Built by: Jim Johnson in Champlin, Minnesota

This model started out as the Monogram 1/24th scale Baja Beast kit. I chopped and sectioned the body until it looked right, then arched the wheel openings for an in-motion look.

With bodywork complete a mold was made from RTV. It's about half the size of the original Baja Beast. I'm lucky as I own a resin casting business with my partner Jim Kampmann called "The Good Stuff". I took one of the resin castings and painted it Testors pearl orange over a white base. Jim shrunk down an original set of Baja Bandito decals to fit the body, then printed them out for me on decal paper. After they were applied and dry the body was clear coated with Testors clear.

The engine is from the Roarin Rail dragster with headers from the Fast Buck kit. The scoop is a cut down radome from a 1/72nd scale F-14 Tomcat jet. Wheels and tires are resin castings from the Boss Mustang snap kit. The blower and wheels were painted with Alclad Chrome. I used the surfboard from the Baja Beast kit and made a matching one from sheet plastic. They were painted pearl orange then decaled to match the sides of the body. The boards are angled to act as rear spoilers when stored on the roof.

Nerf bars and top rails were made from aluminum rod. The windows are red tinted acetate and a resin piece sign emblem from the Baja Bandito completed the model. I had a lot of fun building this model. It's a combination pavement pounder and sand witch if you know what I mean. Next up is a mini Ice-T.