gami8630

Thank you very much. Your reply is very encouraging.

I am delighted that you praised my build with KFC's famous catchphrase!

Thank you for your reply and suggestion. It's not that extreme, but I adjusted the front wheel position and lowered the front nose a little.

Unfortunately, I have never been to the United States to watch a NASCAR race, but I would like to go at least once. I am interested in superspeedways such as Daytona and Talladega, the traditional Darlington, and Bristol, the world's fastest half-track.

Thank you both very much for your replies. Junior Johnson is one of the legendary figures in NASCAR history, so I had been thinking about making a kit of the car he drove for a long time. In 1973, the movie “The Last American Hero” was released in Japan, and I saw it at the time. Until then, big races like the Daytona 500 were occasionally broadcast on Japanese television, but after seeing this movie, I was able to feel the depth of NASCAR.

Thank you for always replying.

Thank you both very much for your replies. Many people in Japan enjoy building racing car kits, but unfortunately, I think only a very small number of people focus on Nascar kits. For some reason, I have loved stock car racing since I was a child, so I enjoy building Nascar kits regardless of their age. With the spread of the Internet, it has become easier to purchase kits and decals from overseas and obtain a wealth of information, making it easier to build Nascar kits than in the past.

Thank you very much for your reply.

This model is based on Junior Johnson's Chevrolet Impala, which achieved 9 pole positions, 7 wins, and 14 top 10 finishes in the 33 races of the 1963 Grand National Series. The engine installed in this Impala was the highly powerful 427 Chevrolet Mark II V8, which became known as the “Mystery Motor.” The base kit is the 1996 reissue of AMT/ERTL's “1963 Chevrolet Impala SS,” a 3-in-1 kit featuring “STOCK/CUSTOM/ADVANCED CUSTOM” configurations. While the engine is reproduced, the parts required to convert it to NASCAR specifications are not included, so various modifications will be necessary this time. Therefore, in addition to the base kit, I have also prepared AMT's “Chevrolet Bel Air SS Northwind A/S Racing Version,” “'66 Chevy Modified Stocker,” and “'64 Ford Galaxie Modified Stocker.” The decals are from Mike's Decals, specifically PPP's “JR. JOHNSON/RAY FOX 1963 Impala.” The following is an overview of this project: ● Body modifications: The emblem, molding, and wipers molded into the body were removed, and a race-spec fuel port and fuel overflow pipe were added. In addition, the triple tail lights were removed and replaced with 4mm diameter stainless steel spacers. The radiator and front firewall are reused parts from the “BEL AIR SS.” ● Front grille and front/rear bumpers: An aluminum sheet was applied to the license plate mounting area, and headlight covers were installed. ● Engine: The base kit engine is a 409CID engine, so the engine from the “66 CHEVY MODIFIED STOCKER,” which resembles the Mystery Motor in appearance, was reused. Plug wires were added, but no other minor modifications were made. ● Tires and Wheels: The tires are POLAR RIGHTS Mercury Cyclone tires, and the wheels are PPP HM-9 Holman Moody 9-inch wheels. ● Cockpit Equipment: The cockpit has been replaced with a race-spec tab from the “'64 FORD GALAXIE,” and the dashboard instrument panel has been modified to a race-spec version with additional gauges. The bucket seats use parts from a Ford Torino Cobra that I found in a junk parts box. with custom-made side supports added using plastic rods. The roll cage was custom-made using Evergreen rods. In summary, while no elaborate modifications were made, the atmosphere of Johnson's Chevrolet Impala was sufficiently recreated, so the build was completed as is.

Thank you very much. Bobby Allison's red and gold paint scheme is very impressive, so I am very satisfied with my creation.

Thank you for your reply. I would really like to improve the accuracy a little more, but I always end up compromising.

Due to an operational error, I posted the same reply twice, so please ignore this reply.

Due to an operational error, I posted the same reply twice, so please ignore this reply.

Thank you for your high evaluation. Thank you for your reply. I will continue to strive to improve my craftsmanship.

MarkJ, I have never posted WIP in progress on this forum. Instead, when I publish completed kits, I write in some detail about the work I did.

Thank you for your reply. All of your builds are always very helpful.

Great build. Your WIP was a great reference for me when I was building my Monte Carlo.

Thank you both for the replies. It took a lot of work to modify the body, but I managed to finish it.

Thank you for the compliments

Thanks for the replies. Combining multiple kit bodies into one body is risky, but very motivating when done well. By the way, making one body from two pieces is called “Nicoichi” in Japanese.

Thank you all for the compliments. Your replies are always very, very encouraging.

Thanks for the reply. When converting a production car kit to a NASCAR race car, the parts from the POLAR LIGHTS kit are very helpful.

This car is the 1969 Mercury Cyclone of the Hallman Moody team, which Bobby Allison drove to seven wins from the midway point of the 1971 NASCAR Winston Cup Series. For the previous two years, Bobby Allison had competed in a Dodge Charger Daytona in the four-car “Aero Warriors” competition between Ford, Mercury, Dodge, and Plymouth. However, for safety reasons, the engine displacement of the “Aero Warriors,” which competed in high-speed battles, was limited to 305 cu.in. in 1971, which was virtually a ban on the use of the "Aero Warriors. Bobby Allison switched to a Charger without the huge nose cone and high wing, but the aerodynamics were not as good as he had hoped, so he switched mid-season to the Hallman-Moody team's 1969 Mercury Cyclone. The base kit is the “Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II” from POLAR LIGHTS, which was re-released by ROUND 2 in 2018 with the addition of new Bobby Allison decals. However, the car Bobby Allison drove was not the “Mercury Cyclone Spoiler II” from “Aero Warriors,” but a 1969 Mercury Cyclone commonly known as the “W-Nose,” so the first half of the body had to be modified. At first, I was going to combine the resin W-Nose Cyclone body I had already purchased with the chassis of the kit, but the resin body was not in good shape from the A-pillar to the rear. So I decided to use the resin body from the front edge of the door to the front and the kit body to the rear. I cut each body at the front edge of the door and combined the two hoddies into one body. It took some careful crafting, but I think I was able to combine them fairly well. After the body was modified, the position and shape of the fueling port was changed, and the height of the rear spoiler was reduced. For the chassis, the front frame and hoop were shortened and modified to fit the body modified to W-Nose, and the front suspension tension rod mounting area was modified based on AMT's GEN4 Thunderbird chassis. The body was primed with Tamiya Super Surfacer (gray), Fine Surfacer (white), and TS-13 Clear, then sprayed with TS-49 Bright Red and TS-21 Gold, overcoated with TS-13 Clear, and then applied the kit decals. Near completion, I made a mistake and scratched the front edge of the roof, which I repaired and repainted, but unfortunately, I could not repair it beautifully.

This is a great piece of work, very beautifully painted and detail crafted.

Thanks, everybody. The Nascar race cars of the time are good in that each car's unique body style and simple coloring give them a very “stock car” racing feel.