tim boyd

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

P - congrats on finishing yours. Looks cool; excellent paint color, and I agree with you on the theme being more current interpretation of a Gasser rather than a period-correct version. I am perplexed on the hood/blower issue. I also remember reading about this somewhere when the test shots were being worked on, yet on my build the hood/blower alignment turned out perfect. Next version I build I will investigate this further. Thanks for the images and commentary! TIM

Thanks Rusty,,,,,paint layout was completely "artistic license".....TB

Not too long ago, I got all the funny cars from my 50+ year modeling career out and on the table for a photography session. I'll be posting images of some of them over the next few months. Here is one of my favorites. It was built about 10 years ago, and based on one of the Polar Lights Mustang funny car kits. The buildup is mostly box stock, but with paint detailing. I was particularly pleased with the paint, which featured several of the Testors Model Masters lacquers, applied in the "spray can fade" techniques I demo'ed in a series of articles in Scale Auto around 2011/2012. I passed on engine and chassis wiring on this one, as I already had done that to the extreme on several of my MPC Contest winning funny car models from the 1970's. Anyway, here's a look or two....thanks for checking it out...TB

I finally remembered...I think that the '60 Ford Pickup kit was ordered from Illinois Replica Conversions (or IIRC) in the mid 1980's....at the time he was providing a number of aftermarket conversion bodies, primarily for Class8 Semi-Truck modelers. Mine has a crack in the body which was one of the reasons it was not built at the time....TB

Luc....you are right on the money with the SuperBee spinoff, done in the manner you describe. Plus, the split bench seat in the R/T kit, which was never offered on production '71 R/T's, would be factory correct for a SuperBee! More importantly than that, I'd like to see Round 2 do both of these versions with Rod Shop drag racing livery....they already have (or had) the Rod Shop licensing and the expanded decals sheets they do these days would be great for providing model car builders with a full-on Rod Shop livery treatment. I've made this exact suggestion - several times in fact - to my contacts at Round 2. Sounds like they just have other, higher priority (e.g. better financial return) projects to pursue first....TB

Pretty surprised to hear plans like that being disclosed in the public domain at this time. We will see additional versions of the '64/'65 Chevy II tool on the hobby store shelves, but I expect that they will see production down the road a bit, as there are a couple of other nearer term, higher priority projects underway there right now from what I hear. Anyway, something to look forward to! Thanks Dennis for passing this along. TB

Zen....no, I generally leave that up to the pro photographers like Steve Perry who do the event for the model magazine coverage. Best....TIM

Nah....he forgot to let the air out of his Gabriel Hi-Jackers before he took off on this road trip....sorry....couldn't resist! Cheers....TB

Somewhere in my stash I have an aftermarket 1960 F-100 that was cast in a metal-like material. IIRC, I included a picture of it in the 3-part Pickup Kit History series I did for Scale Auto a few years back.. TB

What James said. Also, keep in mind that the few new-tool Round 2 kits, such as the recent 2017/2017 Camaro series, have followed the "multiple versions" preferred scenarios much like Moebius has done. I would expect that we'll see the same thing with the new Charger sedan tool, as well as another all-new tooling project/subject which has not yet been announced... TB

Given the popularity of the Moebius series of mid 1960's to early 1970's pickup kits, which have been very good sellers from what I hear, there will be added interest in filling the gaps in the late-1950's to late 1970's pickup kit tooling. However, this would likely be from new tooling rather than reissues/modified reissues (and as indicated above, the tooling for the original 1960 F100 kit is long gone from what we know). Personally, the 1967/68 Chevy pickup and the 1957 F100 would be at the top of my list, but with creative used of tooling components, if a 1957 F100 came along, a 1960 F100 (and 1958/1959 versions) would seem to be a logical extension. Just so we are clear on the above, I have no insider info to base this on, these are just my own personal thoughts and observations....TB

Yeah, that was one sharp car. I tried to get a better shot of the engine compartment, but it wasn't to be given the crowds and the way the car was setup on its stand....TB

Hi Tom....thx for the comments. I took a good friend and former Ford executive colleague with me to the show this year, he's incredibly well informed on automotive history (and co-hosts a long-time revered Michigan car-event each year). We discussed the car in that photo and yes, he said it was an Austin, though he thought that the fenders may have been modified from stock....still possible someone might do it in 1/25th starting with the Bantam body in the new-tool Revell-Monogram Slingster kit from a few years ago, but it would sure be a lot of work to bring it all the way home to finished status. Best....TIM

Count on it, in some form or another. TB

Charlie....go for it. Also, I have an article in the cue at MCM (probably a few issues into the future) on a somewhat similar project. If mine is any clue, I think you'll really like the results of your efforts. Keep us in the loop as it comes together. ... Best....TIM

Jim....your thoughts summarize mine as well on the Ridler winner. I don't think there was a clear leader for the award this year. Wonder what the final vote was? Personally i would have probably picked the 'cuda but I thought they were all well done overall....TIM

What Mike said. A lot more....TB

Glad to hear this story resonated with you all, and even better to hear it might encourage you to dig out some of your own old and long stalled model car projects. On an unrelated note, seems I have once again thought of a street rod pickup project as being a car, and posted it in the Cars under glass section, rather than a light truck that should go under the Light Truck under glass section. Apologies in advance to the MCM Forum Moderators, who now have to take time to transfer it there. One of these days I will finally learn! Best all....TIM

With respect to the Mod Rod and AMT-Ertl Ala Kart kits, I am trying to recall with certainty my discussion with JG about this before the Mod Rod was issued. Being probably ten years ago or so, my overall but still a bit vague impression/takeaway was that part of the plan was to preserve the long-term viability/marketability of both tool sets. Had they returned the Mod Rod release to 100% original Ala Kart content, that would have largely obsoleted the AMT-Ertl tool, which is not what properly managed businesses want to do (and lest we forget, model car kits is still a business first and foremost). It would have also driven up the cost with developing the new tooling to return the missing AlaKart parts, and also increased time elapsed before coming to market. I bought the Mod Rod reissue, in part for several of the reasons cited above. And while I doubt I will ever build it box stock, the AMT-Ertl AlaKart kit had some very nice parts, including the three induction systems Alexis mentioned, and a pretty nice set of tread and sidewall matched big'n'little whitewalls, making it an overall kit worthy of purchase despite its many shortcomings. TB

John....don't know if you saw this (but I bet you did;;;;) I addressed all the AAR kit issues you mentioned in the cover story on this kit in the "Muscle Cars, resto mods and pro touring" special edition mag that Kalmbach published last fall....I presume that it is still available via their back issue dept. at finescale.com.....TIM

Coverage at this link.....thanks for looking! TIM One of the "Great 8" Ridler Award Finalists....

My understanding about the project status is the same as James' comments above, though I have not discussed it recently with Ed or the Revell team....TB

Boy, isn't that the truth! Not just for John and I, but I suspect, for many of us on this forum.....TB