BAD or GOOD "BADMAN"?

[jbwelda]

what cracks me up is they call it a "55" but i would wager there is nothing 55 on it!

[gui_tarzan]

I built this as a review kit for RoR a few months ago. It is completely whacked, I hope no one expects it to be high quality because it's not. But it is a great looking shelf model and a reminder to many of us of our childhoods. I left the body yellow and by the time you get the decals on, the yellow body, black decals and red "glass" really contrast each other and look awesome.

[pharoah]

Is the Badman kit any good? I've never built one,but I built the original Monogram 55 Chevy hardtop many years ago.

That kit had so many options..

[Craig Irwin]

John, it depends on your idea of good. Everything fits together fine, but it's far from accurate. As a fun build, yes. as anything else, no.

[Dwight55]

IMO it doesn't matter if its good or bad. Its a 55 chevy......nothing else matters. I love 55 chevies.

[Greg Myers]

Never gets old 

[randyc]

I'm just catching up, but wasn't this a Tom Daniel design?   So therefore, it probably isn't prototypically correct.  But all of us of a certain age probably built it as a kid.  And played with it til it busted.   Then as adults, we built it again for display.  Man I loved some Tom Daniel kits back in the day!  You really can't "rivet count" on this one.   Not designed to be a dead nuts accurate kit to anything.   Just the idea of a gasser.  Built easily.  And back in the early 70s, it was "55 Chevy" enough for my 10- 13 year old eyes.  And way easier to build than  the Revell kit with it's fiddly hinges and tiny little parts.   Plus it was a HOT ROD GASSER DRAG CAR!  

[Casey]

3 hours ago, randyc said:

I'm just catching up, but wasn't this a Tom Daniel design?

It's a bit complicated. The original  PC83 1/24 Monogram '55 Chevrolet kit from 1963 was a 3'n1 kit, with the custom parts designed by Darryl Starbird. The body shell had no fixed roof, but two separate hardtops and a radical custom bubble top were included:

I think the PC83 1/24 Monogram '55 Chevrolet kit was issued once, or maybe twice (I've seen it molded in red and aqua blue), then in 1969 the Badman was released, and the stock hardtop was now molded integrally with the body. So, Yes, the Badman version was a Tom Daniel design, but it was a heavily modified version of a pre-existing kit rather than an all-new kit. The seats found in the Badman (or its twin,  the '55 Chevy Street Machine kit) were the custom seat option from the PC83 issue, so those are two of a few parts which remain from the original kit.

Edited November 1, 2018 by Casey

[Dave Darby]

On 12/4/2012 at 5:06 PM, Greg Myers said:

Monogram '30 Ford Woodie Chevy V-8, six twos, finned aluminum valve covers should slide right in, transmission and all. Nice for a C/G car.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill McDonald build.

That Weiand Drag Star 6 carb manifold setup (minus plating on the manifold) was in the original issue 55. The unit from the Woody will directly interchange with the Bad Man 55.

[Dave Darby]

On 9/8/2012 at 6:10 PM, Guest said:

 

Not at all. There's no way a 283 (the actual engine in the kit) can be stroked out to 396 cubic inches. I've heard that story for years. I just wonder who made it up?

The engine in the kit is a piece of hollow plastic with no cylinder bores - therefore no limitations. Who's to say it's a 283 when outwardly they look identical? So that argument is out the window. Hope they reissue it again soon...

[Snake45]

2 hours ago, Casey said:

It's a bit complicated. The original  PC83 1/24 Monogram '55 Chevrolet kit from 1963 was a 3'n1 kit, with the custom parts designed by Darryl Starbird. The body shell had no fixed roof, but two separate hardtops and a radical custom bubble top were included:

I think the PC83 1/24 Monogram '55 Chevrolet kit was issued once, or maybe twice (I've seen it molded in red and greyish blue), then in 1969 the Badman was released, and the stock hardtop was now molded integrally with the body. So, Yes, the Badman version was a Tom Daniel design, but it was a heavily modified version of a pre-existing kit rather than an all-new kit. The seats found in the Badman (or its twin,  the '55 Chevy Street Machine kit) were the custom seat option from the PC83 issue, so those are two of a few parts which remain from the original kit.

The glue bomb I recently acquired is molded in an attractive aqua blue. I'm giving some thought to polishing out the plastic. 

[Craig Irwin]

As per the engine, 55 Chevys were a 265 CI engine, and do have obvious differences than later SBC's. Biggest is the lack of a full flow oil filter on the lower block. I don't have a kit to check.

