tim boyd

16 images of what's new in the AMT Surfer Van kit at this link.....including several images of the decal sheet....thanks for looking....TIM

Fans of 1926/27 Turtledecks and all late Model T hot rods, should check out the links Rodney posted above. Outstanding creativity and execution. You do indeed rock, Rodney! TIM

Vince....as promised, here's an image showing a test fit of the grille to the body fenders and hood... Five new additional views of the test fit, from various angles, are now added at the end of my now 44 image kit preview at this link. Thanks for looking! TIM

Vince.....just did a mockup and I don't see any evident fit issues. The angle of the photo of that beautiful buildup on page 11 combined with the reflections off the plated parts imply a fit question that does not appear in my example.... Thx for asking I'll try to get some more photos posted tomorrow. TIM

The Kart can actually be built as either a single or dual engine format.....TIM

Thanks everyone for your feedback. Lee...cool to see your build of the same subject. Interesting there were so many comments on the color. Code F8 was actually introduced as a new midyear color for Dodge in 1968 1/2 (although with a different order code .as Mother Mopar's new paint coding format was launched for the 1969 model year). The color was clearly inspired by Pontiac's Verdero Green introduced a year earlier on the new Firebird, but F8 was a considerably darker value derived from the same paint family. It was a very popular color for Chrysler Corp, though it was relatively short lived after being discontinued for 1971. My Dad bought a 1969 Chrysler Town&Country wagon in F8 (it was called Dark Jade Metallic on Chryslers),. It was sharp, no doubt. But even better after I bought Rocket 5 spoke (aka poor man's Cragar S/Ss) mags and turned the tires round black sidewall out a few years later..... (sneers welcome & expected, but it was actually very sharp). Someday I want to build the 1968 Dart GTS kit, painted in Dodge 1968-only Bright Blue Metallic.....TIM

In case you missed it elsewhere in this folio....... http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/157861-first-detailed-look-inside-the-box-of-round-2s-new-craftsman-plus-1963-nova-wagon-kit/

36 photos and captions at this link.... including some comparo shots with the previous "Boss Wagon" kit body. It turns out that not just the body is from all new tooling. Make sure to read the captions for each photo so you can get the full details. Will attempt to answer any follow-up questions you have. Thanks for looking...TIM

Round 2 apparently saw your request, Mike, to see a picture, and posted this at their blog around 9am or so this morning....TIM

I was told the dual Judsons are included. Don't know about the tonneau cover. TIM

I haven't seen any. Round 2 has been pretty good lately about posting these types of images - ergo the Chevy II wagon and Jenkins kit images seen recently - so I wouldn't be surprised to see them do the same when the time comes with this one....TIM

This didn't sound right to me, so I went and checked my kit, and what do you know, Mark is exactly correct on this. As a matter of fact, when has Mark ever been incorrect on something like this? Not that I can recall....silly me (smile) to have doubted him! Best...TIM

Given the new Round 2 images of a built-up model of the new 1963 Chevy II wagon kit, several of you have asked if I have heard any updates from them on the new 1964 Cutlass convertible kit they announced a few months back. So I asked, and this is what I was told, and given permission to pass along to you.... they are expecting to see the latest pre-production sample of the Olds F-85 convertible any day now. On the last test shots, one of the original 1964 annual kit tool parts didn’t quite meet their expectations when fit into the newly tooled body. Round 2 chose to improve/refine the appearance and it of course delayed things. It’s not going to make it for the end of the year at this point, but "hopefully very early in the new year". Like many of you, I can't wait for this one! Cheers....TIM

My answer varies over time, but right now I'm thinking a '31 A Roadster Pickup on '32 Rails with 351 Cleveland (yes, Cleveland) V8 power....probably with bigs'n'littles with dirt tracker type rears, smaller and narrow fronts, and 1970's aluminum slot or salt flats style wheels. My long time buddy Roy Brizio would be the builder....TIM

