tim boyd

Dennis...thanks for showing this image. I have followed this particular body accuracy issue for years, and my own thoughts were that, while the body wasn't completely accurate, the issue was being way overplayed among the model car cognoscenti (err...that would be, participants in this model car forum). These photos prove I was entirely and utterly wrong on this. And I should have known better as I too owned a real one....in this case, a 1979 Ghia notchback 5.0L 4 speed manual overdrive. I ordered it in the summer of 1978 when I started working at a Ford District Sales Office, and I was promptly told I was never to park my existing car (a killer looking 1974 E58 Road Runner with BFG Radial T/A's and mags) anywhere near the front row of their office parking lot. I ended up selling the Ghia when I was transferred to San Francisco three years later, and between the ridiculous rent expense there and a company car, I couldn't justify the expense of a second car... Have owned many V8 stick Mustangs since then, (mostly the last two generations, but also a Fox 1986 GT 5.0L/five speed convert), but still have fond memories of the '79 notchback. I'll see if i can scan and post a picture here. Again, thanks Dennis, and kudos to you two gentlemen, Mike and Greg, for your roles in mastering and casting the corrected body....TIM

Kit....yes, I've also pondered the thought that with as many views as this thread has generated, some sort of mention in the mag's section on ModelCarsMagForum subjects might be merited. Certainly, some very cool subject builds here to look at! Good luck proposing that idea to the "throws" (like that term, too!). Cheers....TIM

Alan....oh man, so sorry to hear this. BUT! Given the position of these breaks, and the apparent repair of the left side, my bet is that you can glue these back in place and the breaks will be virtually unidentifiable to all but those hard-core modelers still reading this thread. In any case, you've got way too much time and effort invested here to not finish the project, warts and all. Sometime I should put together a list of all the warts on my projects that no one has ever ended up seeing....a "true confessions" of sorts? Anyway, all my encouragement to keep at it and bring in home....TIM

What Mike said re dual exhausts. The "1972 Sport Custom" version of the Moebius kit series has dual the exhausts; i bought several of those to use in future street custom build projects for that very reason. The box art references a 302 small block in that kit, so at least in that application. I'm not an expert on the factory content on 1972 F100 302 V8's, but absent definitiive references content to the contrary on that subject, I suspect the duals would appear to represent an owner-added modification rather than the factory single exhaust application. TIM

Dave....thanks for posting and for the observation about the plated vs. body colored A-pillar configuration. That's a great reference photo on the subject....TIM

Roger...been following your revisions with great interest and appreciation for your eye regarding this subject. I fully agree with your statements about the door frames having been revised to an unrealistically small vertical dimension and it appears to me that your above image reflects a very good compromise on that subject. However, I again want to mention my take on the subject of the top of door molding issue. I don't have any 1/1 scale cars to inspect but from the extensive photography I researched back in November when addressing the way the tool was originally molded, it appeared to me that there was no molding at all atop the door skin and quarter panel at the bottom of the DLO /window openings on the base series 1965 Chevy II sedan body. If you have 1/1 scale prototypes to observe on this and they reflect the degree of your added-back moldings in this area, I defer. Just want to make sure that with all the efforts you are putting into your other revisions that you don't compromise authenticity here. Also, when studying 1/1 photography there is clearly a step upward in this top of door surface between the A-pillar and the rear vent window pillar,; e.g. there is a discernable molding along the bottom of the vent windows. Again, you may want to take a look here before finishing up the bodywork. Really interested to see how this turns out and I really want to thank you for taking the time to share how you are going about your accuracy refinements. Cheers...TIM

Alan....huge congrats on the retirement. Big life step, for sure. I've often thought that among the world's most accomplished modelers are the ones that can recover from the inevitable setbacks involved in high-end model car building and find a way to power their way through to a finished project. Congrats on finding a way forward.... Tim....be still my heart. I never ever dreamed you'd get involved in bringing your modeling skills to such a traditional hot rod project. Can't wait to see how this one comes together. Makes me very sad to think that Chuck is no longer around to see how you are tackling this project. Very best to all still reading this thread started to long ago now by Dennis.. TB

