Dale Earnhardt 1977 Monte Carlo WIP

[MarkJ]

Looking great

Thanks Roger.

[MarkJ]

I'm going to say the chassis is done except for the tire wheel assemblies. I know it's not correct by any means for any of you guys who might have seen the real car back in 1979 but I had no underhood ,interior or underneath pictures of the car to go by. Even if I did I doubt if I could have done it exactly like the real car. When I saw that article in Scale Auto by  Dave Thibodeaux back in 2012 I always wanted to try this build. I used a 1/25 scale amt chassis instead of the Monogram 1/24 scale chassis he used so you might want to go his route if you want to try doing this build. You won't have to cannabalize as much as I did to make it work. I just wanted to keep the scales the same for body and chassis.  

 

 

 

 

 

[MarkJ]

I painted the yellow on the body and I dont know if tamiya paint has a shelf life but it was an old can and did not seem to have the proper pressure behind it so it did not spray like I'm use to Tamiya paint spraying. I re-sanded it and bought a new can of ts-16 yellow and will try again today.

[MarkJ]

At least there is no sign of the dreaded red bleed through from the red body. How long do you guys wait for the first color to dry before you mask to paint the second color? In this case the blue.

[Bill J]

The Monte is looking very nice Mark! One day I need to make one myself. Looking forward to seeing yours all finished. Your builds are always something to enjoy

I have had that pressure problem with a can of Tamiya clear. It was a can made before the Japan earthquake shut them down for awhile. I did get something coated with it and it all spider webbed on me anyway. I have no luck with ANY clear coat and I have tried them all!

I should add that I wait 24 to 48 hours before masking and the next color. I do live in a warm, very dry environment though.

 

Edited August 31, 2016 by Bill J

[Daddyfink]

I first test spray questionable Tamiya cans to check for that very reason, poor pressure that causes splatter and clumping. If it does that, I will decant the paint, thin it and shoot it through my air brush. 

It can be a pain, but I get to save the paint and keep moving. 

Great build! I look forward to your next update!! 

[MarkJ]

The Monte is looking very nice Mark! One day I need to make one myself. Looking forward to seeing yours all finished. Your builds are always something to enjoy

I have had that pressure problem with a can of Tamiya clear. It was a can made before the Japan earthquake shut them down for awhile. I did get something coated with it and it all spider webbed on me anyway. I have no luck with ANY clear coat and I have tried them all!

I should add that I wait 24 to 48 hours before masking and the next color. I do live in a warm, very dry environment though.

 

Thanks Bill. I will go for the 48 hour time just to be sure.

[MarkJ]

 

 

 

The Monte is looking very nice Mark! One day I need to make one myself. Looking forward to seeing yours all finished. Your builds are always something to enjoy

I have had that pressure problem with a can of Tamiya clear. It was a can made before the Japan earthquake shut them down for awhile. I did get something coated with it and it all spider webbed on me anyway. I have no luck with ANY clear coat and I have tried them all!

I should add that I wait 24 to 48 hours before masking and the next color. I do live in a warm, very dry environment though.

 

Got the blue on.

 

 

 

 

[slusher]

Great paint Mark..

[MarkJ]

Thanks Carl. Painting is not my thing but I guess this will pass. Luckily I have red line decals for where the colors meet. That's why I bought the powerslide decals.

[bbowser]

That looks great!

[MarkJ]

Thanks Bruce. I got the windshield and back glass installed and the hood fits when I put the body and chassis together so i'm happy about that. I hate it when the hood doesn't fit flush. Still have to bmf the glass openings install braces on the back glass touch up the hood and trunk pins and fuel filler. Install the tire/wheel assemblies. Install the front and rear bumpers. Paint the rear bumper to body fillers. Decal the model and future the model. Then it should be done.

[magicmustang]

Sorry to be so late to your tread Mark, but your doing great work. Here's a pic of (the restored) Dale Earnhardt's 1977 Olds engine bay as he ran in Talladega in 1980. It should be close to how the Monte Carlo was setup then. Hope this helps.

It is from the book :  Vintage & Historic Stock Cars by Dr. John Craft. It is a great reference for Stock Cars run from 1950 thru 1994, it's loaded with many color pics. 

Edited September 9, 2016 by magicmustang

[MarkJ]

Thanks Gerald but it really is too late for this build, but this is definitely a reproduction car not the real car so you cant put much stock into it being like the real car. I have seen many cars from that era and they did not have open air cleaners all around like the one in this photo. Also the olds had a shorter front end then the Monte Carlo. Its still basically like the way I did the model. They also forgot to put an oil filter on it.

[MarkJ]

No more wips. Too close to the end. The next pictures will be the final ones in a different thread.