tim boyd

Enough warm weather still awaits to hook up your favorite scale tow vehicle and drive your drag and ski boats to the lake, reservoir, river, or whatever. Unload 'em, start 'em up, and put the (boat) pedal to the metal and stir up some water! And on your way home, maybe it's time to put the pedal to the metal of your tow vehicle, too! Several tow vehicle/boat combos below....many more pix here..... and thanks for looking! TIM

All good comments; thanks everyone. I've never built the AMT-Ertl Edsel kit so I can't comment on how it goes together, but looking at the kit in the box, it certainly impressed me. I have heard some criticisms of certain exterior elements from some on the MCM Forum here, but I did not notice them myself. But whether a kit is good or not does not always relate to how it sells; the topic of the kit (and other items, such as the box art) all contribute to the overall sales. Regrettably, the Edsel didn't have them all, and the sales result was underwhelming, at least from what I have been told. As far as the 1966 Nova kit, there's a different story line out their on how the kit occurred than what is related above. We all know that it was widely campaigned as an idea, among kit collectors/builders and in the model car media, going all the way back to 1970 when Hank Borger began publicly advocating for it. But the internal AMT story is somewhat different; it's too long to recap here but those of you who have a copy of my muscle car kits book can find the info in the sidebar on pg. 121 in Chapter Ten. Probably both factors influenced the ultimate success of the kit, however. Best...TIM PS/Full Disclosure - though I have advised those in the domestic model car industry at various times since the mid 1970's; I've never been officially employed by any of them. And the only work I've ever been paid for was during 1975-77 when I did box art and sales meeting models for AMT, and in February of 2014 when Revell hired me to do a detailed buildup and report of all assembly issues with the first round test shots of the 1929 Model A Roadster/1930 Model A Five Window Coupe tooling. TB

If you go back and look at the polls that were done every year in the other magazine, much of what ended up as top ranked wishes eventually came to the market. From a manufacturer point of view it was a bit of a mixed blessing. Many of the poll winners sold well, but some were bombs....1958 Edsel, I'm thinking of you! On the positive side, I would have never in a million years chosen a Hudson as a kit topic, but it ranked high in those polls IIRC, and apparently sold well for Moebius when it eventually became a kit series. So I too would like to see a consolidated poll on future kit topics along the line of what Randy is suggesting. But with the proviso that it would be helpful information, but not a 100% certainty as a source of good selling future kit topics for the kit manufacturers. As part of the research I did for my new book on drag racing model kits, I once again talked to all the current and past kit industry executives that I know (at all the domestic kitmakers and Dave Burkett as well) and from their point of view, the best sellers these days are topics geared toward the 1960's and 1970's, especially pickups, but also muscle cars and historical racing topics. That's the domestic hobby kit market speaking, folks. As much as I pine for a current full detail S550 Mustang kit, and others I am sure feel the same way about a C8 Corvette, a full detail F150 pickup, and the like, the current best selling kits, at least in the American market, are in the above mentioned genres. As far as future car kits go, I would forecast that we will continue to see both new kits of cars that were never kitted in the past (such as Moebius' 1965 Comet and 1965 Belvedere series), and all new interpretations of subjects that currently existing only in 1960's/early 1970's annual kit type tooling (thus the new Revell 1971 Mustang kit). But beyond that, I'd bet we'll see even more activity in 1960's/early 1970's pickups and possibly even drag and circle track racing topics. And, if we are lucky, a few kits of all-new, current auto industry subjects as well. As usual with these sore of prognostications, only time will tell for sure. . TIM

With Claude's '36 3 window killer kitbash posted below....made me want to share my project with a similar theme....mine's a little more toward the traditional side, but you can definitely see some similar approaches to the challenge of coming up with an attractive fenderless theme for post-1934 Ford hot rods. One area where Claude's effort totally blows mine away is in the chassis/frame area; my project was intended to be a relatively simple kitbash, so I just adapted the AMT 1936 Ford frame to allow the correct ride height; while Claude went the full boat route with a killer adaptation of the chassis in the Testors Smoothster/'38 Ford/Delivery kit series. The Olds mill in my project came pretty much right from the box of Revell's Roth Outlaw kit; it's a very cool retro treatment even down to the ribbed surfaces on the carb intake manifold sitting atop the 4-71 blower. Mine also uses the grille/radiator shell from the Revell 1937 Ford pickup kit. Paint is (IIRC) 1955 Ford Regency Purple Metallic from MCW Automotive Finishes. Full build details of this were covered in a how to article in the other mag, around 2015 or 2016 or so. In case you missed Claude's project, check out his post and images here. Thanks for looking! TIM

