tim boyd

Steve Perry at Calnaga.com has done some very involved work in developing super-accurate 427 SOHC components in 1/25th scale. May want to check those out...TB

Lookin' really, really good! Excellent work on the cowl mount steering gear and linkage, too! TB

Heh Bill...thanks for posting this. Finally had some time yesterday to watch it. Very entertaining! Best....TB

Heh everyone, great progress all. Keep plugging away, I say! TB

My understanding is that this kit, and a second one yet to be announced that shares the tooling, will be at stores before years end....TB

Ever since I traveled the "thumb" area of Michigan (anyone remember the Ubly Dragstrip of the 1960's???) as the Ford Sales Zone Rep during 1979-81, I've been fascinated with the 1961-63 Ford Unibody F100 pickup. So much so that I spent $40 (in 1980 Money, the equivalent of $146 today. the most I've ever spent on a model kit) on a pristine unbuilt AMT 1963 F100 customizing kit at the old Herb Jackson/Bill Enders store in Farmington Hills, MI. I actually planned to build it but it never happened. Probably around 20 years ago I bought a second kit -the reboxed 1964 release - in a partially built form with some body damage and the like. Sometime in 2021 I set out to actually build the second kit. I'll save the envisioned build details for later, but the bottom line is this one has been a struggle almost from day one. I spent months fixing the damage, and more profoundly, fixing all the imperfections (sink marks, crooked side body molding, et al.) of the original AMT body shell. Then the paint...including multiple mishaps that again I will explain later, most recently a severe case of orange peel from an application of Tamiya TS Clear over well dried Testors Coat Lacquer. I do still work on it from time to time, but guys this one has been discouragement city! Anyway, shot a couple pix of it today in its current state. Thanks for looking and listening to the summary of my sad, sad story on this one! Cheers...TIM PS - and yes, there is a reason (to be revealed later, but hopefully not too far in the future) why I am showing this one at this time ..TB

Marc....really great to see you back at the scale bench. I am pretty certain I remember several of your entries for GSL from back in the day (and I think I photographed a couple for my magazine event coverage, too), but in any case, I think you were well in the thick of it all three times you were there. Looks like a very fun build and I also agree with you about the Mickey Thompson I4. Best wishes for bringing this one home...TB

This one dates from late 1968 or early 1969. After I won 4th place nationwide in the 1968 Dodge/MPC/Car Model Magazine Funny Car Contest, the CM Editor sent a form letter asking me to write some stories for the mag. I came up with four or five different projects, but of course had no way to photograph them, and was soon distracted (for the next 11 years) by competing in the MPC National Customizing Contest series. Of the four, one was finally completed in the late 1980s, another in 2012 (and featured in Model Cars magazine), a third in 2021 (my replica of the first gen Prock and Howell '33 Willys) but this one still sits in a box after... what...54 years???? It was to be a rear engined (two Avanit R4 V8's, side by side) drag or speed exhibition car using the Revell Miss Deal '53 Stude funny car (really, AWB) body and some of the engine mounting hardware from the rail dragster in the AMT Double Dragster kit. The frame was built from aluminum tubing and sheet styrene, and a few leftover pieces from the aforementioned Dodge Funny Car winner that were originally in the AMT '53 Stude funny car kit. I don't beleive I did any more work on this past probably middle 1969 or so....

OK guys, I'm game. This one was started back around late 1976 or early 1977 with the intent of being one of a series of models to be entered in the 1978 or 1979 MPC Model Car Customizing Contest Championship. It was an outgrowth of a commission from then-AMT to build up three models for their upcoming annual sales rep meeting of what were to be the followup series of AMT Ford Van Custom kits. I had to scratchbuild the new parts (from AMT engineering Dept. blueprints) and then complete the models. My own model was to be an extension of some ofthe design themes from those three custom van kits, but done with (what at the time I considered to be) more good taste than the AMT kits. I worked on it for a few months, (note the old AMT body putty), sketeched out a possible paint theme, and then in the box it went, where it has remained for the last 46 years.... OH....just thought of one even older...will post that one next...TB

Whoa Bill...that bad boy is SHARP! TB

One of these was a Scale Auto Enthusiast cover story from the late 1980's....and very much inspired by an Ivory colored '32 Woody built by Boyd Coddington. It had a way-ahead-of-the-curve paint color - a way old can of Krylon early 1960's style aqua turquoise. had originally planned to paint it with a can of Mercury 1978 Medium Jade touch-up paint but that disappeared in my move from Michigan to East Cobb Georgia c. 1987, and the Krylon was the backup. The rest of the kit was largely stock from the (originally MPC) AMT/Ertl reissue, but to get that stance was a major league headache and I recall that making up much of the story in SAE. Of course, as usual, once I did this one I couldn't help but do a second one, that was far more traditional in flavor. Both these used real wood for the woody area insets and the first one, just as Boyd C did on his car, had much of the internal bracing cut away. Then, still couldn't let up the inspiration so i did a third one based on the Monogram '30 A Woody kit, but using the "Sedan Delivery" style panels included in that kit. Here's how that one came out... These two ended up in a follow-up article either in Scale Auo Enthusiast or Car Modeler magazines. Of course, while these were pretty well turned out for the late 1980's , they do not begin to approach the level of detail and quality seen in Dennis' latest project in the WIP part of the forum . But I still like ''em for what they are. (You can see Dennis' Woody project here... Lots more pix here if you want to see more on my three Model A woodies above....and three other Boyd woodies along with a scale surfboard collection....and thanks for looking...TIM

Dennis....fascinating progress and agree with everyone....lookin' really good. Best of luck bringing this one forward and over the finish line. Will be especially interested to see where you go with the color palette, too. Best....Tim

