Days of Thunder Group Build

[MetroRacing]

Ok so this is my big project. As the title says, it's a Group Build of cars from the film Days of Thunder.

For any not familiar with the film it's a Tony Scott film about NASCAR racing starring Tom Cruise.

My draw to this project was my recent building of 2 NASCAR kits I purchased at a model show. I brought them because with other kits they worked out at £6 a kit and I knew they were quite detailed featuring full engine, transmission and suspension systems. Building those kits made me rewatch the film and knowing that the 3 main movie cars were catered for in kit form, I started thinking about building them. Everything seemed to snowball from there into this group build idea lol.

The main idea is a Diorama similar to this screen shot, only side on:

Following a fair amount of research I've decided to maintain a scale of 1/24 using Monogram kits for all the NASCARS. The only exception will be the Pace car as the only kit of the correct Pontiac Grand Prix Turbo is a Revell 1/25 jobbie.

I started flicking through loads of screen caps from the film and cross checking to available Monogram kits to fill out the field of cars, eventually coming up with this list:

Now although there are 14 NASCARs listed. The diorama won't feature them all. The reason for this is that for the 3 Movie cars, 2 change Liveries during the film and so depending when I set my dio in relation to the film, it will either feature 11 or 12 cars on the track.

The list consists of 6 Chevrolet Lumina's, 2 Buick Regal's, 2 Pontiac Grand Prix's, 2 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme's and 2 Ford Thunderbird's. Which funnily enough means that 12 are GM and only 2 are Ford lol.

The ticks against some of the cars on the list represents the ones that are ready to be built. Unfortunately I don't have any of the movie cars yet so will be starting with what I'm calling the background cars. These are the ones I have so far:

The one's that will be build straight from the box are the Zerex and Havoline Thunderbird's and the Valvoline Grand Prix. The others require a change of livery which I have already accounted for. These will also be the first to be built.

The Peak Antifreeze Grand Prix will be built as Richard Petty's STP sponsored 1989 car, shown in these screen shots:

And these pic's from real races:

To build it I will be using the decals from AMT's 1990 version. The only headache is that the AMT is 1/25 scale and not 1/24 like the monogram kit I'll be using. I hope the decals wont be too small to look out of place. This one will be built first as I have all the paints needed for the livery.

I'll also be making a start on the Quaker State Buick shown in these shots:

Now Monogram has a kit of the Quaker State car, however it's the '88 - '89 shape and whilst the film uses footage from 1989 and 1990 for the race sequences. All the shots I've seen of it are the '90 - '92 shape.

To show the difference here are 2 pics, one from 1989 and one from 1990:

The front air dam is more aero dynamic. For this I'm using the Raybestos Buick kit, which is the correct shape and the decals from the Quaker State kit.

So that's it for now. I'll be making a start on the Pontiac kit as soon as I've finished the Grey primered NASCAR in my Big, Loud, Yankie Brute 2 topic. No idea how long this will all take and I haven't even began to think about the base for the dio or even where I can display it, as I don't even have room for 1 more kit on my shelves lol.

Hope I've interested some people with this idea anyway.

TTFN Ashley

Edited June 24, 2016 by MetroRacing

[Nick Belbin]

Like a challenge do we??

I'll be keeping an eye on these but I have to say that most 80s/90s cars don't do it for me . . .

Good luck sir!

Nick

[Blitz23]

Interesting project!

[MetroRacing]

Like a challenge do we??

I'll be keeping an eye on these but I have to say that most 80s/90s cars don't do it for me . . .

Good luck sir!

Nick

I seriously think I've bitten off more than I can chew with this. But seeing as all the cars should have the same chassis underneath the body, I think once I'm into the groove it'll pick up some pace.

I know what you mean about cars of this era. Though my Volvo 480 comes from the same era so I can't be too hard lol. But the supposed Road cars for these look terrible. Just boring Mondeo type jobbies lol. These NASCARs though do have a strange appeal to them.

Interesting project!

Thanks. Glad to have your interest. Though as above I'm starting to realise the size of this project lol.

I've actually made a start on the Grand Prix. The front bumper is glued to the body. I'll post a proper update sometime over the weekend with pics when I've made a little more progress lol.

TTFN Ashley

[MikeGTC]

Damn I like that movie!

Can you build a model kit of the green car Cole drives in the beginning?

If so I would like to build that one some day.

Mike

[MetroRacing]

Damn I like that movie!

Can you build a model kit of the green car Cole drives in the beginning?

If so I would like to build that one some day.

Mike

Yes Monogram released the 46 City Chevrolet. The one Cole drives at the start. They also released the 18 Hardee's car driven by Russ and the 51 Mello Yello driven by Cole at the end.

I haven't brought those yet and you can get decals to build the 46 Superflo car that Cole drives and for Rowdy's original 51 Exxon livery.

I'll be building all 5 liveries eventually lol

Ashley

[MikeGTC]

Yes Monogram released the 46 City Chevrolet. The one Cole drives at the start. They also released the 18 Hardee's car driven by Russ and the 51 Mello Yello driven by Cole at the end.

