Blue Max Nostalgia* Build

*Or it would have been a nostalgia build, if this kit were the same as the MPC Blue Max that I built in 1971.

The original had the same body as the MPC '71 Mach I, so it had all the bits a real car has, like headlights and the louver on the rear window. This kit more accurately represents the real Blue Max's fiberglass shell made to fit over the longer wheelbase, and of course bits like headlights are just decals.

Thing is, I wasn't looking for an accurate kit of the real funny car. I wanted the kit I built in 1971. The box art was the same as the original, but that's about it. After my initial disappointment, I decided to go ahead and build it, since I hadn't built a car kit in 40 years or so.

The paint is Tamiya Mica Blue lacquer, thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner (aka Unicorn Tears) airbrushed with my trusty Paasche H over a coat of white Tamiya surface primer. I did something I never thought of when building car models as a kid, which is to sand the tires. Tires don't stay shiny where they meet the road. I was in too much of a hurry by decal time, and the decals are brittle, resulting in quite a few cracks. As you might expect from the fact that I'm only showing you the right side, most of the cracks are on the left.

I've been neglecting this blog, so I'm dipping into last year's builds for this post and probably the next couple posts.