This is my version of the 1998 #21 Citgo Ford Taurus driven by Michael
Waltrip at Richmond earlier this year. You will note that there are no
shaded red or white bands on this car as was the case at Richmond!
The model was a #99 Exide Taurus from Revell-Monogram and the decals are
from Slixx.
Painting and decals:
The chassis and body interior are standard light grey. The body exterior
is the same bright red I have used on my #94 cars and the earlier 1996 #21
I have on the site. As I said the decals are from Slixx and are the
1996-97 version so I had to use a few incorrect markings from the old
sheet. I also had to shorten the roof #21 to fit in between the roof
rails! The contingency decals are once again from a Cheerios kit decal
sheet along with a few selected decals from a slixx contingency sheet. I
applied the decals starting with the roof number which as I said I had to
shorten. I did this by cutting it with a model knife across the bottom of
the 2 and 1 in the number and removing about 3/32 of an inch I believe
(can't really say for sure now) and matching them back up on the model. I
then applied the hood decal and with a couple slits where the hood pins
come through and a lot of softening solution I made it to lay down over the
hood pins! I then applied the rear quarter rectangular citgo decals and
the rear quarter "CITGO" decals. I then applied the GRAND decals and
fender contingency decals to have something to judge where the door numbers
should go. I then applied the remaining contingency, headlight/parking
light, grille and rear panel and little #21 decals. I took a piece of
black decal stock to make the upper front grille and used decals from a
1997 slixx "goodies" sheet for the rest of the grilles. I then took an
old #75 kit sheet and cut pieces from the red lower body decals to put on
the upper and lower grilles to simulate "200 mph tape" Which I saw on the
Richmond car! Once the decals were dry I applied a coat of testors
high-gloss enamel to the entire body. While the body was drying I masked
and painted the clear parts. Once the body was dry I masked and painted
the rear spoiler black! Caution:Always remember to do this before you
decal and clearcoat the body! I didn't and pulled the top of the rear
panel decals off!!! Luckily I was able to pull enough of the decal off of
the tape to be able to repaint the missing parts of the letters and #21!!!
Just thought you would like to know that I'm just as likely to make a
mistake as anybody! Doesn't matter how long you do these things you still
screw up from time to time, so take heart all you first time model
builders!!! (GRIN) Oh well, back to the model! Finally I painted the
hood and trunk retaining pins, the centercaps, the fuel filler hole and the
skirts! I then mounted the body on the chassis and installed the clear
parts and there it was, a very nice looking #21 Citgo ford!
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!