I haven't brought those yet and you can get decals to build the 46 Superflo car that Cole drives and for Rowdy's original 51 Exxon livery.

I'll be building all 5 liveries eventually lol

Ashley

Cool thanks!

Looked at a few sites but haven't found it yet...

Mike

[MetroRacing]

Yeah I think they are rare. There was a website that I was doing to put an order in with that had at least one in stock but that was a couple weeks back and I still don't have the money lol.

Plus now I have to wait till the pound bounces back against the dollar lol.

Ashley

[MikeGTC]

Yes they are rare, found a few but they are really expensive.

You can buy 3 FXX K + decals and PE for 1 of them...

Mike

[Gary29]

I seriously think I've bitten off more than I can chew with this. But seeing as all the cars should have the same chassis underneath the body, I think once I'm into the groove it'll pick up some pace.

I know what you mean about cars of this era. Though my Volvo 480 comes from the same era so I can't be too hard lol. But the supposed Road cars for these look terrible. Just boring Mondeo type jobbies lol. These NASCARs though do have a strange appeal to them.

Thanks. Glad to have your interest. Though as above I'm starting to realise the size of this project lol.

I've actually made a start on the Grand Prix. The front bumper is glued to the body. I'll post a proper update sometime over the weekend with pics when I've made a little more progress lol.

TTFN Ashley

'Ain't nothin stock about a stock car Cole'

Loved this film ever since I managed to sneak in to watch it as a young lad and I think it was rated '15' at the time!

Great project, good luck with it.

[Deadman Disciple]

Cool thanks!

Looked at a few sites but haven't found it yet...

Mike

http://www.mikesdecals.com/product_info.php?cPath=8_14&products_id=43&osCsid=5367537cb0f06938820a42aba999c978'>http://www.mikesdecals.com/product_info.php?cPath=8_14&products_id=43&osCsid=5367537cb0f06938820a42aba999c978

I think he also does the rest of the movie decal sets, I enquired about these a few months ago.

Hope this helps,

Wayne.

[MetroRacing]

http://www.mikesdecals.com/product_info.php?cPath=8_14&products_id=43&osCsid=5367537cb0f06938820a42aba999c978

I think he also does the rest of the movie decal sets, I enquired about these a few months ago.

Hope this helps,

Wayne.

Thanks for the link Wayne. That's the website that I found the kits for sale on. You can either wait and get the proper monogram kits when they pop up or buy the aftermarket decals by Powerslide and get the donor Lumina kits. Make sure you get the correct year body though lol.

You watch they'll be none left by time I can afford my order haha

Right This project is officially underway.

Obligatory box shot:

It's a bit redundant really as these are the AMT decals I'll be using:

As previously mentioned these decals are for the 1990 STP car and I'll be adapting them to build the 1989 car that features in the film.

Firstly I've glued the front and rear bumpers to the body shell:

And after cleaning up the seams and the mould lines I thought it a good idea to compare the 1/24 Monogram body with the 1/25 AMT one:

The size difference is noticeable but only sight which gives me hope for the decal swap.

I haven't attached the rear spoiler yet as it's on the chrome fret which I'll be stripping once I've replenished my supply of cheapo oven cleaner lol.

I've cleaned up the floor piece:

And added the front engine support which has the suspension top arms moulded on:

Next I built up the cage:

There's 7 parts that make up the main structure and the fit is on the whole good save the front bulkhead piece is a little wonky when test fitting with the floor. I have all the cage parts lined up so some how I may have trimmed a little too much flash off somewhere

The hardest part to fit and get lined up is the little bar at the bottom that points down in this pic:

Its a separate part to everything else and to be honest it needn't have been. What I had to do was to glue it to the rest of the cage. Wait until the glue had set enough to hold the part but allow it to still be moved, and tape the cage down onto the floor with it prodded into the correct position and wait till it set. Always it's done now lol.

The final part to get ready was the fuel tank:

Normally I would glue it to the floor but this kit has a swirl pot moulded with it and it extends down into one of the troughs in the floor, and I wont be able to paint it properly afterward. So I've kept it separate for now. I did tape it to the floor and whilst the main cage was still taped, positioned the final cage piece and glued it to the fuel tank.

All the cage and chassis parts are now ready for priming and paint, which is a task for tomorrow I think.

So thanks for all the interest and support I wasn't expecting so much lol.

TTFN Ashley

Edited June 27, 2016 by MetroRacing

[Deadman Disciple]

Just out of interest, how much did you pay for the kits you have so far?

I bet they wernt cheap.

Do you have any plans of putting driver figures inside?

I was thinking about doing a couple of Nascar kits, but the new ones.

What I was thinking was Cole Trickle had made a comeback for Daytona & he got City Chevrolet to re-sponsor him.

Watching this build & looking forward to your progress.

Edited June 27, 2016 by Deadman Disciple

[MetroRacing]

Just out of interest, how much did you pay for the kits you have so far?

I bet they wernt cheap.

Do you have any plans of putting driver figures inside?