Claude...now THAT is what I call a proper kitbash project. Really, really well done. Big congrats from this end....TIM

The project is very much a "go" for Revell. While there are plenty of model car experts here on this Forum who would prefer a more, shall we say, eccentric or specialized kit topic, Mustang kits have always been best sellers for the model car companies (just like putting Mustangs on the cover of buff books always guarantees a top selling newstand issue). Plus, let's face it, the existing '71/'72 Mustang kit choices are essentially five decades old in their quality and content. Plus, the '71/'72 Mustang 351 Cleveland and '71 Mach 1 429 Cobra Jets are now rapidly gaining interest (finally!) in the collector car market, which is a good sign for potential kit sales. And, we've never had a full detail Boss 351 kit done correctly, ever. This is a very big hole in the model car marketplace, and it's great that someone is finally stepping up to fill it with a model kit built to contemporary market expectations. I have heard this kit subject was on Revell's future kit topics list, even going back as far as 15 years ago or so, and it certainly moved up in priority during this last decade. Glad to see it finally underway, and even gladder to hear that they are doing it right by scanning the exterior body proportions and design language. Let's hope the final execution lives up to our expectations! TIM

OK Guys....turns out Revell could use your help in producing this all-new kit tool. To ensure the very best execution of the full-detail engines in these kits, they are looking for 1/1 scale Boss 351 Cleveland and 1971 Cobra Jet 429 engines that are currently out of the engine compartment and on an engine stand (or similar), so they can do a measuring and photography session for both. These need to be 100% factory stock engines. If any of you know of someone or a restoration business currently working on either of these engines, please send me a private email using the mail function here at the Forum, with the name and contact information of the owner or builder, and I will pass that on to the product development team at Revell. They're looking for solid leads only here, and time is of the essence, I am told. I'm sure the Revell team would highly appreciate any help on this that you could provide. Best Regards....TIM

The 1969 Charger pickup was built during late 1969 and early 1970 when I was in 10th grade, as part of a three-car set (pickup, trailer, and funny car) that was eventually finished in the spring of 1972 and went on to win Best of Show at the 1972 Washington DC MPC Customizing Contest. It was inspired by a rumor in one of the car mags (probably Motor Trend) that Dodge was working on an El-Camino type pickup. (Although over the last five decades we've seen extensive historical photography of Chrysler Design Studio concepts and design workouts, no such image(s) of a car-pickup have ever appeared, to the best of my knowledge.) The model included a highly detailed (for the time) 426 Hemi built to replicaate the factory stock engine, even including secondary electrical harness wiring in the engine compartment. During the build, the interior was updated with 1970 Charger R/T seats and steering wheel from the 1970 MPC annual kit. Paint was Testors Gloss Orange with Pactra Clearcoat, wheels were American 200-S five-spokes from the MPC 1970 Challenger annual kit. . The 1970 Coronet Super Bee pickup was started in the early 1990's, and later finished sometime in the 2000's. Again, the engine was fully detailed, and the paint was 1970 Mopar "Go-Mango". The build process for this one was submitted to Model Cars magazine as a two-parter around 2005 or so, but somewhere between the US postal service and the Editor's desk, the article was lost (as an aside, having written and published over 500 lifetime articles, this is the only one that ever got lost!) I pieced together a new article and sent it to Harry P.; he formatted it and it appeared as a two-parter in MCM around 2013 or so. Many more pictures of it there. Finally, here's a picture of the Coronet pickup along with a kitbashed gas turbine powered drag boat, circa early 1970's, as constructed in recent years as part of my 1/25th scale drag racing and ski boat model collection. Thanks for looking! TIM

