Ford Fusion road course conversion

[Turberticus]

Hi NASCAR modeling experts,

I'm currently building the Revell Fusion kit and have ordered a set of Powerslide decals for Kevin Harvicks 2017 Mobil 1 livery. https://www.mikesdecals.com/mobil-kevin-harvick-2017-ford-fusion-powerslide-271-p-4876.html

I'd like to model the car he drove to victory at Sonoma, but I'm not entirely sure what I need to change to accurately represent the car in road course spec. https://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/photos/main-gallery/?d=360&sz=9&r=158017&s=-6&oft=47&p=2

The body has been painted in a white basecoat and is about to be masked off for the red.

As far as I know this is what needs to be changed:

1. Cut down the rear spoiler 
2. Lower the ride height.
3. Remove the driver escape 'hatch', but the car has already been painted so it's too late for that...
4. Add the front splitter.
5. Add 'tape' to the grille?

Is there anything else I'm missing? I'm not overly concerned about it being 100% accurate as this is my first attempt at a NASCAR kit, but your input/feedback would be appreciated!

Thanks!

[Jim N]

What you have is a good start.  NASCAR over the past 7 - 10 years has made it so that the cars are fairly uniform across all of the tracks.  Unlike the 90's and early 2000's when it seemed the high end teams had a car for almost every track.  The one thing you may want to research is the NACA duct work.  The teams usually run one or two more in the back quarter window.  I think I may have seen a picture where Harvick's team ran duct work in the passenger side front window.

[Turberticus]

44 minutes ago, Jim N said:

What you have is a good start.  NASCAR over the past 7 - 10 years has made it so that the cars are fairly uniform across all of the tracks.  Unlike the 90's and early 2000's when it seemed the high end teams had a car for almost every track.  The one thing you may want to research is the NACA duct work.  The teams usually run one or two more in the back quarter window.  I think I may have seen a picture where Harvick's team ran duct work in the passenger side front window.

Thanks! I'm not sure if I can do anything about the NACA ducts on the rear side windows but I'll see what I can do.

[Brandon Miller]

I offer the splitter for the Fusion.

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/GQ43JVFK5/ford-fusion-gen-6-splitter-1-24-scale?optionId=65734240

[TarheelRick]

I'm not sure if it is Sonoma or Watkins Glen, but I seem to remember one of the road courses pit layout required the fuel filler to be moved to the passenger side of the car.  Of course I could be totally wrong, I have been at least once before.

[Turberticus]

1 hour ago, TarheelRick said:

I'm not sure if it is Sonoma or Watkins Glen, but I seem to remember one of the road courses pit layout required the fuel filler to be moved to the passenger side of the car.  Of course I could be totally wrong, I have been at least once before.

That would be Watkins Glen. The pit wall is on the drivers side at Sonoma.

[Jim N]

22 hours ago, Turberticus said:

Thanks! I'm not sure if I can do anything about the NACA ducts on the rear side windows but I'll see what I can do.

Some guys use a spring from a ball point pen or something of a similar size and shape it.  Then they wrap the spring in electrical tape.  It looks pretty convincing.

[Turberticus]

22 minutes ago, Jim N said:

Some guys use a spring from a ball point pen or something of a similar size and shape it.  Then they wrap the spring in electrical tape.  It looks pretty convincing.

Oh yeah I can get away with replicating the hose, but the ducts themselves on the side windows won't be easy to replicate.

[Jim N]

1 minute ago, Turberticus said:

Oh yeah I can get away with replicating the hose, but the ducts themselves on the side windows won't be easy to replicate.

My apologies, I misunderstood your comment.  Mike's Decals has a decal sheet of NACA ducts.  They look pretty convincing as well and most every NASCAR kit that I have seen built uses the decals instead of the modeler trying to make one.

[Brandon Miller]

I'm in the process of 3D modeling NACA ducts for printing so they can be added to the windows.

[martinfan5]

You should also remove A-Pillar net that is in front of the window net,  its not used on the road course, and here, maybe this will help you too.

https://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/photos/main-gallery/?sz=9&r=158017&s=-6&oft=708&p=16

Edited June 12, 2018 by martinfan5

[Turberticus]

5 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

You should also remove A-Pillar net that is in front of the window net,  its not used on the road course, and here, maybe this will help you too.

https://www.motorsport.com/nascar-cup/photos/main-gallery/?sz=9&r=158017&s=-6&oft=708&p=16

Thanks! I've been using a lot of your builds as reference. They've been very helpful. Unfortunately the car has already been primed and painted so I'll live with the small window net, but I will keep this in mind for my next build.

[martinfan5]

31 minutes ago, Turberticus said:

Thanks! I've been using a lot of your builds as reference. They've been very helpful. Unfortunately the car has already been primed and painted so I'll live with the small window net, but I will keep this in mind for my next build.

Awesome, glad I am able to help other NASCAR builders out there , gotta give something back,  its not too late if you really wanted too, just be careful and you can cut out.

Good luck with the rest of the build

[jchrisf]

14 hours ago, martinfan5 said:

Awesome, glad I am able to help other NASCAR builders out there , gotta give something back,  its not too late if you really wanted too, just be careful and you can cut out.

Good luck with the rest of the build

Jonathan, I think you and Clay Kemp and Dave Thibodeau need to do a side by side Nascar build someday like Clay, Chris and John are doing with the drag cars.  That would be awesome.