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NASCAR MODELS by MR NASCAR Kasey Kahne's 2005 MOPAR Dodge Charger

This is the special colour scheme Kasey used in the UAW-GM QUALITY 500 at LOWES MOTOR SPEEDWAY on October 15th, 2005, to promote the MOPAR brand. Although the scheme is quite similar to his 2004 MOPAR Intrepid (click here...), there are subtle differences, including the fact he ran a Charger, not an Intrepid, of course. So... after I got my Modern Motorsports bodies, and grovelled a bit, Sam updated the graphics for the Charger.

As with the 2004 sheet, the graphics have the various numbers and logos on them, and a bunch of curvy and straight barbed wire to be applied where needed. (Continuing Sidenote: Can anyone clue me in on the significance of the barbed wire in the colour scheme?? I still don't get it...)

The body, of course, is the resin item from Modern Motorsports, and TJ has done a good job on it. The nose is quite convincing, with the nosejob nicely done. Cleanup and prepping for prime and paint was easy, and primer and paint laid down quite nicely. The body was primed with white PlastiKote primer (from rattlecan warmed in hot tapwater) and topcoated with a GMwhite touchup aerosol lacquer from Canadian Tire. (warmed - see above...) I then masked off the lower front of the body from just behind the B-pillar down to in front of the rear wheel well, and painted the greenhouse, cowl and back of the body black. It was then necessary to fog on the blue-white fade, as this is not part of the graphics. I started by masking off the areas I'd painted black and fogging in the sides up to the middle of the door area with TS15 blue straight from a heated rattle can.

The rest of the fogging required a more delicate touch. For this I shot some TAMIYA TS15 blue into an airbrush bottle, plus a shot of TS13 clear to "candy" it up a bit, then fogged it on the body up to the middle of the hood and top of the front fensderwells. After that was dry, I mixed TS15 with white, to match the colour of the rear spoiler in reference shots, then masked off the body and painted the spoiler. The pictures show the two stages in this process. The breakline between the black and the fogged area in front of the rear wheelwells was sanded down so it would not show thru the graphics. Once I was happy with the paint job, I shot it with some TS13 clear to give a smooth surface for the rest of the decals.

I had to figure out the best order for decal application as I went along - initially, I assumed put down the "barbed wire" first, then just lay everything else on it. Not so - in some cases the barbed wire stops at the graphic, in others it is visible thru openings in the graphic.

Approximate application order was:

• 1 - apply "barbed wire" to bottom of nose, and between wheel openings at the bottom.
• 2 - Apply MOPAR logos to side and hood, and roof numbers
• 3 - Apply other lengths of wire as per references. Note: altho some of the barbed wire (BW) provided is curved, none is precisely matched to a particular area, you will need to use some Solvaset to soften it up where it curves for a snug laydown to the body - but it's a LOT simpler than the '04 scheme was!.
• 4 - Apply DODGE logos, side numbers, and white MOPAR logos on rear fender. Apply decklid and tail panel decal.
• 5 - finish up with B-pillar graphics and fender contingency decals. These are part of the decal.

For this build I also used my "cheater" hoodpins, as the Modern Motorsports body has none molded in place, and I wasn't up to another Detail Master session... I have made small round silver foil decals, about the size of the hoodpin decals on a Revell decal sheet. They are printed in silver foil, with the hoodpin and fastening screws drawn on them. Looks pretty good on the shelf, better than a blob of silver paint...won't win me any Contests, but...

As per my normal practice, all aerosols were warmed for a few minutes in hot tap water, to improve atomization and smoothness. Final touch was to apply several LIGHT coats of clear (see above) after decals had had a couple days to dry thoroughly., then polishing with Turtle Wax compound. After I did that the graphics really came to life!

TJ provides templates and "glass" for the rear quarter windows and the right side window. I found that they worked quite well, with a bit of careful trimming. You use the kit glass for the windshield and rear window. I never bothered to check for fit until I had the body all painted and decalled out.. not very smart, in retrospect. Luckily, the fit of these parts into the body could be achieved by following the directions that came with the body, and some light sanding of body and glass for a good fit, but it would have been a lot less nerve-wracking if I'd done that on the unpainted body!

The donor kit for the chassis was the Revell 2004 Coors kit. The chassis was built box-stock, except for seatbelts, and the mandated dashboard ignition tray - normally I use a piece from Modern Motorsports. To find out more about these and Modern Motorsports' other offerings, Click Here. But for this one I tried fabricating my own, using bits and pieces of evergreen plastic round and rectangular rod. Took a lot more time, but I was able to come up with something that will tide me over until I get more from Modern Motorsports...

The October 15th race at Lowe's Motor Speedway, where Kasey ran this scheme, will be remembered for the tire fiasco, with many competitors sent into the wall by a combination of a newly paved track and high speeds that caught Goodyear, and many chassis tuners it would appear, offguard. Kasey was one of the lucky ones whose day was not ended against the outside wall. He led a few laps, and managed to come home 23rd, on the lead lap. Obviously an "average" day for Kasey, in what turned out to be an "average" year...

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

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