Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s ‘Fink Eliminator’ plastic model – by Revell Model Company
Fink Eliminator is my second Ed “Big Daddy” Roth kit. I scored a Revell version of this currently out of production model on eBay for not too high a price, which really made my day. It’s a hilarious and very fun kit.
I should probably mention that, despite my current rash of hotrod and funny car related models, I am about as far from a gearhead as you can imagine. Cars don’t excite me, speed doesn’t thrill me, yet I love these crazy models.
I bring this up because I decided to ignore the aim of Roth’s Fink Eliminator model. Imagine those “knock-off Calvin pees on” stickers you see on the back of certain vehicles. Fink Eliminator is the same sort of thing.
The car-smashing, decal sporting, example on the box
Put the decal of the car manufacturer you like on the hammer and the one you utterly despise on the flattened car. Isn’t that satisfying? The whole concept took me back to some of the overheard schoolyard arguments of my youth. Not where I wanted to go.
I decided that, instead, my Fink Eliminator would be an indiscriminate smasher, Detroit be damned.
Modifications To The Kit
Beyond leaving off the car, decals, bomb, and mouth back, the Eliminator’s hair was my only real “modification” to the kit.
Right off, I knew I was going to use “real” hair on the Eliminator but I had a devil of a time choosing an overall color scheme. I finally settled on powder blue skin and that, I knew, meant hot pink hair. Luckily, I had some (told ya I wasn’t a gearhead).
One of the big surprises of the kit for me was … the beard. Somehow I had missed the Eliminator’s beard. Had I noticed it before, I may not have been so eager to add the craft hair. It worked out in the long run, however.
One important trick I learned this go-round was pre-painting the craft hair backing.
Craft hair backing may include off-color threads which can stand out horribly on a small project like this. The hot pink hair I used has white threads in the backing. Pre-painting the backing and any exposed edges solves this issue.
Wish I’d figured that out before I mounted the beard.
Ed “Big Daddy” Roth’s Fink Eliminator
This kit was a blast. Roth’s sculpts are great fun to decorate, with lots of fun and unexpected detail.
While this kit is currently out of production, I can’t imagine it will be too long before we see another reissue. I’ll certainly be tempted to pick another one up.
Wotta blast.
