tim boyd

The multi-kit possibilities enabled by the many distinct flavors of 1/1 scale new Broncos was one of the key points I made in several private notes to our Round 2 connections about the business potential of a tool based on the new Bronco. Glad to see this now actually playing out in reality. TIM

Ron....my research at the time confirmed BB/SR class designation for what I would characterize as blown small block racecars, so either my research was faulty or...??? Perhaps both situations are correct, depending on the specific year of the rulebooks being consulted? Unlike the A/SR model, I didn't go back and add detail after completion, so no, no windshield on this one. This model was always intended to be the compliment or accent to the other one; that was more fully kitbashed and detailed from the very start, whereas this one was the companion model built at the same time to show the differences in the /SR drag racing genre. This one was also intended to be a little earlier in the decade (such as the wheel/tire configuration). Thanks for the compliment on the paint and such. Much appreciated. As for the fuel line, thanks for catching that. I've been frustrated at times about photographing my models, then finding something wrong in looking the photos that I did not see in real life. Fortunately, this one is a two-minute fix. Other ones, not always the case. Thanks again, and I do appreciate you fly-specking my photos. Gives us more to talk about! Best......TIM

Steve....the "Flower Power" series (and several other "series" genres) were all reissued around 1968-69 (going from memory here, did not check definitive sources) and my understanding is that tooling for many of them were scrapped following those production runs. They were scrapped for both the value of the tooling raw materials as well as the tax write-offs, from what I was told my AMT insiders so many years ago. I covered a number of these AMT "reruns with fresh box art merchandising" offerings in an article called "AMT After the Trophy Series" (or something similar) in the mid 2000's in the other model magazine. Represented best available info on these kits at the time the article was written.... Best...TIM

I'm with Steve on this. Personally, I much prefer the '69/'70 front and rear look over the freshened '71/'72 version, especially given the contrived (in my view) configuration of the '71/'72 headlamps. But, to each his own....cool thing though is that we had model car kits of both designs back in the day, and that they can still be found (albeit at a price) even today. A 1/1 '69 or '70 GP Model SJ with the upgraded 428/455 engine and a four speed is one of those dream cars I would have bought by now if I was an active 1/1 scale collector.... TB

Here's an image of the prior generation ('78/'79} Holiday Coupe exterior and interior. Very seldom one of those would be built without a vinyl roof. This image taken at the 2018 Oldsmobile Reunion in Lansing, Michigan. Extensive Olds Reunion event pictures at this link for any Olds fan who might be interested....TB ...

This is the other drag racing street roadster I built at the same time as the A/SR model also shown in this section of the MCM Forum. It was also featured in the two-part story in the other model car mag showing the concurrent buildup of both models. The basic buildup used the AMT Trophy Series 1929 Model A Roadster body, and the blown 283 along with wheels and tires from the old (and at the time, recently reissued) MPC 1960 Corvette kit. The paint was (IIRC) Tamiya Pearl White aerosol with decanted/airbrushed Tamiya Clear Blue heavy panel fogged accents. The headers were from the MPC 1932 Chevy Cabriolet kit if I am recalling correctly. Suspensions were kitbashed to an appropriate BB/SR configuration. The "Panella Brothers" livery and the quarter eliptic sprung quick change rear axle setups were from the most recent reissue (at the time of the build) of the Revell Austin Gasser kit. As the build was for a magazine article, I kept the parts sourcing to a minimum number of kits (reader feedback over time had indicated some level of frustration when I used parts from too many other kits for magazine projects). Happy to try to answer any questions you might have....and thanks for checking this one out. And finally, here's a look at this one along with the A/SR model (in its first form, before the updates shown in my thread below) beside it. Thanks again for looking....TIM

Ron, you were right all along.... Adding a fuel pressure gauge is not in my usual repertoire of tricks when building a detailed drag racing model engine compartment, so it may have been inspired by studying some of my 1/1 scale references - particularly the Hugh Tucker and "Rudy's Beauty" cars.... Thanks again for your insights and comments. ..TIM

Paul and Tim: You guys are both just killing it with these models!!! Onward, gentlemen! Best...TB