AMEN!!!!! TIm

George....the kit has been issued multiple times over the last five decades, under both MPC and AMT-Ertl branding But the only versions with the Indian Ace bicycle are the original 1966 release and the new one pictured above. Beyond the new clear shot parts tree, I don't believe any other updates were required to the tooling. The gangster figures and bank vault were missing from some of the earlier reissue, but I believe those parts were reopened on the tooling prior to this latest release. Best.....TIM we the rthe ope

Alan....sure liking this one just as you built it. Especially putting the steering wheel and column on the right...errr.....correct side! Excellent idea to take out the roof insert, too. Just perfect. Cheers....TIM

Model Cave definitely yes; I presume Pasteiner's will as well....TIM

Thanks Robert...did you see the purple horn in the engine compartment photo? (It is just barely visible in the lower left of the photo, ahead of the radiator wall structure and forward of the alternator). That old Testors light purple color is very close match to the real thing! Wasn't able to do the little 1/1 horn decal , though, that said something like "Voice of the Road Runner".... Cheers...Tim

I'm sure Amazon will restock quickly. I also suspect (but don't know for sure) that the reason it shows temporarily out of stock is because of all you guys who pre-ordered yours and essentially used up all the copies in their first order from the Publisher. The book is definitely here now, I just got my own author's copies last night, delivered by the CarTech warehouse in SE Michigan. Best....TIM PS - thanks for all the pre-orders, guys, you rock! TB

Ricky....no, sadly it rusted away in good old Michigan. I kept it for 16 years, putting 140,000 miles on it. Mechanically it was bulletproof, the only non-recurring maintenance item was that the intake had to be pulled and have the carbon deposits scraped/chipped out of the heat riser crossover. Body wise, it was BLAH_BLAH_BLAH_BLAH. Visible rust on the rear quarters after three years, did a complete repair job, that lasted only another two years, then started again. Eventually the floorboard gave way. Gave it to a Service Manager at one of my Lincoln Mercury dealers in St. Louis who was a closet Mopar enthusiast; he wanted it for his kids to drive around a makeshift racetrack he had at his farm! Before I started working for Ford in 1978, I was 100% a Mopar guy who hated the "railroad tie" bumpers on most Fords back then. But Ford offered an excellent career path, and they made me a job offer (Chrysler chose not to). Then came the 1979 Fox Mustang (I ordered a Ghia 2-door with a 5.oL 4 speed manual)...and then the 1983 1/2 T-Bird Turbo Coupe, then all the great stuff that came later. So essentially 100% Ford since 1979....smile. And thanks for the comment on the build! TIM .

For the first and only time since the c.1966 initial release of the MPC 1932 Imperial Eight Convertible kit, Round 2 has restored the 1927 Indian Ace to the kit contents. Not only that, they've completely redone the clear parts tree and redesigned the motorcycle wheels spoke pattern to a more accurate rendition of the real thing. Shown below is the original 1966 kit, along with the brand new August 2020 reissue featuring all new and very detailed box art. In addition to the parts for a very nicely rendered 1932 Imperial Eight convertible, MPC included all the "Gangbusters" parts for a Gangster getaway car and a police car build version. While you can see a small amount of flash on some of the parts trees, I didn't see any on the critical parts of the kit. The engraving on this kit is really exceptional, as seen in the tiny logos of the wheel hub covers and the super-accurate engraving of the seat surfaces. The December, 2005 issue of Collectible Automobile magazine has an excellent 13 page full color story on the 1931, 32, and 33 Imperial 8 lineup; well worth searching out if you need subject reference material. The motorcycle, while fairly simple in its construction, yields a very detailed replica of a 1927 Indian Ace (some experts feel it is the nearly identical Henderson Ace). Don't let the spoked wheel execution scare you; it actually comes off pretty well, as you can see from a slightly modified example I built up a few years ago from an old eBay.com gluebomb kit (this build does not show the new, improved spoked wheel parts). Not to mention it's a perfect candidate for a scale "Race of Gentlemen" theme entry. A the link below, I've also included 12 overall and detail shots of a similar 1/1 scale 1930 Indian Ace from the 2018 Concours of the Americas at St. Johns a few years ago. I wish there was more interest in the modeling community about Classic Era model kits. Whether from MPC, Monogram, Jo-Han, or even the Heller and Italeri kits, they're all exceedingly well detailed and yield very eye catching replicas. They were the "Fujimi Enthusiast Series" kits of their era of 1960's and 1970's model kit tools (Terry Jessee did a very thorough and informative kit history on all these many years ago in the other model magazine, it's an excellent reference). Why not give one a try, especially now that the new Round 2 reissue of the MPC Imperial is available once again? Click this link for 53 images of the new kit, a built example of the kit's vintage motorcycle, and overall and detail shots of a similar 1.1 scale vintage bike. Thanks for looking....TIM Disclaimer: For this reissue, I helped Round 2 with their research in trying to locate the motorcycle clear shot parts on the original tooling, and also provided reference photography of a real 1/1 motorcycle similar to that in the kit. I purchased the kit with my own money from one of the well-known mail order model kit retailers. TB

