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NASCAR MODELS by MR NASCAR

Dale Jarrett's 2005 "Herbie Fully Loaded" Taurus


This is the colour scheme Dale drove in the Dodge/Savemart 350 at Infineon Raceway, one of only two road courses on the NEXTEL Cup circuit. It promoted the latest retro/nostalgia flick due out - "Herbie - Fully Loaded", which I assume was a remake of the old "Herbie" film with the now-mandatory computer graphics for special effects. (so... how do stuntmen earn a living these days??)

Right off the top, I must apologize for the lower quality of the pictures accompanying this write-up; my beloved MAVICA digital was a victim of an unfortunate canoe incident on the Crowe River a couple weeks back. I'm using the still feature on a camcorder, and it's just not the same. I looked for a reasonably-priced "modern" digital with the same features as the old MAVICA, but that was looking like a 500-600 dollar exercise, so a replacement MAVICA is on its way from eBay for much less, but until then...

(tipping the canoe was funny at first, until the camera case and the binocular case, floating by, started to sink... learning - the heaviest, clumsiest person - that would be me, in this case - should not be the last person to get into a canoe...)

Oh - one more confession to make... this is a road course car, so of course, the filler is on the RIGHT rear quarter..not the LEFT as per all other races...right? Serious Senior Moment - I totally forgot about that until the car was painted and decalled.. but notice in the shots the filler cap is where it's supposed to be - on the RIGHT side...ah, the wonders of PhotoShop and digital editing!!

"Look, Ma! No Filler!"

But I digress...
Sam sent me the files for this decal many weeks ago, but I've been pretty involved in other projects, order-filling, and, of course, the Cottage on the Crowe, over the summer... I found that the decals were a very simple set to apply - a welcome relief after the last few projects! These decals were designed to fit the 2000-2002 vintage Taurus from Revell, although a more accurate 2004/2005 body is available from Perry’s Resin. This body, in conjunction with the kit chassis, was used for this model, and is recommended for maximum accuracy.This is the body in the pictures. You can contact Perry’s resin thru their website: www.perrysresin.com for more info on price and availability. (See my write-up on Matt Kenseth's SMIRNOFF car for more info... Click Here)

This is a complete set for the car, including 2005 contingencies. Only the NASCAR Racecar logo for the A-pillar, and the Taurus logo on the nose was needed from the kit sheet, and the front vent grilles on the airdam came from a JWTBM Goodie Sheet..

The body was primed with PlastiKote white aerosol primer, then topcoated with a white lacquer. I then masked and sprayed the the rear spoiler flat black, and that was it for painting!

Decal application was pretty simple. I started with the stripes, aligning them as per references. The hood/front airdam stripes were one piece, as was the roof, the decklid, and the TV panel. After they were in place, I laid down the Herbie logo on the front, then carefully cut through the stripe decal, lifted the Herbie decal, and removed the portion of the stripe that was going to be under the decal. This way there could not be any bleedthru of the stripes under the logo. The decals hide very well, but I have become fanatical about avoiding bleedthrough, I guess... I did the same thing with the roof number, but not with the decklid or TV panel, where any showthrough would be minimal. All other decal application was straightforward, and Sam did a fantastic job in capturing this car!

The chassis was built box stock, except for seatbelts, and the mandated dashboard ignition tray - again I used a piece from Modern Motorsports. I added MSD logos to put on the ingition boxes, they really help bring it to life! To find out more about these and Modern Motorsports' other offerings, Click Here.

Once all the decals were in place, and had 24 hours or so to dry, I applied successive light coats of clear (TAMIYA TS13), again from a warmed rattle-can, and after a day of two to dry, polished it all up with terry cloth and Turtle Wax, to a nice shine.

The last items to be added prior to mounting the body on the chassis were hoodpins, using the excellent photo-etched hood pin kit from Detail Master (Catalog #DM2320). I have used these with great success on all my Perry's Resin Taurus projects! (Viagra car pictured...)

DJ is not renowned as a roadracer, but he did quite well this time out, finishing a solid 5th, after starting in 30th, altho he did not lead a lap. Tony Stewart was the winner. Pictures from the race show a rather dinged-up Herbie nose, so DJ did have his own "incidents" - but nothing like what was to happen later in the season!!

(This decal sheet is now available from 3 Amigos (Click here for our catalog page).

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