MarkJ

The images below are my rudimentary way of trying to show how I go about doing the decals. Basically, I take a photo of the car, make it 7.625 inches long and place it on an 8.5 x 11 inch base that is 400 pixels per inch. Anything created on this file will fit the model pretty much exactly the way it needs to. It will also give me a pattern for cutting out the wheel openings on the fenders and eventually the quarter panels. If you never worked with one of these programs it will leave you with a lot of questions. Oh, the front fender of the real car was made the same way the picture of the model was. I found a profile shot of the real car and did the same to it that I did to the model image.

Todd and anyone else who chooses to give it a go, here are 2 pictures of each contingency that are mysteries to me. The one next to the Wynns is more like a glass jar than a bottle like I had mentioned above. The colored images are not as clear as the black and white ones. the one on the door is under the Permatex. Once I have these two, I will have all the contingencies the car had at the time it had the biggest number on the car

Todd, I will try to take a very fuzzy picture of it and post it. I think it's going to be one of those very rare ones. There is also a bottle contingency on the right front fender that I will include if anyone can figure out what that one is too. Thanks for asking .

Are any of you guys familiar with a decal from 1967 that has c4 in the middle of it. Its red and black and the 4 is inside the c right in the middle of a round decal. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

First thing to do is take profile shots of the model body, left, right and top. These photos will be made into 7.625-inch-long pictures and place on an 8.5x11 inch file that is 400 pixels per inch in size. The decals are made on this file and will fit the model exactly as you see them as we go on.

Todd, that sounds very feasible. I'm just glad it worked out that way. I thought I was going to have to try to change the 66 grille into a 67. Now I won't have to.

Thanks, Trevor, Tim and Todd. Yes, it seems like they tried to sabotage Mario first with an underpowered engine and ill handling car that was too loose, but they finally gave him a good engine before the race and Mario figured out how to drive the loose car from his dirt track experience. Then at the last pit stop of the day they held Mario in the pits till Freddy could get a good lead on him, but Mario was still able to battle back for the win. I went to downtown Houston back in 1967 with my friend Chuck Clark and we saw the race live on closed circuit pay for view tv on a big screen in some venue that I forget now what it was called. It was in black and white. I'm not using a special chassis because I'm gluing the hood shut so no engine views and I won't be taking any photos of the chassis for the under-glass forum. I figure when you saw these cars at the race track you couldn't see the engine or the chassis so as long as you get the body correct for the tires and use the correct tires and wheels and get the stance right that's really all you need to do with these builds. I will try to get the cage, dash, and steering wheel and everything else in the interior close to correct. One good thing I noticed was that this car had the 66 Fairlane grille in it covered by a screen. It did have the 67 taillights though, but I can change the 66 taillights into 67 taillights with a little styrene work and chrome paint.

Thanks, Steve. I looked around for a sheet and never could find one at Mikes or just by a general search. Plus, it would be so old I wouldn't trust the quality of it, and it would probably be pretty pricey as well. I've already got started on it and it seems to be going okay so I will just go ahead and make my own.

Finally getting around to doing this one. I will again glue the hood shut to streamline everything. Nascar engines back then were not that uncommon to look at so a lot of time can be saved leaving the hood shut. I will take time in the wip doing a basic look at how I make my own decals. As you will see, it's really not that hard to do or expensive except for the decal paper. below is the kit I'm using.

Thank you, Chuck for the kind words. they are much appreciated. I'm working on the decals right now for the next build and wondering whether to show my process of how I do them in the wip or just wait till I'm actually building the model. Thanks again.

Yours too. I will be checking out your Fairlane build to see how the roll cage goes together and your seat detail. I might have to dig to find it. Did you possibly have a wip for it?

My hood wouldn't fit either, so I just left the air cleaner lose and only put it on for under hood shots of the car. Good luck getting yours to fit flush. I really had not noticed your hood till you mentioned it.

Yoshimi, I could have sworn I commented on this excellent build when I first saw it. Your usual super clean work is evident again just like with all your other builds. I bet you're glad you had the kit you had. It makes for a much cleaner build than the AMT model king kit does. Sadly, any of these kits are hard to find these days unless you want to pay a premium price. Again, sorry I took so long to weigh in on this superb build.

