1981 Neil Bonnett Ford Thunderbird - Wood Brothers Racing

[gami8630]

This car is a 1981 Ford Thunderbird of Wood Brothers Racing and driven by Neil Bonnett.

The base kit is the #15 Wrangler Thunderbird, one of the LEGEND SERIES released by Revell-Monogram in 1998, the NASCAR 50Th Anniversary Year.

Watching the early 1980s races on "NASCAR Classics", I can see many so-called 'Square Bird' cars that are surprisingly fast and competing in the top group.
So I decided to build this kit, which I bought about 15 years ago.

This time it was built almost exclusively from box stock, with only modifications to the wheelbase and the addition of overflow pipes, fuel cell pipework, plug cords, etching mesh to the radiator grille, etc.

The body was sprayed with Tamiya Super Surfacer (grey), TS-26 Pure White and the roof was TS-49 Bright Red.
Decals used were Powerslide #21 Purolator Mercury Sheet and kit decals Fender Sponsor decals.

 

Edited March 15, 2024 by gami8630

[bbowser]

Nice!  Don't see many of these "squarebirds".

[Rattlecan Dan]

Very unique build. Very eye-catching. Nice job!

[MarkJ]

Surprising how competitive these bricks were but you could see why the next gen thunderbird did so much better when it hit the track. Excellent job on this build, Yoshimi.

[Iraceitall]

I love the Square Birds. I've got five on the shelf, starting one this weekend after seeing this awesome example!

[PappyD340]

Very nice!

[gami8630]

Thanks to everyone.
Once painted and decals applied, the stock car looks even faster than I thought it would, and it was a fun build.

[ChrisR]

Looks great!!

[gami8630]

Thanks, ChrisR !

Edited March 20, 2024 by gami8630

[ncbuckeye67]

That's awesome! I loved NASCAR when they used "real cars".

[Sledsel]

Super looking Thunderbird

[Jim N]

Great job!  Very nicely done.

[gami8630]

Thanks, ncbuckeye67, Sledsel, Jim N.

Stock cars up to Gen 3 use production car bodies, and the variety of body styles is good.

[slusher]

Beautiful!