Building a Mustang for the County Fair

[OldNYJim]

I built a Crown Vic inspired by the oval racing at our local county fair a couple of months back, and didn’t quite get that out of my system yet…plus a racecar needs something to race against, so here we go again…

I’m building this for roughly the same class as the Crown Vic I did previously which was a mostly-mechanically-stock class with some minor upgrades  allowed for safety and performance but a mostly standard car:

This one is gonna be a little more beaten-up but not a complete wreck either - just a ‘well loved’ racecar with barely a straight panel on it, but mechanically cared for and ready for battle.  Printed some Hoosier dirt tires, which are technically illegal but I saw on some cars anyone at the 1:1 racing I watched:

And then set about ruining that nice body…filled the lights and anything you’re allowed to weld up:

And then set about ruining the body.  I wanted some creases and wrinkles and dents to demonstrate a bunch of minor doorbanging and barrier-clipping that this car might’ve seen in it’s life before, and that was today’s project.   I removed some some of the panels to allow me to form aluminum and copper copies that would then be reinserted flush with the surrounding panels like so:

So I didn’t have to completely disassemble the body, I left the doors in place and embossed metal sheet over top:

And worked my way around the car adding more or less damage depending on where it was likely to happen.  The rear trunklid got some damage at one point and is particularly bad:

But the outside of the car, the one that would end up up-against the barrier most often has really seem some battle damage:

Bad enough that the rear quarter has been replaced at some point, but even that has some dings and dents.

Sidenote: I really had to trust in the process and regularly thought “this is just a mess”, but as it sits tonight I’m pleased with it, so I’ll keep going here ?

Because, in some cases, I’ve skinned over the existing panels I used a little sprue goo to smooth everything out and hide the seams…

…but I was reassured that a coat of primer showed it looking loosely how I wanted - not a completely trashed demo-derby car, just a hard-working racecar that’s still all-together but kinda beaten to hell at the same time.

And that’s day one progress - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

 

[dust collectors]

Looking good, I like where this is heading.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Poor little car. I lyke heem.  

Edited October 16, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy
TYPO

[OldNYJim]

20 hours ago, dust collectors said:

Looking good, I like where this is heading.

Thank you!

11 hours ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Poor little car. I lyke heem.  

Oh, I’d never do this to a REAL one - I barely feel ok ruining a TOY one ?

Started the paintjob tonight - I’ve got a particular thing in mind and it’s gonna take a few evenings so I’m getting going on that now.

Last night I primed, then shot a base of an acrylic red oxide:

Then, spent some time adding some shading over top:

I actually quite like this look - I hardly ever do really beaten-up patina’d paint jobs but they ARE fun…but this is really the base so that I can start laying down the REAL paintjob and then burn back thru it in some spots to reveal various layers of primer, rust and dirt.  I’ve got some texture to add to those orange spots too, plus some more shading but that’s about good enough for what I have in mind next…

Just a small update, but this paintjob will take a few steps…more soon, soon as I’ve done more!  Thanks for looking!

[BK9300]

Great idea for the banged up panels - enjoying your build!

[Bainford]

It's a beater. This is looking good.

[OldNYJim]

Thanks fellas!

Worked through most of the paintjob this last few days…

Shot a base color of white over all the rust.  The entire paintjob is built around this base color, but I’ll be burning back through it to some of the brown shades later to reveal some damage…

Didn’t aim for full coverage here - actually shot some streaks and badly-painted spots on there like it had been shot by someone who either didn’t know 100% what they were doing or didn’t have good gear to do it with…

Next up, masked the front portion and added some stars:

Painted Createx blue:

And de-masked:

Next up, a coat of intercoat to protect my work so I can mask over it (not that it matters if I ruin it, particularly) and then masked out some stripes:

Tamiya vinyl tape is good for this - you can make it somewhat bend around curves…

Shot some Vallejo red:

And de-masked again:

Next up, another light mist of intercoat to protect these layers (but not too much - I’ve got to try and burn back through these layers before I’m done) and then I masked for some door numbers and lettering:

I cut the masking film with my Silhouette cutter; the film is Oramask…

Shot Vallejo white first:

Then added a second layer of masks for the numbers:

And shot some Vallejo black:

And after letting the paint tack up for 10 minutes or so, carefully demasked all this stuff too:

Next jobs are to paint the inside of the body and the engine bay / firewall and then start chipping and sanding through some of the paint to expose the rust and grime underneath where some battle-damage has been sustained.

Still plenty to do, but I’m having a blast with this one!  

Thanks for looking - more soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[BK9300]

Going to be a winner, whether or not it sees a checkered flag!

[Mattilacken]

Great build! Nice way of shaping your panels! Btw.. IS AMMO and Vallejo the same company?

[TarheelRick]

Going to be a nice, believable build. With that paint job I don't know whether to take him into the wall or salute him.

[rattle can man]

Just stickers to mask the stars? or is there something designed specifically for this?