NASCAR MODELS by MR NASCAR
Darrell Waltrip's 1977-78 Monte Carlo - "BERTHA"
Back in the early '70's DW was establishing himself as one of the rising stars of NASCAR. Along the way he developed the habit of "tellin' it like it is", a characteristic not always appreciated at the time from a "brash youngster". Thus, the nickname early in his career of "Jaws". Darrell developed the habit of giving the various cars in the garage names. The car the model here represents was called "Bertha". Another name he used that comes to mind is "Wicked Wanda". (In today's more PC environment, these likely wouldn't fly..)
Bertha was an appropriate name, as the stockers of this era were among the fastest ever built. They tended to be real heavy on horsepower, but light in aerodynamics, safety and handling. Aggressive driving in behemoths like this was how DW built a rep as a fearless competitor.
The model was built from a JNJ resin body I picked up about 5 years ago. Decals were also JNJ, and included the green side stripe. It had to be reshaped at the front to match the fender leading edge contours.
The chassis is a highly modified early Monogram T-bird, with GM engine from an early '80's Monogram Regal stocker. Paint job is real simple - paint it all white, then apply decals. Windshield and backlight were cut from acetate overhead transparency sheets, then epoxied in place.
Overall, this was a satisfying build of a significant car in NASCAR history. The body is a tad small, being a 1/25th variant, so it does not give the true impression of the car's sheer bulk, when compared with the Revellogram current kits in 1/24th. A better choice today is MCW's resin version - it is true 1/24th. They also make an early ('73 -'74) version with large single front light on each side.
Photo of "Bertha"
- from circle track magazine.
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Back in the early '70's DW was establishing himself as one of the rising stars of NASCAR. Along the way he developed the habit of "tellin' it like it is", a characteristic not always appreciated at the time from a "brash youngster". Thus, the nickname early in his career of "Jaws". Darrell developed the habit of giving the various cars in the garage names. The car the model here represents was called "Bertha". Another name he used that comes to mind is "Wicked Wanda". (In today's more PC environment, these likely wouldn't fly..)
Bertha was an appropriate name, as the stockers of this era were among the fastest ever built. They tended to be real heavy on horsepower, but light in aerodynamics, safety and handling. Aggressive driving in behemoths like this was how DW built a rep as a fearless competitor.
The model was built from a JNJ resin body I picked up about 5 years ago. Decals were also JNJ, and included the green side stripe. It had to be reshaped at the front to match the fender leading edge contours.
The chassis is a highly modified early Monogram T-bird, with GM engine from an early '80's Monogram Regal stocker. Paint job is real simple - paint it all white, then apply decals. Windshield and backlight were cut from acetate overhead transparency sheets, then epoxied in place.
Overall, this was a satisfying build of a significant car in NASCAR history. The body is a tad small, being a 1/25th variant, so it does not give the true impression of the car's sheer bulk, when compared with the Revellogram current kits in 1/24th. A better choice today is MCW's resin version - it is true 1/24th. They also make an early ('73 -'74) version with large single front light on each side.
- from circle track magazine.
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