Thanks Jack.....that does sound familiar. I vaguely recall looking at the mags of the era (Rod and Custom, primarily) and seeing ads for one that looked really similar to the AMT.....If I get time I'll try to find my old MCM article and see if I mentioned this there....TIM

I recall possibly writing about this in my article on the go kart that was in Model Cars years ago. I don't recall being able to trace the exact brand of Go-Kart, but as Todd posted just directly above, the engines were definitely replicas of the most popular McCullough offering. If you examine the crankcase/engine block, you can clearly see the McCollough branding....TIM

Wow....what a ton of work it took to create this model. I also like that you were not a slave to current 1/1 scale hot rod build trends, thus yielding a very creative, yet totally killer result. Great paint finish, too. Big congrats....TIM

This is the first release of the Revell 1969 Dodge Dart GTS, built in the mid 1990's for a how-to in Scale Auto magazine, appearing under my nom-de-plume "B. T. Sherwood". The 383 Magnum engine was fully detailed. The paint scheme duplicated a photo in the 1969 Dodge Dart showroom brochure, with MCW Automotive Finishes Code F8 Dark Green Metallic along with a white with black interior and a white bumblebee stripe. The wheels were the infamous "factory recall" 14" mags; these being sourced from the MPC 1969 Barracuda kit. As a fan of the real car, i was overjoyed when Revell finally announced the kit. The popular storyline is that the kit did not sell that well, although I don't recall ever hearing that from an official Revell source. As you know, it was later converted to a 1968 Dart GTS and has seen continued reissues over the ensuing quarter century. As with some other recent photos, these were not shot in my photo studio and due to the less than ideal lighting at hand, I had to set the depth of field at F/16 instead of my usual F/32, so the depth of field focus on some of the images is not quite ideal. Also.....looks like I need to clean out some wax residue from the door cut lines....although strange, sure don't remember that when he kit was first built and completed.... Thanks for looking, and happy to answer any questions....TIM

Bob, I tool have been watching this one come together. Love your methodical, step by step approach to putting together and detailing out your RR. I did a similar chassis swap with my MPC '74 Road Runner project (a copy of my factory ordered 1/1) and posted the results in this forum folder a few months back. Exciting to see your progress......TIM

