Next up, back to 1968………..

Well, I think I probably built this kit about 69-70, second run that had the Tri Plane in it. The first issue did not include it, and modelers especially the target age of 8-12 year old boys, wrote in to Monogram that there was a Fokker Tri-plane on the box art, but none in the kit, so Monogram added one! The kit was not a real car at first, but an original Tom Daniel design, later a car would be built to match it. At the time it was the best selling Monogram kit in history. So much so that they gave Tom a Gold Plated one to commemorate the event! Orginals go for crazy prices, so this is a commemorative tin re-pop from 1997, I got it off ebay, still shrink wrapped with all parts in the bag! The first order of business was to remove the chrome on the helmet. 20 years of shuffling inside the plastic had removed a good portion of the chrome on top. I used fine sandpaper, Mr clean scrubbies, and finally metal polish to get it to a high gloss, then I sprayed it with Alclad chrome. I did not do the black primer, but it turned out great anyway! Next the body. I had wanted to leave it bare red plastic, just like I had when I was 9-10, but after cleaning it up I decided to paint. My first thought was to use Model Master Stop Light Red Metallic, to match a Hot Wheels version of it I had, but wanting to stay true to how then original looked I choose Tamiya Flat Red, the sprayed several coats of Tamiya Clear Red over it to get the gloss. The interior is Tamiya Flat Black, with a few drops of gloss black stirred in. Fun fun fun!

4 additional images. Click to enlarge.