Revell 1/24 Tony Stewart's Pontiac Grand Prix "Home Depot" NASCAR

by John Jameson

History

This kit represents the Joe Gibbs' Pontiac Grand Prix entry for the 1999 season as driven by Tony Stewart. Team owner Joe Gibbs, the proud owner of a Superbowl ring for coaching the Washington Redskins to victory, hired rookie Tony Stewart for the 1999 NASCAR season. Tony Stewart may be a rookie by the rules of NASCAR, as evident by the yellow 'rookie' stripes on the rear bumper, but he certainly is no rookie to racing, and has an impressive resume. I was involved in competitive karting as a youth and was witness to the talent Tony posses. Tony moved quickly from karting into USAC midget racing where he won the National Midget Championship in 1994 and 1995. Tony is the only driver ever in USAC history to win all three divisions, Midget, Sprint Car, and Silver Crown Championships in the same year. Tony moved into the Indy Racing League and sat on the pole for the 1996 Indianapolis 500. In 1997, Tony won the IRL championship. Tony then made his first foray into closed wheeled cars by running part time in the NASCAR Grand National where he notched a victory and two second place finishes. Tony Stewart's NASCAR Winston Cup 1999 rookie season was very impressive. He earned one pole position, three victories, and over twenty top ten finishes with no DFS's all season. There is no wonder why Tony has won over lots of fans, and that will make this a popular kit.

The Kit

This Revell kit is molded in 1/24th scale and comprises 93 parts. These 93 parts are contained on one clear tree that contains the windows, one rubber vinyl tree, which contains the tires, seven white styrene trees and one white body shell. The Grand Prix body shell has molded in roof and cowl flaps and can be removed to show off the engine coolant hoses, ignition wiring, and the full roll cage with padding.

The decals included in this kit are contained on one 9" x 6" sheet. The sheet includes seatbelts, rookie stripes, headlight and sponsor markings as well as the white areas of the color scheme which do appear to be very opaque. This will allow the builder to simply paint the body orange and apply the decals to achieve the orange and white Home Depot/ Rigid tools livery. The decals are some of the finest I have seen with very little, if any, carrier film evident.

The paints called for in the instructions include aluminum, flat black, flat white, gloss black, gloss gray, gloss orange, gloss red, satin black, silver and steel. The instructions are clear and outline the build in 9 steps with painting and decals placement instructions. The kit is rated a skill level 3.

Conclusions

I like the fact that Revell has chosen the 1/24th scale for their recent NASCAR kits, this one included. 1/24th scale just seems that much larger than 1/25th. However slight, the larger scale makes the overall product that much more impressive. The kit decals are of high quality and the molding generally clean and crisp, although my review sample did contain a large piece of mold flash on the rear suspension piece. Overall I am impressed with the latest NASCAR offering from Revell of an impressive NASCAR racer.

Thanks to Revell-Monogram for the review sample.