ModelcarJR

I don't build many NASCAR so this is my only offering for the year. This AMT kit (I don't know but might be an old MPC kit) doesn't have any parts numbers on the trees. Therefore, the numbering in the instructions mean nothing as you just have the match everything up visually. The front suspension is horrible with few pins and ill-fitting parts. I used Tamiya TS-23 Light Blue for the Petty Blue. The engine is nothing to look at so I am not concerned that my photo didn't turn out. I did add a window net from a window net kit from Scale Model Speedway that I have had for about 30 years. The build turned out OK but I was disappointed with the kit. Here are the photos of the finished product. Thanks for looking! ?

This is a great kit. I've built it a couple of time both as Stock and Pro Street. it doesn't have a lot of parts but it has the right parts. The interior is a bucket but the door panels are separate so they can be painted and detailed before assembly. A nice set of rally wheels that can be mated with some Goodyear or Goodrich tires from the parts box. Only a few pieces that are chrome that the chrome should be removed. The body is clean without mold lines and in this case is molded in blue, a 1989 issue. The blue plastic had a swirl in it so I washed and sanded it out good before painting. I painted the previous stock assembly with MCW Sierra Fawn Metallic inside and out. I added plug wires, heater hoses, vinyl top, white letter tires and an antenna. One of my favorite models. This one I painted Dupli-Color Bright Aqua Metallic to substitute for Marina Blue Metallic. The hardest part was taping off the water bottle and painting it first. The I taped it off and taped off the engine compartment before applying two coats of color and two coats of Clear Lacquer. Tomorrow I'll tape off the body and paint the engine compartment black and paint all the other pieces. I haven't decided on an interior color yet. Thanks for looking!

Thanks, DW and Scott! I appreciate your comments! I found a photo of Richard Petty with this car and he was standing in a pose with his foot on top of the left front tire. So I removed the left front tire so that I could fix it to stick out beyond the fender a bit just like the right side tire. I had to break the king pin but I had another in the extra kit I have. So I now have both front tires sticking out a bit but not so much as maybe a gasser might be. I dullcoted the bumpers and trim on the windshield and back window trim, finished the decals and other detailing and now its done! Thanks for looking! ? Oops! Forgot to paint the gas cap which I will do now!

All the construction is done on this one. The left side looks better than the right side in that the front wheel on the right sticks out a little more than the left. I noticed when assembling the right side front suspension that it was a bit wider than the left side. Maybe it's supposed to be that way. But there's no way to pull the tire in any further without cutting down the arm that holds the kingpin and then reassembling. Can't really do that as it would take a lot of work to strengthen it by drilling holes and using some wire to hold it together. So I am going to leave as is. Just some detailing and decals and it will be finished. I did add a window net from a window net kit from Scale model Speedway that I've had in the drawers since probably the 80s. It worked out pretty well. Thanks for looking! ?

The chassis is complete and I really had to make some adjustments in order to get the front wheels inboard as far as possible. I removed the keepers on the spindles for the brake rotor and ditched the rotors. I shortened and thinned down the axle and removed the inner circle on the inner wheel. This will have to do.

Thanks, David! I'm glad you agree with me! Here's what I've gotten done in the last couple of days. Finished the interior platform, built and installed the engine and built the front suspension. I didn't mount the fire extinguisher on the left side of the seat because it wouldn't clear the roll cage. I added square type valve covers with heat shields to make this engine look a little bit like a stock car engine, although there is not much that can be done with this engine. I had to shorten up the valve covers for this short block. I assembled the front suspension with the interior platform off and I'm glad I did. It was a real PITA putting the suspension together with few pins but flat surfaces to glue parts to. If it sits on all four wheels I will feel blessed. Thanks for looking! ?

I picked up this Dodge Dart in a group of kits that I bought because I could get them all for about $4 a kit. This particular kit and one more were missing the roll cage. But I also had two Jim Cushman Plymouth Dusters with roll cages. They are essentially the same kit with different is a bodies so I can use one of the roll cages from the Jim Cushman kit for this kit and still have one of each. The only thing that is missing from the roll cage in the Cushman kit is the head protection piece. I'm not much of a NASCAR fan anymore but I was back in the 90s and built several stock cars back then. I've painted this one with Tamiya Light Blue which isn't light blue, IMO. The instructions indicate using Tamiya French Blue but I don't have any on that and I think this TS-26 is a better match to Petty Blue. I have taken the photo out of the light so the color is better represented. I rubbed it out this morning and then just added a couple of light coats of paint to cover the edges that I rubbed out. I don't think I will do anything else but add the decals. This is the sixth kit that I have painted without assembly to get ahead of the colder weather. But its supposed to rain tomorrow and a cold front is on its way. So I am going to go ahead and finish this one. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Mike! I appreciate your comment! ?

Thanks, Joe, Dan, Carl and Steve! I appreciate your comments! ?

Thanks, Stephen! I appreciate your comment! ?

So I rubbed out the paint and added the foil. I wanted to add the decals before I put this one aside to paint more bodies. I failed to add a coat of clear lacquer to the decals but I don't think it would have done any good as the decals disintegrated into 100 little pieces. So I grabbed a few decals sheets with flames and made my own flame design. So here is a very tasteless presentation of "a hood in flames".

