2000 Lowes #31 Monte Carlo (Mike Skinner)

[Hawk312]

Revell Harvick kit with Slixx (body) and Powerslide (tires) decals. *LOTS* of "artistic liberties" taken, so it isn`t totally accurate. I basically took my favorite details from all the Lowes Monte`s as well some of the newer cars, and applied them here. 

First, some of you may have seen my other thread looking for the correct "blue." I tried a bunch, Rustoleum Deep Blue and Navy Blue, Krylon Navy Blue, etc. but none matched. After talking to Lowes support, I found that Valspar "Royal Blue" was actually the *EXACT* color for this car. And it`s $3.99 for the big spray can to boot! 

Sooo, this was actually painted with Valspar Royal Blue enamel, Rustoleum Marigold Yellow enamel, and Rustoleum 2x clear enamel over all of it.  I am still surprised it actually worked. To top it off, it rubbed out incredibly well. 

Now, this project fought me to the end. When I first sprayed the yellow, it looked as though someone threw sand on the wet paint. I actually sanded it off with 220 and started over. The decals were extremely brittle. The red and yellow stripes on both sides tore at several places. The drivers side rear "Lowes" decal is actually several pieces. And of course, you can see the rough edges and the crack on the hood. The decals for the rear lights were a lost cause, so I freakin painted them on. And finally, after it was all assembled, I found that the chassis was somewhat warped, enough to make the stance very unbelievable. I actually sliced off all the wheel mounts and mounted the wheel hubs with CA glue directly to the spindles. 

The color is hard to capture. It is just a small shade darker in real life. Sorry for the picture quality. These are straight from my cell phone. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bbowser]

For all the trouble it gave you it looks great in the photos!  You never hear about Mike Skinner any more, I remember he ran trucks for awhile?

[Hawk312]

For all the trouble it gave you it looks great in the photos!  You never hear about Mike Skinner any more, I remember he ran trucks for awhile?

Thanks!

Yeah, he drove the #3 truck (looked like Earnhardts car) for a while. I didn`t really follow that series so I couldn`t tell you much more. I always just liked this car and have been putting off building it for over a decade now. 

[iBorg]

It looks like the real car. That's the highest compliment I know of for a model car.

[ChrisR]

Looks great!!

[Darbo]

Very nice, great photos!

[Old Coyote]

Very Nice build sir 

[Nacho Z]

Another very nice model of, in my opinion, a great looking NASCAR racer.  I liked Mike Skinner and hoped he would do well.  Never really did in the top series.  He did better in the truck series, if I remember correctly.

[mikemopar70]

Very, very, very nice!!!!

I love that paint work, i have that Rust-o-Leum clear, but did not tried it yet, looks it works great!

Great job with these decals.

[MarkJ]

Hawk couid you post a picture of the type of rustoleum you use? I would like to try it but want to get the right kind.

[Hawk312]

Thanks everyone!

 

Here are the paints I used:

 

[slusher]

Very very nice model...

[MarkJ]

Thanks for the picture of the paint, Hawk. I definitely want to try them.

[JerseeJerry55]

Very nice job. I'm in the process of doing a Kyle Petty Gran Prix and a Davey Allison Thunderbird using the Rustoleum 2x paints. Very impressed with the result.