TonyW Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 A catch all thread title, brought about by a recent job lot of Model Car Science magazines that have just turned up here. There are other titles out there, that could also find a home here with luck. Here's what prompted the thread... Fifty six copies, spread from the first issue in April '63 to June '72. There's about half the released magazines here. A job lot auction from that well known site. The price per copy was very reasonable. The total hurt a bit however. When would I ever get the chance at a lot like this again though? The magazine was aimed at 10 to 15 year old kids and it hit the ground running in '63. First year sales averaged over 30,000 a month, dropping to 18,000 by '72. At 35c a copy it was the same price as Rod and Custom. The magazine covered model building and slot cars in the main. No colour pages inside, B+W only for the full run. I'm only just getting to grips with the contents and first impressions are good. The adverts and new kit reviews are worth the price of admision on their own. I'll add stuff here as I find it. There's a first class US Car and Model magazine site that goes into a lot of detail on the subject. I've lost quite a few hours browsing around. Here's a link... http://99wspeedshop.com.s3-website-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/modelcarscience.html Tony. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malpaso Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 Cool. Bet there’s some great content there. I seem to recall reading once (Chis Ellis’ books?) that US plastic modelling was hugely driven (pun intended) by car models, rather than by recreating WW2 as seems the main influence back in the day in Blighty. From here It seems like virtually every normal, not just sports, cars were available on an annually updated basis (ok I know that’s a slight exaggeration and I know the dealer promos made a large influence) whereas we had the rather tragic selection perpetrated by Airfix! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 Sounds like fun. I used to get the odd copy of Rod and Custom. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted August 23, 2022 Author Share Posted August 23, 2022 38 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said: Sounds like fun. I used to get the odd copy of Rod and Custom. My favourite US Car mag, with Car Craft, then Superstock and Drag as runners up. A very close race though. Reading through old copies is like looking way back into another world now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Six97s Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 That's quite a haul. 😮 There was a website that had scans of a number of '60s car model magazines, but it seems to have disappeared. I have boxes of HRM, PHR and others, but only one vintage model magazine, which I acquired at the same time as this AMT '59 Buick. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted August 24, 2022 Author Share Posted August 24, 2022 Flicking through a few of the early issues has been a joy. A big surprise was finding an article on building the Pierson Brothers coupe in the first issue! They recommend using parts from Monograms '34 coupe, Black Widow and Midget Racer kits to build the model. An expensive idea these days. Monograms Big Deuce got a nice review in the November '63 issue, just in time for Xmas. It was on the cover, as shown above, here's the inside article... Each issue that I've gone through so far contains details of a few full size cars and leads as to how to make models of them. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 Those look to be really good mags - I do like the 'where to steal parts from' articles...!! Keith 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malpaso Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 The 32 in the “ Cool Coupe” may well be the one on the cover of Beach Boys 32 Deuce Coupe album! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malc2 Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 Wow, great thread, please keep posting stuff from the mags! Would it be possible to have some shots of the advert pages also? If it is the same 32 Deuce (and it looks like it to me) it has an interesting history here:- https://auto.howstuffworks.com/hot-rods.htm M. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neddy Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Oh wow... seeing these again almost reduced me to tears. I used to buy Car Model mags from a (then) local newsagent (Heaven knows where he got them from!) and devoured them avidly when I was a youngster back in the '60s. I learned a huge amount about building and customising car models from them and remember those years, those mags and those models with great fondness. I lost count of the number of custom builds I carried out with the aid of CM mags and mourn the loss of the custom car scene as it was then, both 1:24 and 1:1 scales. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 21 hours ago, malpaso said: The 32 in the “ Cool Coupe” may well be the one on the cover of Beach Boys 32 Deuce Coupe album! It is indeed that very car. It also made the July '61 cover of Hot Rod magazine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 1 hour ago, Neddy said: Oh wow... seeing these again almost reduced me to tears. I used to buy Car Model mags from a (then) local newsagent (Heaven knows where he got them from!) and devoured them avidly when I was a youngster back in the '60s. I learned a huge amount about building and customising car models from them and remember those years, those mags and those models with great fondness. I lost count of the number of custom builds I carried out with the aid of CM mags and mourn the loss of the custom car scene as it was then, both 1:24 and 1:1 scales. You big softy! I fully understand though, the magazines cover a period like no other for a US car modeller. Things are more retro slanted now, with most builders looking back with fond memories and vastly improved building skills and materials. Back then it was all brand new and unexplored territory. Every issue had something to get exited about as a nipper. I'm about to become a pensioner` and they still have the same effect on me to this day. I'm looking at them with a different perspective now, seeing the creativness of young minds at work in some incredible and sometimes bizzare ways. I'll top the thread up with related stuff as I uncover it. Tony. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fastcat Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Hi Tony, In my youth, (even more years back!) American cars weren't always appreciated and due to a much lower disposable income, the hot rod scene never really took off here. The kits (at least over here) were quite expensive but in the States were about a third of the UK price, hence the amount of cross-kitting. It was so profitable for the American model companies that some hot rods were actually commissioned by the model makers themselves. Somehow, I don't see that happening today. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Smith Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 The Model Car Builders Museum in Sandy Utah USA has a wealth of old magazines that they have brought together along with many models on display etc. It is a history of the hobby in one building, and they are always looking for stuff to fill gaps in their collections. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s.e.charles Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 On 8/23/2022 at 5:14 PM, Six97s said: That's quite a haul. 😮 There was a website that had scans of a number of '60s car model magazines, but it seems to have disappeared. I have boxes of HRM, PHR and others, but only one vintage model magazine, which I acquired at the same time as this AMT '59 Buick. Dave Shuklis was one of my boyhood heros! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted August 31, 2022 Author Share Posted August 31, 2022 24 minutes ago, s.e.charles said: Dave Shuklis was one of my boyhood heros! He certainly had a huge influence on the way car modelling went in the US. His output was prolific. There's a good thread about him here: http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/topic/121797-dave-shuklis-shamrock/ 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noel Smith Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 (edited) The Dave Shuklis collection of models used to be on display at Auto World, Scranton, PA. Modellers of a certain age might remember the annual Auto World Model Kit Catalogue! The Shuklis collection was acquired by the Model Car Builders Museum who had them renovated for display by a number of enthusiast modellers. Look at the link in Tony's post for much more information. Would be nice if the museum scanned their old magazine collections as an internet resource. Edited August 31, 2022 by Noel Smith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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