I got this kit at a contest in the raffle. I painted the front end white without tape at first hoping I could get it close. But there was too much red in the white when I painted the red so I taped off a good portion of the red on the hood and front fenders and then re-painted the white. I think this will look OK once the decals are on. I'll rub it out, add the foil and then add the decals to see if they cover OK. Still haven't decided on the interior color but probably will go with a red dash, steering wheel and column and a black interior bucket as indicated in the instructions. I thought about a maroon or darker red but I don't have any at the moment. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Carl! I am using the last cans of Brite Touch which is a generic brand made by Sherwin-Williams that was sold by O'Reilly and Advance Auto parts. I was told by the counter guy at Advance that they weren't going to carry it any more. O'Reilly also is out of stock and they don't know why. I guess even though the price has gone from less than $5 per 10 oz. can to now $9.99 Sherwin-Williams still can make it. I got the last 5 cans out of the Advance warehouse according to the counter guy. I've got 3 cans left but not sure what I use after that is gone. I rubbed out the beetle and attached the hood and engine cover. It was some work doing that and getting them adjusted. The hood still doesn't sit down all the way and there is bit of a space in the engine cover when closed. That is all I am dong for now while I move on to painting other bodies. Thanks for looking! ?

Here's one more for the workbench. Weather is good and I'm on a roll. This is the Polar Lights Snap-it kit. The body had some pin marks in the top and mold lines on the front and rear fenders. The engine cover also had some sink marks but I filled them and also filled the one pin mark on the top. The paint is Dupli-Color Super Red II. I am not going to do the white billboards on the sides or the scallops on the hood. The photo makes the paint look a little orange but believe me it is Super RED. It won't take too long to rub out. I'll also paint the other parts and have this one ready for assembly. Thanks for looking! ?

I'm starting this thread but will be awhile before I start building as I am still in the process of painting bodies while the weather is good. I had rubbed this body out earlier but didn't like how it looked so I rubbed it out again (or maybe finished rubbing out what I didn't finish earlier) and then added the foil. I even got rid of the mold lines on the B pillars without leaving a substantial mark in the paint. I also painted all the other parts in the kit. I have a partial can of Model Master Dark Bronze Metallic that I use on the engine block which is a good match for the engine color. I don't have any flat red and I didn't like a flatted Italian Red so I use orange over the red and flatted it out. Looks like a good color match to photos I've seen. Not much I can do with the interior bucket (poorly engraved) but I am going with black and white interior. Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, James! I appreciate your comment!

Thanks, Emre! I appreciate your comment! The only way I know to get a good luster or shine on the paint is to add a couple of coats of clear lacquer (I used Krylon Clear Lacquer on these bodies and sometimes use Tamiya TS-13 clear) and then rub out the paint and clear with 4000, 6000, and 8000 grit cloths and also using Meguiar's Scratch-X in between each grit and after. A good carnuba wax also is helpful. It takes several hours for this process but its the only way I know to get a good finish. Thanks for the comment!

This Revell 66 GTO is one of my favorite kits. I have built a couple of stock versions and the racing version of this kit. Tim Boyd wrote a nice article on it a few years ago in another magazine. Nice job on the engine! If I could offer one suggestion - clean up the sprue attachment points on the air cleaners with a sanding stick and then touch up the paint. That way it will not detract from your nice work on the engine. Good luck with the rest of the build! ??

Thanks, David and Mike! I appreciate your comments! I guess the black/silver/black is a better combination than the silver/black/silver especially on these tri-fives. But, nothing ventured nothing gained! Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Jim! I appreciate your question. The Diamond Dust is just a metallic lacquer paint in a spray can that was originally put out by Testors as "One Coat" brand. Now the name is "Extreme Lacquer" sold in Michaels and Hobby Lobby. I think when it originally came out the metallic flake was too big like a metal flake, but I think they have toned it down since. I don't use it much but I am using up cans that I have left. Here's a couple of photos of a 56 Chevy Del Ray that I did in a similar fashion with the one coat from about 2005, both Diamond Dust and Blazing Black. It seems to me to be more intense flake but maybe that's just my imagination. Thanks for looking and your question! ?

I'm starting this thread but it may be a few days before I do much else as I have several other kits that I am trying to get painted before I run out of good weather. I've painted this one as an unconventional two-tone with Dupli-Color Ebony Black and Testors Diamond Dust. The interior will be black and silver/gray and I will use the gray decals in the kit. I've painted, rubbed out and foiled the body. I'll do the gold later. All the related parts have now been painted, silver, black or orange on the engine. Here are a few photos:

Great looking interior, Doug! Nice work! ??

Stripes and paint look great, Dan! Nice work! ??

Thanks, Dan and Carl! I appreciate your comments! I can close this thread now as the Monte Carlo is done! Aside from the cracked windshield, it didn't turn out too bad. Added a water bottle in the engine bay and blackwashed the aluminum. Added black decals on the lower chrome trim on the long runs. Bumpers assemblies glued on well. Chrome foil on the headlight bezels. Done! Thanks for looking! ?

Thanks, Carl! Here's the 57 Chevy 2 door Sedan rubbed out and foiled. I'm thinking about whether to leave the rain rail black of just foil it. I also need to add some gold on the rear insert and the three gold emblets on the front fender but I do that last. The rear fender inserts are foiled with Matte Aluminum and trimmed with regular chrome foil. I'll be finishing the Monte Carlo this afternoon and then on to painting the other parts for the 57 Chevy. I've painted all the parts for the 41 Willys and need to complete the others that I have painted bodies. Then I'll paint some more bodies to get ready for winter. Thanks for looking! ?