gami8630

Thank you all for your comments. Sometimes I look for this Fusion and Chevy SS kit on eBay and Yahoo auctions, but when they are listed, they are very expensive.

This car is the “Carolina Ford Dealers Ford Fusion” entered by The Stewart-Haas Racing in the Spring 2018 Southern 500 at Darlington, with driver Clint Bowyer. This paint scheme pays tribute to Ned Jarrett's historic victory in the Darlington Southern 500 in 1965. The base kit is Revell's “DANICA PATRICK Aspen Dental Ford Fusion” released in 2017, the first new kit in almost 10 years since the 2006 body kit of GEN4's Monte Carlo SS was released, This Revell kit was released together with the Chevrolet SS. I bought and assembled this Revell kit when it was first released, and I remember being impressed with the detail of the GEN6 bodywork, chassis, engine, etc. Unfortunately, due to the termination of the US-level business in 2018, this kit is not currently being reproduced, but I acquired this kit through an internet auction about two years ago. The decals are Powerslide's “#300 2018 #14 CAROLINA FORD DEALERS FUSION”. This time, as minimal detailing, a lip spoiler was added to the lower front bumper, a racing seat from a 2005 Monte Carlo SS kit was diverted, a small rear view mirror mounted on the roll cage, and front and rear suspension spring parts were replaced with hobby-grade stainless steel springs. I also tried to use 3D printed aftermarket parts for the wheels and brakes. These two afterparts are products of “scalecars.online”, a Polish company that develops and sells 3D printed model car accessories. (https://scomodels.com/) The wheels and brakes are very precise and high quality parts, which enhance the precision of the kit. The body was sprayed with Tamiya Super Surfacer (gray) and Fine Surfacer (white), then sprayed with TS-44 Brilliant Blue and coated with TS-13 Clear, After applying the decals, I coated with GSI Creos Waterborne Premium Coat. The last image shows the Ford Galaxie of Ned Jarrett, which I built last time, side by side.

In Japan, where I live, there are not many NASCAR-loving race fans, so when I receive warm messages like this from everyone, I am very happy.

Thanks, RagTop Man, Model Guy and Horrorshow, for your warm and complimentary replies.

Thank you all for your compliments. Converting a production car to Nascar specifications takes a lot of work, but the joy when it is finished is exceptional.

Thanks, MarkJ、satterwhite78. The racing footage from the time is very impressive, with dogfights between cars that look almost identical to production cars.

Ned Jarrett's 1965 Nascar champion Ford Galaxie is now complete. The base kits are two AMT ‘65 FORD GALAXIE 500XL and 1966 FORD GALAXIE 500 7-LITRE, both 3-in-1 kits, re-released from Round2. These two kits were the base kits for a previous build of Junior Johnson's ‘Yellow Banana’, and this time the remaining 1965 body, cockpit and engine and 1966 chassis were diverted for the build. The body has had the front and rear wheel arches enlarged, the production-spec mouldings, emblems, wipers, etc. removed, the race-spec fuel filler and overflow pipes added, and front and rear lamp covers added. For the cockpit, as I couldn't find any images of the actual cockpit of the car at the time, I used a meter panel made from Powerslide meter decals and wheel-cut plastic pipes, a roll cage I made myself from Evergreen rods, a fire extinguisher made from Polar Lights fire extinguisher parts and a seat and steering wheel adapted from other AMT kits. The engine has only added plug cords, and the exhaust pipes have been diverted from Monogram's early Thunderbird parts. The wheels and tyres are from Polar Lights' Talladega. The body colour is sprayed Tamiya TS-93 Pure Blue, although the image is a little different from the real car's blue. The decals are Gofer Racing, but the sponsor decals on the front fenders are diverted from decals that were in stock. The last photo shows Ned Jarrett's son Dale Jarrett's Ford Thunderbird alongside his. This Thunderbird kit was bought and built probably 28 years ago when it was first released in Japan. * Note that the body color in each image varies because the photography did not work very well this time, but the blue in the first image is closer to the actual painted blue.

Thank you all. Harry Gant is one of my favorite drivers, so I will be building another car, a 1994 Lumina.

I diverted the tub from the Galaxie 500 kits, as the Marauder's tub require the console to be cut out as well, which is a pain to craft. The roll cage pads are made from heat shrink tubing for electrical wiring.

The tub of Marauder kit has the backseat and console molded in one piece, so they need to be cut out and machined. However, the tub of 1965 Ford Galaxie 500XL kit is easier to machine as the backseat and console are not molded in, so I used this tub. Note that I made the roll cage myself using Evergreen rods.

Thank you all for the replies. It is very encouraging.

Thank you JohnH1973 and Dragonhawk1066 for the replies.