Claude, that is just TOO COOL!!!! This is the kind of originality in model car building that otherwise seems largely missing in today's world. Back in the day, this type of 3D "free thinking" was duly recognized and encouraged with the "Best Originality" awards in the MPC Contest Series (1969-79) and resulted in Denny Johnson's "Zingers" and trike models winning those awards and eventually becoming MPC kits! The use of the Revell Buttera suspensions and those killer wheels/tires are a great add here. Big congrats! TIM

Ron...my guess is WWalls both sides....not very many things slip by Dennis....he's a really accomplished/knowledgeable builder in my view.... BTW, one of the things I liked best about the NNL Nats - especially the earliest ones (1980-85 or so) - was the practice of displaying two models of the same automotive topic side by side and then doing comparisons just like the one you did here. Cool Stuff!'' Thx again for the observations....TB

Ron, sure looks that way on the gauge. Still need to dig it out and make sure. Thanks for the compliment, too. o Meanwhile, found some more images with Dennis' car....it too is non-supercharged, it turns out... Looks like an injected Nailhead, no less! And that would, of course, also make it an A/SR.... Best....tB

There was also an ad that Revell ran in the mags (probably 1963-64-ish Car Craft and Rod & Custom) showing a kitbashed Fiat Altered using parts from the various Parts Pack offerings. I'll see if I can find that .....TB

Ron...here you go. I believe the gauge on the cowl was intended to be a tach. (It was wired so I can verity next time I dig out the model). Hoods were typically run on drag racing Street Roadsters but I'm not completely clear on whether they were required during all years depicted here. I based my model on a number of real cars; some ran with the windshield posts and I thought that was a cool detail to add to my project. My car was an A/SR as it did not have a blower; I believe Dennis' car was blown, so depending on the engine size, his would have been either AA/SR or BB/SR. So the sign is not correct for my car. (Oops, you know how it is when people are lined up behind you and you are trying to put your models on the table....). Unfortunately, I believe I only have one other image of Dennis' car and it is from a similar angle, but i will go look and see if there are any more. The headers are adapted from the Mopar B-Body fenderwell headers, tweaked to match up to the different exhaust port spacing of the 427 FE engine. The model as originally completed and shown in the mag had zoomie ground duster headers, but those were more typical for blower cars while carbed engines typically ran headers with collectors. At the time I was making additional tweaks to this car, I was still working 13+ hours a day with very frequent overseas travel and those were the best ones I could in my pars box given the time I had available to look. If I were building it today, i would most likely go a different route (but still with headers and collectors), to avoid any confusion with Super Stockers or a header design so closely associated with Mopar. Great questions, thanks for giving me a chance to answer them! Cheers....TIM

Here are some images of the 1960's era A/SR model I built about 15 or so years ago. The build was the subject of a two-part article in what at that time was the "other" model car magazine. These photos reflect some after-the-fact refinements and additions to the model that took place after the magazine article appeared. It was also very similar in appearance and concept to a model build near the same time (but before my article appeared) by the highly talented Dennis Caudell of Indiana (you may recall seeing pictures of the two models posted together in coverage of one of the NNL Nationalls events). Enjoy the pix....and will be happy to answer any questions if I can remember the specifics of the project all these years later :)! Best....TIM PS - the upcoming Revell reissue with revisions of the old Stacey '32 Roadster tool would be a great starting point for a project like this, and it would eliminate a number of time-consuming steps I had to take on my model project. ? PS - I found it! Here's a picture of Dennis Caudell's A/SR model pictured next to mine. Remember, he built his before my article appeared in the mag. Note the many similarities! TB

Thanks Emre. I believe the tranny was simply Tamiya Metallic Grey brush paint, possibly with brushed overlay of gray or black wash as used by the military modelers. The seats, I think, were probably Model Masters Aluminum or Stainless-Steel aerosol (sadly, no longer made by Testors), with an overcoat of Tamiya Flat Clear spray, and then a brushed light overlay of black Military Modeler wash. Hope that helps Best...TIM