You showed your true talents on this one, Bruce. These are very difficult models to build, and everyone will attest to that, that have ever built one. Yours looks perfect in every way shape and form. I would like to build more of them but I just can't take the pain of going through it again. It's just too frustrating.

Awesome build, Gerald. Beautiful from any angle. You checked all the boxes on this one. Paint , Decals, Stance, Cleanliness of build, and precise detail work.

Thanks, Bruce. Glad you are a fan of the old time Nascar. Seems like there are a lot more of us out there as well and not happy with the new stuff going on. Thanks for the RIP for Rex. He is my all-time favorite driver, and I credit him for getting me really interested in the sport back in 1961. I never got to meet him or anything like that, but I always had great respect with what he accomplished with his life from pure hard work and dedication. I have all his books, and they are a great read if you haven't read them yet. Thanks, Larry. It was a very enjoyable project. Thanks. Yoshimi. You're not going to believe this, but I used your finished build to make sure I didn't forget anything. By the way, it is a very clean and excellent build just like all of your builds are. Thanks, Jim. I really appreciate your enthusiastic response to the build. That's what is cool about this hobby. We all gain inspiration from each other to continue to do what we like to do which is be creative with styrene and a lot of other materials that go into this fun way to pass a little time.

If you didn't see this in the wip, here is the 53-year-old first try of this model. It's an MPC Nascar series Jim Hurtubise 72 Chevelle kit chassis with either a Revell or AMT model kit 71 Monte Carlo body. This is what happens to your paint if you don't keep your models in a clear plastic case. There were no aftermarket decals back then and no computers to find out even if they existed. The paint was all Testors enamel in the small glass bottles put on with bristle brushes. Man, we have all come a long way from those days.

Another super clean build, Melvin. Paint looks awesome too.

Beautiful build, Melvin. Your model looks better than the box art. I wish Salvino's would do more older kits like say from the sixty's as well. Super clean build and stance looks perfect as well along with an excellent paint job.

Wow, Chuck. Never seen that Charger before. Excellent job on it as always.

Thanks, Jim. Always appreciate you stopping by to weigh in on a build. Your builds always look spectacular to me.

If you guys would like to watch a video that will only take up 24 minutes of your time. You can see how much better Nascar racing was before the fiasco it has turned into today. This video narrated by the Great Bud Lindemann will show you what a wonderful sport this was back in the day. The duel put on by Bobby Allison and David Pearson was one for the ages. The talent they displayed wrestling these big machines around the toughest track in Nascar for 500 miles and not touching each other with chrome horns or anything else showed how you could race cleanly and not take out your competitor like they tend to do nowadays. Plus, there was no stage racing to disturb the natural flow of the race or having to decide if getting the stage points was better than having an advantage in the next stage. The link is below

Thanks, Brian. I really appreciate the comment Thanks, Melvin. This kit was definitely a sows ear. Thanks, Gerald. It was a fun build after I decided to glue the hood shut. Thanks, Todd. You are probably right about the manipulation of the bumpers . I could tell the oob bumpers didn't stick out as far as the ones on the real car. Thanks, Bill for stopping by for the props. Thanks, Jack. I tried to make it a clean build but that is my biggest challenge. Thanks, Gerald. I had no place to go but get better than that MPC build I did. Thanks, Pierre. I would have liked to see your build. I'm sure it was another one of your outstanding ones. Hate to think you actually threw it away. By the way, I have been waiting for your next build to start up. I check every day. Thanks, Steve. I really appreciated your positive comments every day that kept my want to finish this project alive. Thanks, Chis. Thanks, Donato. I always get inspiration from all the beautiful builds you create and share with us.

The final photos are over at the under glass forum. if your interested

This is a likeness of the car Bobby Allison drove to the win at the 1972 Darlington Southern 500. He battled David Pearson all day till finally passing him with 7 laps to go and holding him off for the win. I built this model 53 years ago and always wanted to do a do over of it. It took 120.5 hours to complete. I had to use mostly captured photos from two YouTube videos of the race and one actual photo of the car from a front view in the pits. I know the red bumpers look odd, but the car really did have them. I used the AMT Model King 72 Monte Carlo kit which if you have ever tried to build one know how poorly it is engineered. I had to do a lot of work to the grille because the real car was a 71 Monte Carlo not a 72. I used Createx acrylic paint shot through an airbrush and PPP wheels and tires. The decals are Power Slide.