The third car in the Skoal Bandit colours has been completed. This is Harry Gant's 1986 Chevrolet Monte Carlo Aerocoupe. The base kit is Dale Earnhardt's Goodwrench Monte Carlo, which Monogram released in 1988. The chassis was very simply refurbished, with some of the roll cage replaced with safety pads, the front hoop extended and oil cooler mounting stays added, and the twin shocks of the suspension replaced with a single shock. The exhaust pipes have been replaced with plastic pipes as left and right hand out. As for the body, a vent hose was added to the left side of the back panel and a 3D printed radiator grille was fitted. The body colour was sprayed Tamiya TS-43 Racing Green and Powerslide decals were applied. Another Harry Gant car will be built in the future, a 1994 Chevrolet Lumina.

Thanks, shoopdog !

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I stopped building this kit about 20 years ago, but I managed to finish it.

I pulled this 1996 Chevrolet Monte Carlo out of the storage box and finished it up after stopping the build almost 20 years ago. The car is a bold “Cartoon Network Scooby-Doo” paint scheme and the driver is Robert Pressley. When I took it out of the storage box, the body was dirty with dust, but after a coat of wax to remove the dust, a polish with compound, and another spray of clear, it cleaned up amazingly well. At the time I interrupted the build, the window parts had not yet been installed, but I was able to find the parts in the storage box and the body was now safely completed. The chassis covered by the unfinished body was not so dirty, but the Goodyear logo on the tires was faded. Several versions of the Monte Carlo kit were released between 1985 and 2007 as the body style of the actual car changed, and this completed kit is the second generation. The body color is Tamiya color spray TS-24 Purple and the decals are SLIXX #1195/9629.

Thank you all for the replies. The detailing was a lot of detailed crafting and quite a lot of work, but I had a good time.

This time I built the 1983 Buick Regal, sponsored by Skoal Bandit and driven by "Handsome Harry" - Harry Gant. The base kit is the “1981 Buick Regal Charlotte Winner” by Salvinos JR Models, but the original kit was released by Monogram in 1983 as the first 1/24 scale NASCAR kit. As usual, decals were ordered from “Mike's Decals”. I purchased “#33 Skoal Harry Gant 1982-83 Buick” from Powerslide. This time, I added more details than usual. 1. Body: I added detail up of the fuel tank and oil tank, and piping so that the trunk lid can be opened and closed. 2. Chassis: The chassis is based on the chassis of the kit, and is detailed up by combining parts of the chassis released from 1990, which were stored as junk parts. 2-1. Detail up the roll cage by diverting the bars with protective pads wrapped around the junk chassis. 2-2. Reproduce the roll cage in the part hidden by the dashboard and not visible. 2-3. Add the mounting stay for the oil cooler on the left side of the radiator and add and extend the front hoop 3. Engine: Changed the Chevrolet engine and exhaust pipe to parts from 1990 and later kits, and replaced the second half of the exhaust pipe with a 3.5mm diameter plastic pipe. Also, plug cords, oil lines, and fail lines were added. 4. Cockpit: Replaced the dashboard instrument panel with parts from the 1990 and later kits, and painted the needles and numerals of each meter with a faceted brush, then poured clear enamel to represent the lenses. The steering wheel was also replaced with parts from a 1990 later kit. 5. Fuel tank and oil tank: Fuel tank has been replaced with parts from 1990 and later kits, and a fuel pump and piping made by myself from plastic rods have been added. Also, added fuel hose and vent hose from AMT NASCAR kit, added In/Out piping to the oil tank, and extended the piping to the engine compartment via the lower part of the roll cage. 6. Tires and wheels: Tires and wheels were replaced with parts from 1990 and later kits, tread surfaces were polished, various logo decals for Powerslide tires and wheels were applied, and semi-gloss topcoat was sprayed. 7. Painting and marking: The body was sprayed with Tamiya Super Surfacer (gray) and Fine Surfacer (white), then sprayed with TS-26 Pure White and TS-43 Racing Green, and overcoated with TS-13 Clear before applying decals. In addition, the following image shows the car side by side with the previously built Oldsmobile Cutlass, which has attractive two-tone colors of green and white, the sponsor's colors. Also, the NASCAR race cars of these days have the power of a NASCAR race car of the good old days, with the sponsor's stickers placed in many places on the front fenders.

Very nice build. When I built AMT's Thunderbird in the past, I was not happy with the body style, but the body style of this Grand Prix is very nice.

Wow, how wonderful to receive a reply from the person who worked on the actual engine of this car. I feel very, very happy.

Thanks for the very interesting reply. Were you the person who was actually working on this car at the time?

Thanks, Bainford. I too have loved the Wood Brothers #21 paint scheme since I was a kid when I first learned to be interested in NASCAR.

Thanks, Chinacar. So Wood Brothers has a long history and many old fans.

Thank you for the compliment !

Thanks, Bainford, Rattlecan Dan, Chris in Berwyn, Jim Dodson. There are various rough work in the details, but the painting and decals were done fairly well. In addition, a hinge has been added to the engine hood so that the engine hood can be opened and closed just like the real car. I tried to attach the “DETAIL MASTER” photo etch hood hinge on the back side of the hood, but I could not fix it firmly.