tim boyd

Thanks Steve for updating us, and for the straight skinny/info on the WalMart distribution situation. Best....TB

Alan...having observed the 1963 kit up close, your comments apply equally so there. The engineering of tabs and pins in the 1963 is really well done. The interior and the pickup bed floor/front wall literally snap in place in the body, perfectly aligned. No glue needed. All the components that fit the body have alignment pins. It's really a joy to assemble. And a huge improvement over the original kit body, which was littered with sink marks and a pretty much non-usable upper bodyside molding engraving. Even the camper top goes together in a breeze with the alignment tabs etc. TB

Dave and his team have been working on this one for a very, very, long time. Will be very cool to see the result in living (well, not, but you know what I mean) styrene! TB

The Uncertain T tooling hit the scrap pile, probably in the late 1970s per sources I trusted at Monogram when i posed this question about 25 years ago.... not only that, I have a theory on why the kit might had never been reissued (beyond licensing issues), as explained at the following link....TB Building the uber-rare Monogram Uncertain T album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.

Trevor, that's one of the things I want to investigate. When Revell began this project, I told them that the '70 Torino GT/Cobra engine was a great place to start. But they were dutifully looking for 1/1s to research and scale, and preferably ones that were out of the engine compartment (to allow more precision detail). While I never heard back 100%, my presumption was that they were successful in their search. Best...TIM

For those willing to do a quick google search, there is now a full kit buildup/review posted elsewhere on the interweb...TB

Got mine a couple of hours ago. Molded in White. Body color front bumper (chrome front bumper is also included although body color was standard on Mach 1). Tires are tampo printed narrow whitewalls. Engine certainly appears to be a 429 Cobra Jet (will compare engine parts tree to the Revell Boss 351 kit later but appears to be an entirely separate tree...the original Revell design brief and 1/1 scale research effort was targeting a 429 Cobra Jet Ram Air engine...). Even though they appear to be plated on the box art and instruction sheet built model photography, the standard Mach 1 wheels are not plated but instructed to be painted silver. My recollection is that the wheels and trim rings were a brushed polished finish on the 1/1; somewhere between Silver and Revell Chrom paints in reflectivity and appearance. Suffice it to say I'll be using the awesome Magnum 500s in the Boss 351 kit for my project. Decals are comprehensive but are only for the standard Mach 1 lower bodyside blackout treatment. Those wanting the optional side stripes will need to use the second set (silver or black, depending on which one you used on your Boss 351 build) from the Revell Boss 351 kit. Decal sheet includes numerous small detail marketings especially for underhood area, similar to the Boss 351 kit. As mentioned above, the vertical front seat color inserts in black are on the decal sheet, this will save a ton of time vs. having to mask those areas as I did on my earlier Boss 351 model build. The Mach 1 used a smaller hood blackout treatment than the Boss 351; this is not provided on the decalized sheet. (I will need to go to my reference file to recall if the hood blackout treatment was standard or optional on the Mach 1, or if this kit application is unique to the vehicle in the Bond movie). There are no lockdown pins on the Mach 1 kit hood. (UPDATE - a quick check of on-line sources suggest that the blackout hood treatment and hood pins were standard/provided on Mach 1 and other 1971 Mustangs ordered with the RamAir option. So would a Mach 1 429 Cobra Jet without the ram air option come standard with a non-blackout, non hood pin treatment?. I don't fully trust online sources so will need to research this further in my library reference files. I'm betting Rex can help us on this too.) The rear taillamp panel has the honeycomb pattern. Revell appears to have gone to quite a bit of effort to deliver a fully and properly differentiated 429 Mach 1 vs. giving us just a half-hearted update of the Boss 351 kit; they are to be thoroughly congratulated for their effort and delivery on this. This kit (and the Boss 351 companion) are pretty much dreams come true for me. For over two decades I've had partly completed AMT and MPC 1971 Mach 1 annual kit builds sitting partially completed, in part because the engines were so awful/incorrect. Now I can build the Mach 1 the way it deserves. More coming later...TB

