tim boyd

Again, thanks to all who have commented on this project. Much, much appreciated! TIM

Hi Noel....interesting comment about the MCBM scanning those old Car Models and Model Car Sciences. I believe that something like that was underway at one point, but don't know if it ever got to the point of being posted online. Meanwhile, others have undertaken this to varying degrees and published their results on the web. (I don't have any specifics to relay here, but I recall reading this year about one website with all the magazine covers, and another source with some of the issues page by page). In any case, those old mags had a lot of not-particularly-useful-to- model car builders specifically) info, but many treasures for us as well! Best...TB

Peter....good question about #3. As i mentioned somewhere, Jim Keeler told me that #3 appeared at one of the recent GSL's. I don' believe the builder has been active in the hobby as an adult, at least in the public domain, but I could be wrong on that (he was age 12 when he won third place). Best....TB

My experience with ScaleMates is just like the others listed above. Info info listed there, particularly so for kits from US manufacturers, cannot be trusted unless confirmed by other verified sources.....TB

Luc....last time I was contacted in relation to the '65 Coronet project, the two kits were being developed simultaneously. Do not know if that has changed in the interim, but if forced to guess, I would land on the side of the development in parallel continuing at present....TIM

Just a heads-up that you can see some of the latest results of the work (and inspiration) shown in this thread at the 2023 GSL contest coverage....as I said before, great work by all who contributed to or were inspired by this thread! TIM 2023 GSL Finale album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy. As an example, here's a shot of the killer completed project by Wes (aka Kit Karson) and Paul: PS - I was told that Dennis Lacy (the originator of this thread) had originally planned to attend GSL this year but had a family commitment that prevented him from doing so. As much as i would have liked to meet Dennis in person, I also really respect him for prioritizing his family in this situation. Right call! Best....TB

To all of you who posted comments, thanks so much for your interest in this small slice of the history of the hobby. It means a lot to me! Cheers....TIM

Hi Peter...thanks for the comments. The original contest was a mail-in photo contest. Contestants were told to send into the magazine two black and white images of their entry along with an explanation of their project by May 1st of 1968. My dad took my model to his job at the Bendix facility in Ann Arbor and asked their staff photographer to take the pictures. He did so using a Polaroid camera and some bright lights, which in turned caused the body to melt during the photo session, as explained in Chapter 1 of my saga on the reconstruction. Chapter 1 - Project History and Relevance album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy. Here's one of the Polaroid pictures (obviously aged during the interim) that did not get sent to Car Model magazine: Last week at GSL the overall contest winner, Jim Keeler, and I, had an interesting conversation about the contest. He told me that rather than follow the instructions to the letter, he put together an entire packet of many photos, in 8" x" 10" format, and had them sent special delivery to the magazine, to make sure they caught the attention of the staff. He then said that within a couple of weeks the magazine called him and told him that he had hands down won the top prize. Contrast that with my experience, which involved no direct contact from the mag, my name appearing as one of the winners between 4th and 25th (but not which place) in the September 1968 issue of the mag, then the surprise of seeing that i won 4th place nationwide in the October issue. All of which is to say that the top 4 models had never appeared together in reality until this year at GSL, when #1, #2, and #4 were shown together, and in one of the other recent GSL's where Jim told me that the #1 and #3 winners were displayed together. Thanks for asking...TIM

Hi Trevor....thanks for those questions. Both the original paint job and the restoration were done with Testors spray paint cans. This "chapter" in the restoration saga shows step by step how I did the paint fade, both back in 1968 and in early 2019 during the restoration. Chapter 10 - Recreating the Paint Scheme album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy. Key to the process was using a paint mask of sorts, held above the surface (rather than a hard mask), as shown in this image: I moved the mask successively from the front to the rear of the body each time I sprayed the next color. As to the question about keeping the front end on the ground with a chassis so heavily biased toward weight on the rear, my then 13-year-old mind made a tradeoff between a more realistic (but less likely to gain the judge's eye) front engine layout vs. the radical (but of questionable drag strip traction) rear engine layout. Back then I rationalized that the large wheelie bars would help; in more recent years I rationalized that the clutch and slicks would be tuned to deliver a slipping type of drag racing run (like the front engine diggers back then) rather than a hard hookup with the drag strip surface which would almost certainly cause severe wheelies. But this remains a key shortcoming of the final design I used. Still, it was worth it as more conventional funny car layouts finished lower in the Car Model magazine top 25 winners list. Best...TIM

