Tom Daniel an industrial designer by trade, is probably one of the most popular model designers around. With over 75 of his designs being manufactured as scale model kits! With most model kits the real car comes first but not with Tom’s designs. Tom’s interest in automobiles developed at an early age. Tom, a native of California, grew up in the Huntington Park, California near Los Angeles after WW2 when hot rodding was starting to grow by customizing cars.
Hot rods were becoming an important part of the American automotive scene, especially in Southern California. At the age of 11 Tom, became influenced by chopped and channeled customs, raked ’32 and ’34 Fords cruising the LA streets and made up his mind that he wanted to design custom cars. More on Tom Daniel here –».
The Kit:
The Jinx Express is a rollin’ “Fort Knox” from the mind of Tom Daniel and the model makers at Monogram. It has all those “go” details you’ve come to expect from Tom: zoomie pipes tinted hood scoop and a big bad engine. But this truck is really a bank. Drop the coins in the top slot and open the combination door at the rear to make a withdrawal.
- Product ID: 85-6899
- Skill Level: 2
- Scale: 1/24
- Length: 6-5/8″
- Width: 3-1/8″
- Height: 3-5/8″
- Parts: 81
- Real slick rear tires
- Roof mounted rear spoiler
- Working combination lock
- MSRP: $23.99 (USD)
- Appox Street Price: $19.95
I was pretty excited to see this model kit resurfacing during the Summer at my local hobby shop. I always had a great appreciation for Tom Daniel and Dave Deal’s work. So after many years since my first and last attempt with the old Testors Enamel square bottles, here I go again like White Snake.
This Jynx Express model kit has some sink marks and flash is here and there. But for an early 70’s tooling, it is definitely in very good shape. This model kit is almost as old as me. The mold lines were very minor on my production sample and all the parts have a very nice fit. The model features a working combination lock. It does work but be warned that one shouldn’t force the dial outwards or the holding tab will snap. Â My recommendation is to ‘shave’ a little bit of plastic from the tab which is molded on the body so the lock mechanism can work smoother and better.
Overall the Jynx Express offers nice build time value for its money. Everything inside is squared and tight so yes, you can put coins and use it as a bank. If cemented properly, the model as a whole is quite sturdy for your kid’s bank or your loose spare change.
The model is molded in Silver. But I found a little bit monotonous painting it completely in the suggested color. The gun turret was painted with cheap (.97 cents) matte black spray from the megastore. It works nice and dries really fast. I used the same paint for the chassis, lower body and engine. The only part that I left with the original chrome was the front grill with the dollar sign to add some ‘bling’ to the model. The rest of the chrome was removed with oven cleaner as shown here.
At one point before assembly, I considered twisting this kit into a post-apocalyptic contraption. I even considered painting it in desert sand color. But then I settled for Silver and the base color is Testors Lacquer ‘Diamond Dust‘ #1830 in Spray. To add some contrast the rear top wing spoiler was painted with Testors One Coat Lacquer ‘Blazing Black‘ #1832.
The decal quality on this kit is outstanding for the price of the kit.
The decals then were sealed with Testors Once Coat WET LOOK CLEAR COAT.
This was a very fun build, straightforward instructions and a nice model for novices too.
Highly recommended!
My sincere thanks to Revell USA for sending in this sample.
An informal behind the scenes clip.
