tim boyd

What Tommy said. Of all the original 1/25th scale truck kits, this is the single one I missed. Can't wait to get my hands on the reissue. TIM

Thanks everyone for all the positive comments. Much appreciated....TIM

David...the article I referenced was in the "Car Modeler 2000 Annual" magazine. It says that the hood stripes were from the Monogram Satellite kit, while noting that they are not entirely correct as the body color should show between the black lines. It also notes that the near-vertical panels of the raised center section have to be painted black by the builder before applying the engine size callouts. Hope that helps, and thanks for the question....TIM

Here in the upper Midwest, ProStars seem to be probably the most common commercial tractor application next to the Freightliners....or at least that was the case when to Moebius ProStar first hit the market. As for the Lonestar... my experience is about the the same as Alexis....maybe sightings about once a year ... TIM

David....I can't recall for sure. This model was part of a comparo feature in an annual model car mag back in the day; if I get a chance to look it up I'll report back, as I'm sure I must have mentioned it in the article....TIM

Just in case you all missed it, here's the full text of a sidebar for this book that I had to cut at the last minute because I was way over my targeted word count.... Thanks for your interest....TIM http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/156805-full-text-of-an-unpublished-sidebar/ PS - there were at least 1 or 2 other sidebars I had to cut; I'll publish them here at a later date, too. TB

As most of you know, about 20 years or so ago Revell did a pretty thorough and competent update of their old 1971 Plymouth Satellite kit dating back to the mid 1980's. They added some details to the kit and revamped the body into the top-range GTX series. Revell has just reissued that kit with a tie-in to the Fast and Furious movie franchise. Here's my own build of the GTX kit not too long after it came out. The paint is actual FC7 from an aerosol can from MCW Automotive Finishes. (BTW, checked a few months back and the new owners of MCW were still offering some of their most popular automotive paint colors in aerosol cans, for those who don't want to fool around with airbrushes.) The paint was applied with a factory-correct single-stage approach (i.e., no clearcoat). The build was box stock, except for substituting the standard non-air grabber hood from the original Satellite kit. The tires were from the old ARII B. F. Goodrich Radial T/A parts pack. And yes, looks like I need to get out a toothbrush and remove the was residue from the door openings....oh well! Always something, right? While I realize that some won't agree, I think this kit does an outstanding job of capturing the appearance and proportions of the real car. And while the kit has a somewhat simplified chassis and engine compartment (at least in the context of the those fully detailed areas common to kits tooled in the last 20+ years or so), I recall the kit as being an every enjoyable breeze to assemble. So for those of you who are interested and don't already have this kit in your stash, I definitely recommend checking out the new reissue. from Revell. Thanks for looking....TIM

Sebastian....that's really nice! Congrats....TIM

Hah! Good one...TB

What Rich said....so have I and it works a charm! Jeff....good luck with your project....TIM

Yep....plenty of agreement on that point.....TB

This model was built by combining the body of an MPC 1969 Coronet R/T faux funny car kit with the interior and chassis left over from my 1968 Dodge/MPC/Car Model Contest 4th Nationwide finish. The engine, driveline, chassis, suspension, and dual exhausts were swapped in from the AMT-Ertl 1968 Road Runner/1969 GTX/1970 Super Bee kit series. The paint was Testors Dark Red spray enamel, which is a very close approximation of 1969 Dodge Code R6 "Red". It was built in a showroom stock / "Day Two" configuration with aftermarket wheels and tires being the only deviation from production line content. Engine compartment detailing includes ignition wiring , PCV Valve, throttle linkage and return spring, and heater hoses. The model was built and completed about 25 or so years ago. (Looks like a few paint touch-ups might have been appropriate after viewing these way larger than life pix, too!) Thanks for looking...TIM

Bob...I'll need to measure later and get back to you, but here's a visual of the extreme Z'ed frame vs. the modestly rear-only Z'ed Model A frame in the Revell hot rod kits....TIM

Dennis....big congrats on your mention in the new issue of Rodding USA as the transmission builder for Eric Justus' uber-traditional 1/1 scale pre-ww II '32 Highboy Roadster! TIM

