Model King '50 Austin Gasser Drag Coupe Box Art Model - (built 2010)

When Model King asked me to design the box art and decal sheet for their re-issue of Revell's classic '50 Austin Gasser Drag Coupe kit, I jumped at the chance. I like these old drag racing cars and thought it would be a fun project. Of course, they'd need a box art model built for photography too. Tom Miller (known by the handle "Bluemoose" on the various model car forums) had already built a candy lime green one they wanted to call "Gas Hopper", but Model King asked me to build one too in a different color scheme and feature both of them on the box. I thought a black one with flames would look cool.

First, I quickly assembled a kit built strictly out of the box and then photographed it. The paint was a simple Testor's gloss black spray can job.

Next, I went about designing the decal sheet. I created several fictional names and designed logos for them. I also added sponsor markings and various other details I thought would be appropriate for a '70's era drag car.

The kit comes with a fiberglass tilt front end with some cheesy chrome headlights and no grill. In all the previous releases of this kit it never had any indication of a grill. I decided to also create airbrushed style headlights and a grill decal for this new version. Just by chance I went to a car show during the week I designed the decal art and happened across a real 1950 Austin. I took photos of the car and used them as reference to create the art.

My philosophy in designing a decal sheet is to over-deliver. I know when building a kit I appreciate having extra bits left over that I can use on other kits so, I made the sheet as big as what would fit in the box and packed it with artwork that would be generic enough to be used on other kits as well.

I then created the art for the box design. I wanted the box to look very colorful with a '70's look. To achieve his I incorporated authentic photographic textures like engine turned gold leaf and metallic flake candy paint. Because of time constraints I photoshopped the decal art onto the photographs of the model. Later after the kits were in production I went back and added the actual decals to my built model.

 

These last two pictures are actually photo illustrations I created for the box art. Because actually decals were not available yet to complete box art I digitally placed the art for the decals on to the photos of the models in Photoshop. You'll notice there are some slight differences between these and the final model. You'll also notice the model did not have windows or a completed engine yet.

I think Revell did a great job printing the box and decals and now I have another cool box art model for my shelf.