This is the 1997 Kellog's Corn Flakes Monte Carlo driven by 1996 NASCAR
Champion Terry Labonte.
The kit is a 1997 Monogram Monte Carlo. The decals are stock from the
kit. As usual this kit has the new body with the molded in slab sides,
skirts and jack posts!
Painting and Decals:
The chassis and body interior of this kit are painted standard light
grey (2 parts white to 1 part grey). For the exterior I first painted the
entire body yellow...minus the hood!. I then allowed the yellow to dry
for 2-3 days and masked off the rear section of the body and painted it
red. I then waited a couple more days and masked off the narrow red band
just above the skirts and just above the front airdam extension and air
brushed it on. Once this red band was dry I masked and painted the skirts
flat black. The hood was then painted with light grey inside and gloss
white outside. Once the body was throughly dry I applied the decals. I
started with the large #5 on the roof and the Starburst trunk decal. I
then applied the striping for the sides of the body. The decals in the
kit are one piece for each side (stripes and number 5's) but I like to keep
excess decal material to a minimum so I trimmed as close to the stripes as
possible and applied them one at a time! I then applied the number 5's
and the contingency decals. I then moved to the front of the body and
applied the grill and headlight and little #5 (over the right headlight)
decals. I then cut apart the stripes for the front airdam (these were
once again all one piece) and applied them along with the grill and MONTE
CARLO decals. Next I applied the airdam extension decal (it was
nice...had the rivets printed on it) and then the decals across the back of
the body ... Quaker State Kellog's and little #5 ... which were one piece
(no I didn't cut then apart (G)).
Lastly I applied the hood decal! I thought about cutting apart
this decal and applying the separate elements
one at a time but I was afraid the white of the decals and the white of the
hood would not match! Where the hood pins are covered by the decal I cut
a slit from front to rear in each of the little uncolored circles on the
decal sheet, this allowed me to press the decal down good around the hood
pins! It took quite a bit of work to get all ...or at least most... of
the wrinkles and air bubbles out and get the decal to lay down into the
grooves on each side of the hood but It can be done!!! Once the decals
were sufficiently dry I applied the usual coat of testors high gloss
enamel! I then painted the windshield and clear parts and installed them
on the body (unlike the T-Bird and old pre-97 MC bodies you don't have to
spread them to get them on the chassis so you don't have to worry about
popping out these parts!). I then applied the tire decals, painted the
center caps chrome (testors model master silver chrome trim) with a brush
and carefully painted the hood pins with the same paint as the center caps.
So there you have it! A #5 96 champion's car!
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!