As many of you know, model cars and their builders were covered extensively in Street Rodder magazine from 1978 through the very early 2000's. Not so much (as a matter of fact, almost never) since. This month seems to have broken the chain....several of you have commented on the model car covered in the new issue of Rodder's Journal (my sub copy has yet to arrive but I look forward to seeing it). I recall hearing that it features a fine custom model by Steve Boutte. Then, yesterday, I picked up the latest issues of Rodding USA magazine. (Rodding USA is published by Paul Martinez, who you may remember as an associated editor at Street Rodder in the early 1980's, and then later on, as the photographer/publisher of an extensive series of yearly pin up and swimsuit calendars. In 2013 he started Rodding USA magazine, an all-color hot rodding mag, available by subscription only - other than a few specialty book shops - and has since published nearly 50 issues. It is well worth checking out if you like Hot Rods and prefer a more hobby focused (vs. the advertising-focused) magazine that covers the hobby very well). Anyway, in the new Issue #48 I first saw a name we all know here very well - in an article of a super-traditional '32 Highboy, in the tech chart is says "1939 top loader 78 case, rebuilt by Dennis Lacy at Early V8 Garage." So THAT's why Dennis' hot rod models are so lifelike and realistic! Then, checking out a 4-page Garage Scene fixture on a '36 Ford coupe, I saw the builder was Doug Klann, owner of Slim's body works near Saginaw, Michigan. I immediately thought of Fred Farrand, another terrific modeler who posts his model builds in this forum from time to time. Fred worked closely with Doug on a 1/1 scale '32 highboy a few years ago, which came out great. Then...wait....Fred has been having a '35/'36 three window coupe built by Doug over the last 3 years or so....could this be it? (I hadn't seen updated pix from Fred since early this year). Turns out, not only was it Fred's, but turns out Fred wrote and photographed the entire article. Yeah! Big congrats to Steve, Dennis, and Fred! TIM

As Brian said, the last I heard was early 2021 and have not heard anything since to the contrary. I'll ask again, just to verify, at what seems to be the appropriate time....TIM

Quick Update: Slow but steady progress. Engine/chassis/front&rear suspension completed and assembled. Added sprint car steering box behind the IP and am now calling the interior done as well. Was fighting with the firewalls (two different approaches) this afternoon. Next steps: install firewall in the body, install interior in the body, glue body to frame, install the grille shell/radiator and connect radiator hoses, figure out front and rear lighting, then hopefully call 'er essentially done. Measured the dimensions and determined that the body will sit a scale 4" lower than it would otherwise (e.g, using the Revell Model A Hot Rod chassis in its unaltered kit form). Doesn't sound like much but makes a huge difference in the actual appearance. Best to everyone...TIM

Rodney....typed out a response to this on my new (supposedly not dumb) smart phone last night, but apparently it didn't take even though it said it did. Anyway, those headers were in the original c. 1963 Revell "Show and Go" drag/ski boat kit, the one Revell updated to become the Hemi Hydro in 1971 (but unfortunately losing those header pipes and some cool seating options in the process). I got my headers from a Replicas and Miniatures trans-kit that transforms the Hemi Hydro back to its original "Show and Go" format.

Just confirmed....the slicks I used are an exact match for those in the 1998 reissue Long John kit, except mine were far more discolored in the whitewall area. Thanks again Wayne for the heads-up. And as Craig suggested, I personally found it impossible to separate the whitewall (which looked very yellowed on my slicks) from the remaining blackwall of the tires (the Long John kit slicks were the exactly same, just not nearly as discolored). (I did not try separating the whitewalls on the LJ kit slicks). Also, Craig, thanks for your heads-up on this Long John link as you posted earlier on another message board. As I think I mentioned earlier, they were the tallest overall diameter slicks that I could find in any kit that would look realistic for a 1/25th scale model. Given the 1/1 scale popularity of this hot rod build style, I would also very much like to see these reissued as a stand-alone part. Best....TIM

Thanks Wayne for the info....sounds like you are exactly correct. Much appreciated....TIM

