tim boyd

Thanks for the price info, James. I'll update the photo caption accordingly. Best....TIM

Luc....thanks for posting these images! Cheers....TIM

Round 2's second kit offering based off their all-new tooling of the 1963 Chevy Nova wagon is finally here (almost - it is currently in production and should be available for sale a few weeks from now). Here's a first look at the kit contents, and....surprise! Not only does the kit add a new fully detail engine compartment detail along with custom and tow car versions based on the original 1963 annual kit content, but the tooling for the Hemi-style V8 display engine and the tow-behind trailer is all new as well. 37 images and commentary await your review at the link underlined above. Thanks for looking! TIM

Kit - Yep, I could tell from Dennis' model projects that he knew his subject very well. Even so, I was surprised, and proud to see, Dennis listed in a Rod and Custom mag (from the 1990's or 2000's) as one of the major domo/organizers of one of the SoCal Reliability Runs some years back. And later on, to see his 1/1 builds including that one you pictured above. TIM

Jim is right. General consensus in the Pontiac enthusiast community was that a '75 GTO was planned, but was cancelled when the Buick 350 became the engine that would be used in the real car ....there were several photos of an early GM '75 GTO Design Property that showed up in the Pontiac rags (Hi-Performance Pontiac. Pontiac Enthusiast) showing the car before the T/A and '74GTO shaker hood induction was added to the property. The MPC kit was a very accurate forecast of what the real car would have been (other than the horrible graphics treatment). TIM

Kit....mega kudos to you for showing the team that for real authenticity, those radius rod frame mounts that are molded together with the radius rods need to be separated and attached to the frame (and thus, wear frame color rather than the plating). This is an "error state" that I still see on many otherwise first-rate hot rod model projects. Oh....and the trailer and bed material is too cool! TIM

The Ford C-Series is one of the most successful industrial designs of the 20th century....it was in production with no major changes for over three decades (1957-1990), was consistently the top seller in its truck segment, and managed to maintain a premium price position vs. competition to boot. When you zoom out of the world of model car kits, and even out of the world of the automotive industry, the C-Series was an incredible product and business proposition.... TIM PS - not to mention the kit's Ford Super Duty 534 V8 is a super cool model kit artifact on its own.... Comparing this engine's size vs. a Ford FE 427 V8....

Bob, hope everyone out there in model car kit land is listening to us and is prepared to pounce when the '30A 5W Hot Rod Coupe kit here finally reemerges here in the States in and other markets across the world.....TIM

X3.....TB

As noted in my recent book on drag racing model kits, this kit tool is actually a well conceived and executed mid-engine funny car proposal from Mr. Daniel. If you like late 1960's/early 1970's funny car replicas, this one is well worth your money in my opinion....TIM

While I know there are many who disagree with me, the latest Revell 'cuda kit series are, overall, the best yet to be scaled in 1/25th. The biggest issues with the kit, some body shape and proportion errors, are relatively easy to address without advanced modeling techniques. See the 1970 'cuda AAR article in the recent Kalmbach "Muscle Cars, Resto-Mods, and Pro-Touring" special issue for the how-to....TIM

What James said. What we need to realize is that above all else, the model kit business is just that - a business. While from our perspective as serious modelers this IH Cabover kit with Roth livery appears as a frivolous or out of touch exercise, from the perspective of the kitmaker, it theoretically will appeal to a completely different target audience and will result in incremental kit sales with a very small up front investment. And that is very much in our best interests, as it creates incremental financial resources to help fund other newly tooled and modified reissue kit topics....end of business lesson.... TB

Bob....I'm partial to Testors or Tamiya Flat Red, thinned and flowed into the recessed areas of those hubcaps... However, since your steelies wheels are already red, flat black might be a better choice for your hubcap lettering. When doing this, I seem to have better luck with the Testors Flat Black Enamel, thinned with their Testors Thinner, than I do with thinned Tamiya Flat Black. Not sure why, but the Testors Flat Black ends up looking better to my eye. Best wishes for your continued progress....TIM

Actually the factory stock 1964 Chevy II kit will arrive in stores ahead of the 1965 Chevy II 100 Sedan Gasser kit, from what I understand.....TIM

Gilles....huge thanks for posting this news. SO.....does anyone know if the kit available now from any United States based source, or do I have to order one from a European mail order house? If only the latter, any recommendations on who would offer the best price and/or quickest overseas delivery? Thanks again...TIM

Huge Kudos to Doug Whyte for his efforts to record and honor the history of our model car hobby! TIM

This was recently posted on Round 2's corporate website.... ROUND 2 AND THE BLUES BROTHERS TEAM UP… ON A MISSION FROM GOD! | Round2 (round2corp.com) The idea of a 1/25th scale 1974 Monaco kit ranks right up there in my personal log of the unlikelihood along with such ideas as a modern day, full detail 1/25th scale 1958 Edsel or an early 1950's Hudson kits....oh wait..... No insider info on this one, guys, just an interesting coincidence(???) that the Blues Brothers license has been obtained by Round 2 within the last few weeks...TIM

Mark, very, very cool project and excellent to see your body scratchbuilding process. I am pretty sure that somewhere in my archives I have a photo (slide) of a similar 1928 Lincoln Pickup or Wrecker, built by a model artist with the name of Dick Groenheide or something similar to that. The paint was two-tone beige and dark brown metallic, and while the pickup/wrecker bed was a separate piece rather than an extension of the body as yours is, I recall the model was beautifully done. It would be way beyond cool to see yours finished sitting next to his. Best of luck and best wishes bringing your project to completion....TIM

Based on info here and in the Car Kit News section, sounds like this is a new effort vs. the original AMT project c. 1978. Here's a link to the info on the original 1/10th scale master as presented by former AMT employee Tim Rice at the NNL Detroit event several years ago...

That's not actually entirely correct, as Round 2 personnel did have several discussions with Mr. Rice about acquiring or borrowing the 1/10th scale masters. Last I heard, which was probably a year ago or longer, they had not been able to settle on a mutually agreeable proposal. Which is why I was surprised to see news of the new product. So, I will presume the "start from scratch" approach is indeed what is happening. Thx all for the update....TIM

I'm running right now and don't have time to study this, but how does the new Garbage Truck imagery in today's program compare to the original AMT Garwood 1/10th scale wood master image as shown by ex-AMT employee Tim Rice several years ago and depicted in this image below? More images of the original here....TIM

My vote would be the Bronco and the 2021 Raptor....not so much from personal preference (although the idea of building a new Bronco sounds very cool to me), but from the perspective of what would be the best sellers in today's market.....TB

Alan....somehow I missed this build thread one until now. First, what a great choice for a model project! My old modeling buddy Chuck Helppie built a replica of this car, with several enhancements or revisions, completing it sometime in the early-mid 1980's. Wish I had pix to share as it would be a very interesting comparison with yours, which is staying more closely aligned to the original 1/1 while still adding your personal tweaks and refinements. Other than yours and Chuck's, I don't offhand recall anyone attempting a 1/25th scale replica inspired by Lil's 1/1. I can only add my cheering-on to those posted by many others here who are following this thread. Love seeing how you are approaching the build and carrying it through to completion. Very best wishes from this end! Cheers....TIM

What Craig said above is exactly correct....TIM

That is way cool! Big Congrats from this end....TIM