tim boyd

Captions below each picture explain this....let me know if you have any follow-up questions. TB

NNL Motor City organizers Detroit Area Auto Modelers (D>A>A>M>) and Prez Rick Radecke had a big challenge at hand as the Macomb Community College facility they normally employ was under renovation and not usable for this year's event. They found a fantastic new facility on the other side of town just west of Pontiac in Waterford Township. With such a drastic change comes all sorts of problems and issues, right up to the last minute, but the team overcame them all and put on a first class event. Facility and Event Date Plans for the 2026 event are unsure at this point, but in the meantime, let's take a look at who and what turned up for the 2025 NNL Motor City, including at least 10 builders of renown who traveled at least 12 hours each way from the Minneapolis/St. Paul area to join the event here in the Motor City. Kudos to all modelers, exhibitors, facility staff, and the D>A>A>M team for a really fun event! Check out the images below, with all builders identified in a separate photo immediately following, and enjoy the results of the 2025 NNL Motor City. See all the details here. Cheers...TIM

Hahh!!! tb

Thx James....fixed now. Best...TB

Full details here....TB

Here are the full details on the new and upcoming kit releases from Round 2's display at the 2025 NNL Motor City. Pictured below is the bombshell news of the show...an all new, FULL DETAIL, 1/25th SCALE Mack B-61 semi tractor!!! Would you ever have believed this possible??? Enjoy the coverage...TB

Can you believe it? At the 2025 NNL Motor City, Round 2 announced a bombshell new kit tool. A FULL DETAIL, 1/25th scale Mack B-61 semi-tractor. Just wow! Who would have ever dreamed such a kit would see styrene in 1/25th scale???? At this link is a walk-thru of the upcoming product releases, along with the latest forecasts of planned release dates where available, a deep dive into the surprising content of the new 1972 Duster kit, and many other tidbits of new news. Be sure to read the captions that accompany most images for all the juicy details! Enjoy....TB

It is true. Gobsmacked! 1/25th scale, FULL DETAIL, all new tool. Target Q4 2026. Will post images and more later today....TIM

Seven members of the Minneapolis/St. Paul based "RPM" (Racing Plastic Models) model club were among the first ever "Civilians" (people other than Moebius/Pegasus and their contractors/vendors) to take a look inside the new Moebius 1964 Mercury Comet "K-Code" full detail model kit, on Saturday, October 18, 2025. Let's take a closer look at what they saw when the X-Acto knife broke the seal on the kit... This link leads to 45+ images of each of the parts trees in the kit, decals, and each section of the instruction sheet. At the end are some more photos of the body with the hood installed, and then with the front and rear bumpers and grilles. Note that the decision to include the hood with scoops meant the necessity of an expensive sliding tool feature to accommodate the hood and scoop into a single part. Please let me know if you have any follow-up questions in the comments section and use the "Roll View" feature to look at the images in sequence. Thanks for looking! TIM

If you haven't already done so, take a look at the full Pro Touring kit contents here....TB

Here's a first look inside the box of the new Moebius 1964 Mercury Comet "Pro-Touring" kit. It includes a detailed look at each of the parts trees in the kit, as well as a step by step set of images of the assembly manual. Other than pointing out that the kit includes an all-new, purpose-designed pro-touring style chassis/suspension/floorboard, I am going to forego any commentary here as I think the kit and its contents speaks for itself. I recommend you use the "roll view" feature at the Fotki album posted at the above link to quickly and consecutively scroll through the imagery of this presentation. It's been pretty crazy busy here at the Boyd ranch this week but I will try to keep an eye here and respond to any follow-up questions you have. Also, be watching for a similar presentation on "K-Code" 1964 Comet factory stock (with day two mods) version of this kit tooling, which I hope to present here in the next 4 days or so. And thanks to the Moebius team for giving us an early look at the kit contents, which should be available at your favorite kit source shortly. Thanks for looking! TIM

Be watching for a first look inside the resto-mod/street machine kit version soon....very soon....TB .

Daniel...apologies...just saw your question tonight. Wish I could help but i don't have any definitive knowledge in response to your question. I expect to see the Round 2 team at the NNL Motor City this Saturday ....will try to remember to ask them about your question....TIM

'63 LeMans has been in the works for several years....great to see it finally break cover! TB

Sounds like the '64 Comet kits first shipment has or is about ready to hit the shores here. Sorry, don't know which version it is. Given the time to get it into the distribution system and to dealers, shouldn't be too much of a wait left.....TB

Highly unlikely IMHO. Meanwhile, you can actually get perfect reproductions of these wheels - the originals that were only present in flawless form in the very earliest production of the c.1961 release of the AMT Trophy Series 1936 Ford - from Norm Veber at Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland (and as shown on the cover of the current issue of the magazine covering all forms of scale modeling)....TB