 

[W-409]

3 hours ago, Dave Darby said:

The engine in the kit is a piece of hollow plastic with no cylinder bores - therefore no limitations. Who's to say it's a 283 when outwardly they look identical? So that argument is out the window. Hope they reissue it again soon...

The BadMan kit engine is clearly a Small Block and not a 396 BBC. The valve covers, heads and headers are clearly SBC parts... Of course it's impossible to tell the engine size, but if I remember correctly it has the old oil filter, which was used on at least 265 and 283 Cid engines and not found on more modern SBCs.

 

 

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Hmm.  Never had the Badman so I'm speaking entirely out of school here and ready to stand corrected -

but if the basic engine carried over from PC83, it appears from the exploded view above that the oil filter is down driver's side in front of the transmission by the oil pan. 

iIrc, the only Monogram-branded '55 with a top-mounted oil filter was the 1/25 '95 convertible tooling.

[Craig Irwin]

Staggered valve cover bolts are another clue, 1959 and earlier. No provision for side motor mounts says 1957 and older. No way it's anything close to a 396.

 

[Dave Darby]

3 hours ago, W-409 said:

The BadMan kit engine is clearly a Small Block and not a 396 BBC. The valve covers, heads and headers are clearly SBC parts... Of course it's impossible to tell the engine size, but if I remember correctly it has the old oil filter, which was used on at least 265 and 283 Cid engines and not found on more modern SBCs.

 

 

Yes. But with the right block a small block can be bored and stroked up to at least 400 CID. I never said it looked like a big block. I only said it didnt have to be a 283. Or 265 for that matter.

[W-409]

Yep Dave you said nothing about the Big Block. And yes there are some "Small" Blocks that are over 400 Cid, but that can't be done with 283 or 265. Personally I don't care what size SBC someone likes to call it, but if one wants to build an accurate model out of this kit, it's good to know what the kit engine really is.

[Dave Darby]

9 hours ago, W-409 said:

Yep Dave you said nothing about the Big Block. And yes there are some "Small" Blocks that are over 400 Cid, but that can't be done with 283 or 265. Personally I don't care what size SBC someone likes to call it, but if one wants to build an accurate model out of this kit, it's good to know what the kit engine really is.

True. But again it's a hollow piece of plastic. The Bad Man issue could presume to have an engine swap. So there's nothing to say it's the 283.

[Casey]

On 11/30/2012 at 9:56 AM, Harry P. said:

As a source of realistic and/or usable parts... not really.

I've yet to find any better deep American Racing 200-S wheels like these in 1/25 or 1/24 scale, so that's two usable parts. 

[Bob Ellis]

Boy, everybody wants to atttack this Badman kit!

Next topic; MPC Mild and Wild 1971 parts or how about Zingers?

[Casey]

3 hours ago, Bob Ellis said:

Boy, everybody wants to attack this Badman kit!

No, everybody doesn't. Most people have no problem honestly pointing out the kit's flaws, but we also understand the compromises which have been part of the kit from the get-go. I don't think that's uncharted territory for a kit this old, but it continuing popularity seems to indicate many people will buy and build it anyway, despite the flaws.

[Allen Wrench]

If you want a more accurate Badman, seek out the Badman II diecast kit released by Revell a few years ago. It's based on the American Grafitti '55 kit and has a very well-done unchopped sedan body. It has the same issue as the plastic kit with regard to the "396" graphics on a small-block powered car, and they're tampo-printed on the diecast body. But overall, it's a nicely done kit.

[Allen Wrench]

On 11/8/2018 at 10:23 PM, Casey said:

I've yet to find any better deep American Racing 200-S wheels like these in 1/25 or 1/24 scale, so that's two usable parts. 

The ladder bars are well-done and are definitely usable on other drag builds, too. In fact, Ed Fluck at Drag City Casting offers them in resin. I've also seen the front straight axle setup used on other gasser builds. In fact, I believe Tim Boyd used it on his '57 150 gasser that was featured in SA several years ago.

[Snake45]

8 hours ago, Allen Wrench said:

If you want a more accurate Badman, seek out the Badman II diecast kit released by Revell a few years ago. It's based on the American Grafitti '55 kit and has a very well-done unchopped sedan body. It has the same issue as the plastic kit with regard to the "396" graphics on a small-block powered car, and they're tampo-printed on the diecast body. But overall, it's a nicely done kit.

I wish I'd bought one of those at the time. Actually, I'm not sure I ever saw one in 1/25, though I did see it in 1/18 several places. I did manage to get the AG one in 1/25, and built it, and I like it very much. 

[Greg Myers]

The Badman II and the American Graffiti '55 , both actually have a  348 /409 "W" block engine. 

Edited November 18, 2018 by Greg Myers