Dan speaketh the truth here. I was always a strong advocate for brighter (and in some cases, repeats of heritage) colors in my career at Ford. But the truth was that silvers, grays, and whites were almost always the fastest sellers while the more expressive colors tended to sit on the dealer lots waiting for the one buyer who appreciated something different (with the dealer paying monthly floor plan expense in the meantime). At the assembly plant, colors with a low sales mix added complexity and complicated the loading/flow through the paint booth. All of which help to explain why they are so uncommon. Of course, for cars like the Mustang, brighter colors were/are a lot more viable as a product offering. But not so for most mainstream cars and SUVs/CUVs. For my 2024 Mustang GT, I had to order the car well before the color swatches were available to view. I have always like bright blues, so I ordered a new color called "Vapor Blue" (Whisper Blue on Lincolns). When I finally saw the color palette, Vapor Blue was in reality a medium blue gray with pearlized/metallic clearcoat. I don't like it at all. But it is the 100% thing people first comment on when they see the car, and everybody (and I mean EVERYBODY) loves the color. Go figure. Interestingly enough, and while I can hardly believe I am saying this, on a future 2025 car I just ordered last week (not a Mustang) that I will take delivery of sometime late summer, Silver has been dropped from the color palette. First time in what, 30 or 40 years? Maybe there is hope for some of us who prefer more expressive colors after all. TB

Given Spotlight's recent mail order delivery service, would not be surprised if the kit shows up here in the next 24 hours. Will do a quick look and try to answer some of these questions....TB Until then, here is the image of the decal sheet as shown on Spotlight's order page for the kit...\ Really nice that they added the decor group seat two tone inserts...that will save a lot of time vs. the masking I had to do on the Boss 351 kit.... Note that the standard Mach 1 lower blackout panels are included along with a decalized representation of the Mach1 lower bodyside chrome moldings that sit atop the blackout treatment. I will probably want to replace those decalized moldings with 3D moldings from Evergreen strip on my build, though. TB

I painted an original issue MPC 1970 Challenger front bumper with Revell chrome about ten days ago. Back in the day (er..that would be 1971...) I had partly removed the front bumper guards for a Pro-Stock project; so for this test I had to finish removing the bumper guards, then sand that area to a smooth finish as well as sand off all the remaining original plating. The first round was 360 grit, followed by 500 and finished with 1500. I then applied a single, pretty heavy coat of Revell Chrom. It flowed really nicely and gave a glass smooth appearance out of the spray booth. Looked equally good after a day (no sign of any sanding or mods to the part). Yesterday (about 10 days after) it still looked just as smooth. So far no issues after light handling, and still a perfect finish. No dehydrator in this case, and no clear coat. Very, very encouraging. At least so far. Clearly superior to anything else I've tried. TB

The "bumblebee" Scat Pack stripes on the convertible were not exactly to factory scale; Steve said he would investigate trying to get them more accurate on the Hardtop. We'll find out soon enough if this made the update...TB

Of the three box arts of the original kit (1963 Annual Kit...1964 reissue of the 1963 annual kit....1968 reissue with Camper Top), i actually prefer the Camper version best. The new kit has a much clearer/vibrant treatment vs. the original 1968 Camper "portrait" box art treatment. Personal Preference/To each his own, I guess. TB

...Spotlight Hobbies. David Dale got his over the weekend; I ordered two tonight. Pretty excited about these....TB .

x2!!!! tb

Thx Dan for catching the issue error...fingers did not type what the mind was thinking! I've corrected my post. The article started out as primarily domestic kits, but at Tim K's suggestion we added info on kits from overseas makers. Here's the text of the paragraph Dan mentioned above... But Wait, There’s More… I don’t have sample kits of the following to show you, but there are yet more SUV-themed kits for you to explore. These are mostly curbside style offerings rendered in 1/24th scale, and the quality and level of detail varies from kit to kit. Some were not actively offered in the North America hobby trade but they will be familiar to our overseas readers. Some of these kits include: Italeri Mercedes-Benz G230, Italeri (first generation) Range Rover, Hasegawa Suzuki Jimny, Tamiya Mitsubishi Pajaro, Tamiya Toyota Land Cruiser 80, Tamiya “YJ” Wrangler, ARII Nissan Safari, Aoshima Nissan four door JDM Terrano R3 (aka Pathfinder SE V6), and Aoshima Range Rover and Aoshima Toyota Hilux Surf Wide (aka 4Runner). I really appreciated Tim K's flexibility and follow-up as I continued to update the sidebar text in the magazine layout about 5 different times as I kept adding more and more of those primarily overseas manufactured kits! We also showed box art images images of the Fujimi Toyota FJ, Toyota Hi_Lux Surf Wide (the JDM version of the 4Runner) kits, the original Monogram Land Rover (c. 1980 and apparently never reissued), and the current Revell Germay Land Rover Series III LWB kits. Best...TB – Tim Boyd

I am expecting that you are exactly correct on this....it is very interesting to me, though, that they ran and shipped both kits at the same time...maybe one continuous run at the plant with the gate function shift you describe at the middle of the cycle? TB