Just a heads-up that as of today, Friday August 28, the book is showing temporarily sold out at Amazon.com. They will probably restock soon, but you can order now from CarTechBooks.com. It will also soon be available at modelroundup.com, AutoWorld.com, and the Model Cave in Ypsi, Michigan, among others. TIM

David...always happy to help..... All new build of a 1974 Road Runner E58 360 - a detailed replica of my real 1.1 Cheers...TIM

This is my 1/25th scale replica of my own factory ordered 1/1 scale 1974 Road Runner code E58 360 Hi-Po V8. It was built during the last two months, and completed a week ago today. The model uses the original c/1974 MPC kit body, combined with the chassis/suspension/engine compartment of AMT/Ertl's 1971 Charger R/T, a kitbashed E58 engine based on the 340 Wedge in AMT/Ertl's 1971 Duster 340, and lots of other kit sourced parts along with Revell 1932 Ford Street Rod kits big/n/bigger tires with aftermarket "B.F.Goodrich" rwl decals, and 1971-74 Mopar B-Body "bazooka" exhaust tips from Missing Link. The engine compartment is fully detailed with major emissions plumbing, heater hoses, a Mopar Cruise Control servo, battery cables, throttle return spring, brake booster vacuum hoses, et al. The paint is two coats of Tamiya Gloss Black, rubbed out and waxed (no clearcoat to avoid issues with paint buildup and because factory single stage gloss black looks best, well, without a clear overcoat). One disappointment is that the while the updated Round 2 decal sheet from their latest 2020 reissue included the graphics in red as well as white and black, apparently their vendor did not print a white backing on the outer edge pinstripes of the red "Up and Over' tape stripes, That meant just the center of the red graphics stripes show against the black paint; the outer border stripes are essentially invisible. While Round 2 did include the underlayment white on the matching hood stripes, the register was off making those unusable at all. Thus I returned to the way the car was ordered at the factory - I thought the hood stripes were standard on the Road Runner; they were not. So my car did not have them and it was delivered with just white "360" decals on the side of the hood bulge. So that's the way the model was completed. (I later ordered the hood stripes from the Plymouth Dealer parts department and added them to the real car, as you can see in the pictures of the real car below). I also added the Mopar Accessories decklid rack (sourced from the AMT/Ertl 1972 Corvette, as supposedly the "Tier Two" vendor provided the exact same rack to both GM and Mopar for this application), and lower body rocker moldings (1974 Satellite Sebring Plus parts I ordered from the Plymouth Parts Department). The interior was slightly modified to represent the 1974 vintage Road Runner Interior Decor Group option, and I added to correct "Tuff" steering wheel and the MPC original issue Slap Shift (the Round 2 reissue kit was updated to the 1974 1/2 and later knob style shifter; my early 1974 production car still had the slapper). Also, I added power window switches to the door panels, as with that option all four windows rolled down (with my real car, I did not order power windows as they had been problematic on my Dad's Dodge wagons), and that meant the rear quarter windows were fixed - they did not roll down. Had I known that, I would have added this upgrade as I ordered my car without Air Conditioning and the "Upper Level Ventilation" (aka "Strato Vent") option I did order was essentially useless. This is a model I've planned, well, since November of 1973 when I took delivery of the real car. I waited because until recently, there were no really accurate body graphics in scale in the correct shade of red along with fully correct "road runner" graphics in the C-pillar area. I wish the Round 2 decal sheet issue hadn't occurred (the red stripe would probably still work OK on a car painted white, but not so on other 1974 paint colors that could be ordered with the red stripe, including Silver Frost Metallic and Lucerne Blue Metallic. BTW, those (at the time) mega-buck G-60-15 and H-60-15 BGF's on the real car were the prize (....you just can't make this stuff up....) for my 2nd Place Nationwide finish in the 1976 MPC Customizing Contest series!) There's no way I could have afforded to buy those on my own back then, what with also facing car/insurance payments and college expenses). Overall, I'm happy with the result and happy to share it with you now. And a big tip of the hat to several builders on the various model car boards and forums, including James Tester, for their ideas on how to pull of this conversion. And to Dave Darby for his ideas on how to paint headlamp lenses that he shared with me a while back. Seven more pictures below, and thanks for looking! TIM

