David's time in the Wood Brothers' Mercury was about the most productive time of his career. Of the 138 he started in the 21 car, he won 43, or 31%! His time with the Wood Brothers lasted about seven years, from 1972 to 1979. This was a time when the Wood Brothers and Petty organizations were dominant in the sport. These days, both are a mere shadow of what they were back then.
As with any association, no matter how successful, there comes a time when the wheels come off, and partners go their separate ways. In the case of Pearson and the Wood brothers this was literally what actually happened...
At the CRC REBEL 300 at Darlington, the 8th race of the 1979 season in April, David and the 21 car had not yet won, and frustration was high. In this race, Pearson pulled in for a pitstop, but due to a missed communication, he left after two tires were changed. Unfortunately, the plan had been for a four-tire change, so David found himself at the end of pit road with no left-side wheels, as the lugnuts had been removed! Furious, David left the car sitting there. The following week, Neil Bonnett was the new Purolator guy...
Pearson continued to race for various teams until the 1988 season, but scored only two more wins.
The Mercury model shown here represents that last wood Brothers ride of David's. It was built using a Model Car World resin 1979 Mercury stock car body. Decals came from Yesterday's, except for the door numerals, which are the excellent foil pieces from the Monogram 1982 Bonnett T-bird in their "Thunderbird Legends Combo" kit.
The chassis was made from a mid-eighties' Monogram T-bird. The MCW resin piece is 1/24th, so it matches up quite nicely scale-wise with Monogram. In order to accomodate the longer (115") wheelbase in use prior to the Great Downsize in '81, the frame/wheelbase had to be stretched 3/8th's of an inch. This is best done at the front of the floor pan, where the front clip is attached, as most of the additional length on the older chassis is in the cowl area. (You can also order a resin piece from MCW of correct length - they're quite nice.) Point of caution - only the T-bird chassis of the early '80's is suitable for any stocker of this vintage, as the Laughlin chassis used under Monogram's mid-eighties' GM products was not in use in the '70's.
Build is quite straightforward; cleanup of the resin body is simple, and the casting is very smooth, so minimal priming and sanding is needed before shooting colour coats.
Just be sure, as with any resin piece, to wash well with a strong detergent before trying to prime or paint. If you do not, mold release and exhudation from the resin will present a surface that will cause the paint to dimple or "crawl" leaving a rough surface requiring a lot of recoating and buffing.
I recently read of a good test to ensure body is ready for painting - the "masking tape test". If you cannot get masking tape to adhere to the body , you need to keep on cleaning! I tried it - it works!
Windshield must be made from acetate, or pirated from another kit and modified to fit. Same with rear window. I chose the acetate route, and it worked well. Use small amounts of epoxy to attach from the inside.
Bumpers/grille are not chromed, but extensive use of Bare-Metal@ will take care of this quite nicely.
If you work carefully, and do lots of trial fitting, a very nice model of this important car can be made. Give resin a try to fill those gaps in your collection - I recommend MCW's products quite highly!
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