Claude...this one is a masterpiece, IMHO. Back in the day, based on your paint work alone this model would have been a shoe-in for Best Paint at any of the MPC National Model Car Contest shows, along with class trophies and other awards including Quality Workmanship and Best of Show. Also, I heartily endorse your use of the MPC Wild Willie Altered Chassis. That kit along with its sister kit the Bantam Blast, are arguably MPC's best-ever drag racing kits in terms of adccuracy, detail, and assembly quality, and sadly most modelers have never had the experience of building them. Bravo! Best...TIM

FWIW, so far. I've seen just one guess mentioned in the responses above, that aligns with my thoughts about what this new kit might be. ****** As for those Pinto Pro-Stock kits, several times I've discussed with Round 2 personnel that those two Pinto kits were the best and most fully accurate of all the MPC Pro-Stock kits of the 1970's. My understanding is that there are many tool inserts for the MPC Pinto kits and finding the ones associated with the Pro-Stock versions is thought to be very problematic. That has placed the Pinto Pro-Stocks well down the Round 2 priority list of reissue possibilities. Of course, these conversations took place before the "cloning" process had been proven out. Whether that would change the outlook, I do not know. What I have heard from Industry Sources - as I explained in my recent book "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits" - is that 1960's era drag racing kits are among the hottest 1/25th scale kit topics (second only to 1960's and 1970's pickup kits) over the last few years in the Domestic (but not International) hobby markets. Whether that popularity would extend to mid-1970's drag racing topics I do not know, although I would speculate it would in this particular case. I haven't heard too much on how the 1973/74 Vega Pro-Stock kits have sold, and what I have heard varies in terms of a conclusive verdict. Even though the Vega Pro-Stocks were nowhere near as good of kits as the Pinto pro-Stocks, perhaps that sales info would provide some further insight on the viability of the Pinto Pro-Stock kits as future reissues. Infamous las words...."time will tell". TB

If it is what I think it might be, some of you guys are gonna freak.....TB

Thanks again guys for all the favorable comments....Best.....TIM

Michael....that was the Jo-Han Mickey Thompson Mustang and Pinto Funny Car kit. And yes, it was legit at the time. More images here (see pix .#164-173) Hope that helps....TIM .

Harry....inspiring others to build models is one of my highest aspirations as a modeling "journalist" of sorts. Please share your progress with us here if you want to....Best....TIM

Thanks Anthony. That checkerboard decal is in the kit. Just took a little MicroSet/MicroSol and patience to get it to settle in very nicely. In retrospect, probably should have painted the firewall white instead of blue, but oh well! Best...TB

Completed about15 months ago, this is a 100% box stock buildup of the Round 2 kit of the 1964 Olds Cutlass with a newly tooled body combined with mostly otherwise carried over parts from the original annual kit. The paint was Testors Model Masters Lacquer 1963/64 Chevrolet Silver Blue Metallic, which was the exact same paint color/formula as 1964 Olds Code F Wedgewood Blue Metallic. The buildup received quite a bit of paint detailing on the interior and front/rear grille, tailamp, and wheel cover parts, along with BareMetal foil and Molotow Chrome accents. For those that are interested, there was a comprehensive kit buildup posted over a year ago at the FineScale.com site. Not sure if the firewall is still in effect, but if not, it is posted here: https://finescale.com/product-info/kit-reviews/2021/03/workbench-review-amt-64-oldsmobile-f85-cutlass-convertible-customizing-kit Shown are a number of photos of the completed project, along with a few component images. Thanks for looking...TIM

A really neat project, Mark! TB

Mike, not only only those very relevant points (particularly as you mentioned, the slot car fad was putting a great deal of pressure on kit sales), but AMT was now devoting much management effort and financial resources into their Phoenix "Speed and Custom" 1/1 scale shop and product line along with the ill-fated 1/1 scale Piranha project. And then MPC was stealing away some of the promo contracts, and pursuing a very aggressive kit development/sales effort. All that made for a number of cancelled AMT kits, including the 1/25th scale Porsche 911 which reached the 1/1oth scale wood master status before being cancelled....TB