tim boyd

Alan....I recall that somewhere in a conversation with Revell's late VP of Engineering Roger Harney that he expressed to me a view similar to yours on that intake manifold. I suspect that if he was still with us, we'd have seen an improvement in that part this time around! TB

And if we are really dreaming here, we would add Alan's boat/car to the display here in the States....TB

Tim, Tim, you keep hiding your terrific work from us! When did this one get going? Your motivation and creativity....must be something in that Vermont well water???? Somewhere, somehow, I'd love to see your Suburban/boat, Pat's (above) Suburban/boat, and Fred Farrand's Suburban/trailer all lined up together at a TBD future NNL event. Very Best....TIM

Pat.....very, so very cool! Great idea and a very engaging build project to go with it. Your photography (and backgrounds) only adds to the scale realism. Big congrats from this corner....TIM

Not even close to being an insider, but I would suspect that the near to mid-term focus of Moebius kit development efforts will be to continue the derivatives of the mid-1960's to early 1970's Ford light duty trucks. My own guess is that as a next step they would move to the 1967-72 Chevy pickups before the 1961-71 Dodges. This, based on the broader number of various derivatives that would be subjects for scale replication, and the (presumed) broader kit sales appeal of Chevy vs. Dodge pickups. (If they eventually ended up going the Chevy route, I would personally hope that the 1967/68 versions would be at the top of the list as the original AMT/MPC kit versions for these years have never been reissued). Take this for what it's worth (very little!), and as always, time will tell.....TB

Dennis....Oh yea! TB

Yes, the original issue kit was molded in tan-beige color IIRC, essentially the same color as the real car that was photographed for the box art....TIM

Thanks Gerry for the review. Good to see the engine included, too! Missed your build of the Lusso, I would love to see that one come together! Best....TIM

Thanks, guys, for the comments on the model. It was a fun build and it is good to know that you like it! Cheers...TIM

Michael....very, very sharp model - and thanks for sharing. Which kit did you source the 340 from? If I had bought a real one back then, it would have had a 340 instead of the 383, for sure! Best....TIM

Hi Stan.....I can't recall whether #103 was before or after the Revell Dart, but I may have been referring to the 1969 Dart Swinger body in the rare MPC Charlie Allen Funny Car kit released only once back in 1969. The body was not entirely stock, as the front wheel openings were moved forward and some exterior trim was omitted, but if you could have found one, it could have provided the basis for a replica stock conversion (after lots of work!). As you probably know, that body tool was updated for a similarly non-stock 1970 Dart Swinger "Ramchargers funny car"), then irretrievably altered in a not very nice way for the Bill Shrewsbury LA Dart wheelstander kit that was released around 1973 or so (and has seen various reissues since under different kit names). Not sure if this helps at all...but thanks for asking anyway....TIM

Terry, it is my understanding that such projects are being looked at, but I didn't get a clear read as to what their actual status might be. I think it would be safe to say that Moebius is looking at, and will eventually produce, a number of other body derivatives based on their 1965-66 and 1967-72 Ford truck tooling. As long as the new kit variations based on that tooling set continue to sell well, that is. Best...TIM

Tony.....you guys are headed in the right direction. Just keep doing what you are doing....word will get around. On the model tables I saw a great deal of entries from Ohio, some from Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and even Oklahoma (Fonzell Brown, an immensely talented builder of street machines and street rods). Best wishes for next year's event....TIM

Here's the latest update/news on the new NHRA "Factory Experimental" ("F/X") drag racing class, per the online mag "Dragzine"....TIM

12 models that were my overall favorites at the show, at this link, with short commentaries and builders identified. Congrats to each of you for your outstanding work, and kudos to all who displayed at the event. You can see my full coverage (400+ High Res images) posted at the Contests and Shows folder at the bottom of the MCM Forum here.... Thanks for looking....TIM

Tony....I presume you are including the Model Cave in Ypsi, MI, and the Nankin Mills Hobby shops in Westland, Farmington Hills, and Ann Arbor/Ypsi in the "8" listing above? TIM

