From the vault v.1: NASCAR Thunderbird/G-Machine for the Street....

[tim boyd]

I've been slowly going through my built models and posting them at my fotki site.  In doing so, I had forgotten the level of detail I'd invested in this project.  It dates back from 1984 or 1985, just after Monogram released their NASCAR kits.  It might even have been built from one of the test shots Monogram sent me, and I recall it being the subject of a column in Popular Cars magazine (a Car Craft mag from the publishers of Street Rodder).  I don't believe it has even been seen in color outside of my house until now....

Highlights include the really neat blown Boss 429 from the Monogram "Vandal" and "Vanbulance" custom van kits and a graphic layout from a series of 1/144th scale airline decals that I bought from the legendary San Antonio Hobby Shop (IIRC) near San Jose, CA back in the day.  A few minor adaptations for the street included head and taillamps and a license plate.  

At the time my 1/1 scale rides were a 1983 Heritage T-Bird with the TRX package, followed by a 1984 T-Bird Turbo Coupe.  As there was never a factory stock kit of either of these, this model was the closet I could get there in scale.  

And to think now I built it nearly 40 years ago...how time flies.  Thanks for looking...TIM 

Edited December 3, 2022 by tim boyd

[JollySipper]

That is so Very sharp.........

[bbowser]

That's held up well.  Very '80s vibe, great work.

[Koellefornia Kid]

Looks great! I'd bet it rips the asphalt when the light goes green! Love the smooth finish!

[Zen]

Very cool! 

[slusher]

Super Nice!

[cobraman]

Very cool !

[Toys4Don2]

Pretty cool looking blast from the past!

[espo]

Amazing detailing throughout. The paint work still looks fresh. 

[PappyD340]

Nice T-bird!

[Zippi]

Nice build.  Very unique color and I'm diggin it.  Nicely detailed on top and bottom.  

[TooOld]

Great looking conversion Tim !  I always wondered why more Nascar kits weren't built as street cars , seems like a no brainer to me . Thanks for sharing !

[spencer1984]

Awesome job on this, I really like that graphic work!

[Smilesperhour]

I like that a lot

[tim boyd]

Thanks all for your comments and feedback....TIM

[mk11]

Great work on that one, Tim. Did you ever take time to compare the nascar body to the pro-stock '86 or stock '87 bodies just for the heck of it?

[tim boyd]

On 12/27/2022 at 4:46 PM, mk11 said:

Great work on that one, Tim. Did you ever take time to compare the nascar body to the pro-stock '86 or stock '87 bodies just for the heck of it?

Mike...great question.  I do not remember doing a detailed comparo back at the time.  I had built the '84 T-Bird Pro Stock and '87 Showroom stock Turbo Coupe kits, so this would have been an easy exercise. 

Of coure, the '83 1/3 and '84 Turbo Coupes are among my all time 1/1 factory stock favorites (I actually played a key role in getting the clearcoat gold and light blue metallics put into the 1/1 color palette replacing the blando solid color tan and baby blue colors late in the '83 model year).    

TB 

[mk11]

Thanks Tim. I've got a sealed mono motorcraft t-bird here... guess I'm jes' gonna have to open it up. I certainly agree that the early aero birds are appealing, especially the ones cloaked in that blue metallic.