Just to support James' comment, I also understood from Round 2 that the commonality of the two projects was a key enabler to the project going forward. I also do want to emphasize that the listing of shared parts in my earlier post is, I believe, just about complete or very close to it. The only other shared parts not mentioned above appear to be the rearview mirrors, the small diameter air cleaner, and possibly (but not certain) the front and rear pumpers. These latter parts are on different chrome trees, but appear to be designed based on the same data set. Likewise, the engine block and cylinder heads/intake, fan belt, fan, radiator, battery, firewall insert, and steering wheel also are on separate parts trees but appear to be based on a common design. Other than the parts trees listed in my note above and those listed here, it appears to me that all other parts in the two kits are different. Both kits do appear to share a common approach in terms of overall design and assembly, but the parts in my lists above appear to be the only ones that are identical in both cases. Won't be long now until we know the actual truth rather than just (hopefully informed) speculation (on my part and others as well). TB

Model Cars magazine #221 (corrected - thanks Dan) had an in-depth article on the surprisingly large number of SUVS that have been kitted over the last five decades. As the author of that article, I was surprised...no maybe more like almost shocked....at the number of kits in that category that have been produced, particularly from overseas manufacturers. Granted, most are historical topics now (i.e. kits of 1/1 vehicles no longer produced as new) but there number of relatively current offerings as well. Those of you who have not already read the article should check it out! Best...Tim PS - though the list in the article is extensive, and was cross checked against several reputable sources, I am sure that there are yet more SUV kit tools that were not mentioned in the article...TB

Very interesting; thx for the preview Marcos. Based on the '63 F100 kit I saw a few days ago, one of the chrome trees (the one with the slot mags), the two trees in the image with the open wheels and backing plates, and the tree with the engine block halves appear to be identical and shared between the '60 and '63 kits. The chassis plate also appears the same or close to the same, other than the half-arc cutouts in the outer side rails. The remainder of the overall parts layout also appears similar in philosophy (but not the actual parts) between the two kits. TB

Last I heard, and this was several years ago from a respected industry source, the tooling was safely stored away in South Korea. As to whether than has changed since, or as to who owns it, I do not know. TB

Just got a quick glimpse at the actual kit earlier today. As with Round 2's other recent "clones", my initial impression is that it appears to be a clear improvement over the original annual kit in a number of ways. Like I suspect many of the rest of you, I can't wait to buy the actual kit and get busy with it. Hopefully it should only be a few weeks away now! TB

FWIW, I have heard similar concerns (not specific to this kit, but more to the impact of major retailers' discounting of some new Round 2 kits) privately expressed to me by one of SE Michigan's premier hobby/model kit store owners. As a former businessperson I understand the need to optimize short term financial returns from a project like the Demon 340, but I cringe at the possible longer-term impact on the hobby store and mail order trade that has historically been such a key and loyal partner to Round 2 through most of their corporate existence. Thanks for sharing your POV here, Justin, it needs to heard by the core enthusiast part of the model car kit marketplace that is represented by readers of this forum. TIM .

Last i heard were words to the effect that the company owner had directed the team to take their and make sure everything is to be as correct as is possible. Exact timing was not mentioned, but based on my past observations of how Moebius develops kits, plus as Mike notes they do have several other projects underway that are sequenced ahead of this one, I think sometime in 2025 is probably a reasonable time frame....TB

Richard...that is one sharp looking model. If I were you, I wouldn't touch it with any changes. The level of detail you show on that model (painted chrome trim and nameplates, side marker lilghts, interior detail (headrest posts....) all show a level of detail not often seen on models built back in the day. Not to mention it ll looks "period correct" to my eye. Cool! I remember AMT Surf Green was a very popular color when AMT introduced it in the late 1960s. Back then I was doing some of the MPC National Customizing Contest events, and looking over the contest tables, I recall seeing tons of models painted that AMT color (along with tons of Monogram Bad Man models, but that's another story for another day). Thx for sharing...TIM

Hard to tell for sure, but that is probably 1968 Dodge code TT-1 Medium Green Metallic (the alpha/numeric - i.e. F3/F5/F6/F8/F9 - format did not start until the 1969 Model Year). or possibly Code Code FF-1 Light Green Metallic. MCW Automotive Finishes has offered model car size packaging of both colors in the past and may still do so. Here' a link to the autocolorlibrary paint chip page for 1968 Dodges.... 1968 Dodge (autocolorlibrary.com) TIM...