tim boyd

Alan, I believe you are referring to the article i did for Scale Auto with the working title "Ertl before AMT". It did appear within the last couple of years of Scale Auto although I don't have the issue data in front of me now. It covered all the styrene kits that Ertl produced before they purchased the AMT/Lesney assets in the early 1980s. IIRC there were about 40 separate kit numbers, including some that are not at all well known. I do not recall, however, addressing the status of the John Deere tooling in detail in that article. I do have the Ertl John Deere farm tractor (not the backhoe) tentatively set aside for a future "Classic Kits" column for FineScale Modeler (the column that appears in every issue of the last page of the mag where I cover mostly unknown or unusual model car//truck kits from our past). So, this discussion of where the tooling lies and under what ownership is of considerable interest... thank you all for your contributions on this subject....TB .

A few months back I completed a fairly involved kitbash of the 1963 AMT Unibody kit (my build originated with the original 1963 release, not the new kit....gGGRRRR!...); it has been submitted to one of the model magazines and presumably will appear in print sometime later next year....TB

Very sharp build of one of the best kits of the 2010s IMHO. Thanks for sharing! TB

No insider knowledge on the kit sales, but sounds like (from what little I have heard) the '60 has done somewhat higher volume. Keep in mind that the '68 reissue of the '63 unibody annual kit was just that - a reissue of an old and otherwise unused tool that originally doubled as a dealership promo -to generate some fresh sales revenue. Not well known but AMT was not all that financially healthy by 1968, and they were trying all sorts of low-investment reissues to generate some fresh sales volume. Also not well known is that the unibody cab included a unique door design vs. the flareside (stepside) and cab and chassis 1l1s - so a proper conversion would have really been pretty much an all-new kit for AMT at a time they could not afford to do that for a relatively lower volume kit offering. For me personally the '63 unibody lwb was the perfect choice for an early 60s pickup kit, but as a number of you have reasoned in posts above, other configurations would have also been popular - especially with today's hobby kit buyers....TB

Very, very tasty! TB

Dennis, repeating what everyone else has said, this is great work. Also, I commend you on showing how the Moebius Chevy II gasser can be a great source of parts for kitbashing Gasser projects. I've pondered a similar project myself, though nowhere near to the level of detail and execution you are showing us here, with either a Revell l1962 Lancer GT or an AMT 1963 Valant (my donor for that is even in the same color as yours). Anyway, thanks for showing us your step by step and big congrats from this corner on finishing this project! Cheers...TIM

Not sure if anyone is really interested at this late date, but I found this photo in my historical model car files this evening. It's all the participants in the first ever NNL Nats back in 1980, photographed here 17 years later at the NNL Nats in 1997. Upper row from the left...Chuck Helppie, I, Gary Dale, Andy Martin....lower row from the left....Tom Woodruff....Karen Woodruff...Bob Bost. Thanks for checking it out...TIM

Thanks Bosco! I may have that issue in my CC library...I'll go take a look. Best regards...TIM

Thanks, Dave, for all that you and your team do to keep this terrific messaging and sharing site alive for us all....TIM

Jim...lookin' really, really good! Cheers////TB

If anyone reading this thread has not already viewed Dennis' build thread, you need to check it out now! TB

Dennis...that came out great! Yours is way more ambitious than my final product, and I salute you for your ambitious plans fully delivered. That one picture of the radiator with the hoses attached is just primo. Love the choice of the Cross Boss manifold for the engine, too. Big congrats on actually getting it finished, too. Best....Tim

Dennis....fascinating. When I had the Foose F100 chassis out trying to make it fit the AMT unibody F100, I also had the Foose Caddy chassis out for trial fits under early 1950s GM cars like the Revell '50 Olds. But I never thought of trying the Foose Caddy chassis under the Uniside body. Will be really, really interested in seeing your yours turns out! Cheers...TIM

Thanks much for the response and added info. I'll pull out my Dec. ;65 Rod and Custom and check out those areas specifically. If I had to pick the best overall factory stock 426 Hemi I'd choose the Revell unit in the '67 Charger, '67 Coronet R/T and '67 GTX kits. As for blown 426 Hemis I presume you are referring to the Revell series of super-accurate "Revell Drag Team" kits 1972 and later. That's an excellent suggestion; thanks for that too. TB

Sounds like that calls for someone to build a comparo - the two engines (the Hemi Hunter/Hemmi Under Glass kit engine and a blown 426 Hemi from a trusted kit source) side by side and confirm...beyond the distributor location; presumably there should still be some visible differences between a first gen 392 engine and an 2nd gen 426....even in 1/25th scale. Presuming Jesse is correct and the AMT kit is indeed a 426 Heim with the distributor in the prior gen location, this could make building a scale replica of the 1/1 McEwen car an easier project...(and simplifies the process if Round 2 ever decides to do the McEwen car as a derivative of the new Barracuda tool...) TB

