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NASCAR MODELS by MR NASCAR

Terry Labonte's 2003 "FINDING NEMO" Monte Carlo


This is the colour scheme that Terry Labonte used in the 2003 "MBNA ARMED FORCES FAMILY 400" in Dover, Delaware on June 1st, 2003, in a tie-in with the about-to-be-released animated feature film "FINDING NEMO". Not as dramatic as brother Bobby's "PASSION" car at the '04 Daytona, but a lot cuter...

In keeping with Terry's other promotional schemes, this one was pretty cool, and we Amigos knew it would make a striking model! Sam had these graphics ready in February of this year, but I wanted to really focus on making the "ocean" background decals as easy as possible to apply, by developing precise fits for the car. (Of course, we had to wait until 2004 for the new Monte kit as well...)

To that end I have been playing with it on-and-off over the past several months with vacations, retirement, computer and printer problema and other equally intriguing projects all serving to lengthen NEMO's gestation period.

But... TADAAAAH! Here is NEMO! Sam did a great job on the graphics, and after plugging away on the backgrounds, and learning a LOT about PhotoShop in the process, we have a set of graphics that fit great, with only minor trimming required. The picture to the right shows the model with the "water" backgrounds and the hood graphic in place.

My starting kit for this, of course, was the Johnson 2003-2004 REVELL Monte Carlo, and Gordon's could also have been used.. The paint job wass very simple, I cleaned and primed the body, wetsanded it with 600-grit paper, then applied a couple coats of TAMIYA TS14 Gloss Black. It was also wetsanded, and recoated for a smooth surface. As is my usual practice, I warmed the aerosol can in hot tap water first, to improved atomization and smoothness. And that was it - no two-toning, fade jobs or nuthin' - just basic black as my canvas for the NEMO decals. (Wow - this retirement thing is causing me to wax lyrical, ain't it?)

While this was happening, I was fine-tuning the decal graphics, and went ahead and printed them, with all my fingers and toes crossed, as my ALPS units are all rather grumpy these days... But they turned out quite well, even with the proper hue to the blue. All I needed to do on these is brighten up that little pink fish guy on the hood a bit, and it was "good to go".

I also painted and assembled the chassis while all this was goin' down. Other than enlarging the holes in the seatback for wide seatbelts, which I made from strips of masking tape painted red, with my own SIMPSONS decals applied, the chassis is box-stock. (You can just make out the shoulder harness in the lead-in picture above. It won't win me any Contests, but it does spark up the seat and interior a bit!)

Applying the large background "water" decals was the usual sphincter-tightening exercise, but they went on well, and, thanks to the extra time I'd put into them, fit like a glove (non-O.J.). Order of placement was important, with the roof decal going on first, followed by the two side decals. These needed to be positioned so that the curving yellow strip went around the C-pillar, and met the base of the rear window just beside the decklid hinges, and the bottom of the decal had to run along the intersection of the bottom of the rocker panels and the side skirts. This gives some overlap onto the decklid that I removed with an EXACTO knife.

Then the large TV panel/rearbumper decal and the nose decal went on, ensuring the yellow stripe on top of the nose decal lined up vertically with those on the two side decals. The last decal to go on was the decklid, which overlaps a bit onto the top of the rear quarters, and needed to be trimmed after installation. This approach ensured there were no gaps on top of the rear deck in the "water" graphic. At some point in the above process, I applied the hood decal as well.

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Once these had had time to dry, I applied a couple light coats of TAMIYA TS13 clear from warmed rattle-can (see above), so they would not be damaged while the remaining decals were being applied. The rest of the decals went on in a very straightforward way, all decals except the fender contingencies and front grilles being on the sheet we have put together. There was some slight showthrough of the yellow stripe contrasting with the black body under the side numbers, but white "Blanks" will be provided to alleviate that.

Once all the decals were in place, and had had 24 hours or so to dry, I applied successive light coats of TS13, again from warmed rattle-can, and after a day of two to dry, I polished it all up with terry cloth (how ironic...) and Turtle Wax to a nice shine. Overall, I am very pleased with the end result, and proud of the work I did to make the graphics "user-friendly". Sam says if I just practice an hour each day in PhotoShop, I'll eventually get the hang of it... (funny - I remember a high school football coach, and a minor league hockey coach, saying about the same thing to me around 40 years ago...)

In the "MBNA ARMED FORCES FAMILY 400" (where DO they come up with these names??), there was nothing "fishy" about Terry's performance. He started in 8th place, and hung around in the lead lap, finishing on the lead lap in 10th place, a pretty good result for him in 2003.

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