Thx for the added commments Bill For those not familiar with the genesis of this product, the 2004 GTO was a "quick/hurry up" US market federalization of the GM Australian Holden coupe, a very well regarded and successful product for that market which was also sold in small numbers in the U.K. and other RHD markets. GM had just hired former Ford and Chrysler leader Bob Lutz as their new Vice Chairman and he was looking for a signature product for GM's pending rebirth in the US market.. For that, a GTO-badged Holden looked to be the ticket. However, converting to LHD and US market regs was a difficult and time consuming lift, and as much as the team wanted the 2005 hood scoops and separate left/right rear exhaust outlets, plus the extra HP for the first year product, there was just not enought time to do that, combined with the need for GM to counter the all-new S197 Mustang launch occurring soon thereafter,. So the 2004 version came to market without those features, which were then placed into production for the 2005/2006 model years. I just checked my 2005 drift car kit and in addition to the hood scoops and new exhaust/rear fascia components, it has two sets of plated wheels, one being the factory five spoke mags. Strikes me that the 2005 kit additions would be a relatively simple project for some of the resin aftermarket vendors, as in both the 1/1 and 1/25th world, the 2005 GT) is preferred over the 2004. TB

The original "Swoopy Coop" from the pages of Street Rodder Magazine Modeler's Corner c. 1980.... This model was a Modeler's Corner built-up that took advantage of the "tubs" incorporated for whatever reason in the original AMT 1940 Ford Trophy Series 1940 Ford Coupe kit fender unit, just as the fat back tire Pro-Street look was startiing to take off in the 1/1 scale Street Rod world back then. I added OG Testors Gloss Black enamel paint (which back then was a "trophy in a can" product (as my modeling bud Steve Perry likes to say)), flames from a Monogram kit, 351 engine and front suspension from a mid 1970's MPC Pinto kit, a narrowed frame out back, super deep wheels with 1950 Ford hubcaps, gold reflective window tent (a big trend back then), simulated brushed aluminum floor pan, and MPC low-profile/diameter "wide'n'much widers" from the MPC 1976 Volare kit (and found in other MPC kits back then as well). Even to this day people still comment to me about this project....thanks for looking....TIM *****

You've seen coverage of this annual event in the Muscle Car mags for nearly three decades. This album covers the 2025 event. Cars competing at the drag event must be 100% stock appearing on the exterior, interior, and under the hood, including tires. But over the years, participants have fine-tuned the mechanicals and launch strategies to the degree that a few cars at the event were turning E.T.s even into the 11s - this from cars that in original factory stock form were 14 or 15 second quarter mile performers, While all the muscle car makers are represented here, you will notice a real preponderance of 1968-1972 Buick intermediates at this event, particularly 455 Stage 1's and/or GSX's. Ever since the infamous Muscle Car Review magazine Mopar Hemi/Buick Stage 1 showdown in the early-mid 1980s, the world has learned about and remains enthralled by the ultimate sleeper performance of these cars - often equivalent to or in a few cases exceeding the 426 Hemi. There are a few Christmas tree/starting line shots in this album, but most of the images are from the Pits, and they are intended to help anyone putting to together a factory stock muscle car model replica. Those of you doing so may want to bookmark this album for future reference. So, get ready for lots of screeching tires, the smell of rubber in the air, and a blast of fun at this album link....TIM

Bill makes some excellent points here. Given the other kit topics that are already on Round 2's "clone" possibles list, as much as I might personally like to see a '67 Galaxie make it to the top of the list, the other possibilities would have a much higher chance of business success in the marketplace. TB

My understanding is that it is the factory stock 2004 GTO version. The original second version was a 2005 GTO with year 2 factory updates, but only produced with some very ugly (IMHO) tampo printed drift car graphics. My preference was for the 2005 GTO (without the graphics) to be the release but apparently there were some issues with that. Maybe down the pike, I hope. But still, great to have this kit back even in 2004 guise as both the kit and the 1/1 were unduly ignored in their respective worlds, in my opinion. I've long thought about building the 2005 after getting rid of the graphics, but also with opened up rear wheel wells to replace the "big butt" appearance that was so prominent in GM's design studios in the 1990s and earl 2000's. IMHO that would have made the 1/1 far more desirable in the auto marketpalce back then. I'd also paint mine in '67/'68 Verdero Green Metallic and use it as a tow vehicle for my Verdero Green Kindsvater (Hull Raiser) ski boat, in a visual nod to original AMT combo kit with a custom firebird tow vehicle. TB

The `1970 Cyclone was originally planned to include the Boss429 as an option. IIRC, the brochure noted that the hood on that version would have a secondary bump, IIRC, approximately above where the power brake booster would be. While the MPC annual kit only included the Boss 429 as the engine, it did not include that secondary hood bump. Yeah, I admit, useless trivia....:) TB

Regular AMT, MPC, and Revell kits K-Marts in Michigan were always $1.44 in mid to late 1960s. $1.44 in 1968 is equivalent to $13.34 in 2025 due to inflation. Having said that, the model kit business is much different today than in 1968....back then average kit production runs were often 200,000 units a year; some of the most successful kits sold over a million units (and a few, well over a million) in their total initial production runs (which continued over several years). Today's kit production runs are often 5,000 units....which obviously drives much different economics. New tooled kits are also far more complex and detailed than average kits back then, making tooling costs a much bigger factor (percentage wise) in kit pricing. Which kinda means comparing prices then and now, even after adjusting for inflations, is pretty much apples and oranges...though undoubtedly still a topic that always drives conversation and observations....TB

Strongly agree....in fact a factory stock '70 Cyclone based on the Torino/Cobra tool was proposed a number of times to the Revell-Monogram team in the past. Since the company was sold to German interests, I really no longer have a connection there so I have no idea whether this idea is still on their list of possible projects, but my guess would be no. TB