tim boyd

Dennis...I just love it when a modeling plan comes together. I'm smiling so much right now my face is hurting (well not really, but you know what I mean). Those mockup pix look great and I think the paint scheme came out looking really good. Onward! Can't wait to see it when it is finally done. BTW, are you going with a plated, purple, or black grille shell/radiator? Best....TIM

OK guys....I think I mentioned this earlier in the thread, but back in the day (1979 to 1983, to be precise) I was building a replica of Jim Jacob's "Pete and Jakes" Closed Cab Pickup. I covered the basic steps, including modifying the roof with a visor, adding the smaller rear window, revising the hood and side panels, and painting in my Street Rodder magazine "Modeler's Corner" column in the June, 1983 issue. Now moving to the present, during my recent hiatus from writing model car magazine stories, I've been digging out some old, partially completed projects and assessing what would be required to finish them (one dates all the way back to - yep - 1969). One of those is that same Jim Jacobs pickup project. Over the years, the real truck has remained remarkably true to its 1978 configuration, as documented in a color story in Street Rodder late that year and in many magazine and event appearances over the ensuing four decades, indeed it was photographed just earlier this year and showed up in the GoodGuys Gazette looking as good as ever. Here are the photos I took today of the project, completed with its 1982 (just after painting) masking tape still in place. I'm not committing to finishing it this year, but with inspiration from all the terrific new building activity being shown by the contributors to this thread started by Dennis, one never knows.... Anyway, enjoy the pix...TIM

I haven't done the test fit yet, but combining the underbody gubbins of the AMT '66 442 with the new '64 Cutlass body seems like a match made (almost) in heaven. I'll bet a bunch of replica stock builders on this Forum take that very step once the Cutlass kit hits the market. Having said that, and having just completed building the engine and the interior of the Cutlass kit, I am surprised (to put it mildly) just how accurately detailed these assemblies are....particularly the 330 V8 in that kit....with a separate, stand alone oil filter, starter/coil, and generally good engraving, the finished engine is much more presentable than most 1960's annual kit offerings. And the interior, with reasonably good engraving on the door panels and the new instrument panel decal, is pretty presentable as well, other than the bottoms of the front seats and the lack of depth in the footwells....items that could be addressed without a great deal of effort. TIM

OK Richard (and I'm sure, many of the rest of you reading this thread), did the mockup last night. Looks like it will be a breeze for those who have the skills of most participants in this forum....TIM Front will fit windshield header much better once the sunvisors in the Olds convertible body are removed... Hope that helps! TIM

Minor point...the Buick annual was a '66 Skylark GS.... Between the two I'd expect a '68 Coronet R/T over the Skylark, but personally (even as an old Mopar nut myself) I understand the appeal of the 1966 Skylark. I've got two of them in my stash....TIM

Here is a link to the two pages of the Coronet dealer color and trim guide.... 68_Coronet0001.jpg (1050×1050) (hamtramck-historical.com) 68_Coronet0002.jpg (1050×1050) (hamtramck-historical.com) and the actual pages.... 5 So your plan for White with Red interior is a recommended combo per the above chart. Note that the three bumble bee stripe colors are not restricted to specific exterior colors. White with a red stripe sounds like a good plan to me. The stripes in the later years were definitely an orangish red (like the ones on my own 1/1 scale '74 Road Runner, which I always called "Tomato Red" ) but not entirely sure that applied in 1968. I vaguely recall those stripes as being a more pure red color. ' The above color sample page is correct in showing the 1968 red interior vinyl as being a dark red metallic-ish color rather than the bright red that was in play in the following years in Mopars. Best...TIM

Richard....mocked up the GTO roof to the Cutlass bod this PM,,,,it's a natural and fits nearly perfectly. I'll try top post a picture tomorrow....TIM

Mods...please delete...duplicate post....TB

Steven.....have a color scheme (exterior/interior/stripes) in mind yet? TIM

Bill...as I've been building the kit this week, your view is exactly what has been rattling through my mind too....TIM

Steve....exactly right. What's so cool about these dealer data books at this site is that they include just this type of info....for the rest of you, here's the applicable page with the answer to Steve's question... From what I recall (and what I've seen in magazine articles in years since on '68 Coronet R/T's), most of them were equipped with the console even though it was optional. Steve is building a 4-speed, but if the car was an automatic without a console, the shifter would move to the steering column i/l/o being located on the trans tunnel....TIM

