1972 Bobby Allison Southern 500 winning Coke Chevy

[MarkJ]

The kit and some photos of a test bed body of a mercury I found in my stash that could not be resurrected. I bought a new airbrush and wanted to learn on an actual model body. I don't find practicing on a piece of paper transfers well to letting you know how it will look on an actual model body. I'm also using a different kind of paint so I'm thinking the use of this body which I will paint just like the subject body including doing a two-tone paint job to see how well my paint separation line turns out. The choice of the subject was easy because of his ten wins in 1972 this one was the most iconic because his battle all day with David Pearson made it an epic race to watch for the fans. He finally made his last pass for the win 4 laps from the end. 

[MarkJ]

I just figured out something when I was looking at the box art I had just posted and remembering the ref photos I had saved from the actual race from you tube. The car he drove in the 72 southern 500 was a 1971 Monte Carlo, not a 1972 that I have purchased. The difference is in the front park lights. The 71 had them in the bumper and the 72 had them on each side of the grille. The mesh of the grille doesn't matter because this model kit has the right looking grille for a race prepared 71. I just need to fix the park light difference on the model which I think I can do with a little bit of sheet styrene here and there. This car might be the ex-Glotzbach Monte Carlo from 1971.

[bbowser]

Looking forward to this.  I had a '71 Monte, think they look great as a race car.

[FUSIONBOY]

Looking Forward to this build!  My Cousin went through 3  71-72 Montes running Enduros in MN. Things ran fantastically!!!!

[MarkJ]

2 hours ago, FUSIONBOY said:

Looking Forward to this build!  My Cousin went through 3  71-72 Montes running Enduros in MN. Things ran fantastically!!!!

Thanks Rick. I bought the paint today to do the test bed body and will choose between two different golds before I go on to the real build body.

[MarkJ]

Masked the test body and shot the gold. I used Createx paint because they have many options for mixing up paint that you can make extra metallic or other affects you might want to try. I learned that gray primer makes the gold look too dark so I will prime the monte body with white. I might also try to add more metallic bits in the mix just for grins. I used my new airbrush and was ecstatic with the results and ease of operation. This brush takes all the guess work out of painting with an airbrush. Air brush purists probably scoff at it but to me it's a dream come true.

[MarkJ]

I painted the sides of the test body with Tamiya white primer and will shoot Createx Wicked red on one side and plain old Createx wicked gold on the other side. Luckily, I found a bottle of it in my stash that had not separated out from age. It appears to be more metallic than the pearl gold I used the first time. If it looks good, I will start preparing the Monte Carlo body for paint. Below is the YouTube video images of the real car. You will notice the bumpers were painted red with just a little chrome showing on the front bumper.

• Quote
• Quick Edit
• More...

[Ragtop Man]

Ain't nobody scoffing at the Iwata... been looking at one for a while, need one of the coupon deals like I used to get my Badger. 

[Belugawrx]

What Bob said...likin' the looks of that pistol grip Mark, and the lid on the paint cup is boss !

I don't know if you had found this yet or not...it popped up on my news feed...probably said Monte Carlo a few too many times working on Donnie's...

https://motorsportsmarket.com/racecars/1971-chevy-monte-carlo-nascar-grand-national-stock-car/

I know it's a refurbished car, but there are original details in there.

Looks like your about to start painting...I always leave the painting until I nail the stance.

Cheers

[MarkJ]

Bob, Hobby Lobby had the one I got. I dropped my present airbrush on its nose without the nozzle guard, so I knew it was shot so I went to Hobby Lobby and saw the trigger version and did not know exactly what I was looking at, so I went home and did some research on it. (watched somebody on a YouTube video). Went back the next day and bought it. Now I'm glad I dropped that other one. Never knew how easy airbrushing could be. It's like a rattle can but you can mix the paint so it won't orange peel on you unless you get ridiculously far away from the model when you're painting it. And Acrylics are so much more health friendly to use. You can't get acrylic rattle can paint that I know of.

[MarkJ]

10 minutes ago, Belugawrx said:

What Bob said...likin' the looks of that pistol grip Mark, and the lid on the paint cup is boss !

I don't know if you had found this yet or not...it popped up on my news feed...probably said Monte Carlo a few too many times working on Donnie's...

https://motorsportsmarket.com/racecars/1971-chevy-monte-carlo-nascar-grand-national-stock-car/

I know it's a refurbished car, but there are original details in there.

Looks like your about to start painting...I always leave the painting until I nail the stance.

Cheers

Thanks, Bruce I'm going to check out that link as soon as I get this answer sent back to you. 

[Belugawrx]

Just now, MarkJ said:

Thanks, Bruce I'm going to check out that link as soon as I get this answer sent back to you. 

Scroll to the bottom of the page LOTS of detail pics

[MarkJ]

Thank you, Bruce. Like you said, even though it's a reproduction, it might actually be a former Junior Johnson/ Bobby Allison car as well that the guy updated. I doubt if the intake and carb are the same or the way the air cleaner looks but other things under the hood I could use as a guide. It's a double snorkel air cleaner but it's probably a round stock air cleaner that snorkels were added to. Not that plastic one.