...originally planned as part of my new book. I had to delete it from Chapter 5 at the last moment as I was way over the publisher's targeted word count. Here's the sneak peak.... SIDEBAR TITLE: What If Someone Decided to Introduce A Newly Tooled 1/25th Scale Front Engine Rail Dragster Kit? Yes, this proposition has more than a healthy dose of wishful thinking, but hear me out. It’s not likely to happen, but it’s not a complete impossibility either. Why do I say that? First, few would have expected Revell to make the investment in 2010 to produce all-new kits of a pair of 1960’s funny cars (the 1969 Chi-Town Hustler and Hawaiian Mini-Chargers), nor to develop a completely new tool replicating their 1960’s “Sizzler” dragster kit, but they did. Second, two of the newest players in the model scene – Moebius/Model King and Salvinos JR Models, are producing newly tooled 1960’s Super Stock and A/FX, and 1970’s to early 1980’s NASCAR Winston Cup racers, respectively. So why not an all-new kit of a historically relevant front engine digger? OK, if you’re with me so far, then what famous rail dragsters would be the best candidates to be kitted? When Jon Asher was Editor of Peterson Publishing’s Drag Racing magazine, he assigned an article to drag racing historian Chris Martin that was titled “10 Best Top Fuelers of All Time”. Recognizing the point at which the article was written (late 1989), just three of the cars on Martin’s list have been replicated with 1/25th scale kits: Don Garlits’ 1986 streamliner, the Walton-Cerny-Moody 1972 rail, and Garlits' first ever rear engine rail of 1971. Noting that MPC’s kit replicated the dragster after Garlits added the enclosed body ahead of the driver’s compartment and rear airfoil above and behind the engine, maybe we should more accurately say 2 ½ (or only 25%) of Martin’s Top Ten list, have seen scale model kits. The biggest gap in model kit coverage of the 7-decade history of fuel dragsters remains the rapidly evolving period of the mid to late 1960’s, so that’s the richest area for future kit coverage. The following front engine dragsters in writer Martin’s Top Ten list have never seen a 1/25th scale model car kit: • 1963-64 Greer-Black-Prudhomme car • 1965-66 Hawaiian car • 1966 Surfers car • 1972 John Wiebe car (Personally, I’d be inclined to add the famous Freight Train double engine dragster the list - OK, it was a Gas dragster instead of a Fueler - but still…). My point? Any of these four (or five) would make a great subject for an all-new 1/25th scale full detail front engine rail dragster model car kit. So, which one would you choose? And who would you choose to make it – Moebius, Salvinos JR, or the standbys Revell or Round 2 (via their AMT, MPC, or Polar Lights brands)? Oh, and by the way…what were the other three remaining “10 Best” Top Fuel Cars on Martin’s list? The following rear engine railers: the 1983 car of Larry Minor-Gary Beck, Joe Amato’s 1984 car, and Eddie Hill’s 1988 dragster that carded the first-ever sub-five second E.T. Those would make for some cool model kits too! The full article can be seen in the November, 1989 issue of Drag Racing magazine. ************* PS - For those of you who haven't already heard, the new book is called "Collecting Drag Racing Model Kits" from CarTech Books and it is available now directly from the publisher or the usual on-line and retail books sellers.... Thanks for your interest....TIM

Dennis....seems you are catching a bit of my disease now....that disease I call "variations-on-a-theme-itis". Absolutely love how your (now 2) projects are taking shape. Craig...wonderful idea for a Bodacious Billet build-off! I just posted some idea starters on your thread there.... Now, back to the model room, everybody! Cheers....TIM

All...thanks again for your great comments. And yes, for those of you who mentioned it, the '71 was part of comparo/buildup article (MPC '71 RR vs. Revell (Monogram) '71 GTX, in one of the Car Modeler annuals around 2001 or so.... Best....TIM

YEAH John! What, we've now seen verified documentation of 4 1972 440+6 B-Bodies (Road Runner and Charger), or was that 4 Road Runners alone and another 1-2 Charger Rallyes? (For you non-Mopar buffs, the 440+6 was for years determined to be cancelled before the start of the 1972 model year...that's now been determined to be incorrect info). Here's the '71 alongside a MPC '72 RR painted in 1972 1/2 Code J3 Plymouth B-Body-only Meadow Green (for Mopar Trivia buffs only: the same mid-year J3 Willow Green color introduced on 1971 1/2 Chargers including the Topper package...). Best////TIM

For those that haven't already seen the recently posted finished cars that share a bit of blame for this new community build thread (smile), here are a few... 1. Just completed project started back in 1989 and first covered in the mag in 1990.... 2. Another magazine project that (according to Dennis Lacy) inspired him to post images of his (now 2) new builds in the 1980's/early 1990's idiom (you can see them in the Light Truck WIP section of the forum)... 3. A John Buttera-style '29A Highboy, first constructed and mostly finished by Chuck Helppie, who then gave it to me to finish up with a different paint job and final details.... 4. A smoothy-style '29A pickup, inspired by a Thom Taylor image in Street Rodder mag, finished around 1985 or so.... Will be following this thread and very much looking forward to what you all come up with! Best....TIM