1982 Dale Earnhardt Ford Thunderbird - Wrangler JEANS MACHINE

[gami8630]

Following my previous post about Dale Earnhardt's Wrangler Jeans colored Chevrolet Monte Carlo Aero Coupe, I've now built the Wrangler Jeans colored Ford Thunderbird he drove during the 1982 season.

The base kit is Revell-Monogram's Thunderbird Legends Combo, and the decals are Power Slide's #208 “1982-84 #15 WRANGLER FORD THUNDERBIRD”.

For this build, I assembled the kit almost entirely as-is, with the exception of the additional modifications and changes listed below.

●Body

Filled door panel seam lines with putty; enlarged left headlamp cover air inlet and added etched mesh; added vent hose outlet pipe to left rear body panel; added trunk lid seam line; installed homemade rear spoiler made from plastic sheet and embedded 3D-printed rivets; relocated and enlarged fuel filler port; added etched mesh to radiator grille

●Chassis

Added safety pads and headrests to the roll cage

●Engine & Drivetrain

Added spark plug wires, fuel lines, oil filter, and oil lines

●Suspension & Wheels

Added 3D-printed 5-spoke wheels, disc brakes, and air valves

●Cockpit

Modified the shape of the kit's window net after detaching it

The body was sprayed with Tamiya Super Surfacer (Gray) and Fine Surfacer (White), followed by TS-16 Yellow and TS-93 Pure Blue. After an overcoat with TS-13 Clear, decals were applied. Once the decals were fully dry, another overcoat of TS-13 Clear was applied, then finished by polishing with compound.

While the above additions and modifications do not faithfully reproduce the actual car Dale Earnhardt drove, like the previous Aero Coupe, I felt it captured the essence of a NASCAR race car from that era reasonably well. Therefore, I have completed its construction.

[Zen]

Well done, looks great!

[bbowser]

Very clean work, well done!

[Sledsel]

Very nice build!

[ChrisR]

Very nice.