Building a 1/25th scale dual-engined drag boat

[tim boyd]

I've received quite a bit of positive feedback on my article in the most recent issue of Model Cars featuring a kitbashed Revell Hemi Hyrdo boat.

If you enjoyed that article, you may want to check on the 30-+ how-to steps involved in creating this dual-engined, center cockpit drag boat inspired by several real 1/1 scale boats of a similar design back in the 1960's. Included are basic and advanced bodywork, basic engine wiring, building an engine subframe, and an overview of the nine-color metalflake panel paint job, plus plenty of photos of the finished project. It's all posted at my Fotki site an this link:

http://public.fotki....oyd-online-how/

Here are a few teaser photos and the captions that go with them....

Back in the day, you couldn’t be much cooler than to have a drag or ski boat hooked up to your El Camino or Ranchero pickup. Let’s revisit those days by demonstrating the steps for building a custom-designed, dual-engined drag boat in 1/25th scale

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To someone who wasn’t there in the 1960’s, the idea of a how-to article on a Drag Boat may seem a strange diversion for a hobby called "Model Cars". But to others, this could be a welcome reminder of just how much drag and ski boats were a part of the car-guy/hot-rod scene back then. In a retrospective article, Hot Rod DeLuxe noted in its November, 2011 issue that its namesake, Hot Rod magazine extensively covered the drag boat scene back in the 1960’s. Back then, no one had a better finger on the pulse of the automotive market than Hot Rod magazine, and if you made the cover, you were it! And sure enough, a drag boat was the lead cover image on the cover of the September, 1966 issue. Yet another hint of how hot drag boats were back then is that in AMT Corporation’s 4 page (!) ad at the front of the June, 1963 issue of Car Craft magazine, their new Rayson-Craft Trophy Series Drag and Ski Boat kit was featured in three separate “advertorial articles”. Yes, Drag Boats were big – real big!

For both those who remember, and those of you who are new to all this, we’re featuring a drag boat kitbash here as an On-Line How-To. It’s based on the Model King/AMT-Ertl reissue of a combo kit featuring the old AMT “Hull Raiser” Drag Boat along with the MPC 1970 Pontiac Bonneville convertible (kit #21547P, issued in 2005). It’s combined with the engines, several other parts, and decals from the Round 2 reissue of the AMT “Drag Team” Double Dragster Special Edition (kit #AMT627, issued in 2010).

For further information and ideas about this time when drag boats were nearly as popular as “T” Rods, Deuce Coupes, and Gassers, I recommend you buy the book Drag Boats of the 1960’s by Don Edwards (Iconographix, 2008). Additionally, you may want to check out the 1/25th scale Ski and Drag Boat Models folder at the writer’s personal Fotki site ( http://public.fotki....ts/boyd-boats-/ ), which features 13 other 1/25th scale drag and ski boat projects. So are you ready to splash a bunch of 1/25th scale water? I am! Let’s go!

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Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoy the story at the link....TIM

Edited December 28, 2011 by tim boyd

[1320wayne]

Cool subject matter Tim. I love the paint job on the one pictured above. And, your album showing all of the different boat projects is too cool. It's perfect inspiration for ideas of what to do with what I have. Thanks.

Edited December 28, 2011 by 1320wayne

[James2]

Always enjoy seeing your builds and reading your articles, thanks Tim.

[crazyjim]

Nice Tim. I have a couple of hemi hydro kits and am waiting for the courage to start one of them. I'd like to put real wood on the front of the cockpit but don't know how to go about it.

[Tony T]

Great article, Tim! Most enjoyable.

[moparmagiclives]

I loved that article, I had never seen a drag boat in plactic before. I've got a few r/c boats, and flipped when I seen yours in the magazine. I've been searching, cant wait to get my hands on one. I'm diggin your paint fades also, great work, those have been fun to read.

[tim boyd]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. This was a really enjoyable and relatively quick (as least as my builds typically go) project. If any of you do your own 1/25th scale drag or ski boat projects, please post them here or send the pictures to me. Thanks again...TIM