Dennis....I recall it being a serviceable replica, but I'd defer to Steve Perry for a definitive judgement on that topic! All....thanks for your comments, always really appreciated! Best...TIM

That "Son of Troublemaker" is a very well thought out and realistic mid-engine funny car design and kit....at least equal in detail to the Monogram Prudhomme and McEwen 'cuda funny car kits....TB

Don't believe I've shown this one before, so here goes....started in 1974 (when the AMT kit came out), finished around 2011.... AMT fielded a series of funny car kits in the mid-1970 which all shared the same chassis and 417 Donovan engines, along with a number of different bodies. (These kits were entirely different and new vs. the "NitroCharger/El Toro/Novacaine/Funny Hugger II kit series introduced 3 years earlier). This new kit series ranged from the very accurate "Trojan Horse" Mustang to some outrageously distorted bodies such as a pseudo-Corvette. Their 1974 "Mo-Power" kit was supposed to be a Plymouth Satellite/Road Runner funny car. I built the kit mostly box stock, but after some fairly major mods to the front hood area to make for a more realistic replica. Those body mods dated back to, yes, 1974, but the model was mostly built and finished in 2011. The paint was Tamiya Clear (Candy) Red over gold, with Tamiya TS-13 Clear Gloss. The decals were mostly from Slixx if I am recalling correctly. More pix below...and thanks for looking....TIM

Round 2 has just reissued their early 1970's kit of Tommy Ivo's first rear engine rail dragster. As it turns out, the original Ivo body parts no longer existed in Round 2's tooling inventory, so they tooled entirely new body panels. They also took the opportunity to add alignment tabs to all the body parts, as they were notably missing from AMT's original c.1972 kit release. The other key change is the expected update of the decal sheet. But in a bit of a switcheroo here, rather than just a refinement of the original graphics layout, the new decal sheet takes an entirely different tact in replicating the real car's distinctive livery. We can probably expect to see a modified reissue of the second version of the AMT Tommy Ivo rear engine kit, a follow-up offering also dating from the early 1970's in the near-midterm future. You can see 20 images including comparisons of the new and original kit release box art and decal sheets, as well as what the kit looks like in assembled form (as built a while back from the original kit release) at this link. Thanks for looking! TIM

Thanks for taking the time to document all these, Ed. Very helpful....TIM

My views here are somewhat different. While the roof may not be 100% correct, the excess material atop the door panel was incorrect to begin with for a low-series two door sedan. So, to remove it was a correction to something that was not right to begin with. The changes made to the tool go a long way, in my view, to correct the DLO (side view daylight opening) which was my biggest concern, but I would not go as far to suggest that the result is 1000% correct to the original. Secondly, most of the evidence I've seen says the overall roof height, both in its original and final form, is correct. Also, while I was not present for the internal discussions on the late changes to the production-ready tool, the decision to go ahead with the changes was a significant financial and operational investment by Moebius. Casey, I think your assessment of that decision does not represent the actual intent of the company's management in making that decision. Bottom line, each person questioning the roof treatment should review the evidence on both sides of this subject before accepting one or the other view as being the overall correct conclusion. And once reaching that conclusion, then decide whether the result is significant enough one way or the other to affect your decision about whether or not to invest your time in building the kit. I do not expect my views on the subject to be the final word here, so anyone with a view, please feel free to express it here. My only wish (request?) is that we try our best to keep the conversation respectful. Thanks all... TIM

Also compare the A-pillars. The Revell kit (blue) has very curved A-pillars (from a side/profile view), while the faux box art version (ree) has a vary straight A-pillar, closer to the real 1/1 car...FWIW...TB

Really good point....I should have mentioned that for sure. Now....I wonder where mine went??? tB

Dave can provide more details as he deems appropriate, but rest assured, work is continuing apace on these....TB

Tony, when looking at these photos again as I posted them, I didn't remember how strangely proportioned this AMT Charger body really was. Long nose as you say, truly wasp waisted in overhead view, unrealistically narrow, etc. etc. An interesting interpretation by the AMT design team, for sure. All....thanks for the comments....TIM

