# 20 Mule Team Borax



## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

Good gawd almighty. I just got this model today, and are there ever a lot of freekin' parts! And some tiny, tiny stuff, too. 

I never had one when I was a kid, and I only ever saw one completed model in-person in the day. I had no idea it was this intricate.

I can't really imagine, even in the glory days of model building, a _kid_ having the patience or the time to put this thing together, let alone paint it. No wonder there are so many of these kits available, and all untouched and unbuilt. 

Anyhoo, the plastic is really solid, and given how small some of the parts are, the detail is rather impressive.

I'm certainly glad I got it, but, at first blush, it looks almost as daunting as putting together a Cutty Sark with all the rigging. :drunk:


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

Don't have that kit, but it sounds like the Budweiser Clydesdale kit I have in the stash.









It's still in the stash, but I'm in no rush to tackle it.


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## starduster (Feb 12, 2006)

I have a few of these un built kits got them when they were advertised on the Death Valley Days TV show by the Old Ranger, I have a friend who worked for the Borax Co and he got his free at the plant he had several cases when they wanted to get rid of the models, he gave most to kids when he visited them in hospitals through his Elks group yea they are a great model ranks right up there with the Budweiser horses and wagon, I'm going to have to build those one of these days. Karl


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## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

TAY666 said:


> Don't have that kit, but it sounds like the Budweiser Clydesdale kit I have in the stash.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That's a pretty cool looking kit. I wasn't aware of its existence. 

From the picture on the box, it looks like all the horses are in the same pose. To their credit, especially given how small the model is, the Borax kit has four different sets of mules. So you can mix and match the pairs, and in conjunction with how you paint them, they can all wind up looking quite unique.

On the Budweiser kit, approximately how tall would the horses stand (in inches)?


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

The Budweiser kit is somewhere around 1/32 scale to 1/24 scale ... its big


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## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

Apparently the Borax model is 1/67 scale.


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## Buc (Jan 20, 1999)

Remember sending away for it and waiting by the mailbox.

Still remember the light blue color the pieces were molded in!!
Had a blast putting that together back in the day!

(here's a photo I have on my Junk drawer)
http://www.bucwheat.com/20mule.jpg


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## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

Hmmm? That's interesting. The front of my instruction sheet looks different. 

It's got the mule team and wagons picture as the header at the top, "The 20 Mule Team Role" below it, and the "The history behind your scale model" below that (not every word capitalized, by the way, as in Buc's). 

The "Swinging the Team Around Corners" info on mine has been moved to the third page of the fold-out instructions, and there is no old Death Valley guy's picture on the front either. Actually, there's no old Death Valley guy's picture anywhere on my instructions.

I didn't think the production of this model lasted long enough to warrant a change in the instruction sheet layout.


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## TAY666 (Jan 8, 2000)

djnick66 said:


> The Budweiser kit is somewhere around 1/32 scale to 1/24 scale ... its big


Yeah. I've actually seen one built up.
One of the local bars has one. Think it is actually a beer sign. Which I think was actually official. Maybe some kind of deal to have factory builds done up for advertising.
I should bring my camera next time happen to wander down that way.


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## spawndude (Nov 28, 2007)

I remember the TV show but not the kit. Maybe I didn't eat the right kind of cereal! Assuming it cereal box tops.


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## Frankie Boy (Feb 28, 2002)

LOL. No, Borax is laundry soap.


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## starduster (Feb 12, 2006)

Speaking of Budweiser we have a taco restaurant in my area that had quite a few of the Budweiser models scattered around the bar area until the new owners threw them all except two into the trash those two are still in the bar area, it's a shame that some people don't appreciate this type of historical workmanship as who ever built them did an outstanding job on all of them. Karl


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## debaty (Mar 3, 2017)

Did you ever get your model put together? I put one together about 20 years ago and I just ordered another one today. I like where you compared it to the Cutty Sark, and that is about the size of it.


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## Milton Fox Racing (May 27, 2014)

I remember seeing some of those teams back when I was a kid. Didnt know they where model kits, I thought they where provided by the <insert company name here>. Will have to check them out the next time I see one at the antique stores - where I still run across one now and then. :cheers2:


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## docpoint2 (Oct 21, 2016)

*Revell Connection*

The 20 Mule Team wagon was made for Boraxo by the same company that made the Miniature Masterpieces historic vehicles. The men who ran Miniature Masterpieces had Revell connections, and eventually the Miniature Masterpieces were incorporated into the Revell line. The sculptor who did the fine detail was Tony Bulone, who did many of the figures for Revell kits. Bulone's most important creation was the pattern for the original Barbie Doll, and he put his wife's face on Barbie. The story appears on pages 20-21 of "Remembering Revell Model Kits" by Schiffer Books.


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