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NASCAR MODELS by MR NASCAR Dale Earnhardt Jr's 2005 "BORN-ON" Monte Carlo

It was not a large stretch to develop these on my own, using Sam's 2004 graphics as a starting point. As well as some recolourizing, I found I needed to change the Budweiser font style, and rework the gold striping for the hood and decklid, add the gold striping for the break lines between the white and the red metallic, chase down and design 2005 sponsores, and a host of other niggling details. I'm not sure it's 100% accurate, but it looks right compared to references I could find.

While playing with the graphics, I built up the chassis. The current Revell 2004 Gordon kit was my starting point. I cut loose the ignition boxes, reshaped the mount, and detailed it for placing on the right side of the dashboard. Other than that, the chassis is pretty well box-stock.

Ah...wait... the GOODYEAR lettering. It was about halfway thru the build when the change in the goodyear tire lettering came to my attention. It has been "supersized" for 2005, and the "#1" designation dropped. I was able to locate a couple good reference shots, and came up with new tire graphics that worked beautifully on the tires (better than SLIXX, actually...), and really updated the look.

The body was cleaned up and primed with PlastiKote white primer, then shot with a generic white touch-up lacquer aerosol. As per my usual practice, they were warmed in hot tapwater to improve atomization and smoothness. The rich dark red metallic is a key element in this colour scheme, and I assume it is a standard GM colour. So, I tootled off to my favourite hobby paint store, Canadian Tire, expecting to find it in the GM section of their newly-revamped line-up. (Imagine, you can't get 1980's Datsun or VW colours off the rack any more....). But I was out of luck, as nothing there was a match. But in looking at other colours, I saw there were several promising candidates. Finally, I decided on a MAZDA colour as the best match to my references; the hue and effect seemed right, and how could an old hipster like me refuse a colour called "Graceful Red"?

Masking the sides was simple, but precision was required to mask off the hood and decklid. My original plan had been to mask to the precise size of the decals, but I soon realized that would leave absolutely no "wiggle room" in positioning the decals.

I finally sized the hood decal and the deck lid decals with a bit of extra width. The decklid is set up to be applied in three pieces, left pinstriping, right pinstriping, and Bud graphic to be centered. The hood decal looks like it could be put on in one piece, but I took the easy way out, widened the graphic, then cutting the resulting decal into three pieces, as with the decklid, so that the left and right stripes and the Bud/Born On were three pieces. This allowed the striping to overlap, and be precisely aligned to the white/red breaklines. For those interested, the hood area is 4.5 cm wide, and 3.5 cm on each side, while the decklid area is 4.5 cm wide and 2.4 cm on each side. The graphics allow some overlap between pieces to allow a good fit.

Once the masking was in place, I sprayed on several coats of "Graceful Red", until the white showthru was eliminated and the colour looked even. Looking back, I maybe should have hit it first with some grey primer, so fewer coats would be needed, but I suppose that might have changed the final colour effect. But the breaklines would have been a lot easier to sand down... it was then I remembered the fluorescent strip around the bottom... sigh... So I masked off everything but the front spoiler extension, sprayed it with white PlastiKote, then after a couple hours drying, sprayed on some fluorescent red, in two medium coats. (I also remembered to mask and paint the spoiler black... woo hoo!!) Once this had dried, I put on a medium coat of TS13 clear to provide a smooth surface for the decals.

The first step in applying the decals was the gold striping on the sides, followed by the above-mentioned hood and decklid graphics, then the side strakes and numbers and the roof number. Finally, all the contingencies and light/grille decals were applied. Everything for the car is on the sheet, except the NASCAR logos on the A-pillar, and the front grillework and "Monte Carlo", which came from the kit sheet. No aftermarket decals were harmed in building this model...

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 and Turtle Wax to a nice shine.

Dale's 2005 Daytona Adventure was not the same stompin' he laid on the field in 2004. With pit crew shake-ups, and advances by other teams, DEI seemed unprepared going into it all early in the week. In the Shootout, he was hardly a factor, finishing midpack in 7th place. But later in the week, in the DUEL 150 qualifier, he finished second, behind Mikey in the 15 car, and DEI were back in it. As a result of that finish, he started in 5th place in the 500, and, after struggling in the middle of the pack, got it together for a good run, and was challenging Kurt and Jeffie at the end, finally settling for a 3rd place finish. If team mate Mikey hadn't "blowed up", and had been around to provide "strategic assistance" it is very possible he would have repeated last year's performance.