Dale Sr.'s 1983 Wrangler Thunderbird

[Coyote_6]

"That time Dale Sr. ran a Ford".

Another Dale Earnhardt build from my garage.  Aftermarket decals.  Sanded off the door guard strips and re-radiused the front wheel arches.  Just decals over paint.  Tamiya TS-16 and TS-93.

It was a tough one, especially stuffing the tires under the fenders and getting a decent stance on it. Thanks for looking!

Steve

[Rattlecan Dan]

Great looking build. Really nice paint and detail. Good work!

[bbowser]

That is nice!  Your work on the stance paid off.

[Jonathan]

Beautiful build 

[Volzfan59]

Great looking Thunderbird, like @bbowser stated, "Your work on the stance paid off." That thing looks racey just sitting there 

[Coyote_6]

Thanks for the kind words.  It is a fun era to model - not exactly "stock" cars but definitely distinguishable body types.  I enjoyed it, but this was a tough kit.

[PappyD340]

Very nice!!

[ChrisR]

Very nice!

[MarkJ]

Excellent build. Which kit is this?

[Coyote_6]

@MarkJ  It is the Monogram 1983-1986 Thunderbird kit.  Front wheel arches seem too big to my taste, and the trim strips on the door had to go.

Thanks for the compliment.

Edited June 10, 2024 by Coyote_6

[slusher]

Great build!

[Ben269]

Nice job, this turned out really well!  As you stated, these are tough kits to work with, they do need a lot of work to get to sit right, fit right, and look right.  Its a shame, because there are so many good 83-86 thunderbird liveries to replicate.  

[TarheelRick]

Very nice looking T-Bird, stance looks right on. Just wonder what may have been if Earnhardt had stuck with Ford and joined forces with Yates, Bud Moore, or maybe Roush.

Edited July 17, 2024 by TarheelRick

[Coyote_6]

@TarheelRick That woulda been something!   Always been a Ford guy but you knew you were seeing something special with Dale.  The combination here made this a fun project.

Steve

[ncbuckeye67]

That looks amazing! I have that kit, and now I'm dying to build it (definitely with some aftermarket decals for sure)

[DJMar]

Great work on this one, it looks spot on!

This was one of my favorite NASCAR kits of the 80s, mainly because of that blue and yellow livery.

[ncbuckeye67]

That looks amazing! I have this same kit, and wonder where you got the decals from? I really want to build mine now, and the decals are probably toast..

[Coyote_6]

@ncbuckeye67  Those are Powerslide sheet number 208 decals.  I don't know if we can say sources but they are available today on the internet.  The decals matched great with Tamiya TS-93 Pure Blue.  I think the yellow was Tamiya TS-16 Yellow.

Steve

Edited August 20, 2024 by Coyote_6