This is the 1997 #8 Circuit City Ford T-Bird driven by Hut Stricklin.
The kit is a 1996-97 Revell-Monogram T-Bird and the decals are from
slixx. The body has the usual modifications for a 1996-97 T-Bird with slab
sides, skirts and jack posts! Also included is a front airdam extension to
lower the nose. This is one I have wanted to do for a long, long time.
Right after I got on the Internet (about 16 months ago) I found BSR and
they had a decal sheet for this car. When I emailed them to confirm that
it was still in stock I was told that it was just discontinued and they had
no more! Then about the middle of last year they had a report that there
was going to be a sheet for it again! (Bootleg) Then came the news that
it wasn't!!! So I basically thought, oh well!!! Then a couple months
ago slixx announced it would be producing a sheet for this car!!! So I
waited patiently and sure enough it arrived and I ordered it pronto! Boy
did it come out nice too!!! Well on to the details!
Painting and Decals:
The chassis and body interior are standard light grey. The body I
sprayed in testors bright cherry red. This seemed to match the CC red
pretty well. Once the red paint was dry I masked the rear spoiler and
sprayed it flat black. I then applied the decals starting with the trunk
decal, followed by the two lightening bolt decals (one for each side) these
have the grid lines and circuit city logos already printed on them! Once
these decals were dry I added the #8's the contingencies and grille decals.
Note that this is a short track car so it has the extra grille opening
decals added ... I decoded I didn't want to take the time to sand all the
extra grille work off and make this a speedway car ... this also means
there is no passenger side window! I'll tell you these decals went on
nicely and didn't hardly give me any grief as far as laying down ... though
I did use a good portion of setting solution! ... lastly I applied the hood
decal and the hood/trunk retaining pin decals from a slixx "goodies" sheet!
Once the decals were dry I applied the usual coat of testors high-gloss
clear enamel. This being set aside to dry I masked and painted the clear
parts. Once the body was dry I mounted the body and glued in the clear
parts with clear craft glue. I then applied the wheel and tire decals and
painted the center caps. Note this sheet included decals for the front
airdam extension as well as the skirts! This made for some added detail
touches! All in all a very nice model when finished !!! By the way
there was one more little detail that made this model very easy to finish!
I had a kit a while back (probably about a year ago) that had a severely
twisted body (the only one out of 60-70 kits that I couldn't fix!) that I
had to order a replacement for. While waiting for the body I decided to
build the chassis so it would be ready when the body came. The body came
and I never finished it until now! (This is the chassis I used for the
picture on the main page ... construction section) So it was very simple to
get this one done in a hurry!
Complete instructions for painting and assembly of chassis, clear
parts, and construction of slab sides can be found at the bottom of the main page!