Issue 223 - Honey, I shrunk the Big-T's

[BDSchindler]

I seriously loved Scott Colmer's article regarding Monogram's Big and Little T's.  With no offense to Scott, a little bit of background on how the Big T came to be.

Years ago, I had a standing column in Toy Cars and Model Magazine that was called "A 1:24 Hour Hobby" that was centered around diecast cars and trucks...NOT models.  I was also a collector of the Creative Masters Limited 1/20th scale diecast cars.  The 7 models that were done for the series had detail that was unheard of in the diecast industry.  It was also Monogram's first foray into highly detailed diecast.

To make a long story short, I did a feature article on the Creative Masters (CM) Series and that led me to the telephone of Roger Harney, the same person that Scott Colmer mentioned in the "Honey, I shrunk the Big-T's" article.  Roger not only provided me with info on the CM lineup gave me a ton of background on his career with Revell-Monogram.  From that day forward until his untimely death in 2014...the same year that he had planned to retire...Roger and I became fast friends and would talk for hours when he wasn't in China.  He was a master modeler that could build a model out of anything.  According to his daughter, her parents house was filled with highly detailed models.  I remember calling Roger once and he was in his office building a segment of a GATO Class sub that was to be over 5' long!

Roger's first "real" job was building models as per the instructions contained in the kits when he was some 18 years old, if I remember correctly.  His tenure at Monogram, and later with Revell-Monogram, would propel him through designing and later as the Excutive Vice President of RM Inc in charge of tooling and manufacturing.  Somewhere into the late 90's, early 2000's, he and 12 other executives around the world became co-owners of Revell-Monogram Inc.

Roger explained to me how the Big-T actually came to be...I think he said it was in 1960 or so, he was trying to sell the idea of 1/8th scale Hot Rod engines as a model kit in itself to the Monogram Marketing Team.  With the model car market really starting to take off especially with the Custom and Hot Rod models, Roger had the idea that modelers would love to have a large scale detailed engine to display along with the smaller scale cars.

Marketing didn't buy it, however, stating something to the fact that without the rest of the car, it just wouldn't sell.  That was a Friday afternoon.  Undeterred, Roger went home that night and by Monday morning, he had completed a full and accurate frame and driveline complete with suspension and articulating front end including wheels and tires.  That same Monday morning, the Marketing Team didn't like the idea...they LOVED it and Roger was tasked with leading the design of the rest of the Big-T (Body and Interior)

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Love it! In the early sixties I was about 11 yrs old and I built one. Lindburg had their version with a slightly different name molded in dark green. It was a few dollars less and within my kid budget. The gearshift knob was a scary scull. Ha!