Steven....as Mr. Spencer mentions above, the Hamtramck Registry is "the bible" for factory-correct Mopar 1960's-1970's projects. At the Coronet resource link, there should be a page that is a detailed chart showing interior/exterior/stripe/vinyl roof compatibility, and many of the model-specific resources at the Registry also include copies of the Dealership Color and Trim manuals with actual upholstery samples and illustrations of the interiors, door panels, and seat sew styles. As for the 1968 Coronet, from memory here, the interiors were also available in "white with" red, green, and blue components., in addition to the fairly common white with black. These color combos are very rarely seen these days, but they were available. For example, the seats and door trim panels would be white, paired with Blue carpets, console, instrument panel, etc. There was also a restriction with the Road Runner that year that made the carpets only available in black when a manual transmission was ordered; I don't recall if that carried over to the Coronet line or not. Another excellent resource is the 1/1 scale restoration industry; they have catalogs with reproduction interior components and often these include detailed references on interior colors and so forth. I am using the Legendary Interiors online pages right now as a reference in my build of the new AMT '64 Cutlass kit. I presume they have similar pages for 1960's Mopars... If you run into difficulties finding the exact info you need please email me and I try to help out. Enjoying your build of this kit, by the way. Cheers...TIM

Alan.....that is one sharp piece of work. Narrowing the hull makes such a difference in providing a realistic look to the boat, too. How did you do the trailer? Is it the Revell trailer (also narrowed) with the fenders from the Revell-Monogram 1990's F1 race boats trailer? Whatever it is it sure looks good here...TIM

All very interesting....but I do not recall any sort of the Saleen/Ford linkage regarding the Mystic paint as described above, not at all. Timing wise, I started in the SVT Team Leader job in March of 1995 and the Mystic Cobra had already been in the plans at that point (in other words, it had become agreed with BASF prior to my arrival on the job). Further, in the backgrounders for the media reveals there was no mention of a role of Saleen being involved in the planning between Ford and BASF. Again, as pointed out above, this took place 26 years ago and memories are not always reliable (mine as well), but add this to the other info above and form your own opinions....TIM PS - Rex, your '96 SVT Mystic Cobra rocks! Cheers...TB

Me too, Tony, me too! Cheers....TIM

OK....let's keep this one going. Since Alan asked for others, here's two more from me...who else has a '27T Tub or kitbash based on that kit to post in this thread? Best....TIM This one was built in the late 1980's after Revell did a modest freshening of the original Buttera Touring kit. It was inspired by a Brian Bordon illustration in the Revell new kits catalog that made promises that were not captured in the updated kit when it appeared. I showed the changes in one of my Modeler's Corner columns in Street Rodder, appearing probably in a 1988 or 1989 issue. This one was built around 1975 or so. It has a Pinto engine ( a big trend in the street rod world back then, but one that didn't last long!), wire wheels from the AMT '65 Riviera, MPC big'n;'littles, and Testors Candy Green over silver paint on the main body. If anyone is interested, many more pix of all my Tubs at this link.... Boyd Phaeton/Touring, Cabriolet, and Convertible Hot Rods album | Funman1712 | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy. Now let's see more of yours! And again, all credit to Alan for getting us started on this one...TIM

Admittedly shameless plug....but since you asked, this subject is discussed and box art is shown for many annual kits are shown in the book pictured below.....it's available now from the Publisher cartechbooks.com, Amazon.com, ModelRoundup.com, Autoworldstore.com, kalmbachhobbystore.com, the Model Cave in Ypsi, MI, Pasteiner's in Birmingham, MI, and the other usual book retailers.... Your question was also discussed and illustrated in even more depth in my book "Collecting Model Car and Truck Kits" (MBI Publishing, 2001) but that one is long since out of print and pretty pricey in the resale market these days... TIM

Russell - way nicely done, Man. Great tweaks on the engine and the roof bows. And thank goodness you built your kit instead of hoarding it or trying to sell it for big $$ on the Bay. The real one looks like one of the "Angry A's" coming from Ross Racing Engines and the affiliated builder (whose name escapes me). Several of these Angry A's (and possibly this one among the four) were featured in an article in Rodders Journal six years ago or so. Here's a photo of what I think is the same car, from my 2016 Detroit Cobo Autorama event coverage...sorry for the dark image. Again, congratulations big time! TIM

Certainly possible....particularly given the supporting detail in the earlier thread. On the other hand, back in the early-mid 1960's much if not most of the AMT gang on Maple Rd were hard-core auto enthusiasts and Woodward Ave warriors from what I have been told by those who were there at the time. I think I could understand a certain lack of realism in the size and spacing of the blower ribs, but the question about the vertical mountings of the Weber carbs sounds to me is a bit puzzling to me. The AMT team would not usually (but not 100% of the time) miss the memo on this type of thing. Perhaps the 45 degree inclination of the dual blower layout was a special case somehow? And I'm not an expert on Weber carbs....is it that they simply do not function properly at a 45 degree angle (vs. straight horizontal or vertical inclination?) Anyway, it would be a quick fix to mount them vertically if desired....TIM

