tim boyd

Harry... in most cases (as in my comments in the bottom paragraph below) I wish there was always a stock version too. But when it comes to pre-war Fords....particularly the '32 where there have been so many stock kits issued over the years....the need for a really state of the art street rod based kit, plus the desire for a first-ever truly accurate Highboy version, overuled the commercial value of stock building versions. When a kit manufacturer does a stock version of a pre-war Ford, the street rod version is almost always compromised itn its execution. Exhibit A? Revell's '48 Ford kits, which have a really odd street rod version because it was uneconomical to include truly accurate stock and street rod themed versions in the same kit. I believe the sales of the '48 Ford kits were really hurt by the lack of a cool street rod version, particularly so with the convertible. Even Revell's 1940 Ford kit series, which have pretty sharp stock and rod building versions, end up with a rod version that will only work as a nostalgic themed build (try to put a modern V8 in this kit and you're moving into major tear-ups). Other than pre-war Fords, I'm solidly in your camp about stock versions. I'm still smarting 25 years later over the lack of stock '83-'86 T-Bird and '84 to '91 LIncoln LSC kits. Not to mention the funny-car only versions of the '69 and '70 Dart Swinder and '71 AMC Hornet, to mention just a few.... Best regards...TIM

Ken,,,I completely agree with you here. Whenever Revell has asked for my input on additional variations on the '32 series, I've always responded that the key to continued success is to include BOTH nostalgia-themed versions AND the modern powertrain/chassis setup. (Not everyone buying their newest kits has built the previous versions). And the 5.0L Ford is SO much more appropriate than another SBC (or at least until we get about 15 newly tooled Camaro kits with Ford engines in them (smile). Plus I believe that most of us are really going to like the SEFI and newly tooled valve covers for the 5.0L. Dan....understand your point. I love that '32 sedan flathead too...it's my favorite above all others except for the Revell '40 Ford kit flatheads....TIM .

Dave....the intake manifold is a slightly raised dual quad style....the carbs are dual four barrels...fairly small in size...and the air cleaners are small nostalgic style ones that just cover the carb throats. TIM

Got a chance to spend some quality time today with an early kit from the production run of Revell's new '32 Ford Five Window. First impressions - the body casting looks perfect. The top does not appear to be chopped. The trunk area is cast open with a recessed ledge. The kit includes two trunk lids - smoothed and louvered, and three sets of hood sides - stock '32 Ford, smooth, and louvered. There's a four piece Moon Tank and front nerf bars, and a new set of '50 Pontiac style plated tailamps. Decals are Revell's usual fine effort, with some very stylized pinstriping decals, a "devil" figure for the grille blank The interior has new side panels and seats with nicely done tuck'n'roll. The regular Revell '32 series IP, steering column and wheel are included, along with a new narrowed '40 Ford IP and '40 Ford steering wheel/column. There's a Piston shift lever for the Hemi (which is has a manual transmission), and three different gauge decals for the '40 Ford Instrument cluster. The old kit firewall is there, but they newly engraved the backside (that faces the interior) with a matching tuck'n'roll pattern! Moving onto the new engine, it appears very similar to an early Hemi, and is really nicely done with 25 parts in total. Both the valley cover and the intake manifold are chromed, which should lead to some very sharp engines. The Valley cover and the valve covers have engraved ribbing. The water pump is two-pieces. The headers and their seperate header flanges are chromed. The engine appears much sharper than some of the published images of the early prototype builds. The stock 5.0L Ford with four barrel and "Ford Motorsport" valve covers is still there, now joined by the EFI two-piece manifold and air intake/filter from the Dan Fink Speedwagon, with new engraving, PLUS a second set of newly tooled 5.0L valve covers with fine ribbed engraving. That's a total of three engine versions. The chassis carries over, but with two new parts every street rod builder has been wishing for - a great set of front hairpin radius rods. (I openly campaigned for these with my Revell contacts; they told me I was probably too late in requesting them. Thank goodness they found a way!). Those Five Spoke Americans are still there, plus the no-name big'n'little tires, this time with wide whitewalls on the decal sheet. A new set of open steel rims, with optional hub covers and trim rings, is included. From what I understand, the production run is well underway and the first kits should be reaching the domestic distribution channels in about four to six weeks. I can't wait to get underway building this new one! Best regards....TIM

Guys, if you look closely at the Salt Shaker instructions sheet (the "body" assembly on page 3 of the instructinons), you will see that the front fender liners are different for the Bonneville version than any other issue of the '37. AMT commissioned me to build the companion kit in this series, the '53 Stude, that AMT used for the box art. I've always thought that these two releases, the '37 and '53, were among the most attractive "real photography" box arts that Dave Wilder and the AMT art department ever delivererd. TIM BOYD

Thought you guys would enjoy my coverage of the VW Classics May Michigan meet....62 pix at the link Tim's coverage of VW Classics May Meet

Guys....the AlaKart body is actually a '29 Model A cowl and doors grafted to a '27T Roadster rear cowl (the panel beside and behind the driver's seat)....at least according to several articles about the 1/1 car plus the parts look like the above in 1/25th scale. In my humble opinion it is a real natural and I've used it in quite a number of builds over the years....TIM BOYD

Simply Superb! Great theme and terrific paint work. Way to go. TIM BOYD

A big amen to that Khart! TIM

Don't forget the B400...the closed cab pickup...and my holy grail the '32 Roadster Pickup! TIM

