1997 STP Pontiac Grand Prix


This is the 1997 version of the car owned by my favorite driver (ALL TIME) Richard Petty the king of stockcar racing and driven by Bobby Hamilton sporting the usual STP ovals and a paint scheme designed by a fan! Although slightly modified from it's appearance at Daytona (the nose of the Daytona car had white across the lower part of the airdam which flowed into yellow and then into the neon red) it is still basically the same scheme.

The model kit is a 1997 Monogram pontiac grand prix details of which can read about in the write up on the #18 Interstate Batteries model elsewhere on this site!

Painting and decals:

Well this was another case where I had to try something new! Here I made my decal templates as I have for some of the other models here (check the write ups for the #28 and 18 for more details) only I didn't trace these exactly around every line. I traced a line for the templates that divided all of the striping in half (or close) so that I could paint the 2 colors on the body and hide the separation line under the decals! I then painted the whole exterior with True Match petty blue. By the way the chassis and body interior are standard light grey (2 parts white - 1 part grey). Now back to the exterior of the body! After the petty blue was dry (1-2 days) I took the templates and traced them onto the body with a mech. pencil and then took some micro mask from microscale (micromask is a liquid masking solution that you brush on) and brushed it over the body along the lines I traced and allowed it to dry as per the instructions on the bottle. Now since the florescent read is airbrushed on I didn't have to apply the mask to the whole upper body, just far enough to allow for over spray ... which with an airbrush isn't much 3/4 to 1 inch above the masking line ... this is much better than scotch magic tape and paper especially on a model with intricate lines and patterns! So I then airbrushed the florescent red and when it had dried sufficiently (a couple hours just always remember patience pays off and lack of same doesn't believe me I know from experience, you don't want your hard work ruined by having the paint pull off with the mask!) Take and pick the edge of the mask or press a piece of tape and stick it to the edge of the mask and lift it off! Any excess that may be left behind may be lifted with tape also. One tip for the spacing of the stripes at the rear deck lid and spoiler area ... make a tracing of the Hughes dss trunk logo and trace it on to the trunk before tracing masking lines on the body!!!

Now for the decals. The decals are from slixx once again and once again were excellent! I found it better to cut the long side decals into 2 pieces before applying because of the length and narrowness of the stripe and also the curved shape ... I figured it would be easier to line up 2 pieces than however many I would have if I tried to work with 1 long twisting decal! Anyway I slid the decals into place and lined them up using a fine brush (once again I say a brush is much easier than using big clumsy ... and sticky ... fingers) once they (the stripes) were in place (and dry) I then applied the other decals over them! Here are a couple tips for when decals run across a separation line between a hood and a body. If the decal just barely hangs over the edge of the hood (and isn't very big) you can apply it to the hood let it dry and take a razor blade and carefully cut it down the edge and the apply the small piece to the body (this would apply to cars like the #18 and the #7 QVC ford where the logos just barely lap over). Now in cases where a longer piece or larger piece like the stripes on this car is being applied take the hood and place the decal sheet over it (that's hood face up and decal sheet face up) and hold them together and turn them over hold a light under them and trace the outline of the hood on the back side of the decal sheet then cut out the decals and voallah (how's that for a word) you have a line for cutting the decals traced on the back side ... with no damage to the decals because it's on the back! I won't go into any further details for this kit because this write up is getting long and if you have read (or if you will) the write ups for most of my other cars you should know or be able to figure out the rest of the steps for completion of it! Please take notice some of the details in these pictures! If you will look closely you can see the wedge adjustment decals on the rear window and in the right front quarter view you can clearly see the Earnhardt bar!

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!

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Additional Pictures

Left Side View
Left Front View
Right Rear View