Completed works for 2010
Another year, more builds... 2009 was a good modeling year since I finished so many *different* types of builds. Not just NASCAR, Fords, or whatever. I'll try to keep with that in 2010. I need another bike, start some F1 [Ford powered!! :)] and some NASCARs for sure.

1976 David Pearson Purolator Montego - Daytona Winner! NUMBER 2!!
After my last 76 Montego, another gentleman asked me to build one for him as well. The body has been ordered, the chassis has been started and the updates will be much quicker since this isn't the first time through with this chassis/body. Unfortunately for the last buyer, this one should take weeks, not months.

Body came in the mail last night. The chassis has been started. This should move along pretty quickly now that I've done one before. I don't have to research nearly as much either...

Chassis is basically done. I need to add some seat belts and some little things here and there. Other than that....
The body is giving me FITS! I had to fill the "portholes". After that I've been sanding, puttying, sanding, puttying, etc... I can still see ghost images of where the filler panel is. Argh... Still going. Not stopping until it's perfect. :)

Not much going here... Just proof that the portholes and handles are giving me FITS! :) This has to be the 6th or 7th time I've puttied or used liquid surface primer on them. I'm not sure why it's not bonding. It's been cleaned with thinner and primer sticks with no problems.

Took a day off work to catch up on some household duties and some modeling time. Bun in the oven and due in 2 weeks is cutting into my "play time". :)
Stripes. Check. Clearcoat. Check.
Now I need to polish, make a windshield, add the shrouds to the windows, finish up the bumpers and button it up!

Got a lot done in the last couple nights. Decals are done, BMF is done, and polishing is done. I'm getting excited to see this one complete! Getting closer.

I was hoping to have this one buttoned up before our second was born on the 20th... Well, Kate went into labor early (on the 8th). Everything went fine with delivery and getting home, but I'm behind on this build for sure.
I did get some final touches started though. Windows are in, window metal trim is in, hood fitted (still taped up), and bumpers fitted. I just need to finalize some things... paint bumpers, window straps, spoiler, mate to chassis, etc...
The end is near! :)

Buttoned this one up. Window net, hood pins, bumpers, shrouds, etc... Everything fell into place in the end. The resin really gets twisted up on these things. I couldn't get the hood perfect. It has a little dip in the right side exactly like my last build did. The rear bumper has a little twist to it just like my last one too.
All in all, a pretty satisfying build even if it took a little longer than I had hoped.

Mickey Thompson Pinto Flopper
I've always wanted to build more floppers from the 70'/80's. Here is a JoHan Torrid Pinto that I'll be converting to Mickey Thompson's Pinto driven by Don Pulde. Going with red like the Purolator cars. It'll be gold/clear red/pearl/clear. I'm stoked.

Chassis is shaping up for paint. I have a few mods to make to the body too. Marked in black below. Remove the lower character line, notch the front, and open up the window openings a little.

Chassis is complete. Body mods are mostly complete. Spoiler completely scratch built with struts on the rear. All will be painted red with the body. I'll add some metal extensions when that is complete.
The biggest problem I've found so far is the ride height. Out of the box, it is quite high. I've dropped the front quite a bit, but to do that, I need to rebuild the front suspension/spindles. I have a new piece in the works, but it's more work that I had planned for. The other problem is if I lower it as much as I want to, the oil pan will hit the ground. I need to take a little off the bottom of the oil pan too, then I think everything else will be fine.
As soon as it warms up here (it's been in the single digits for over a week now) I'll get some paint on these parts and get to assembling...

LOTS done on the MT Pinto... Front end completly rebuilt. I added shocks and the stance lines up perfect for what I wanted. You can tell I moved the wheel studs in and up. I wanted to get them tucked up inside the flopper body. Springs are made from necklace wire from a craft store. I only wish I would have painted the springs to let them stand out a little.
I tried to give a little more depth to the engine and it spread out to the other parts. I added a little black wash and some highlighting with chrome and aluminum. I think it looks pretty good for my first real effort.
The wheels and tires are complete too. Ended up going with wheels and tires out of a Polar Lights Blue Max Mustang. They look much more realistic than the 70's kit Pinto tires!
Paint is Tamiya silver leaf followed by one coat of clear red, then one coat of pearl clear, then a couple coats of clear. I've wetsanded, it's just waiting for polish.

