Johnny Canuck

The pre-flared wheel wells should save labor on body work. Wish they were on the '64 I'm working on.

Time might fade a few details but this is still clearly a quality build. Super 'barn find' candidate.

Nice work throughout. And the colour gradations on the paint scheme are well done.

I've often said to my friends that music is a language I'll never be able to speak but one I will always love to hear spoken. Please substitute this level of model building for music. Incredible. A masterpiece. Capolavoro.

I love this! Brilliant concept, think-through and execution. Well done!

That seat is a throne fit for The King.

Spectacular effort. More pics please. Love the detail under the hood. Where does one find those hood hinges?

Yer dad was a good reader and influence on you. Nice build.

You must mean this car:

Nice work to solve the issue of the breather valves sticking up too high. The Salvinos' '71/72 Charger kits look to have near identical chassis and engines - with the same breather pipes - so this solution should apply to more than one kit.

Amazing stuff. Very useful. Quite the trip back in time, in so many ways. It isn't quite the standard of top professional work, but still quite good. For a photo enthusiast and follower of racing, the photographer's access to drivers, cars, pit areas and shops is incredible. You get a sense the photog was known around the racing scene. In one shot from Atlanta '72, you can partially see famous NASCAR photographer Pal Parker smiling back.

Nice, tidy job. Not a wonder this kit is rapidly disappearing from the marketplace. I agree about painting the body. The molded blue is a good try but not quite the right shade.

Huge fan of Shox Johnson and the Jive Bombers. Return of The Brocaded Adventurer is an incredible album full of amazing jazz musicianship and the sly, saucy (raunchy, shurely. ed) lyrics and on-stage banter Steve delivered so well. Spent many a happy night at their shows at the Brunswick House or the Chick-N-Deli clubs in Toronto. Had no idea he was such an accomplished modeler - I've seen Group 25's fine work firsthand - but I can believe it since he made his living repairing motorcycles and did race track announcing. What a talented man. This only makes me more aware of what a loss his early departure was. All the best with this project. I shall follow with interest as I have this kit on the shelf.

"Anyone know what the back of this car looked like?" Richard Petty? You've also listed it as a Montego. It's a Cyclone.

Thanks Tim. Acetone is definitely tricky but can have the right effect if used properly.

Great job, Tim! I have three Petty #43 Superbird diecasts. One regular Racing Champions, one black chrome Racing Champions (elite level quality) and one Franklin Mint. The Franklin is destined for conversion to the Hamilton car. The Racing Champions brand, in general, was never a high end product. But they did themselves proud with this car and the black chrome car is superbly wired, plumbed and detailed under the hood and along the chassis. Bang on about the incorrect wheels and exhaust layout, flaws which plague both brands. And both feature treaded tires. The Franklin hood pins are better than the molded bumps on the RC cars, but you've made an even better choice with your selection. A mild beef with the Powerslide decal sheet is that the drop shadow and key lines for the door and roof numbers are not a dark enough shade of blue. They certainly appeared black in many pictures taken back then and were printed in black in many a Petty kit decal sheet and early diecast. According to Petty folklore, the lines and shadows were most likely a deep shade of navy blue. Powerslide has opted for a lighter shade, almost a royal blue, and it does not look right. What did you end up using to remove the original decals? The Franklin shade of blue matches well with other cars in my Petty collection, both diecast and built kits so I'd prefer not to have to strip and re-paint the body.

Jings, I'd make them eye-catching and highly successful early-mid 70s Mercs a priority over those humdrum mid-80s Tunderbirds. Not a Ford guy by any means through either (any) era but happy to acknowledge what I feared, respected and begrudgingly admired. And most importantly, what I would build.

Wow. Google + Waltrip + Gatorade + Bertha. Should = Bingo. Nuh-uhh. Tight security 'round that car in them days.

Done. One of NASCAR's all-time sexiest cars. A must have for me. Wonder if there'll be options to do the '72 version.

The silver foil lids on peanut butter jars - Just Peanuts is my brand - are a good alternative. Very fine stipple pattern is ideal for this use. Just carefully peel them off to minimize wrinkling - can easily be pressed out - and rinse under warm water to remove any oil residue.

Nice work, Mark. Great attention to details. Fascinating car given Bud Moore's ownership with Mario Rossi as crew chief. Given this car's record - two wins, two seconds, eight DNFs in 14 races - would it be unfair to refer to it as Halley's Comet?

Looks great. Thanks for including your solution to the original chassis. Exact same chassis is included with the JoHan '64 Dodge, which I want to use to build the principal car driven by David Pearson to the '66 title (took nine of his 15 wins in it that season).

Lots of pics of Young Russell out there. Googled name and year. Boom, done. Looks to be on the lighter side. Maybe not white, but grey. Ish. This final shot is a screen capture offa youtube from the '87 Western 500 at Riverside, which Wallace run, so plenty of footage of him. There's a hilarious segment at 2:13:35 where Geoff Bodine takes his ailing car into a trackside car wash - tractor wash? - after having a tire go soft. Some pretty robust racing throughout, so a fun watch.

Settin' standards, Pierre. Comme d'habitude. A shame this car didn't run as good as it looked. And we certainly won't blame the driver.