Alex Zanardi's Target Cart Car.

[David Thibodeau]

I have been working on this one on and off for a year so I decided to pull it back out and get back on it....

I always loved the look of the CART cars. Especially the Red Target cars of Vasser and Zanardi. Using the Revell Monogram kit which some people call a Junk kit I set to work.

Here is the real car I am shooting to replicate. Road course wings and smooth Firehawks.

One Major pitfall of the kit is the awful seam down the side of the monocoque once you put the upper and lower halves together.

On my first kit I built (Gil De Ferrans Penske Marlboro ride) Clay taught me how to eliminate this seam. A big thanks goes out to him on how to do this. I decided this modification is a must on these kits and its real easy to do. FIrst you need to carefully saw the lower molded A arms off.....

Next , grab the lower pan and cut as far back as possible with a razor saw.The side winglets are a good gauge to measure how far you can cut. This is made separate so the interior tub can be installed after paint and finishing. It will slip into the front monocoque and then the lower pan will be installed.

Once the lower front piece off the lower pan is separated, clean it up and glue it to the upper monocoque. Fill it well with filler or my preference is super glue. I filled mine with gap filling Zap glue. Then take 320 grit and block sand the seam smooth.

The lower a Arm will be "pinned" in place. Both Suspension arm ends were cleaned up and small pilot holes were drilled and pins installed. I used soft craft wire so they can be adjusted accordingly.

Here is the payoff. I used gap filling glue for another reason. It does not shrink, and it is clear so after all that sanding I can still see the areas where the suspension arms used to be molded!!! Gives me a perfect point to drill the pilot holes for the suspension arms to be reattatched. A quick coat of primer was added to check the seam. Looks perfect!!

And here is the real payoff!! I jumped ahead so I will explain what took place. I Cleaned up the rest of the components, removed the dorsal fin ( I think that piece was on older cart cars) and primed the car with grey duplicolor filler primer. Next I coated all pieces evenly with Duplicolor white sealer. I looked through the "Uncle" stash and found a cool BMW bright red called "Hellrot" interestingly enough, that means Bright red in german!! I thought this looked like a perfect color for the Target car. Followed by 2 coats od Chromaclear of course!! It needs MINIMUM polishing.

Can you see a side seam? It is the only pitfall I see with these kits and I have to thank Clay once again for the awesome tip!!

The only part that will be visible from the bottom. But most of this will be black or Carbon fiber. Have not decided yet.....sorry for the slightly blurry pic.... :oops:

[David Thibodeau]

I masked off the undertray and shot it with krylon semi flat black and added some SMS twill weave CF decal to the center monocoque along with some Pro Tech bolts...

Interior halves were assembled and shot with krylon Semi flat black from the can. Then I Added some SMS Twill weave CF, Black flocking, and little details such as PE pedals, bolts, and a Pro tech belt kit with Kit Sabelt decals for the belts. With a little clean detail these cockpits can really look good.....

Then I installed the cockpit assembly and steering wheel assembly. If you look closely I lined the inner panels of the body that surrounds the cockpit with CF decals as well!

[ismaelg]

Wait a minute: Are you spying on me or is it just a coincidence we like similar subjects?

I'll follow up this one closely. Looking great so far but that's not a surprise. Great tips so far! I'll be on the lookout if I need to use them. Thanks Clay for me as well

I started the '89 Unser Jr. ride but not much has been done yet. But a bit more than the pic shows

Thanks,

Edited January 19, 2008 by ismaelg

[Raul_Perez]

Very nice work, David!! The paint and the detail are excellent!!

[Guest roadkill2525]

I started the '89 Unser Jr. ride but not much has been done yet. But a bit more than the pic shows

I don't know anything about that kit but this is from '89.

[rick6343]

David,

Great tip! When I built mine (Jimmy Vasser's '99 car), that seam was a lot of tedious work... Maybe now I'll have the motivation to dig out one of the half-dozen more I have in the stash!

[mademan]

looking good!! I am not really a fan of this type of racer, but I did get a chance to meet alex zanardi about 8 years ago, got my picture taken with the car, shook hands etc, it was a very cool experience.

[David Thibodeau]

Thanks guys.... I had a nice quiet weekend and I finished it up!!

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9466

[kitbash1]

Very good work David. I've got a few of those kits in my stash to work on, so you've been a bit of an insperation to get my butt in gear and build.