Cale Yarborough 1976 Chevy Laguna Championship Car

[KurseD]

Decided to try entering a builder's contest on a Facebook group to see if I was up to the challenge. I'm pleased with the outcome, it's full of flaws, but I'm not beating myself up as it was definitely a learning experience. The group I'm in does a monthly contest and this month's was "Builder's Choice", but it had to be a fresh kit, not a rebuild or previously started. I've had this 75 Laguna kit stashed away for about 6 years or so.

 

I've built quite a few models in my day, and while I don't think of myself as an expert, I've got the basics down by now. This darn kit tested my patience every freaking step of the way. It is hands down the worst quality kit out of the box I have ever dealt with. Nothin fit right, flashing was awful, it just seemed overall like they didn't even care that this thing was garbage when they re-released it. It had the incorrect rear suspension with a leaf spring instead of the trailing arm suspension it should have had. The slip chassis for different wheelbase sounded neat, but lacks a good half inch between the end of the chassis and the rear bumper. They used a Chrysler or Ford engine with a front mount distributor instead of a rear mount like a Chevy should have. 100% JUNK!

 

The chassis got a kit bashed rear axle & suspension from eBay and airbrushed satin black with some silver on the floor pans. I used some wiring from a USB cable for the battery cables, a bit of painted masking tape for seat belts with chrome backed carboard for the buckles and brackets. I dotted all of the rivets and the battery terminals with a silver sharpie. All other details were brush painted.

 

There was a pre-existing hole in the back of the intake manifold, so I drilled through that into the block and added an Arrowhead Aluminum pre-wired distributor. I used some very small shrink tube for the plug boots, and scratch built a coil out of scrap styrene.

 

Decals were from Mike's Decals, and they were very good quality with one exception. I could not find a second straight Goodyear decal for over the front wheels to save my life. I even looked all over this picture I had taken for a good 30 minutes while taking a break or two to let my eyes adjust, still nothing. I scrounged through my spare decals and came up empty. Finally broke down and opened an old 1991 Davey Allison kit and found one there. It was a bit more dull than the original, but same exact size, so that worked out well.

 

I chose to go with craft store acrylics from Michael's and Hobby Lobby as I thought I would be able to find more color choices there to try replicating the original car. I matched the decal colors the best I could and rolled with it. Very happy with the colors. I started with a white base, then added the "ripe apricot" orange color, last topped off with the red.

[KurseD]

Next was adding the decals. After fighting the long red stripes which I would have preferred painting, I only tore off two small pieces thankfully. I was able to stick one piece down, and touch up the other with some red paint. Then came eleventeen million more decals and I was done. The Goodyear decal on the driver fender is the one from the Mike's Decals, the one on the passenger side is from the Davey Allison kit. I locked the decals down with two coats of Krylon satin clear when done.

 

 

I didn't like the raised letter tires that were included with the kit, so I ordered some from PPP. I decided after about 5 seconds of hand sanding that I was done with that mess and made a quick sanding jig for my drill using some washers, a bolt, and a couple nuts.

 

I had a horrible time getting the chassis fitted to the body due to the secondary firewall and trunk divider. I shaved a good 1/16th of an inch off each, and still couldn't get the fit I wanted, but decided that was enough trimming and called it quits. If I had trimmed anymore off the firewall, the engine would have pushed the hood off anyway. The whole chassis sits toward the passenger side and is crooked. UGH! This kit was a serious test of patience.

 

Next up was gluing my fingertips and some string to my cutting mat and some masking tape in an attempt to make window net. Not a fun process. I glued the net to the rollbar, then to the body.

 

 

Edited March 22, 2023 by KurseD

[KurseD]

Last part was to give it some track grime. I used the airbrush with some black acrylic to lightly mist a bit here and there, to the centers of the rims, behind the wheel arches, and a few other spots all around the body and chassis. Then I used a toothbrush dipped in the black to flick tiny drops for rubber chunks behind the wheels. I finished it off with some Rustoleum clear which I tried spraying lightly for a mild gloss to closer replicate the original 70s single stage, but after two attempts that were way too dry I gave up and the third coat went on wet as heck. Frustrated, I took a coffee break and sat to shoot the breeze with my friend that had come over to watch me airbrush. 15 minutes later I checked the model out and to my surprise it had dulled down to the perfect sheen. Thank goodness for cheap rattle can clear I guess. I doubt it will win the competition, but I still had fun building. I can say for certain I will NEVER build another of these kits though.

[Rattlecan Dan]

Now That's Modeling! You have persevered. We have all been there. And I think you did an absolutely Great Job! Can't wait for your next one. LOL

[bbowser]

Looks great from here!  Sometimes the difficult builds are the most satisfying when complete.

[TooOld]

I think you did an excellent job considering what you started with and it's your first attempt at one of these kits , if I was judging I'd vote for it !  Nice job detailing your experience too , it's worth bookmarking for future reference . All of the MPC kits are generic in nature (except for the bodies) and are terrible , but they do look good on the shelf .

[KurseD]

Thank you guys.

[MarkJ]

I have always wanted to do this car and you are giving me the incentive to do just that. Great job on this one.

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[KurseD]

Thanks guys. I will recommend another kit if you plan on building this car. 

[DRIPTROIT 71]

Amazing work here!

[slusher]

Beautifully done!

[KurseD]

Thank you for the wonderful responses guys. I really appreciate it. Didn't do well in the monthly build off, but I'm not discouraged at all. Had a great time building and learning.