Steve....fully agree with your comments on Norm's Ford Flathead Hot Rod Parts; I have most of them in my stash. You are also correct that Rik mastered a number of the parts, and that the Thickstun heads were popular for Marine racing, in that (as I understand it) the did an excellent job of sealing the sparkplug wires from shorting out due to water. I was saving the Thickstun head for another Boyd boat model, but never got around to building it, and this model needed an eyecatching engine....so....voila! Meanwhile, your engine above looks super sharp! Thanks for posting....TIM

Wow....yet another Model Cars project close to my heart. As my own first new car was a 1973 Duster 340, bought off the floor at Highland Chrysler Plymouth in Grand Rapids in late December, 1972. Mine was Silver Frost metallic (a silver gray with a lot of flake) with a blake interior and stripes, no vinyl roof, and the Space Duster package. Within a few months I had added factory chrome wheel lip moldings, G70 14 RWL Goodyears in back to go with the E70's in front, cranked the t-Bars down in front, and was running 14x6/14x7 Appliance Aluminum wheels. I've had the MPC kit set set aside for what....47 years now....maybe one day I will finally get it built. Meanwhile, I did just finish another model of the new car I bought a year later, using the Duster as my trade in....a factory ordered 1974 Plymouth Road Runner E58 360 hi-po..... Good luck Curtis with yours....it's looking really good so far....TIM

According to David Dale who pre-ordered his copy a few weeks ago, he received a notice yesterday from the seller that the book is now in stock and his copy is on its way to him. Good news! Thanks everyone for your interest, and especially thanks to all of you who pre-ordered the book! Cheers...>TIM

Thanks again, everyone, for your comments and feedback on the Extreme "Z'ed" '31A tudor, as well as my several older Model A PIckups. Just wrapped up a different major build project; now have some home issues and projects to deal with, then hope to get back to this one and get 'er wrapped up ASAP. Best regards...TIM

I too have had eye issues, in part due to my near-sightedness. Floaters, staring in college, have become extensive over the years. Eyesight deteriorated to 20/200, though it has come back about 30% (to 20/140) over the last few years. Started losing ability to read up close while wearing contacts about 20 years a, and soon discovered that some of my models built over the several years prior, while wearing contacts, didn't have the best quality of workmanship, especially in paint detailing. More recently, early stages of cataracts though apparently nowhere needing surgery at present. Finally, started experiencing flashes in one eye in December, which I had been told to see an Opthamologist immediately if it ever happened due to my nearsightedness and floaters. I did the following Monday, was immediately referred to a Retina Specialist and ended up having retinal laser surgery that afternoon, having experienced a retinal tear in my right eye. All this as the pull-ahead due date for completing my book project was just days later. Then the same thing happened with my left eye in early March; again retinal eye surgery the same day. No further deterioration but floaters remain a big distraction. Doctors all told me my model building was not a cause of the eye issues. Took a while to get back to modeling but I did, having completed several projects since then. Big help was getting some flip-down magnifying lenses from Micro-Mark. Bottom line, see eye doctors as least once a year, try magnifying lenses or fixtures of various types until you find one that works for you, and take care of your eyes no matter what, even if it does mean stopping modeling. TIM

Dennis....yep, another great DL project coming home.....needless to say, I so agree with your approach to using different paint finishes to arrive at a realistic appearance! Good luck with final assembly....TIM