Also wanted to add some clarification to the timeline here. The following is based on my best recollection, but I did not go back into my library to verify the exact timing, so consider this directionally correct but subject to further clarity if anyone wants to do further detailed research. The original "AMT" 1928 Model A Tudor, as designed and manufactured by MPC, debuted sometime in 1964 (without going back and looking at AMT ads in the model mags back then, I'm guessing later that earlier in the year) as a one-time only production run. The follow-on "Wild Ones" Woody/Roadster Model A pickup, this time under MPC branding, followed sometime in 1965. Then for 1966, the tool was re-run for two separate, stand alone kits, a Roadster pickup and a Woody. These shared the new box art merchandising theme that was also found on MPC's 1966 annual kits. Finally, just want to concur with Mark's comment above that the original issue AMT '28A Tudor body fits the MPC 1929 Pickup/Woody fender/frame units just fine. In fact, I built one this way (as illustrated below) for an old Street Rodder Modeler's Corner column (c. 1983 or 84) using the 1978 Roadster Pickup kit underbody including the Corvette IRS. Hope that helps a bit...TIM

Danno....good question! You are clearly correct - I double checked just to be sure - there is no hood clip in the new kit. In the annual kit, the hood clip is installed in the body assembly (step #4 - last section on the first page of the instruction sheet). In the new same section of the new instruction sheet there is no mention of the hood clip, only a statement (at the very bottom center) to install the hood as the last step of the assembly process. I wouldn't claim this will work for everyone, but given the tight fit of the new body to the old hood, I think in many cases it will stay put on its own, particularly after some modest paint thickness buildup. Hadn't noticed the new chassis screws - thx for pointing that out. Cheers...TIM

Interesting.....Ed Sexton has told me the same thing several times. I hope with the new Olds convert kit, they are proven wrong.....Round 2 needs good sales of this kit to justify finishing the development of the derivative kit(s) they have been discussing....TIM

Just in case you are wondering what that Judson supercharger setup looks like when built and paint detailed, here's a photo of a Fad-Olds Bucket (body from the 1922 Olds in the MPC Beverly Hilllbillies kit) with that Judson installation from the original '64 Olds annual kit. I built the blower on the 394 Olds from the AMT flip-front Willys kit so I could keep the stock 330 V8 in the annual kit, but the install would look the same on that engine that is in the original - and now the Round 2 reissue - of the original annual kit. Wonder who is going to be the first one to do a new project using this Judson setup? (Instruction sheet photo from my full kit review....) - TIM PS - looks like I used some parts box air cleaners (perhaps from the old Monogram RX-7 race version kit) on top of the Weber carbs...TB

First Detailed Look - Round 2's AMT 1964 Olds Cutlass Convertible 3 in 1 The team at Round 2 continues to break new ground. Who ever have expected that we would ever see a factory stock 1964 Olds Cutlass kit return to the market, especially after the original tool was heavily modified in 1967 to produce a one-time run of a not-very-accurate funny car kit? Yet here we are. Amazing. Not only is the original factory stock kit content restored, but almost all of the 3 in 1 race and custom version content remains. Newly tooled parts are the convertible body, front and rear plated bumpers, and the clear and transparent red parts trees. At this link you'll see 60 photos and captions with closer look - the easiest and quickest way to do this is to use the "Scroll" button to your lower left. You'll see the full new kit contents, box art, instruction sheet, and decal sheet, along with a detailed look at the new body casting, and comparison shots of the newly tooled parts vs. the original 1964 annual kit counterparts. As of this date (13 February 2021), apparently the Round 2 team expects the kits to appear in retail distribution channels within a few weeks. So you should be able to grab your copy (copies?) very shortly now. I'll do my best to answer any questions you have, and thanks for looking! ****** Full Disclosure: This production kit was sent to me by Round 2 at their initiative. I did not ask for the kit, nor were there any promises made regarding possible coverage here or the tonality of my review and comments. ****** Update 15 Feb 2021 - see new slides #46 and 47 at the link above for more info on the decal sheets in the original and reissue kits...TB ****** Update 3-20-23 - on page 5 of this thread, there is a new post with a link to a full kit review and buildup on this kit posted elsewhere on the internet and now available to all without a subscription to the website's associated publication....TB The team at Round 2 continues to break new ground. Who ever expected that we would ever see a factory stock 1964 Olds Cutlass kit return to the market, especially after the original tool was heavily modified in 1967 to produce a one-time run of a not-very-accurate funny car kit? Yet here we are. Amazing. Not only is the original factory stock kit content restored, but almost all of the 3 in 1 race and custom version content remains. Newly tooled parts are the convertible body, front and rear plated bumpers, and the clear and transparent red parts trees. Read on for a closer look and make sure to check out the captions for each image. The easiest and quickest way to do this is to use the "Scroll" button to your lower left. As of this date (13 February 2021), apparently the Round 2 team expects the kits to appear in retail distribution channels within a few weeks. So you should be able to grab your copy (copies?) very shortly now. I'll do my best to answer any questions you have, and thanks for looking! ****** Full Disclosure: This production kit was sent to me by Round 2 at their initiative. I did not ask for the kit, nor were there any promises made regarding possible coverage here or the tonality of my review and comments.