Weird-Ohs: Digger the Way Out Dragster

Lets take a look at Digger the Way Out Dragster. Digger is a hideous green monster with bloodshot eyes and a wide shark-toothed grin driving a blue dragster. The exhaust pipe is coming out of his gloss yellow helmet and parachute pack is strapped on his back. The knob of his comically long gear shift is an 8-ball. Apparently the dragster is fueled by a concoction called "Jiggle Juice." The engine has blown parts all over the pavement as he speeds past a sign which says "Dragsville Rubber Burners."

I remember having this kit back when I was kid, back then Testors had bought the molds and was releasing them as Grodies. I put it together and tried to paint it. I have no idea what finally became of it. I saw this one on Amazon and decided to try my hand at it again. This time I actually did a decent job of it.

It is probably a good idea to wash and prime the model before painting. Also, it is best to do the majority of the painting before assembly, then all you have to do is a little touch up here and there. The interior of the model should be painted with flat black. Once the model was painted and assembled, the decals were applied. The 8-Ball decal didn't work out right, however, so it was free painted onto the gear shift knob. For some reason, decals for the tires were included. The front tires have raised lettering and the back slicks have "Badyear" engraved on them. a bit of dry brushing can bring this lettering out without any need for the decals. The "Digger" decal probably should have been applied to the back of the bucket instead of the front. Eventually "Digger" was painted by hand on the back of the bucket. (I don't like it... I may have to get another model just for the decal and redo it someday. OCD... I'm sure no one cares but me, but I'm the only one that matters. LOL) It also took a couple of tries to get the eyes to look right. Part of the problem with them is that the pupils are in the wrong place. If I were to do this one over, I would file off the pupils and paint them on where they belong. (see the box illustration below)

The massive slicks of the candy blue dragster bit deeply into the asphalt as tire smoke streamed back behind the rail. The driver shoved the long 8-ball shifter forward as the front wheels leaped from the pavement with a surge of power. Engine parts and oil blew out from the block, but the bulging, bloodshot eyes of the driver revealed no concern as long orange exhaust flames roared from the chrome headers attached to the sides of his striped yellow helmet. His parachute is firmly strapped to his back, and his green-skinned face is twisted into a wide, shark-toothed smile as he screams past a road sign marked "Dragsville."