Ricky Rudd’s #15 Motorcraft Ford Thunderbird 1/24 Monogram

[polybius]

The first time I tried to build a NASCAR kit was 1987-ish.  At 11 years old and having no idea that automotive spray paint would craze unprimed plastic, it didn’t go so well.  Fast forward to five years ago when I picked up a box lot of six of these 1980s vintage Monogram T-Bird kits.  After selling off five of them, I kept one and went to work on the build.

After a couple weeks I lost interest in it, so it went back into the box as a partial build.  A few months ago I was anxious to clear out some old works in progress, and this one was at the top of the pile.

A good bit of research revealed how inaccurate these mid-80s T-Bird kits were, but it looked decent on the box art so that’s what I aimed for.  After body prep and primer, it got a few coats of DupliColor Ford Oxford White.  Having just got my hands on some of the new Tamiya LP range of lacquers, the red sections were masked and shot with some LP-7 Pure Red.  The decals were the 35 year old sheet from the kit, but despite their age they finally went down decently with copious amounts of Micro Sol, a plethora of foul language, and many walks around the block to calm my nerves.  After that hassle I didn’t want to risk using a hot clearcoat that might react with the DupliColor or Tamiya lacquer, so it was the first time I used Future as a final clearcoat finish.

Despite the kit’s inherent inaccuracies, helpfully pointed out by some great model builders who have built these over the years, the end result makes a nice shelf piece.  I was so pleased after all these years to have finally finished a NASCAR kit that I’ve already started work on another.. well, maybe two more.. you know how that goes. 

 

[sflam123]

That turned out very well!  Great job!!

 

[TarheelRick]

That is one mighty fine looking Thunderbird.  Great job.

[bogger44]

That is a great looking build!  Glad you got those old decals to settle down, and understand the colorful language and frustration.  I'm currently working on one of these old Monogram kits (Grand Prix) and didn't have near the luck you did, a few came out ok but most not so much.

[bbowser]

Nice!  Accurate or not they build into good shelf pieces. 

Edited September 23, 2021 by bbowser
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[Zippi]

Nice looking model.  Great job.

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[Toys4Don2]

Looks good to me. Nicely done. 

[Wakefan77]

Great build!

[Matt T.]

Beautiful build! My favorite Ford livery from 1986 and you did it proud. Very nice! 

[Kmidd65]

One of the nicest builds of that particular kit I have seen.  Nice Job!

[slusher]

Very sharp build..

[jjsipes]

Have often thought about getting one these to build. Have always liked the look of this car and "Rooster" wasn't bad driver either. Just can't get past the kit decals. Wish someone would bring a good set of decals out for this car and the 87 version.  Anyway, great job on your build. Looks great.