...it's a long planned (10 years plus) early 1960's style T-Bucket....but not your normal '23-'35 T, but one with the much different '27T roadster pickup body. As you all know, there's never been a 1/25th scale kit of the '27T Roadster, so this one is a conversion using the original Revell Buttera style '27T Touring body. (The AMT '27T Touring would also work, but some experts say the Revell body is slightly more accurate in proportions, and I tend to agree, to a degree.) While the prototypical T-Bucket (aka Fad T) was usually a '23-'25T, there was magazine coverage of '27T (as well as '29A) buckets as well. These tended to stand out as the front cowls of both were very different that of the earlier, and far more common '23-'25 T-bucket body. And personally, I prefer both to the earlier style. I did an article on the A-Bucket conversion in the mid 1980's for Scale Auto, but this new model is the first attempt at a classic 1960's 1927 T Bucket. Based on my own research for the best source of the back of the Roadster pickup, but with some strong directional advice from Australian model rodder and magazine columnist Alan Barton, I decided to base the conversion on a narrowed section of the rear of the Buttera series Touring body. What you see pieced back together is purely cut and glue - no bodywork filler whatsoever. It's a great match (thanks, Alan!) Only the very bottom corner of the side/rear intersection, and the lower portion of the center rear, will reguire bodywork to finish the conversion. It's going to be sitting on a Fad T style chassis and suspension from the old MPC "Switchers" kit series dating back to 1972. As old as that is, it was and remains the most current Fad T style chassis committed to bi-scale styrene. The engine is a classis Y-Block Ford V8, based on the Revell 1957 Ford series, but with liberal upgrades from Norm at Replicas and Miniatures of Maryland and other aftermarket sources (e.g. the Vertex magneto), and liberal use of Milotow chrome on the engine accessories. The wheels and tires are from the AMT-Ertl version of the Barris Ala Kart. As you can see below, there are actually two different versions of two-passenger 1927 Model T Roadster bodies. The factory (here, converted) '27T Roadster body on the left, while the body on the right represents the front half of the Touring body, with a rear section comprising the metal backing of the front seat on the real car. This application was usually found on 1/1 scale Track Roadsters and Lakes Modifieds. To do this in scale, you need to use the AMT '27T Touring body (in the background) because it is the only kit that includes the front bench seat seatback piece (the Buttera kit omits this as the front seats in it are buckets). This was a structural piece on the real car; on the model you'll need to widen the piece slightly to fit the body. (BTW, this body was built probably 20 years ago as the start of a lakes modified project, but the model mags were not interested so I stopped work on it back then). With the benefit of 20 years of additional reference material, to be really accurate, the back piece on this one needs more of a curve, vs. the fairly straight execution shown here (it has also warped a bit over the years, which has served to further reduce the curve that should be there). You can see the stock AMT Touring body in the background for comparison. Finally, here's a comparison of the new project with a resin-based '27T Roadster Pickup Project that was completed in the 2000's, and was a feature how-to in (IIRC) one of the Scale Auto Contest Annuals, of all places(!) The body and interior was from Tim's Resin Rods of Vacaville, CA if memory serves. It was placed on a narrowed '32 Highboy chassis from the Revell Deuce Street Rod kits. The engine was the inaccurate Ardun conversion from the first "Custom" version of the Revell 1950 Ford pickup, with hot rod flathead cyclinder heads replacing the completely incorrect Ardun heads in the kit (otherwise the engine was great). Not sure exactly how the model will be finished, but I'm leaning toward a Candy Red over Metalflake Red, or perhaps Candy Blue over '65/'66 Corvette Nassau Blue Metaliic. with white guts et al in keeping with the early '60's build theme. Based on some feedback on my last posting/topic on this section of the forum, just so we are clear, there will not be a step-by-step series of updates on this build, as is typical with many posts here. Just wanted to give you a one-time look at what's up on the Boyd bench as of today, December 4, 2020. Next update (if there is one) would most likely be in the "under glass" section of the forum. Welcome any feedback, and happy to answer any questions....and thanks for looking! Cheers.....TIM

Chris...now that 1.1 is a truly rare dog. You're absolutely right, that bad boy has got to be brought back! The fact that it is still in the same family (broadly speaking) is even cooler. Cheers....TIM

FWIW, I have been told by insiders that these days it is difficult to get data for new vehicles from GM in order to develop model kits. Reportedly Ford is much more supportive. Haven't heard anything one way or another about Fiat-Chrysler (forgot heir new name after the Peugeot-Citroen merger). TIM

Yes...that was an image of Richard Carroll accepting the trophy ad Grand National Champion of the first year (1968-69) MPC Customizing Championship. He attended a number of the biggest MPC shoes during the first three or four years of the series. His work was so advanced that MPC created a special class for his work after the first year or two, as no one else was quite in his league of advanced design and craftsmanship. The women in the picture was Flip McCulligan (from memory, probably mispelled), who was an assistant in the OLR Publishing (Car Model) magazine offices at the time. In the early years of the NNL Nationals, around 1985 or so, we did get Richard to come out and attend one of those shows. TIM

More images below, just shot in my photo studio, with better lighting and more accurately portraying the actual F6 Bright Green Metallic color. Also, a few comparo photos showing the difference between Dodge 1969 1/2 code (E)F6 Bright Green Metallic and the Plymouth 1969 1/2 code 999 Rallye Green Metallic, which was also the exact same color (with the exact same Dupont mix code) as 1968 1/2 and 1969 Chevy code 79 Rallye Green Metallic. And thanks for all the positive comments, folks. Very much appreciated.....TIM ,

Good points, all. Don't have a clue on the color, other than not Silver or White! Cheers....TIM