A NASCAR Model by Jodie Peeler!!!

Homer Simpson's "DUFF BEER" Monte Carlo!!

Earlier this summer, on the NASCAR Modeling Board, I read about the "Build Yer Own Durn Race Team" contest. It sounded like a lot of fun, but, for the life of me, I couldn't think of a suitable imaginary sponsor or appropriate driver. It bothered me. Finally, one Saturday afternoon while Ralph and I were sitting around watching a race and playing with a Monte Carlo body, the idea came to us. We both loved watching "The Simpsons." Why not have a car sponsored by Homer Simpson's favorite beverage, Duff Beer? It was a great idea, made even better by Ralph's suggestion that the car be number zero, and that said numeral should be represented by a donut (mmmm...donut). That's all the suggestion I needed, and I tore into drawing the artwork. Fortunately, since Ralph had the Heller model kit of Homer (which includes a scale can of Duff), I had all the reference material I needed.

Since Chevy partisanship runs in my family and was passed along to me, there was no contest as to what Homer should drive. Although Ralph had originally considered using a '00/'01 Monte Carlo kit, those were a bit too expensive and hard to find for my tastes. On the other hand, there was no shortage of '95-'99 Monte Carlo kits out there, and they could be found for as low as $5-$6. That suited me because it didn't make me feel I was wasting a kit on a larf such as this. I ended up using the old round-sided Monogram Monte Carlo, specifically the Cartoon Network/Scooby Doo kit (85-2484) as the basis.

The kit itself essentially went together box-stock. Since this was my first NASCAR kit in about four years, I didn't worry too much about super-detailing; rather, I treated this model as an opportunity to practice for when I do more realistic projects in the future. The only real modifications I made were to cut out the window net and sand the raised markings off the tires. I also installed the lower grille and filled it flush with the front air dam. I had thought about denting the front end to make it match the fender dent on Homer's daily driver, but decided not to risk it with so little time in which to build the model.

This kit also dates from the time when, for some reason, Monogram provided wheels, grilles and other such parts on a chrome-plated sprue. Since I didn't want anything that shiny on any race car of mine, I gave those parts a bath in bleach and prepared to paint them. To my surprise, however, I found that beneath the chrome the parts were molded in black! Better still, the wheels had a really nice semi-gloss black look that I liked. I just applied the red rim to the edges and left them as-is.

I had originally intended to paint the car in an intricate silver/white/red scheme to make it look like a rolling can of Duff. However, since time was short and since the homemade decals were probably going to be translucent, I decided instead to paint the car overall white. The paint came directly from a 98-cent spray can of K-Mart Gloss White, which I polished out with fine sandpaper and Turtle Wax polishing compound. It's the best finish job I've gotten yet on any automotive model!

The Duff decals were drawn in bitmapped form on my computer (not enough time to do vector art), then sized to fit and colored in. I tried to get as many different Springfield businesses in as I could: among the sponsors you will find Kwik-E-Mart, KBBL, the Bank of Springfield, Try-N-Save, The Frying Dutchman, Moe's, Buzz Cola and Mr. Sparkle. I also drew logos representing Burns Motorsports, the owner of the Simpson team. While I was at it, I decided to make little decals signifying that the car raced in the Laramie Cup Series and had won the Duff Pole Award. I colored in the decals as I could, and on the advice of the friend who printed the decals I left off the pink frosting of the donut to be painted in later. I found a typeface to adequately represent comic-looking writing (I think it's called Comic Sans, if I recall correctly) and that gave the markings an appropriate Simpsonian feel. I also added Homer's name above each side window. And, in another of Ralph's flashes of genius, I added a little "D" and a little "H!" on each side of the donut -- thus, the car spells out Homer's cry of frustration. Contingency decals, headlight markings, grilles and other goodies came from a number of kit decal sheets I had on hand.

Just as the model was about finished drying, I parked the car on the trunk lid of my old '83 Oldsmobile (my former daily driver, now enjoying a well-earned retirement) and shot a few pictures, and sent them off for the competition. I also added a back story: the car was owned by C. Montgomery Burns, the most evil man in Springfield, who got the idea from his buddy J.D. Stacy. Homer Simpson was hired to drive the car initially but didn't do well, and was later replaced by a succession of drivers that included Dick Trickle and Michael Waltrip. Burns eventually grew frustrated with his lack of success in motorsports and sold the team to Junie Donlavey in 1997.

Much to my surprise, the car was a hit when it came on the scene. It was even a hit with my friends who don't follow motorsports -- my friend who printed the decals for me thought the artwork alone was hilarious. The model even managed to win a couple awards, too: Funniest Model as well as Third in Show. Not too bad for a model I pretty much threw together in the space of about three weeks!

I owe a lot of thanks to my friends who helped me with this project, and especially owe a lot of thanks to Ralph for giving me the idea and helping me develop it so well. I hope you have half as much fun looking at this model as I had building it. It was a really fun way to get back into NASCAR modeling."