When I heard we were having all the grandchildren down for Spring Break, I knew it would be a good time to build a kit with my Grandson Parker. Up on the list comes AMT/Round 2's 1/25 Munster's Monster Truck and I snagged it up. Parker was excited about having the chance to build with Grandpa almost as excited as I was and we dove into the kit the day he arrived.

The kit is molded in black with two sprues of chromed parts, instructions, a full set of decals, and the giant tires naturally. This is a full glue kit and includes a lovely decal sheet of Hermann Munster's face that is beautifully printed.

One of the first things to realize with this kit is that there are spare parts and a fair number of them left over from previous incarnations. This includes duplicate light bars, drive shafts, and more. This is a great chance to get Parker to read directions! We first cut off all the extra pieces and got rid of them to help him assemble. There is a fair amount of flash on the kit from previous moldings and I did jump in to help remove it. The kit was built in three separate subassemblies. The engine and exhausts, the frame, and the body.

Starting with the engine, Parker (who has a few kits already under his belt) glued the black engine parts together. Fit was good and the transfer case was built also. Parker painted these Tamiya Gloss Black (thinned with lacquer thinner) and set them aside to dry. They were sprayed with Alclad white aluminum (because it looked cool) and the chrome parts added.

The frame was started and first thing Parker sprayed the shock absorbers gloss white (Tamiya plus lacquer thinner again) and let then dry. These are numbered so keep them sorted. Next the springs were attached to the bottom. Also watch these as they are specific to each end (ask me how I figured that out later!). The gear case and axles were built and set aside also. Once Parker painted the frame black, the shocks were glued on and I realized that the back springs were backwards. This moves the wheel about 1/4 inch forward and caused the adjustment of the drive shaft. If you look at the finished kit, you can see the back wheel being slightly forward. Nuts! Unfortunately, it was very well glued in place.

The body was next and the only iffy fit was the hood, which we puttied and sanded. Parker sprayed the entire body wet with Tamiya Gloss Black. A note here, we were using the Paasche H for the spraying. It is a great airbrush for kids- durable, easily adjusted and sprays great. The black was sprayed wet for a glossy look. The interior was built and painted and slid right in behind the glass.

The decals were next and here we had a problem. They were somewhat grabby and tore very easily. I had to help with this as they were commendably thin and very well printed but fussy. In the end, we got them in place and they looked great. Once dry, two coats of clear gloss were added and it was time to assemble the subassemblies.

The wheels were painted green, built, and then added to the frame. These push on but I trimmed them, as the fit was very tight. The engine was added to the frame and the fame and body combined. No issues anywhere. The bumpers, roll bar, lights and mirrors were added and the kit was finished.

The kit turned out well. I will say that even for a 13 year old with a few kits under his belt, it will take some supervision with the flash and the decals. It was a lot of fun and teaching airbrushing to a Grandson is priceless. My thanks to AMT/Round 2 for the kit and to IPMS/USA for the chance to build it.