed up here today as well. Dave Thibodeau's Mopar Matco Tools Funny Car is the cover spread. TIM

George is right. Steve's Berkeley Jet Drive parts are way cool. He even includes a "Berkeley" decal and a perfectly molded Berkeley emblem. Plus instructions on how to wire up (hoses and reverser) the jet drive. Highly, highly recommended. TIM

Following up on one of the other threads here regarding 1/25th scale drag and ski boat kits and models, here are some photos of a project I completed about a year ago. The original boat hull was a project started long ago by Jarius, whom gracefully agreed to sell it to me (you'll see his original black "carpet" was preserved in my build). The Berkeley Jet Drive and seating are resin castings from Steve Perry (of '33 Willys Prock and Howell and Frieght Train GSL winners fame). The wood decking is a custom decal sheet by Sean Svensson. Steve has submitted a how-to story on his "Better Idea" ski boat using the same jet drive and seating components to Gregg.....hopefully one of these days it may see print. It's a really cool build. Thanks for looking....TIM And here's a comparison with the stock AMT Hull Raiser: Here's the link to about 36 photos of the model: 1/25th scale Berkeley Jet Drive Ski Boat Album

After I built the Revell '32 Five Window kit for a kit review, I went back and made some minor changes to the model. I wired the engine, added bigger tires (from the Revell '32 Ford Roadster Highboy) on the rear, and tweaked a couple of other items. Here is the model as it sits now, and a link to my Fotki file with photos of the kitbash. Thanks for looking....TIM And in a comparison with the Revell '32 Three Window I built from a Test Shot for the first-ever magazine coverage of this kit series. Photo Album - Revell '32 Five Window Minor Kitbash