1/16 MPC 1973 Petty Charger

[Dan Cooper]

I think I'm sufficiently far enough along to share this project.

Latest project; 1/16 scale 1973 Nascar Richard Petty Charger.

I'm usually a model railroader who dabbles in  1/48 scale armour but I saw this kit at Model Expo, my local big model show,  two weeks ago at 1/2 price($50!AUS) and thought, "I wanted one of those as a little guy...but now I have money." So here we are.

Rushed home and opened her up full of glee and the darn thing has the worst instructions and build method I've ever seen. All the parts do fit but EVERY surface need sanding and fitting to get it to go together. Parts are mis numbered in the instructions and most mating pins are misaligned or not there.  I thought, " You knew it was an old kit, just get on with it."
 

I have build it all in big sub assemblies so that I sure that once it's all painted and detailed with wires and hoses that it will actually fit together correctly. If I had tried to paint the parts first it would never have gone together and it would be in the bin.  The plan is to fit and fettle and mock up/ practice final assemble til it all goes together.  So far, so good.  It's been a lot of work but I pretty pleased with where I'm at and I think I can get it to look okay in the end.  ( I don't ever want to think about the exhaust manifolds ever, ever again.)




 

The two tone Petty blue and florescent red paint job( Planed as TS-23 and TS-36 at this point over Tamiya white primer)  is going to be fun as there is no plan or details for masking and the two colours are separated by 1mm wide white pin stripe that I'll need to mask off. ( I might skip the stripe if it gets to crazy - I mean, I do this for fun )

It's too cold in Melbourne to paint anyway and I need to get the chassis and motor finished first as it needs to be all done before the glass and body gets added. At least it can all be mocked up using pins and tabs I've added to work out all the wires and hoses so they can get made and put aside to be added after the paint goes on.

I do think this is a fun kit but I've been coddled by modern kits for so long I have forgotten what it was like in the old days of kits like these and slow drying tube cement & Testors/Pactra enamel paints.

Thanks for looking in on my little foray into Nascar kits.

The things we do for fun huh?

[Coyote_6]

Looks like a great start on a awesome project.  1/16 scale - what an impact that's going to make!  Keep us in the loop - looks great!

Steve

[Musclecarbuilder]

I'm definitely going to be following this one, I've been thinking about buying this kit. 

[Dan Cooper]

Steve - Thanks!  The kits shear size sure does make a statement.  It is quite nice size to work on and definitely helps the old eyes to see what I'm trying to do.  Worked all weekend on her and will post some more once the primer gets sorted.

Think I'm going to do a whole test to see how well I can paint it on some scrap before I jump into doing the body.  I saw some 1/32 inch wide pin striping tape that looks interesting.

Will-  Glad you like my little efforts.  If you like this subject I'd say go for it as it's a pretty good kit if you take your time and really think through where all the parts go.  I spent a bit of time on Saturday getting the oil breather pipes pinned in place as there wasn't much in the way of locator pins on the parts as provided.  Doesn't help I'm not much of a car modeller.  Almost done with assembly, just need to work out how to reliably put in the windscreen glass.  I've added a strip of fine solder glued to where the edges of the rear glass sit to make a sort of stop/lip to hold the glass in position when it comes to final assembly.  I'm terrified I'll muck up the final glueing up.

Quick question?  ---  Has anyone any experience in using very thin pin stripe tape to do the pin striping on kits like this?  I'm thinking it might be a whole lot easier and more accurate than trying to mask and spray with rattle cans.  I wonder about spraying final gloss over the tape?  Possible or just a dumb idea?

Thanks

Dan 

[Coyote_6]

Hey Dan.  Testing is a great idea.  No experience with the pinstripe tape, but anything is possible.  At 1/24 "pinstripes" are generally included as decals (which you're doing anyway on a NASCAR) so that part of the "system" is generally worked out.  Every part of your finish system needs to be compatible (primer, color coat, decals, trim, pinstripes, clearcoat) so my best recommendation is to test test test.  Maybe get a hood of an old or cheap kit and try what you want to achieve.

As an example, I want to use a silver sharpie for window trim on a 1/24 Petty Belvedere, and plan to topcoat with Future floor polish.

I pick a hidden part of the chassis (the interior parts will hide my test), wrote 43 on my color coat and topcoated with the clear.  When dry I looked for any interactions (particularly running of the ink) and saw none, so this combination will work for me.

The challenges I see will be ensuring straight lines when desired, how well the tape "bends" for curves (hopefully stretches instead of bunching), and how it reacts to the rest of your system.

