alan barton Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 I've been a fan of Monogram hot rod models since I was thirteen and have built multiple copies of all of them. A new member of our local model club, (an under 40 year old at that), had bought the Blue Bandito repop and asked if I might have the parts to make it into the Boss-A-Bone. To be totally honest, I was stunned that this guy even knew of the existence of this kit, let alone had an interest in it, so I was happy to oblige. It turned out, however, that I had at least two fairly clean sets of the necessary parts which got me thinking...... I dragged out a whole bunch of mildly gluebombed parts and set about creating my own Boss A Bone. I have only made a few changes from the original concept - I liked the bucket seats from an MPC Pontiac GTO as they looked racier than the custom buckets in the kit. I also felt that the weak point of all the Tom Daniels's kits were the tyres and to a lesser extent the wheels so I upgraded those with AMT parts. Also, there was no way I was going to leave that farm gate bolted to the front bumper irons. Instead, I fitted a Moon tank to fill the gap. The windscreen has been chopped and just like my 1:1 roadster, does not have a top bar. I think these small changes add a bit of realism to the model without changing its character. I'm also not a fan of the side pipes but they are such a strong design feature of the car that I decided to live with them. They are growing on me. I used thin strips of model ship building wood to detail the pickup bed, top and bottom, and used a Revell tailgate as it had the reverse image pf the Ford script embossed into it which suited my desire to have the tailgate lowered to reduce wind resistance. The last photo is of my fleet and includes a genuine survivor of the original Blue Beetle. I have two more projects based on the Monogram pickup to be completed, soon I hope! Cheers Alan 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TooOld Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 Very well done Alan , your changes improve the looks of the original design without changing it ! The wheels & tires and windshield are a big improvement over the Monogram parts and I really like the bed and tailgate idea ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 Sting Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 What TooOld said!! 👆 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cobraman Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 Looks great ! In fact I like all the ones you have shown here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer1984 Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 Excellent work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldscool Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 Very nice collection of A Bones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thatz4u Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 well done...like 'em all.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 The changes, actually they are improvements over the original design look great. I like how you did the wood bed floor. I like your collection of this model. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bisc63 Posted August 21, 2022 Share Posted August 21, 2022 So nice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larman Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 That's really cool! I really like what you did with the moon tank and front end, much better than it is box stock. The group photo is neat also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Outstanding Pickup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisR Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippi Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Great looking Model A. They all look Great. Nice job man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misterNNL Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Nice A-Bone bundle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis Lacy Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Totally bitchin, Alan! All of your changes make the truck everything it should have been. It’s a serious looking drag strip truck now! Especially love how the dark center Americans look against the shiny red paint and the Blue Streak slicks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phildaupho Posted August 22, 2022 Share Posted August 22, 2022 Love the group photos. They look great together but all are individually very cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelly Burns Posted August 24, 2022 Share Posted August 24, 2022 On 8/20/2022 at 10:26 PM, alan barton said: I've been a fan of Monogram hot rod models since I was thirteen and have built multiple copies of all of them. A new member of our local model club, (an under 40 year old at that), had bought the Blue Bandito repop and asked if I might have the parts to make it into the Boss-A-Bone. To be totally honest, I was stunned that this guy even knew of the existence of this kit, let alone had an interest in it, so I was happy to oblige. It turned out, however, that I had at least two fairly clean sets of the necessary parts which got me thinking...... I dragged out a whole bunch of mildly gluebombed parts and set about creating my own Boss A Bone. I have only made a few changes from the original concept - I liked the bucket seats from an MPC Pontiac GTO as they looked racier than the custom buckets in the kit. I also felt that the weak point of all the Tom Daniels's kits were the tyres and to a lesser extent the wheels so I upgraded those with AMT parts. Also, there was no way I was going to leave that farm gate bolted to the front bumper irons. Instead, I fitted a Moon tank to fill the gap. The windscreen has been chopped and just like my 1:1 roadster, does not have a top bar. I think these small changes add a bit of realism to the model without changing its character. I'm also not a fan of the side pipes but they are such a strong design feature of the car that I decided to live with them. They are growing on me. I used thin strips of model ship building wood to detail the pickup bed, top and bottom, and used a Revell tailgate as it had the reverse image pf the Ford script embossed into it which suited my desire to have the tailgate lowered to reduce wind resistance. The last photo is of my fleet and includes a genuine survivor of the original Blue Beetle. I have two more projects based on the Monogram pickup to be completed, soon I hope! Cheers Alan What kit did you get the Mr. Horsepower decals from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jim Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Sweet collection of vintage trucks you got there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Metallic Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 Great job Alan. I have developed an affinity for this kit as well, with a build (including improvements) similar to yours coming up. The first BAB I came across I turned into a Red Beetle. I have so many builds based on these Monogram hot rod kits in the pipeline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vintage AMT Posted August 30, 2022 Share Posted August 30, 2022 (edited) cool Edited September 1, 2022 by Vintage AMT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Street Rod Posted August 31, 2022 Share Posted August 31, 2022 Great looking truck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alan barton Posted September 4, 2022 Author Share Posted September 4, 2022 On 8/25/2022 at 3:06 AM, Kelly Burns said: What kit did you get the Mr. Horsepower decals from? Kelly, I wish I could tell you! I have a little bag of them that I use to store every example I find - the voices in my head say a Monogram kit but that is really of very little help to you. If I find a clue I will let you know. On 8/31/2022 at 3:12 AM, Mr. Metallic said: Great job Alan. I have developed an affinity for this kit as well, with a build (including improvements) similar to yours coming up. The first BAB I came across I turned into a Red Beetle. I have so many builds based on these Monogram hot rod kits in the pipeline. Wow Craig, that is very special. Here is my version of Blue Beetle as distinct from the survivor in my photos - you see, when I was a teenager I bought the Bandai version from K - Mart so i thought it was meant to be dark blue. I built this dark blue one a few years back using Tamiya paint and a shortened pickup bed bit otherwise true to the original. I also chromed the running boards as the original pickup boards were stamped steel without rubber and I thought chrome would be fitting for a rod of this era. Cheers Alan 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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