KK&RRR....that is quite a story, and a really inspiring piece of work. With four pro builders involved, no less! I myself confess to being a stingy modeler (as well as a "scale bigot" per Mike Siegman, said with a smile but more than a bit of truth, that). So I've never passed on one of my unfinished projects. (There were over 70 of them when I retired 8 years ago, several since finished but even more started....). I did however take an unfinished model from my longtime modeling buddy Chuck Helppie and complete it. It was his John Buttera-inspired highboy. Chuck, the 1977 MPC National Modeling Championship Grand Champion, was ever the perfectionist and wanted to start over with his Highboy build, so I convinced him to give me his castoff so I could finish it. I recall putting a new paint job on (but repeating his choice of decal graphics), and finishing the interior and wheel/tire choice, but most of what you see here was Chuck's work. He later told me he regretted giving it away after seeing the finished result. But I think he was happy to see it reach a finished form. And his own finished model, the second version, was a spectacular piece itself. Here's a picture....hard to believe, this one is just about 40 years old! TIM

Steve..I don''t know the model count; if forced to guess I would say maybe 400 or so. It was not the size of the old NNL Nats, and probably not much bigger than the most recent prior NNL Motor City in 2019, but the overall quality of the models, and the number of outstate entrants, showed a major jump in my judgment. My take is that it is a show on the move, and likely to grow much bigger over the next couple of years.... There were a few more trucks than I photographed. Many were by the same builders that were shown in my photo album. Heavy trucks are difficult to photograph sometimes when they are arranged in rows like 1/1 scale truck stops. But I'll try to be a bit more inconclusive next time I photograph a show. Appreciate your question....TIM

Greg....not that I specifically recall in red...but there was a uni-mog(sp?) type vehicle with flashing lights that was a real eye catcher, and IIRC, exceptionally well detailed. It may have been built by the same guy (from Plymouth, Michigan) who did those awesome detailed Class 8 Diesel truck engines....(need to do some checking on that). I do think the word will spread and we will see more of the traditional NNL Nats exhibitors showing their models at this show as the years go forward....hopefully some with red paint and flashing lights, too! TIM

I don't know anything specific about WW tires on the Nova SS. I asked specifically about the timing of the Nova SS and Gasser sedan. They are both expected to be on a container in late January, and both to go on sale at the same time when they arrive here in the State and go into the distribution channels. Info always subject to change, but that was the news as of two days ago....TIM

Hah....good one!!!! BTW there were plans for other drag racing kits, including 1/25th scale Revell and 1/16th scale Aurora kits, that were in various stages of development but never saw actual production. There's a (what I believe to be) complete list of them in my 2020 book "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits" (CarTech Publishing). TB

Sources at Atlantis tell me that the blown early Hemi engine Parts Pack tooling did indeed migrate to the Miss Deal kit, just as we've long suspected, and it no longer exists as a separate, stand alone Parts Pack tool. They do not wish to tear apart the Miss Deal tool, which would be needed to reintroduce the Hemi as a Parts Pack. It sounds as though the Miss Deal tool, intact, will probably reappear as a complete kit at some point in the future (but with a new/different merchandising theme). TIM

Thanks Mods for moving the topic here....my bad. TIM

Just a brief memo that having been long interested in the model car kit industry not only as a builder/writer but also as a business person, I was surprised to hear yesterday the same story from from various aftermarket vendors, the one kitmaker directly represented there, several kit sellers/hobby shop owners, and the organizers of the NNL Motor City. All saying basically the same thing. The hobby kit industry (particularly here for us, the car/truck kit segment) is on fire - in a good way. Sales are apparently very strong and staying that way, not retracting as some had suspected after life started to get back to some degree of normalcy. I see this positively affecting our hobby for the future, and I was very excited to hear it. Accordingly, wanted to share it here, too. Best....TIM

Pete...welcome your view on this. But to be clear, I did not deflect or ignore comments on the body "being off" (I read every one of them), but many of the comments were simply not factually correct. I did not feel it was my obligation to respond to those. Whether that was the correct response or not is, I suppose, justifiably open to debate. I also simply was asking people to wait until they could see the final result, then form their own opinion, as I believed any possible issues would become much more obvious upon viewing the completed model. Which again, could be open to debate. And to your own comments (apologies in advance if I am not remembering those correctly), I did not have access to a real car to do any measurements to compare with the kit body. Finally, I did not, and do not, ever feel any obligation to defend a certain model kit; feeling that it will stand or fall on its own merits. In this case I thought the kit was an outstanding effort, one undoubtedly made even better by the recent revisions. But ultimately the modeling community, not I, will make the final call on that verdict. Having said all this, should I ever decide to do such a online buildup/preview again here in the future, I will probably approach it in a very different manner. Best...TB