Beyond the engine info described above and the different graphics/livery, can you describe those differences in any more detail? I presume you are referring to and comparing the 1/1 scale Tom McEwen car and the AMT HUG/Hemi Hunter kit? Always anxious to learn more...thanks in advance...TB

That's exactly the way I interpreted your post. There's always "new news" to be learned and anyone who posts should hope for feedback, and if needed, corrections or update to the material that is posted. Thanks again for bringing this to my attention....TIM

Jim....thanks for the thanks; yes it is a bit of an effort but also a joy and in my mind, part of my ongoing efforts to promote the hobby and those who participate in it....Best....TB +

The basis for my conclusion on this subject is the December, 1965 issue of Rod and Custom, pgs. 14-19. If you've ever built the AMT 'cuda funny car kit, you'll clearly see the design linkage to the 1/1 McEwen car. Nevertheless, I just looked up the subject issue, and sure enough as Mr. Fisher says above, the engine pictured is a 426 Hemi, not the 392 in the AMT kit. I can only speculate that when AMT scaled the 1/1, it may have been initially setup with the 392. I say this because for an article published in Dec 1965, and given the delays in producing and publishing back then, the car was probably photographed for the article around June or July, 1965 at the latest. At that point, the 426 Hemi in blown drag racing form was just beginning to be used. Further given that the 1/1 was probably constructed during the first half of 1965, maybe they did the early work with a 392 and then switched to the 426 as it became available toward the completion of the 1/1. This is all speculation on my part, but the fact remains that the 1/1 was pictured in this article with the 426 Hemi as Mr. Fisher correctly notes....TIM

One other point I have noticed....the Wayne heads on the Chevy result in the injectors being mounted at a slight upward angle, while it appears that the Fisher heads on the GMC block are routed outward at a straight horizontal angle exactly perpendicular to the cylinder bores.... BTW...when I pulled out the T295 box art a couple of days ago and re-read the side panel text caption, I noted (for the first time ever!) that it referenced the GMC six....it said (my highlight in italics) "One of the most successful racing conversions for the Chevy or "Jimmy" six is included in this kit - the famous Fisher 12-port cylinder head." As an aside, during my limited exposure to the AMT engineering department in the mid 1970s I took away a strong impression that they all were serious auto enthusiasts. But even with that, time has proven they didn't always get 100% of the details correct. For example, the fuel injection manifold they added for the Y-block in the 1972-sh release of the '57 Ford Fairlane kit with the salt flats box top imagery was completely wrong for that application....as one of you correctly pointed out to me more than a few years ago! Best...TB

Surprised no one (that I now of) has picked up on this....one of the very first Barracuda Drag Cars was the 1965 Tom McEwen Plymouth Dealers Association car. If you have any of the AMT Barracuda Funny Car kits (Hemi Under Glass, Hemi Hunter et al), the actual chassis/suspension/engine/interior is an exact (to my eyes) copy of this car, not the 1/1 Hemi Under Glass. So....now that we have a factory stock 1965 Barracuda on the way, that body plus the AMT Barracuda Funny Car underpinnings and aftermarket decals (I think Slixx has offered this in the past) = completely accurate replica of yet another landmark 1/1 drag car. Believe it or not, the very above fact was discussed about nine years (IIRC) with certain Round 2 personnel when the idea doing a new '65 Barracuda was first proposed (at least to me). Don't know if we ever will see a combo kit of the real car as proposed above, and don't know if the parts from the two different kits would play well together, but certainly interesting to ponder the possibilities...TB.

Here's something else about the Barracuda that no one has picked up yet (unless I missed the comment). I believe I heard Steve G. correctly when he said that they've tooled up this new wheel cover that was never in the original 3 in 1 kit. It will be in the kit, along with the prior wheel covers that were in the original 3 in 1....TB

Here's the picture of the chassis I took that is at the photl album link above. And yes, it is made of individua pieces. And they looked really crisp to my eyes...TB

As Bill said, part #85 was intended to represent a fuel pump for the injector system. This engine option was merchandised as a "Fisher 12-port cylinder head" on the original issue c. 1975 1/2 box art., and part #85 was called out as "pump" on the original issue assembly sheet. The Fisher/Wayne cylinder head story is way too long and complicated to describe here. But some experts may say, with some apparent justification, that the Fisher setup shown in the '51 Bel Air was actually designed for the applicable to the GMC six banger, not the equivalent Chevy six as in the box contents. TB.

Jeff....Norm is a one-person proprietor and does not operate a website. Recommend you email him at replmincomd@aol.com Would be helpful if you included your question in the title of your e-mail message. Norm's a great guy. I'm sure he'll bet back to you as soon as he can....Cheers....TIM