Mountain Dew Sprint Car

[bigmike312]

Finally got this one off the bench. It is a totally fantasy build.









Thanks for looking,
Big Mike

[z24dude]

That looks real, awesome build!!!

[The Mad Modeller]

Cool build Mike.

[prumus99]

I like this build! great job!

[oldcoyote]

Wow !! That's great !!

[Nacho Z]

I would like to see this one in person Big Mike. I think it looks GREAT! Can you give us some details about the build?

[roadhawg]

Ooooo....now THATS nice!

[bigmike312]

Thanks for the compliments on my build. NachoZ asked for some particulars so here they are.

I started with one of the Monogram sprint car kits obviously. I updated the engine to look more like a modern sprint with the addition of a scratchbuilt oil tank at the front of the motor and a crossover breather tube. I also added sparkplug wires and injector lines and scratchbuilt a modern airbox.



I used a resin hood and nose piece, a fuel cell out of the Superman sprint car kit and scratch built the rest of the body panels out of .020 styrene.



I also built the seat out of one from a NASCAR kit by adding the shoulder and helmet braces.



The wheels and tires came from The Parts Box in Austalia and I used Shabo transfers for the Hoosier and real mud to detail the tires. The decals came from Thad, not sure if he is a member here but he is a member of Randy Ayers and other forums, and were oviously meant for a Dale Jr. car. I printed the fuel cell numbers and the drivers name which is Chuck Amati. Chuck was one of my childhood sprint racing heroes and was inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame a couple years before he died of a heart attack. The paint is Rustoleum Engine Enamel Grabber Green on the chassis and bars, Testors Silver on the body panels and Rustoleum Gloss Black in the wings. The wing braces were made with aluminum from a Diet Coke can. Every piece of chrome was stripped and painted due to all the mold lines. I also gave a lot of the parts a flat black wash to bring out the detail.




I try to take all my pictures outside as I just don't think you can beat natural light. Unfortunately, the day I took these I ended up working 12 hours and almost ran out of light so I used the sunset as a backdrop and used the flash. I was really happy with the way the pictures turned out.

If anybody has any questions feel free to ask.

Thanks again for your responses,
Big Mike

[Nacho Z]

Thanks for the reply Mike. I for one, love to see in progress pics and hear about all of the work that is done on people's models. And yes, the pics really are cool!

[fireguy14]

Stunning build Mike! Thanks for the run down on the build, I for one like those to give me ideas for other projects. And I agree with John, the pics are terrific!