Kit...bravo my man! Please keep me posted on your progress on these....TB

Hi Tim....really great to hear that you've enjoyed looking through my fotki albums. I must have, in total, thousands of hours invested in putting them online, and it is very rewarding to hear that someone has enjoyed them, particularly someone with your talent and stature in the hobby! (Note to those who do not know TIm's track record as a modeler....1970 Car Model Magazine issue with Detroit Cobo MPC Coverage....the first magazine coverage (I think) of Tim's long career as a creative and winning model car builder).... As for those Testors Lacquer cans....bought those all about 15 years ago, and sadly, most all of them have now leaked out the bottom and are mostly useless. Plus I think most of the colors have been discontinued; if not they seem to be very difficult to find at the stores anymore. But as far as the airbrushes go, I already have two ancient (as in 1970's) Paasche dual action brushes (I just used one a couple of weeks ago, still works great) and a Badger single action from the 1980's....Here's one of cars I 'brushed back in 1977-78 that won Best of Show at the 1978 MPC Detroit show and finished third nationwide later that spring..... But I prefer spray cans when they work for the particular paint application, if for no other reasons than that I tend to get more consistent results and don't have to worry about cleaning the brush afterwards..... Thx gain for the comments. Hope that somehow someday we can get back together in person....would love to do a tabletop matchup of your awesome dual engine boat/tow vehicle with the ones in my post above. TIM

Some very interesting guesses here. My understanding is that the two for NNL East will likely be clones based on past kits, but ones that are considerably improved (both in accuracy and also in improved ease of assembly) vs. the original kit issues. Let's hope the real news comes out soon! Unfortunately I won't be able to be there, but I'm hoping to hear the "huzzahs" from New Jersey in late April all the way over here in Michigan. (Well, obviously, not really, but at the least, some very surprised and excited posts on the message boards and forums!) Best, TB

Yeah!!!! TB

KK....very, very cool stuff. I you haven't already done so, recommend you check out my album of completed 1/25th scale drag and ski boat kitbashes here......OH WAIT! Don't want to do anything to distract you from your GSL build...so bookmark this and check it out after first weekend of May! Cheers...TB

Emre...thanks for your comments and voicing your agreement on my hot rod car and boat thoughts! Best....TIM

Alan....luck....just pure luck! Hah! Best....TB

Robert....sorry about that....I didn't see your mention of blue regarding the C-Stripe. I agree, that would be highly cool. Of course, if they did the blue one, I'd also like to see the pale green one (IIRC, that was the fifth color and very rarely ever seen....) TB

Robert, thanks for the comments. The C-stripe was available before, IIRC it was in the original c.1990 "Pro Street" kit release with the c.1964 DOHC Hemi engine. Here's an image of a 1970 Super Bee I built with those decals....TIM

March 2023: The following was prepared as a how-to for one of the model car magazines (not the one from our hosts here) in 2011. Said magazine editor did not understand the degree that drag boats were a huge part of the hot rod scene back in the day and decided not to use the article. (After all, as my modeling buddy Steve Perry likes to say, drag boats are nothing but hot rods with a prop instead of four wheels and tires). I subsequently posted the text, images, and photo captions it to my Fotki album. Now that Round 2 has reissued the "Hull Raiser" Kindsvater Drag Racing boat as part of their "Aqua Rod" Chevy Van combo quote, seems like a good time to recirculate the how-to article. Here's the article intro below and a few sample images. Click on this link for the rest of the story with 44 images and how-to photo captions. ******************************************************** On-Line Extra: Building a 1-25th Scale Dual Engine Drag Boat By Tim Boyd To someone who wasn’t there in the 1960’s, the idea of a how-to article on a Drag Boat may seem a strange diversion for a hobby called "Model Cars". But to others, this could be a welcome reminder of just how much drag and ski boats were a part of the car-guy/hot-rod scene back then. In a retrospective article, Hot Rod DeLuxe noted in its November, 2011 issue that its namesake, Hot Rod magazine extensively covered the drag boat scene back in the 1960’s. Back then, no one had a better finger on the pulse of the automotive market than Hot Rod magazine, and if you made the cover, you were it! And sure enough, a drag boat was the lead cover image on the cover of the September, 1966 issue. Yet another hint of how hot drag boats were back then is that in AMT Corporation’s 4 page (!) ad at the front of the June, 1963 issue of Car Craft magazine, their new Rayson-Craft Trophy Series Drag and Ski Boat kit was featured in three separate “advertorial articles”. Yes, Drag Boats were big – real big! For both those who remember, and those of you who are new to all this, we’re featuring a drag boat kitbash here as an On-Line How-To. It’s based on the Model King/AMT-Ertl reissue of a combo kit featuring the old AMT “Hull Raiser” Drag Boat along with the MPC 1970 Pontiac Bonneville convertible (kit #21547P, issued in 2005). It’s combined with the engines, several other parts, and decals from the Round 2 reissue of the AMT “Drag Team” Double Dragster Special Edition (kit #AMT627, issued in 2010). For further information and ideas about this time when drag boats were nearly as popular as “T” Rods, Deuce Coupes, and Gassers, I recommend you buy the book Drag Boats of the 1960’s by Don Edwards (Iconographix, 2008). Additionally, you may want to check out the 1/25th scale Ski and Drag Boat Models folder at the writer’s personal Fotki site ( http://public.fotki.com/funman1712/boyd-model-boats/boyd-boats-/ ), which features 13 other 1/25th scale drag and ski boat projects. So are you ready to splash a bunch of 1/25th scale water? I am! Let’s go!

The real kit has authentic FE exhaust port spacing....but I see your point....the illustration is a little exaggerated in that regard! TB

closer image of the camper setup here...TB