[MarkJ]

Got the body ready to paint the sides. Had to reshoot the sides with white primer. Will shoot one side with red and the other side with metallic gold .

[MarkJ]

Got the sides ready for paint tomorrow if the weather allows it. Buffed off the sides with a Hercules fine sanding pad I saw a guy use with great results on a YouTube video. it seems to smooth out the surface without leaving sanding scratches that can show through the paint sometimes. Also mixed up the paint to be ready if I have a go. Will paint one side red and the other side metallic gold instead of the pearl gold I used the first time, just to see if the met gold looks better. Plus, it will be on a white base instead of gray. The one shown below is a medium pad which would be way to rough for a model car. I used the fine version, but they look the same except the fine is a lighter color. You cut a small square out of the pad you get, and it looks like it will last a long time. not like sandpaper, and you can use it dry which makes for a cleaner work area.

[bobss396]

I like sanding pads in general. But on finishes, go easy. It is possible to go too far if it wraps around an edge.

[MarkJ]

52 minutes ago, bobss396 said:

I like sanding pads in general. But on finishes, go easy. It is possible to go too far if it wraps around an edge.

Thats true, Bob. It will be a learning process for me. Some things will still need sandpaper. I mostly will use it for raw bodies and primer. I'm hoping not to use it at all on color coats and clears. I did not need anything on my Camaro for those two items except floor finish at the end to seal the decals.

[Kevinjr26]

thanks, great tip i will have to pick some of this up i always seem to have something in my primer and basecoats before clear.

[pulln4dejr]

Side note: Reading through the article about the restoration car reminded me of my ‘73 Camaro I had. In the article it shows the guy paid $205,000 (paid in full!) and it’s “priced to sell” for $65,000! I spent over $10,000 on my Camaro from 1983-1986 on the built 327-375, complete new GM panels from the doors back, stripped down to bare metal, repainted White with Oldsmobile Cutlass Metallic Green Z/28 stripes. Sold it in 1986 to my next door neighbors son for $6,500!

Moral to these stories….. Let someone else spend the $$$$, then buy it after they get done for about 60% less than they have invested! 🤣🤣

[bobss396]

22 hours ago, MarkJ said:

Thats true, Bob. It will be a learning process for me. Some things will still need sandpaper. I mostly will use it for raw bodies and primer. I'm hoping not to use it at all on color coats and clears. I did not need anything on my Camaro for those two items except floor finish at the end to seal the decals.

I will use 3M paper in 1500 to 2500 grits. I cut it into small 1"-ish squares.

I have a shallow container on my kitchen counter, all color-sanding polishing stuff. When I get new DM cloths, I cut them into 4 equal pieces and mark the grit size on the back with a Sharpie.

I use 1 cloth at a time and toss 'em when they wear out or get loaded up. I use them wet, dipped in soapy water.

I have a couple of 1800 and 2400 cloths I'll use dry to knock down big boogers and fly turds in paint only, never on cleared stuff.

 

[MarkJ]

7 hours ago, pulln4dejr said:

Side note: Reading through the article about the restoration car reminded me of my ‘73 Camaro I had. In the article it shows the guy paid $205,000 (paid in full!) and it’s “priced to sell” for $65,000! I spent over $10,000 on my Camaro from 1983-1986 on the built 327-375, complete new GM panels from the doors back, stripped down to bare metal, repainted White with Oldsmobile Cutlass Metallic Green Z/28 stripes. Sold it in 1986 to my next door neighbors son for $6,500!

Moral to these stories….. Let someone else spend the $$$$, then buy it after they get done for about 60% less than they have invested! 🤣🤣

sounds like good advice, Alan.

 

On 5/1/2025 at 8:40 AM, Kevinjr26 said:

thanks, great tip i will have to pick some of this up i always seem to have something in my primer and basecoats before clear.

I think you will like it. One little 2x2 inch pad will probably last forever.

 

2 hours ago, bobss396 said:

I will use 3M paper in 1500 to 2500 grits. I cut it into small 1"-ish squares.

I have a shallow container on my kitchen counter, all color-sanding polishing stuff. When I get new DM cloths, I cut them into 4 equal pieces and mark the grit size on the back with a Sharpie.

I use 1 cloth at a time and toss 'em when they wear out or get loaded up. I use them wet, dipped in soapy water.

I have a couple of 1800 and 2400 cloths I'll use dry to knock down big boogers and fly turds in paint only, never on cleared stuff.

 

Sounds good, Bob. Whatever works is what I always say

[MarkJ]

Well, I went out on a glorious afternoon to paint my test body and low and behold I found that I had forgot to clean my new airbrush from the last time I use it. I tried to just run 91% alcohol through it and it finally started working but not good enough to actually paint with it. I'm going to have to clean it today and hope for good weather again this afternoon. One thing about this new brush is, it's got a lot of pieces to clean and it's hard to remember how to put it all back together.  I'm going to lay out a piece of paper towel down on my work area and put all the pieces in the way they look when they are back together in exploded view of course and mark a little spot with magic marker on the paper and after I clean each part put it back on the spot. hopefully this will help.