This is the #44 Hot Wheels Charity Ride Pontiac driven by Kyle Petty at
California Speedway in 1999! It was a special paint scheme commemorating
Kyle's motorcycle ride across America.
Decals and painting:
The kit was a #44 Hot Wheels Pontiac made by Monogram. The decals are by
John:"Just want to build a model" with contingencies taken from a slixx
sheet.
Now for the painting! I started this one as usual by sanding all of the
seams. No filling with this one, it was all done with glue... I use tube
cement and put enough on the seams to make a bead of dissolved plastic when
you press the parts together. Then when it is hardened I just sand off
the
bead and it looks like a single piece! This takes a lot of practice and
will not always remove the need for filler putty (It did this time
though!).
I then sanded the mold lines from around the windows and front and rear
fenders.
I then applied a coat of testors flat white spray as a primer. I don't
normally primer my bodies but since this car has a metallic finish I wanted
the best possible bond I could get! I next airbrushed the interior of the
body in standard light grey. I then masked the window and wheel well
openings from the inside and airbrushed the exterior with testors model
master steel enamel #1780. I allowed this to dry for a couple hours and
then applied testors model master clear top coat over it with the airbrush.
I was a bit worried because some metallic paints will run if you apply a
top
coat over them (At least if it is the high gloss in the can) but this paint
did not run! Maybe it was because I applied it with the airbrush and did
not make it a heavy "slick" layer of paint (I just wanted enough gloss for
applying decals). I then allowed this to dry for a full 2 days and
proceeded to mask and paint the black areas. This is where I really got
nervous!!! I have had the clearcoat and metallic paint pull off when I
masked over them in the past (See my #17 Parts America ...Regular...
writeup) but it didn't happen with the steel paint! I first masked the
nose and airbrushed it with testors black, I then masked the tail and
airbrushed it with the same black. Here's how I did the rear. I took a
strip of tape and put it over the rear of the spoiler down to the crease
where the spoiler fastens to the body. I then used microscale micro mask
liquid mask over the lower part of the spoiler (I brushed it right up onto
the tape for easier removal) I then masked the rear at the sides and
allowed
the tape to be a mask for the rear lower quarter panel black areas and then
cut the tape to conform to the curve at the sides. I then airbrushed the
rear and lower quarter panel areas with the black. I allowed this to dry
for a few minutes and airbrushed the center steel area (I had to redo this
...steel and black... a couple times to get the fade lines where I wanted
them). Well, so much for the painting!!! You may be asking:What about
the black below the loops on the sides of the body??? I will explain how
I
did this in a moment!
Now to the decals! I started as usual for me with the roof decal! It
went on nicely. I then applied the hood decal! It too went on nicely
though I had a bit of trouble getting it to slide. I then applied the
trunk decal. Then came the decals for the sides (loops door #'s and Hot
Wheels rear quarter logos. Again these went on nicely though they were a
bit difficult but only because of the size and length (I ended up cutting
the STP decals away and applying them separately). Now comes my method of
doing the black under the loops! I made 2 templates of the bottom of the
loops prior to doing anything to the decal sheet. I used these to cut 2
black decals for these black areas of the body from a sheet of microscale
black decal stock! I then applied these decals which matched the black
stripe on the bottom of the loops! Once these black decals were dry I
applied the Spree, red star, and associate sponsor decals from the charity
ride sheet along with the slixx contingency decals. I lastly applied the
rear panel Hot Wheels, rear bumper Pontiac and #44, then the nose Pontiac,
grand prix, #44, grille and airdam extension decals! Note: The upper
grilles were cut from a rectangular lower grille decal (older slixx sheet
...mid 90's I think) and the lower grille and airdam extension decals came
from a 1997 R/M #5 kit sheet! The last decal I applied was the black tape
that covers the split between the rear spoiler halves and the red jack post
locator stripes. I then airbrushed the entire body with a heavier layer
of
the model master clear top coat for a nice glossy finish. This was put
aside to dry and I masked and painted the clear parts. Approx. 1 day
after
I clear coated the body I installed the clear parts! I then mounted the
body (Which btw required nothing to hold it straight on the chassis ...this
body was very straight from the box!) To the chassis.
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!