tim boyd

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

Rodney....nothing new on this end. Asked my contact who does some work for Revell for an update about a month or six weeks ago....he is normally very reliable but no word this time. Have not seen an official release date while other new Revell kits have seen this. I hear that Revell personnel are very frustrated with the supply side and distribution channel disruptions and perhaps this one has been caught up in this situation too. Like you and many others, my frustration on this topic just continues to grow, not only as a hot rod modeler but also as one who wants to see Revell be successful and to see this kit finally live up to its sales potential, even it it is now ten+ years since it first entered development at Revell from my limited understanding....TB

Revell typically keeps future projects close to their vest. As many of us have observed, they typically do not show glimpses of upcoming tools; that's in part why a number of us were so surprised that they showed the in-progress 1971 442 hardtop at the IPMS event. And the brief appearance of the 1971 Mustang project may have been someone at Revell Germany enthusiastically "jumping the gun" as it were. Given the typical product development timeline there, my guess is that this might be a mid-2022 kit debut at the earliest. As we always say around here, "time will tell". TB

Thanks Larry for your review in issue #209 of my new book Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits. Very much appreciated.... Best...TIM

Guys.....it is my understanding that Round 2 operatives are well aware of the continued forum(s) participants' interest in a '68 Coronet R/T kit. As to whether that translates into a future product offering, I have no idea. I do know that they have many other future product ideas that are also on their list, and product development budgets are limited. So in these types of cases it is often a function of which product investment is determined to provide the most immediate and overall lifetime return on their development/tooling/production dollars (as well as is noted above, how many different kit versions of a tooling investment can be derived at minimal additional cost). Bottom line? Continue to make your product ideas heard, and if the products suit your interest, buy up those newly tooled old kit redos like the 1963 Nova wagons, the 1964 Olds Cutlass convertible and 442, the IH CO cabover, and whatever other kits are soon to hit the market.... In other words, your vote with your wallet carries a lot more credibility in a boardroom discussion than just a request on a message board.... TB

Dennis....that is one tasty baste (one of my terms for a killer looking hot rod)....TIM

Don't know for sure....best guess might be 4-6 weeks from now....the samples they sent out were actual production kits...so what remains is the usual shipping and distribution channel timing...TIM

Chris....no info on this one. The only discussions I have had with Mr. Petri so far involve my Drag Racing Model Kits book, the Revell Parts Packs et al, and future kits in that direction. As far as the 1962 ChryCo annuals, given what seems to sell these days, and the ability of model car companies to produce small runs and still make a profit, I see a role for all them. The Dodge Lancer kit has a factory-correct Hyper Kit option for the Slant Six (other than the air cleaner); both the Lancer and Valiant could be done as modern day street "Gassers" with the chassis/suspension from the new Moebius '65 Gasser kit, the Newport convertible makes a very sharp shelf model, and if the '57 Eldo kit sells, even the Imperial four door could represent an opportunity, if a small one at that. Lotsa speculation in this paragraph, though, so take it with a very big grain of salt! Cheers...TIM