This is the car that Ernie Irvan drove in the last couple of races in
the 1995 season. It was the car in which he started his comeback after
his near fatal crash at Michigan the year before!
The model is a 1995 Monogram T-Bird with decals from slixx. The body
was modified with slab sides (no skirts...some of the cars late in 1995 had
the more aerodynamic sides on them and from what I saw of pictures of this
car it did) and jack posts. I also added what is now also a standard
feature on all my T-bird models, the front airdam extension. Note: There
is only one thing differing between the 1995 and the 1996-97 Monogram
T-Bird bodies and that is the nose. The nose on the 95 is split straight
across and the 96-97 is split at the headlight s and up above the center
top grille (much less filling on the 1996-97!) Also the chassis are the
same except for a small piece to cover the oil cooler air duct top! Just a
couple details that I thought you might like to know!
Painting and Decals:
The chassis and body interior is bright red (equal parts red and orange)
as are all my Yates cars. The exterior was airbrushed in gloss black.
The decals had the florescent yellow 88's and the neon red lower body bands
with florescent yellow striping with airdam striping to match. Even the
fasteners on the airdam extension are printed! Even a decal for the dash
is included (the one you see on the in-car cameras) and wheel and rear
window suspension adjustment hole markings! These old T-Bird kits had the
2 piece nose with the separation line running right between the grilles
horizontally so I had to fill it in with squadron green putty all the way
from wheel well to wheel well! This must be sanded carefully to avoid
sanding off any more of the grille detail than necessary! Also a note
once again about the florescent decals! As I have said in write ups for
some of the other models with these florescent decals, you must be careful
not to bend them too much ...because they will crack! It also takes a lot
of decal setting solution to make them lay down on the nose and the roof
(roof flaps). As I've said before put the florescent red bands on first
(sides and nose) because the contingency decals must over lap them! Once
the decals are applied and had set up and dried I applied a coat of clear
high-gloss testors enamel for decal sealing and a slick finish! I then
painted the windshield and other clear parts mounted the body on the frame
(after the clear coat was dry) and installed the clear parts, applied the
tire, wheel and other misc. decals (suspension adjustment holes) and
painted the center caps!
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!