This is the 1997 Penske South Miller Lite car driven by Rusty Wallace.
This paint scheme is a departure from the usual black with yellow trim of
past years because of the Miller Lite sponsorship I presume and for me took
some getting used to! All in all once I got used to the new paint I
thought it was a good looking machine!
This kit is another 1996-97 Monogram T-Bird this time with decals from
a B sheet (B for so-called bootleg). Once again I put slab sides, skirts,
jack posts and front airdam extension on this kit. Also since it is a 97
the Earnhardt bar was added (for those who don't know the "Earnhardt bar"
is the bar added between the frame under the dash and the top front cross
bar in the roll cage as per a rule change brought on by DE's crash at Dega
in 1996).
Painting was straight forward and simple. The chassis and body
interior are light grey (2 to 1 mix white and grey this the most common
interior color in NASCAR) the body exterior was first painted white (gloss)
hen after drying simple masking of the nose from the windshield to the
wheel wells and from wheel well to wheel well on the airdam and the body
was then painted dark blue from there back (always mask off the interior of
the body before applying paint to the interior!) After drying the decals
were added and the body installed windows and other clear parts painted and
attached to the body with clear craft glue! Tire and wheel decals were
added prior to body installation!
For more detail on painting steps for a thunder bird body see the write
up for the #28 10th anniversary model in this section!
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!