frenchy07

Our 2011 MastersBilt in progress getting it's fighting colors. This car will be raced in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri and Nebraska with MDLMS, NCRA, CLMA, MLRA and MARS. I was presented this car with a white body, black roof and black sail pillars. For the last 15 years we have been primarily red and yellow, big change for us. 1st problem was when no one wanted to make a decision as to what the car should look like. I finally took over and started cutting. What you see is the car in stages. The main side graphics are 148 in. long. I gave up installing them in one piece and cut them in half (it was a crappy mental day when I started, next time I'll hang them in one piece). The main directive I was given was to not use yellow. What you see is one of the most vanilla cars I have ever had the displeasure of creating. I fight bubbles and dirt and finally resign myself to the fact that it is a dirt race car and it will only look this good till it rolls on the track the first time. All down hill from there. Input is accepted especially for the main color of the number. It has to have some contrast to the plain red, black, blue. I am leaning toward my traditional florescent orange that I have used for 10 years now, your views are requested. This is my first job with Greenstar products. I like them! They are easy to see through when doing multiple layers, cut great and weed great. I also have been using Greenstar transfer tape. My only knock on it is it is so thin that I sometimes have troubles getting it to lay down without issues (wrinkles, bubbles) on my over 60 in. decals. That is mostly due to my layup table, I'm getting better. The Greenstar transfer tape does make it easier to see through since it so thin. The last part of this job will be done with clear tape, my first time using it and so far I am impressed enough to make the switch to it totally. More to follow.

This was it's 7th time on the track. 2 hotlap sessions, 2 heats, 3 features. Not a peel in sight yet. It gets washed tomorrow (pressure washed, clay sticks like glue), will know more then. The one area that has impressed me the most so far is the nose graphics. That is a plastic piece and it is always a challenge to get it to stick. It has had a couple weeks of adhesion time but so far so good. I sanded the plastic and then cleaned it twice before it was applied. I really expected it to start coming off by now. Previous years we got 2 weeks out of a contingency sticker on the nose, 2 weeks now and all is good. The right 1/4 had a encounter with a concrete wall and the greenstar held up as well as anything else I have used. Like I said before longevity is not a issue with this type of racing, I will go through 2-4 sides a year. Cost factor is what I am worried about. The greenstar cut and applied as easy as any oracal I have ever put on (except for the fluorescent blue, that stuff is a real pain in the posterior).

Here she is in action.....not a bad 1st weekend. Only minor 1/4 panel damage. Next week i'm pulling the Midwest Aircraft and using a darker blue, just not enough "pop".

Finished the hood/nose. Only the team name to go (.125 reflective blue outline, orange body, flat black "racing" below). Went with a .125 white outline and fluorescent orange number on top of the black drop shadow. I trimmed the letter next to the number to make it appear behind the number. Pictures are in gallery. Will post full car pictures next week, taking it to the track May 6th and 7th and start beating it up!

I bought a sample roll of the Greenstar clear. I think I am going to it for everything.

Oracal 651 is my previous material. You never worry about fading on these cars, 2 months is a long term job here . If you ain't rubbin........well you know the rest. I like the white/flor orange idea. I'll cut a scaled down version tonight when I get back to it. Thanks. I have done chrome in the past, looks great in the day time, turns to black at night and in pictures. Sad thing about chrome is I have a 100 yds of it on the shelf. Thanks for the ideas........keep them coming..........now if I could only figure out how to set up a gallery. 15 years of race car pics.