About five years ago, I was looking for a new idea to do a diorama. I had always wanted to do a wrecked NASCAR, but was not sure how I was going to replicate the damage. I have seen other dioramas with wrecked cars where the builder used a hot knife, screwdriver, or other instrument to inflict the damage. In my opinion the cars looked more like they had been in a horrible fire versus a collision with other cars or structures. So after some brainstorming on my part, I decided to use the lead foil that comes
on wine bottles as the sheet metal for the car.
I started the build by first flattening the lead sheets and removing the painted on logos with lacquer thinner. Then using the kit body as a buck,
I formed the lead sheets over the hood, front fenders, grille and fascia area.
I used a separate sheet for the hood, fenders and grille/fascia areas. After I was sure that the lead sheet had captured the outlines of the body parts, I carefully removed the lead sheets and set them aside. Then I proceeded to cut away the front fenders and grille area. Down the sides
of the car, behind the wheel wells, I thinned the plastic by the same thickness of the lead sheet. I did this so that I could blend in the lead sheet with
the plastic and minimize the amount of body putty I would need to blend everything in. I also drilled corresponding holes in the lead and the plastic and inserted plastic rod to help reinforce the join. Using a
Dremel tool with a football shaped bit, I created a ripple effect part way down both sides of the car. This adds to the illusion of crumpled metal. The
hood was reinforced using solder wire to represent bracing and I added PE hood hinges also.
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I now turned my
attention to the chassis and engine. In order to have the front end show
damage, I replaced all the kit-supplied parts forward of the engine with either
lead sheet or various sizes of solder wire. This includes the radiator
housing, air dam, fender braces, etc. The engine was built per kit
instructions then wired and plumbed. I modified the drivers seat,
scratchbuilt the removable steering wheel, added a seat belt, used PE gussets
and wired the interior per photos of an actual car.
To add a little more realism to the model, I decided to have one of the
front tires blown out and shredded. I did this by making a mold of one of
the tires using modeling clay. Then using liquid latex rubber, I made a
copy of both sides of the tire. On a piece of aluminum foil, I spread out
some of the latex into a thin and narrow strip. After the latex had dried,
I careful shredded the strip of latex and joined it to one side of the tire.
I then fashioned an inner liner using a smaller tire from my parts bin (with the tread sanded off) to place inside the tire half. The
other side of the tire was now joined to the other pieces. The wheel was
slightly heated and I use a nail to create the bent rim damage. The tire
and wheel were painted, assembled and weathered. See Photo #2 directly
below
After sanding and priming the body, I painted the body in the red and
yellow scheme. Once the paint was dry, I decaled the body, installed the glass and
added other small detail items. I then mated the body to the chassis.
Now comes the FUN part! Crashing the car!!
Carefully using screwdrivers, Xacto knifes and the eraser end of a pencil,
I pushed, pulled, tore and jabbed at the body panels and chassis components until I was satisfied with the damage. The driver
figure was detailed
using kit and homemade decals. The base was constructed using model railroad
grass and dirt from my backyard. It was a fun build even though there were
some rough spots along the way. I am very pleased with how it turned out and I hope you enjoy the photos.
Terry Davis
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