Decals are on the Pinto. Same polishing method I always use. Wetsand with 2000, Tamiya polishes followed by Novus 1. Then the decals went on. I forgot how unforgiving Slixx decals were. They are matte when applied and can't be polished. Oh, how I wish these were Cartograph printed!! :)
The last shot is the Johan Mustang body on the chassis. Same chassis in both kits, I just wanted to see how the Stang would look. That one will be Shirley Muldowney's blue car when I get to it.

This should be the last update on the Pinto before completion. I have the body polished, chassis mainly completed, and wheels and tires "set". I still need to add some detailing wire in the engine bay as well as some oil lines and the bottom metal rails to the body.
Windshield was about 1/4 inch thick, and was supposed to be seated from the rear. I trimmed it down and fit it flush as well as the rear window. The front hubs were trimmed out as well. They had a big boss on them for the axel pins, but I trimmed them out with a snip, and they fit/look much better.

Done with the flopper.
Added the last couple touches of embossing metal to the bottom edges and those monsterous spoilers! Ended up only adding plug wires and wiring the tach. Pretty fun build overall. Those 70's floppers had a great look to them, I think.

1/32nd Starter 1991 Davey Allison Havoline Thunderbird
Finally picked one of these up and I can't resist the urge to build it right away. It only has a few parts to it, so it should be pretty quick and painless.

Starter kit and a set of backup decals. These were stored flat, so they should work much better than the sheet that came curled up in the box!!
A couple hours in flash removal. Now I have putty on the character line because that was gone by 1991. Now I have to clean some of the mold release off and get painting.

I added some interior bars (the only ones that existed was the hoop behind the driver) and detail painted some interior bits. The decals went on like a dream with no clear or anything. They were stored perfectly and went on perfectly.
The tires have become a big hangup on this build. I cleared them, decaled, then dull coated. When I went to put the rim in the tire, the tire stretched enough to crack all the clear and GY decals. DOH! Since then, I've kept the tires on the rim, brush painted HOK clear on them to get the clear to "re-melt" and then dull coated with Tamiya decanted. Whew. I think this is going to work! :)

1/43rd is in the books. The killer for me were the tires. Not having any more decals for them, I think I've done as good as I can. Fun little project and not likely my last! :)

Lotus Ford 102D
This will be my first foray into F1 modeling. I have a growing collection of Ford powered F1 cars. I picked this one as my first one because it looks cool. After looking a little closer, it looks like a BIG pain in the ass to paint, but I'll plug away at it! :)

Of course, starting with Tamiya kit and Studio 27 decals. I'll start on this one after I get a couple more off my bench.

Trying to get started on this one. Suspension parts painted Tamiya SGB straight from the can. All the parts that will be CF were painted Krylon Gloss Black. They spent a night in the dehydrator and now I can get decalling.
The body of the car had some fitment problems with the engine cover. I put it in boiling water to shape it back. It was working... until it started to shrink. :( I was able to get a new one from Rainbow 10 though. While I was at it, I ordered some B192 tires that I can pair with the extra set of wheels in the 102D's kit. Now I can paint and detail the wheels and tires and not have to worry about separating them.

Finally some documented progress. Since my method of CF'ing takes so long, it's been a while since I've had an update. Typically I prime, paint Krylon gloss black, decal, 2 coats of smoke and then clear (or flat, or semi gloss). Same steps used on this build. I'd say it took 2 weeks to do all this, but turned out pretty well.
the seat/cockpit is my next point of attack. I ground out the seatbelts and I kind of liked the rugged look that was left in the seat from the dremel. Then I hit it with some suede paint and painted it red. Looked terrible! :) So I hit it with a thin coat of white glue and dipped it in embossing powder, and painted it Chevy engine Red (which is quite bright). The result is a MUCH better looking texture and the red looks red since it was so bright painted on top of black. (not yet pictured).
I just ordered a template for the Good Year stencil on the tires. I should have those done shortly as well.

Decals are all done. The yellow on the body isn't quite as bright as I would have liked, but I kinda knew that going into it. I used Tamiya Yellow and Tamiya Park Green. The green seems to be a really good match.
Now I need to finish up the cockpit and some final touches on the engine and this one will be in the bag. :)

Added the last couple details to this one. Sakatsu antenna (closer to the driver), 0.010 Aluminum tubing for the front antenna, Finisher's PE tire markings template. :)
Really fun build. First F1/open wheeler for me. I've already opened another. :)
I do need to add belts when I get some. I haven't decided on what to get for hardware yet...