I was thinking about doing a couple of Nascar kits, but the new ones.

What I was thinking was Cole Trickle had made a comeback for Daytona & he got City Chevrolet to re-sponsor him.

Watching this build & looking forward to your progress.

I paid £20 a kit for these from Kingkit. They have loads on there at the moment. That's the maximum I'm willing to pay for one if I'm honest. Obviously the Movie cars I'll have to pay more for but those are the main focus point so I'm willing to spend a bit more on them. The standard nascar kits can be had for less than £15 at model shows ect. I recently picked up a couple for £6 each at the Automodellismo show which were the subjects of my Big, Loud, Yankee Brute builds.

I've thought about using driver figures but I'm not sure where I'd get some from. Plus painting them wouldn't be fun lol. So I think I'm going to stick without them.

I like the idea of a modern car with the classic schemes. There was a Days of Thunder video game that did just that. I came across it whilst looking for screen shots from the film lol.

Ashley

[Deadman Disciple]

£20 & £6, not bad at all.

I was expecting you to say £30-£50+ each.

Looking forward to this.

[MetroRacing]

When these kits were new they retailed for I think my friend said $10, which is amazing when you think that's probably only around $20 with today's inflation added on. Like I mentioned in another build if you want a full detailed kit nowadays you're looking at £60+ if Ebbro's DS19 is used as a benchmark lol.

Ashley

[Hamden]

Interesting project, great film

Great start so far mind if I follow along with this series?

Roger

[MetroRacing]

Interesting project, great film

Great start so far mind if I follow along with this series?

Roger

Thanks Roger and of course I don't mind. The more the merrier lol.

Ashley

Edited June 28, 2016 by MetroRacing

[willciviceg5]

I didn't know these kits had gotten expensive, I paid 50.00 for the three movie cars as a set and the other on one I got On eBay for 25.00 .

I'm looking forward to building this kit now after seeing your build

[MetroRacing]

Glad my build is inspirational. These kits really are good and easy builds once you get the hang of building them lol.

I've hit a small snag with my build at the moment in that I've ran out of blue paint halfway though painting the body

Fortunately the chassis and cage have been painted so I can carry on with those until I get some more paint.

I'll try to get some pics up tonight.

Ashley

[MetroRacing]

Ok so as promised here are some pics:

Tempting to assemble the chassis but still a lot of detail stuff to paint and install lol:

I know this pic isn't the best but it shows (I hope) the 1 side I had left to go when I ran out of paint

If I was a stickler for complete accuracy then the chassis and cage for Richard Petty's '89 car should be grey as the last year for the all blue was 1988, but I don't think it'll matter too much. After all would anyone have known if I hadn't have just mentioned it?

I've also made a start on the Quaker State Buick:

Box shot of the Raybestos Buick i'l be using as it's the correct shape body.

And the Decals from the Quaker State kit:

I've got the cage and chassis assemble. Shown test fitted all together:

And the body save the rear spoiler as it's chromed and needs to be stripped:

Interestingly the Metallic blue plastic they use for this kit, obviously so you don't have to paint the shell if you so choose, is very hard and brittle and took a bit of getting used to after being spoilt by the usual Monogram white plastic. That said even that is no where near as soft as the grey stuff AMT used on their kit. I think it's the same stuff Airfix now use lol.

The front bumper fitted perfectly, however the bonnet needed a fair amount of sanding to the edges to get it to fit into the opening. It's still not perfect but is as near as I dare attempt without ending up ruining it haha.

I've also fettled the body on the Havoline Thunderbird:

The chassis and cage are of a different design and will require a different approach when assembling prior to paint so it'll probably be a while before the 'bird reappears lol.

I did find it hard to gather pics of the car in this livery. This being about the only decent one:

Most of the pics where of the all black version, including most of the Monogram kit results. When consulting with my friend about it he told me that he'd never knew this kit existed and for that to be the case it must have been a rarely sold one. So unbeknownst to me I've ended up with a rare kit for the same price as all the others lol. I just hope I don't mess it up with that being the case

Anyway that's it for this update. I've gotta search out a model shop in Leicester. I was going to say that sells Tamiya spray cans but finding a shop here will be a task in itself lol.

TTFN Ashley

[MetroRacing]

Ok another quick update, I've placed an order for almost all the remaining cars on my group build list with Mike's Decals.

The prices are fairly competitive but the postage cost Over $80 for that alone.

Anyway all that's left to complete my group is Decals for the #17 Tide Lumina and the Donor kit and Decals for the #33 Skoal Bandit Oldsmoblile. Oh and the Pace car and some clue as to a base for the diorama and somewhere to display it

Ashley

[MikeGTC]

Nice work so far man!

For the diorama i would use cork sheets.

if you paint the gray/black it looks like a piece of road in scale.

I got the idea here:

Hope it helps!

Mike

[MetroRacing]

Thanks Mike that is a great idea. I think I'll look into that further down the road (pun realised and fully utilised haha)

I need a few cars built first to get an idea of the size of this thing lol.

Ashley

[MikeGTC]

Always happy to help

Mike