This is my 2001 #88 UPS Taurus! It is a Revell #6 kit with 3 Amigos
decals, kit head and tail lights and slixx contingencies. For this one
I narrowed the rear end and set the front wheels a bit and reworked the
front airdam extension!
Painting and decals:
I first airbrushed the interior of the body light gray and then I masked
it from the inside and applied a coat of testors flat white as a
primer. Over this I airbrushed testors gloss white (After lightly
sanding the flat white) and after drying for a couple days I masked and
applied the brown (A mix of testors brown with a few drops of black
...gloss) with the airbrush. The chassis on this one is light gray as
well.
After a few days of drying time I applied the 3 Amigos decals which went
on very well ...excellent adhesion and they laid down very well! I
started with the hood decal then the roof number and the trunk UPS. I
then applied the yellow striping, the front fender contingencies, the
door numbers and the rear quarter UPS decals. I finished off with the
rear panel www.ups.com logo, the taillights, headlights and the head and
tail light numbers. I made the grilles from black decal stock. As I
said I narrowed the rearend housing... to do this I cut the ends off at
the area where the center section meets the axle tubes and removed
approx. 3/32" from each tube. I then glued the tubes back on the
center section. I had to then pull the shocks inward a bit (Trying to
keep them symmetrical so the axle assembly would be centered) and also
slightly rework the attachment point for the panard bar. For the front
I simply trimmed the spindles back maybe 1/16" or so (The vertical
section only) and removed material from the front wheels until they were
flush with the little brake disks provided in the kit. Some had said
something about trimming the spindle shaft ends but these did not
interfere with the wheels going deeper on the shafts on mine. Finally
for the front airdam extension I first cut a strip of .020" styrene
approx. 3/32" wide and glued it to the bottom of the kit extension. I
then took a used vhs video tape label sheet and blacked out the strip
across the bottom (Between the area where the long side label had been
...this is from a rca tape btw) with a black sharpie and cut the areas
that weren't pre-cut so that I had a full strip approx. 5/32" wide. I
then applied this strip to the modified extension which made a very
nicely lowered nose! I have used this method for a couple 1:18
diecasts I thought didn't ride low enough in the front and the strips
haven't come loose after over a year! Anyone that has tried to remove
an old label from a tape knows how well this stuff sticks! Anyway... I
finished it off with a coat of testors clear enamel top coat (Model
Master) from the airbrush on the painted and decalled body and then
model master chrome silver on the hood and trunk pins and the center
caps. Fuel filler is model master steel. To see the set of the
wheels and a shot of the airdam extension Click Here!
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!