I couldn't let it sit like this in the case... :) I had to add the seat belt harness as well as some engine bay details, rivets, tire details and an antenna that I missed initially (on the engine cover). The harness is from KA and is a pretty nice set. It's the only 1/20th that I have tried, so I can't compare to anything else.
I also added rivets to the engine cover. They are a little "off the surface", but about the best I can do without using decals. The intakes on the sides also have Kevlar added. I didn't have any at the time I originally "completed" the kit. I've since picked up quite the stash! :)

1964 Chevy Malibu
Body ordered for this one. Going with MCW resin body (non SS) and a 64 chassis/interior. At the request of the buyer, it's going to be rolling on "stock car style" rims/tires and a Hurst Comp shifter! WOO HOO!!

MCW body in hand!! It looks beautiful! I have a few more pics of emblems, trims, etc as well. This should build up really nicely. I'm stoked.

Bewtween painting the Montego and finishing touches on the Pinto, I poked at the Malibu a little bit. I added BMF to the scripts, deepened the panel lines, and gave it a coat of primer. Even though it's a white car, I'm going with gray primer. I'll top that off with white primer, then white paint. Between each coat of paint, I'll polish back the paint over the scripts letting them show the BMF scripting.

Body is in paint, though I'm not sure I'm satisfied. You can see slight edges onthe paint where I added the BMF to the scripts. I have the interior prepped for paint. The embossing powder on the floor for texture. I'll be working on those seats next.

This one is wrapped up, but there are some small details I need to add before I can take final pics.
I worked overtime a couple nights to get this one done for my buddy whos going on the Hot Rod Power Tour.
Seats were combined from the bench that came with the resin kit and the buckets that came with the 65 Chevelle. The floor shifter is out of an AMT NASCAR, I believe. Paint is Testors laquer white with their clear. Added some PE interior door handles, window cranks, and seat belt hardware.
I still need to swap a 3 spoked steering wheel, add straight pipes out the back, add license plates (Iowa State - BOOO!! :) ), and headlight replacements. I'm going to let him take it for now, then I'll finish it up when I can later.

One last batch of pics before this thing is in the bag. My buddy had another show over the 4th of July weekend. I was trying to get it done in time, and I got it mostly done, but when I got it to work, one wheel had fallen off, then one hood hinge came off.
I took it back home and am starting to fix it back up. I plan on adding some plumbing to it. It'll need a couple coolant hoses and heater hoses. I may see what else I can fit in there too.
I also need to adjust the stance so it's a little more aggressive.
Yikes, I need more light!

Done, done, done!!
Finally brushed the cob-webs off this one and set it straight and sent it home! :) Added MSD to the firewall, fixed the ever "prone to breaking" hood hinges, added some engine coolant lines, and BMF on the rockers. I was able to add more light by using white paper on camera side of my photo box. I think it helps a lot, but I still need more light! ;)

2010 Kevin Harvick Jimmy John's Monte Carlo
I've never built a new Monte, so I thought I'd bust this one out. I've loved this scheme since I saw it. ALPS decals from Thad. I'm trying to build this one up as seen at the Iowa Speedway in 2010.

I took about half the front air dam off smoothed it out and added a new dam. Angled the side skirts to meet the new front air dam and hogged out the wheel wells. Then I sanded off the hood pins, windshield clips, rear spoiler details and camera. Those will all get replaced.
After my first primer, I gave it a nice coat of white, then masked and hit it with black Krylon. Then when I cleared, (Tamiya) it wrinkled like crazy. I've never had that happen before. So I stripped it, reprimed, painted, masked and used Tamiya SG Black as it was all I had. Then hit is with Tamiya clear. Now I'm good to go.
Then I added the red stripes off Thad's sheet and recleared with Testors one coat laquer clear. It went on nice and smooth and covered the decals well.
Last night I got most all the main graphics on (33's, JJ's, etc) but I'm waiting on a 2010 update sheet to finish it off.

Main graphics are on. Need to get some updated contingencies, then this one is done!

Almost buttoned up. Waiting on a few details... camera, fuel filler, over flow, spoiler bolts, and some other small details.

Got the details from Thad and finished this one off a couple nights ago. Decals from Thad were amazing. Went on great. The seond print was clearer with very little of the graphics having scratches on them. They worked great for an ALPS noob.
Added a couple small things like pass window with naca and the windshield Tiwi and called it a day!