Terry Labonte 1989 Budweiser #11 Tbird

[18degrees]

hey y'all, i just got back from Haubstadt, IN about 45 minutes ago after seeing what i deemed as the best dirt track race i have seen in a lot of years.  The Outlaws put on a helluva show with a High Limit interloper taking the win.  plus the Outlaw feature was over at 8:30pm.  The Helfrich family knows how to do it right.

anyways, i finished this up yesterday.  it's the 1989 Budweiser #11 Thunderbird of Terry Labonte, owned by Junior Johnson in his first year of running Fords. it's a pretty paint scheme.

standard Revellogram kit with Tamiya pure white and italian red paints along with Powerslide decals.  masking the paint scheme was a tad tricky for me to get right so this turned out, in my post build evaluation, to not be my finest paint or decal work.  but it will do for a shelfer.  parts from Jaye were antenna, fuel filler, wheels and hubs, dash, driveshaft hoop... i think that's it. i added exhaust ends made from tubing and the window net was pirated from a Lumina kit in the parts box. not a big fan at all of the kit window nets.

tried to make it represent a moderate sized track version - think Charlotte - with the side window, grille setup and right side skirting.

on with the show~













i tried (out of pure curiosity) to look online and see how much money Ford dangled in front of JJ's face to get him to switch after running GM products for a long while.  there was no information to be found...

[Vdc]

That's a great looking build. And yes, it is pretty. And a good job of the masking around the hood.

I have these decals and I can see that masking to match those pinstripes along the hood opening looks a real pain to achieve, but yours looks great from here.

[Volzfan59]

I'm lucky to be friends with Dave so I got to follow along somewhat on this build. You're cutting yourself short my friend, that is one sharp replica.

[18degrees]

That's a great looking build. And yes, it is pretty. And a good job of the masking around the hood.

I have these decals and I can see that masking to match those pinstripes along the hood opening looks a real pain to achieve, but yours looks great from here.

Along the hood opening on top of the fenders and the base of the C pillars were both a pain. I ended up getting some jar paint to do touch ups after the stripes were applied.

[18degrees]

I'm lucky to be friends with Dave so I got to follow along somewhat on this build. You're cutting yourself short my friend, that is one sharp replica.

Thanks Steve... you have a front row (via text) seat for my builds

[jh63fan]

To me, Junior Johnson was a lot like Smokey Yunick, didn't matter what manufacturer, he was going to make it run. Didn't realize that paint job was that involved until looking at your pictures. You did a fine job on it.

[Rattlecan Dan]

Nice work. Great-looking build.