Thanks Andy for the feedback. Like you, I expected the show this year to be filled to the gills, as it were. Instead, more vacant floor space than I can remember for a long, long time. Hopefully next year will be back on track. I did a pretty quick trip through this year rather than my usual row by row coverage. Nevertheless, no matter how complete my coverage, just like you I see photos of other cars I do not remember seeing at the show itself! Oh well.... Best....TIM

I visited the Olds dealer in Grand Rapids in Ocober 1972 to order a 1973 Custlass S, 455 4bbl, duals, buckets and console, et al. Probably in the miedium blue metallic with a black vinyl roof. Unfortunately, it was about 30% above my budget. Ended up with a 1973 Duster 340 instead..... That example is really sharp, and a somewhat unusual color that year, too. Cool! TB s yedUI

Sweet! tb

Mike.....great progress and looking' really good. Yeah, building this kit is a "ballroom [err...model room] blitz! Nice choice of music. Good luck bringing this one home....TIM

During 1971-72, AMT introduced several all-new funny car kits. They included the NitroCharger with an all-new AMT-designed, radically narrowed "mini-charger" type simulated fiberglass F/C body with styling cues adapted to the third generation (1971-72) Charger design cues, two kit releases that used modified bodies based on AMT's annual kits of the 1970/71 Torino and 1971/72 Nova, and a fourth release that used a somewhat butchered 1969 Camaro body adapted from the earlier AMT "Funny Hugger' kit. The chassis design was all-new and was AMT's first attempt at the "digger" style funny car chassis that were replacing the earlier 'Logghe" tube style chassis that dominated the drag strips from 1966-69. While the engines were adapted to each body (Ford in a Ford, Chevy ratmotor in the Chevies), the 426 Hemi in the NitroCharger was new and featured the first-ever 1/25th scale rendition of the Hamilton supercharger blower case that was seeing widespread use in the 1/1 scale funny car ranks at the time. It also showed the new Crower "8-Holer" induction system atop the blower (my entry in the 1972 MPC National Championship, which included a scratchbuilt rendition of this same induction system, was criticized as being unauthentic by the contest judges who apparently were more than a little behind the times in their knowledge of 1/1 scale drag racing trends - but I digress....) As the NitroCharger kit did not have a licensed driver/team tie-in, and the box art (in my opinion) did not fully sell the merits of the kit, it was not a good seller and has never been reissued to the best of my knowledge. The model below was built mostly box stock just over ten years ago (summer of 2011), pieced together from several glue bombs and using the chassis from the Model King riessue of the Funny Hugger II kit (the only one of the series that has ever been reissued). The paint scheme uses the "spray can paint fade" technique I developed for my 1968 Dodge/MPC/Car Model 4th place nationwide winner, and later demonstrated about ten years ago in a two-part now-to article in Scale Auto. Here are some images of the completed model for your viewing. You can read more about the above kit series, and all of AMT's funny car kits, in my 2020 book "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits", published by CarTech Books and available from all the usual book selling sources. Thanks for taking a look and best regards! TIM

That interior just flat-out rocks!!!! TIM

Hi Guys,,,impressive thread and work, to be sure! Two contributions on this end.... 1) a link to my Fotki Album folder on drag racing door slammers..... 11 projects shown in overall and detail images.... 2) for those not that familiar with the variety of drag racing kits that have been issued since the late 1950's, you might enjoy my latest book "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits", published by CarTech books and available from all the usual book sources. I can pretty much say you'll be surprised about at least a few of the kits shown there... Best regards....TIM

If you look closely at the box art of the first '34 Ford Coupe kit (in red) in Chris' feature article, you'll note that it is actually a comped-up Monogram '34 Ford Coupe, rather than a buildup of the Buttera kit (which is featured on the Blue '33 Ford box art). I noted this in my old Street Rodder Modeler's Corner column not long after the kit came out. Not sure I made any friends there at the time, but this was a case of misrepresentation of the box contents. It was no doubt a function of needing to photograph the box art before the actual kit tooling was completed. *************** Really nice job with your Buttera series kit compilation, Chris, it's the most complete I ever recall seeing. TIM