A corollary would be when I mask with tamiya tape (arguably best in the industry) and inevitably I will find a spot that I didn't burnish or didn't stick/conform as well as I would have liked (leading to paint bleed).  You definitely want to make sure your pinstripes conform and stick. (Maybe try striping, removing and restriping - would be sad to lay down nice paint and have it peel if you try to reposition some pinstripe!) 

Just some thoughts.

Steve

Edited June 23, 2024 by Coyote_6

[TNT]

Was my favorite back then. Looks n sounds like you have it planned out. Good luck

[Dan Cooper]

Steve - Yep, most definitely going to test.  But have run out of White Tamiya primer so waiting for the replacements to come in the mail.  I like what you said about compatibility. I tend to stay in the Tamiya family as I have alway had great results without hiccups using their products.  I know they aren't cheap and rattle cans are wasteful as all heck but they do work.  ( I like the silver Sharpie idea , neat.  ) 

Most of my progress in the last few days is with those said Tamiya rattle cans.  I am lucky in that over the years I always seem to pick up a can or two when I'm in a hobby shop and so I do have a fair few colours already.  ( They do get costly and doubly so on this bigger kit.). I'm trying to do each subassembly as a little model that hopefully will come together into something nice at the finish.



Drive shaft painted and chipped.  Dash was sanded flat of woodgrain and a new gauge panel added from thin sheet styrene with bezels from thin solder wire.  I plan on using some 1/24 scale aircraft gauge decals and adding glass with clear UV curing resin. ( Wish me luck   )  Probably a bit naff but I don't think I could have painted the kit piece to make it look okay, so this should look the part I hope.




The Tamiya rattle cans got a workout on these buggers.  Chrome stripped with bleach then everything sanded and made squarish.  Extinguisher got some added bits then paint and some fluffy placard decals from 1/24 scale aircraft kits.  Anything to jazz the bits up a bit.

Motor, fuel tank and roll cage/seat in basic colours awaiting detail painting/light weathering.  Need to sort out the chassis paint so I can start to glue bits together.  All this has been a lot of fun and I'm learning as I go.  

Thanks to everyone for looking in.

Dan

Edited June 26, 2024 by Dan Cooper

[Coyote_6]

All those detail pieces look amazing.  I find it takes more skill to make larger scales look convincing - these are fabulous.

Have you thought about printing gages on decal sheet or photo paper?  I fear aviation gages will look, well,  aviation.  Even at 1/24, you can read the "Moroso" logo on one of my cars' tachometer.

I have been printing some decals on clear and white decal paper with my inkjet with good results.

But regardless of which way you go it will look amazing.  Just wow.

Steve

[TonyK]

Looking real nice.

I built this as a kid and decided to buy it when reissued to relive my childhood. Was disappointed there was no clear body but that was my own fault for not paying attention I suppose. Haven't started it yet but your build is getting me motivated.

[Dan Cooper]

It's been way too cold and wet to work on this much.  I've really only been tinkering around the edges, brush painting bits and messing with the glass.

Did get the motor started with some paint, wiring is next.



And got the gauges in and glossed.

 

As soon as the weather heats up and I can spray paint again I can get the chassis into some kind of finished state.  Meanwhile I have plenty to do on the motor.

 

Thanks for looking in.

 

Dan

 

[majel]

I'm currently starting on this same model, but doing it as the Neil Bonnett #5 Jim Stacy sponsored car.  You are right about the instructions and fit, and the amount of flash and sink marks makes prep work take forever.  I'll definitely be following along with your progress.

[Shark]

I'm a little late to this post 

You mentioned the pin striping, Powerslide made a decal sheet that has that on it for the large scale Petty Charger. I think Mike's Decals is out of stock, but you might be able to round up one. Nice sheet.

[Rattlecan Dan]

Nice job so far. Keep up the good work. Hoping you will post the finished build.

[Coyote_6]

The valve covers look great - looks like a nice crinkle black finish to me.  Very cool!

Steve

[Dan Cooper]

Still too cold to get much done.  I've just been tinkering with bits when it's sunny.

The rear underside is now done.  Not much but it's some progress.



 I really want to get the wheels painted but too cold.  It takes ages for paint to dry.

I'm going to tackle the spark plug wiring next.

Thanks for looking in.

Dan

[Mattilacken]

Nice build! I like these bigg scale builds! and this kit seems way better than the Revell 1/16 kits that i have.

[GMasterG]

Dan

I've just purchased this kit to build and I'd like to use this post as a build diary. Have you made any further progress since your last post?