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I am finished with Bill Elliott's 1999 McDonalds Ford Taurus. Building the model was simple enough. I lowered the front stance a little, added photo etched grilles from the Model Car Garage. I was actually pretty happy with the paint job, I have liked the gloss that I get from Krylon paints and have finally figured out the surface prep to keep it from pulling away from the edges. The decals were another story... even after applying a clear coat they still came apart on me, but it was a good exercise in patience. I came really close to purchasing two sets but I saw so many little discrepancies in the decals themselves that I came to the conclusion that it will look good sitting on the shelf and that I would call it done and move on to the next one. Speaking of the next one, I'm working on Bill Elliott's 1989 Coors Thunderbird now. I will be using the Powerslide decals on this one so I don't expect any issues.

I'm all done with Bill Elliott's 1998 McDonalds Ford Taurus. All box stock with the exception of the photo etched grille and scratch built flat exhaust. I lowered the front and rear, and added a little plastic to the front air am to make it sit lower in the front. Also, this is the first making the rear spoiler support braces. I thought it would be really hard but it wasn't as difficult as I expected. This was my first NASCAR Taurus build and overall it was more fun than I was expecting. Up next for me is the 1999 Taurus. Its the same car as 1998 but with a new paint scheme. I see some decals by Madame on ebay and some other sites, but I'm not sure I want to use them. 3 Amigos has the 25th anniversary decals for the 2000 car (which I can't wait to build btw). I may try to use those decals on the 1999 car. If anyone knows of another source for the 1999 decals (first year with a black roof) please comment below. Also, I welcome any suggestions or tips, its always fun trying something new!

1997 McDonalds Thunderbird - using the Stock Revell kit and decals. I lowered the stance, scratch built the exhaust and skirts, added photoetched grille and vents from Model Car Garage. Other than that all box stock. For some reason I had trouble with the decals silvering on this car (best practice comments welcome). Up next, the 1998 McDonalds Ford Taurus. If anyone has any tips or tricks with the Taurus model please share. It looks to me that it will need some lowering at least. I will be looking through the forum here for how others built this kit. On a separate note (kinda), I have been starting to think about what I will build after I am through with Bills cars from 1983-2003. I didn't realize until this weekend that there was a model of the Ford Mustang IMSA car that he ran with several other NASCAR drivers. That might be a fun build. Also, thinking about building some of the special paint schemes that were used in the McDonalds and Dodge years (Thunderbat, Mac Tonight, Viper Dodge). Its been really fun getting back into the hobby after 20+ years, doing research, and looking at models other people build!

1996 McDonalds Thunderbird Pretty much box stock but the decals were in pretty bad shape. I used white decal film in an attempt to keep the colors from showing through the golden arches and the numbers. I added a photo etched grille from The Model Car Garage. Lastly I lowered the front just a bit to give it a better stance.