Some of you may recall that the Dodge/MPC/Car Model magazine Dodge Coronet Funny Car Contest of 1968 was the year's biggest and most important model car contest. A few of you may even remember that about four years ago I completed a complete reconstruction/restoration of the entry I built at mostly age 13 that eventually won fourth nationwide in this same contest. The following update picks up just a weeks ago with these latest developments in this over a half century (!!!) saga.... When I first restored this project in early 2019, I chose to not recreate the tilting body feature of the original funny car built in 1968. The primary reason was that I wanted to keep the front and rear body portions bolted together. (When I originally built the car, and then later that year fixed the body that was damaged during the original photography session, I found that the front and rear body portions warped over time, and beyond that no longer matched when placed together.) During the 2019 reconstruction/restoration, I was dedicated to make sure this body warpage did not happen again. Accordingly, I joined the front and rear body sections together with two well-hidden bolts in the underbody structure. I wanted to retain the option of separating them again in the future, but only after several years when any potential body warping over time would have been prevented by the parts being bolted together. A secondary reason was that after three months of restoration activity, I was burned out and no longer had the time (with the 2019 NNL East right around the corner) to invest in recreating the hinging mechanisms that would allow the body parts to tilt open. Now in 2023, four years after the initial restoration was essentially completed, and with the final GSL International Model Car Contest event presentation just around the corner (with the opportunity to display this model alongside the first and second nationwide winners for the first time ever), it was time to unbolt the body sections and attempt to recreate the hinging operation that would allow the front and rear body sections to open to the front and rear, respectively. Now, after a week and a half of work, including five repeated efforts to adjust the hinging mechanisms so that the body would remain properly aligned when in the closed position, I have finally restored the model to its original May 1, 1968 configuration. And finally, here is an image of the display with the first, second, and fourth nationwide winners at the 28th and final GSL Model Car Contest in Salt Lake City, Utah (big credit to Mike English for designing and creating the posters behind the display): I realize that to most of you this is of little interest or merit, but to me it finally completes something I've wanted to do for 55 years now - that is to fix the damage to the original model and return it to the form in which it won Fourth Nationwide in the most important model contest of 1968. Thanks again for your interest....TIM ************** For those (few!!!;) of you who want to read more about this, here's two links with additional images and info...TB Here's the info on how restored the body opening and hinging mechanism... And here's the saga of the step by step restoration from four years ago (very long read).....

Paul and Wes....I had many special moments at the GSL this year but this one was just about the best! I just wish my wife Lia had been there to see it. This story is very special to me and I will long remember it and the model project that went with it! Thanks for posting your comments here, too! Very, very best to you both. TIM

Thanks all for the comments and expressions of appreciation. My goal at this show was to primarily spend time talking to all you participants, but in between times there was still time for some photography, so I took the opportunity to do so. My acknowledgement, though, that it is the modelers and their model building talents that make this thread worthwhile. My effort to document it pales by comparison! Still plan to go back and update with info on the class and master award winners when I get a chance. Will post an update to the thread headline when I get that done. Best to you all....TIM

Coverage of the show is now being posted here....TIM

Both Len Woodruff and I have already posted images from last weekend's GSL in the "Contests and Shows" section of the forum, and I bet others will be doing so as well. Make sure to check it out here....TIM

