MarkJ

Thats true, Bob. It will be a learning process for me. Some things will still need sandpaper. I mostly will use it for raw bodies and primer. I'm hoping not to use it at all on color coats and clears. I did not need anything on my Camaro for those two items except floor finish at the end to seal the decals.

Got the sides ready for paint tomorrow if the weather allows it. Buffed off the sides with a Hercules fine sanding pad I saw a guy use with great results on a YouTube video. it seems to smooth out the surface without leaving sanding scratches that can show through the paint sometimes. Also mixed up the paint to be ready if I have a go. Will paint one side red and the other side metallic gold instead of the pearl gold I used the first time, just to see if the met gold looks better. Plus, it will be on a white base instead of gray. The one shown below is a medium pad which would be way to rough for a model car. I used the fine version, but they look the same except the fine is a lighter color. You cut a small square out of the pad you get, and it looks like it will last a long time. not like sandpaper, and you can use it dry which makes for a cleaner work area.

Got the body ready to paint the sides. Had to reshoot the sides with white primer. Will shoot one side with red and the other side with metallic gold .

Yours is Much better, Bruce.

Thank you, Bruce. Like you said, even though it's a reproduction, it might actually be a former Junior Johnson/ Bobby Allison car as well that the guy updated. I doubt if the intake and carb are the same or the way the air cleaner looks but other things under the hood I could use as a guide. It's a double snorkel air cleaner but it's probably a round stock air cleaner that snorkels were added to. Not that plastic one.

Thanks, Bruce I'm going to check out that link as soon as I get this answer sent back to you.

Bob, Hobby Lobby had the one I got. I dropped my present airbrush on its nose without the nozzle guard, so I knew it was shot so I went to Hobby Lobby and saw the trigger version and did not know exactly what I was looking at, so I went home and did some research on it. (watched somebody on a YouTube video). Went back the next day and bought it. Now I'm glad I dropped that other one. Never knew how easy airbrushing could be. It's like a rattle can but you can mix the paint so it won't orange peel on you unless you get ridiculously far away from the model when you're painting it. And Acrylics are so much more health friendly to use. You can't get acrylic rattle can paint that I know of.

I painted the sides of the test body with Tamiya white primer and will shoot Createx Wicked red on one side and plain old Createx wicked gold on the other side. Luckily, I found a bottle of it in my stash that had not separated out from age. It appears to be more metallic than the pearl gold I used the first time. If it looks good, I will start preparing the Monte Carlo body for paint. Below is the YouTube video images of the real car. You will notice the bumpers were painted red with just a little chrome showing on the front bumper. Quote Quick Edit More...

What are the Gravity colors? Enamel, lacquer or acrylic. Looks beautiful so far.

This car is so beyond cool it would freeze your hand off if you touched it. Like everybody else has said the photos of it actually at the salt flats are just the most excellent way to pose this build. Felicitations, Pierre and now go enjoy Paris and eat some of that wonderful food they have over there. I can only dream of doing that.

Looking very awesome, Bruce.

Thanks Chuck. It would be cool if one of the model company's like Salvino Jr. would do an IROC Camaro kit. and a decal maker could do all of the options available for that year so if a person had a favorite IIROC car they could do it. The gen 3 IROC Camaro was used from 1985 through 1990 and the basic car never changed through all those years just the livery changed. Quite a lot of options could be made available so people could build their favorite drivers' car. I bet a lot of Earnhardt fans would love to do one of his cars. Like this one.

Thank you, Carl, I appreciate the kind words.

Masked the test body and shot the gold. I used Createx paint because they have many options for mixing up paint that you can make extra metallic or other affects you might want to try. I learned that gray primer makes the gold look too dark so I will prime the monte body with white. I might also try to add more metallic bits in the mix just for grins. I used my new airbrush and was ecstatic with the results and ease of operation. This brush takes all the guess work out of painting with an airbrush. Air brush purists probably scoff at it but to me it's a dream come true.

Totally awesome build, Pierre. Love the big moon wheel covers and the parachute and basically everything else about the build. Can't wait to see the under glass photos when you get them finished. One more thing. if Rex White and his crew from the early sixty's built this car it has to be a winner.

Mike, it's this one in the photo below. It makes airbrushing so easy I believe anybody could use it with great results. As long as you mix the paint properly and strain it to get the debris out of it, all you have to do is adjust the knob at the very end of the brush to get the right amount of paint by testing on a piece of paper and just pull the trigger the same way every time. Not like a plunger type that you have to figure out how far down and how far back to actuate the plunger. Makes for a much more cohesive paint job.

Thank you so much, Mike. Like the others, I want to thank you for your support during the never ending wip. I am very glad to have finally finished it but learned a lot in the process. I'm already working on a new build and the wip is over in the Nascar wip forum. Its Bobby Allisons 1971 Monte Carlo that won the 1972 Southern 500. I didn't learn till lately that it's not a 1972 Monte Carlo so the wip is misnamed. I finished painting the gold on a test body and learned that on the real build to use white primer. The gray primer makes the gold look too dark. My new airbrush works like a dream so I'm very happy about that. Thanks again.

I'm voting keep the rusty bumpers. It would be sad to cover up all that phenomenal work to create the effect you have achieved. JMHO.

Thank you, Edgar, for the kind words and your support throughout the build. It is very appreciated.

Thanks Rick. I bought the paint today to do the test bed body and will choose between two different golds before I go on to the real build body.

Thanks, Mark for your interest in the build. I have the kit to do the Mark Donohue Porshe that won the first IROC championship, but it's going to take a lot of work like this one did, so I'm going to do some Nascar builds for a while before I go back to IROC.

Wow, Bruce. Sorry I'm late to the party on this one but it looks fabulous so far. Body prep, paint and decals all top notch. Engine and chassis are coming along nicely too. Looking forward to the finish on this one.

I just figured out something when I was looking at the box art I had just posted and remembering the ref photos I had saved from the actual race from you tube. The car he drove in the 72 southern 500 was a 1971 Monte Carlo, not a 1972 that I have purchased. The difference is in the front park lights. The 71 had them in the bumper and the 72 had them on each side of the grille. The mesh of the grille doesn't matter because this model kit has the right looking grille for a race prepared 71. I just need to fix the park light difference on the model which I think I can do with a little bit of sheet styrene here and there. This car might be the ex-Glotzbach Monte Carlo from 1971.

The kit and some photos of a test bed body of a mercury I found in my stash that could not be resurrected. I bought a new airbrush and wanted to learn on an actual model body. I don't find practicing on a piece of paper transfers well to letting you know how it will look on an actual model body. I'm also using a different kind of paint so I'm thinking the use of this body which I will paint just like the subject body including doing a two-tone paint job to see how well my paint separation line turns out. The choice of the subject was easy because of his ten wins in 1972 this one was the most iconic because his battle all day with David Pearson made it an epic race to watch for the fans. He finally made his last pass for the win 4 laps from the end.

Pierre, this is the best use of the medical tape I have seen for the insulation mats. I will steal this from you, best I can, on my upcoming build. The rest of the interior shout's realism from any angle and the dash and gauges look perfect too.