Congratulations Dave....twice....once for that moment back in 1962 and a second one for the outpouring of congratulations (mine included) from those of us today who so respect what you accomplished.....best regards TIM BOYD

Pretty interesting Don/ I had campaigned for the hairpins on the '32 5W but the Revell team told me I was too late....looks like they might have reconsidered. The Moon Tank in front is also a first for this series, as is the blanked grille. Lookin' good. TIM BOYD

Unbelievable Lyle! Wow! I sent your Fotki link to my contact at Revell-Monogram who help bring this kit series to the market. I really like the latest Harley Sedan Delivery. Excellent choice taking the old Monogram Street Rod series Goodyear EAgle GT's and painting them with whitewalls, along with your wheel finish. Incredibly tasty. TIM

Bob...thanks. TIM

Lyle...hey glad to know you concur in that choice....I really struggled with that one. Did you say 27???? I thought I was crazy....I think I have built around 15 of them in various forms. And I've got several more planned when the 5W breaks cover.... Thanks for the compliment on the article...this is one I've had "90% done" for about five years now and was just looking for the right place to get it in print... Best regards...TIM

[ Hey, Tim... you used one of these kits yourself to build a Judson-blown, '60's style "bucket" rod a few years back! Chuck....thanks for the positive input. Good comment on the Beverly Hillbillies...it got really tight when I got down to the last few choices but this would have been a great choice for the runner-up list. BTW I've build another model based on the kit....it should debut at the NNL Nats#30 this fall..... Thanks again...TIM

Here's a link to my full coverage and commentary on the Spotlight Hobbies Board. http://wwwboard.spotlighthobbies.com/index.pl?read=1330800 And here's a link directly to my Fotki site where I've posted 320 high-res photos of the show and the model contest. http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/2009-co...-cobo-autorama/ Enjoy! TIM

Guys, thanks for your interest. Yes the magazine is the one referenced above. At this point they do not have a website. With this issue they announced for the first time the availability of subscriptions, after two years as newstand only. Rich is not a relation, but we worked together at McMullen Argus (Primeida/Intersource predecessor) and Rich knew that "Modeler's Corner" generated a tremendous amount of reader interest. He accepted my World of Rods article proposal in a heartbeat. Unfortunately Rich, like many other west coast car magazine writers, has fallen victim to the worldwide recession and he advised me a couple of weels ago he is no longer doing this gig. Really, really disappointing as he gave the mag a flavor that it would only have under his tutelage. Thanks for your interest. The mag is available at all Barnes and Nobles as far as I know. See Don Barnes' message above for a link to his photo of the magazine cover. Best regards...TIM

Six color pages on the "50 most significant 1/24th&1/25th scale Hot Rod Car Kits of the Last 50 Years", appearing in the May 2009 issue of "World of Rods", compiled, written and photographed by yours truly. Will you agree with my choices? Did I miss something really significant (hope not!) The magazine is now on newstands. Cover photo is an elevated front 3/4 of a black '32 Highboy with red Kelsays and a Moon Tank. Some of the pix in the article are a little dark for my liking, and it's a lot of material for six pages, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. Hope you enjoy the article. TIM BOYD

Pulled into the lot of our new hobby store in Farmington Hills Michigan - Nankin Hobby - on saturday afternoon and there wasn't a single parking space open...and they've got a pretty good size lot. It was great to see that much business. But then again I shouldn't be too surprised, as they've got their act together better than any hobby store in SE Michigan that I've visited since the original Riders Hobby Store and downtown Ann Arbor and its early spinoffs in Flint. Grand Rapids, and Kalamazoo....TIM

Glad to see all these '29 Roadster projects. The idea of cutting away the fender floorboard and gluing it to the body is brilliant! Man I wish I had thought of that one. Looking forward to seeing this finished. TIM BOYD

Guys, the sad truth is that with few exceptions (Mustangs, Corvettes, some BMW's and mainstream entry level four cylinder powertrains), manual transmissions do not sell in America. A shame, but true. As for the Taurus SHO, the press release says 365HP. And the automatic has paddle shifters, downshift rev matching, and tons of other cool features. My guess is that once they drive it, even hard core shift it yourself types will be smitten. And yes, I have a manual in my '09 Mustang GT. TIM

James - very, very nice job on that model. Particularly like the detailed '66 Buick 425 mill. Congratulations. TIM BOYD

Also, dealing from memory here (always risky!) but the flush headlamps came in at '85 1/2 and the kit was correct for the time it came out. TIM

At the time I had done a whole series of Ford Dealership sales meetings on the SVO Mustang in Northern and Souther California, and I drove the SVO Mustang I used for those meetings. (Some certain nameless national model car luminaries may remember a rather, shall we say, brisk drive from LA to San Diego one afternoon in that SVO). (Another luminary may recall the day he nearly sent us down the side of a cliff when he got a bit too enthusiastic with the go pedal on wet roads when I let him drive it.) The Monogram car kit came out not long thereafter and while I did not build the MPC kit, I remember comparing the two unbuilt kits and prefering the Monogram. As some of the replies state above, I remember the engine, chassis and interior being better to the MPC. I also remember the Monogram spoiler being better although I would defer to those above who state the opposite. Anyway, here are a few pix of the Monogram model I built that replicated the 1/1 SVO I drove for awhile back then... TIM More at this link...TIM http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/late-model-automobi/