I am posting this link to an album with almost 600 pictures of entries from the last and largest ever GSL International Modal Car Championship which concluded yesterday. Where possible I have included a picture of the builder's name immediately after the first image of each model car or truck. l I will be doing more editing and also adding info on which models here placed in the various classes and "master awards" so check back again later in the week....here's the link and thanks for looking. TIM UPDATE 5-20-23- I have now added the prizes awarded (at least the ones I was able to write down during the awards ceremony on Sunday). The awards are shown on the first picture of each model...(remember that the second picture of each model is the builder's name). TB

This is a project that developed over a 3 1/2 decade period. It depicts an entirely fictional scenario wherein a Lincoln-Mercury division sports car project was developed and then scuttled during the mid 1960's. The project results were unveiled at the 2023 Greater Salt Lake Model Car ChampionshiP (GSLMCC) on May 5th, 2023. The story is told in a series of eleven 1/25th scale dioramas and model cars/trucks, developed by some of the hobby's best model builders under the direction of Mark Gustavson. (The entire and extensive list of contributors is shown in the last few images of this folder). Just before each diorama is a cover page depicting the timeline and the story covered by the diorama as well as the builders of the diorama and cars in that scene. I've shown many images of each of the individual dioramas as there is so much to be seen and taken in. While the story told here is created in the minds of those who participated vs. being actually factual in nature, a project of this scope and magnitude is unprecedented in our hobby. It represents an achievement for the ages and it deserves a very big tip of the hat from us to all involved! You can see the entire album of images at this link. Below is just one of the dioramas, depicting a 1/25th (!) DC-8 jet freightliner with a scratchbuilt replica of the 1/1 scale Bertone Mustang showcar. Best...TB

Tim, you are very much missed here. Many positive comments your car/boat project (as in "amazing", etc.) Also great respect. understanding, and agreement for the higher priority you place on your family. Not to mention fun stories about the MPC Contest and judging days... Very best...TIM

Wait until you see what showed up at GSL! TB

Fear not....many more pix coming over the next several days....TB

Jim....you nailed it. Here's the model.... More images here (see images #228-235)... Best....TIM

I find the above comments on the camper design to be very interesting, but nothing that would stop me (if i were in charge) from going ahead with the camper in its existing model truck kit iteration. A couple of points.: 1) the 1/1 camper business in the 1960's was in its earliest formative stages. Lots of small shops offering their interpretations of the product concept. Just because we can't find internet photography of a similar design doesn't mean it didn't exist. 2) AMT's design staff in the 1960's included a number of moonlighting designers and artists from the nearby Big 3 design studios and their suppliers. not to mention some very talented people in their dedicated full time product development staff. It is just as possible that the camper was a custom AMT design. In either case, I consider the camper design an authentic artifact of the late 1960's, and of great value to us modelers for that reason alone. Bottom line, Steve, if you are listening...don't make any changes to that camper, especially as this could delay the arrival of the kit in the market. Just my 2 cents....TB

Claude....great concept and execution. I've been watching for a '67 T-Bird kit myself as I wanted to do a pro-touring execution. Yours goes way beyond my idea, however. Particularly impressed with the IRS and the engine. Lovin' it! Cheers....TIM

Quick update....since the last pix above, I had given the body a serious round with the 3200 grit sanding pads, and then another heavy coat of Mr. Color SuperGloss. After gassing out, the finish was still pretty heavily orange peeled. Gave it another week to dry, then last night it had an appointment with the 3600 through 12000 Micro Mesh pads, Tamiya Coase/Fine/Finish polishing compounds, and then The Treatment Wax. Amazing transformation! Now glass smooth, without the unrealistic superglossy and superthick 2K clear affect (not to mention the serious health issues when used in anything less than a full 1/1 scale body shop environment including a separate fresh air supply face mask). No pictures yet but on to the next steps of this build. Finally....after 14 months of effort! TB

KK....BRAVO!!!! My salutations to you for not only a really creative and well executed concept, but also for staying at it and bringing this one home. Way to go! TIM

Thanks Lou! TB