For Fun: Valvoline #9 Ford

While messing around creating my NASCAR '14 Mark Martin Valvoline #6 paint scheme, I was procrastinating on trying to make a custom #6 that matched the style of the car I was going for. So I decided to take the Evernham Motorsports style "Flying E" #9 I used on Bill Elliott's and Jeremy Mayfield's Dodge paint schemes. Afterall, the #10 Valvoline car did briefly fall under the umbrella of the team. I mostly just wanted to see how it would fit, though. I think it actually works fairly well.

Mark Martin Valvoline #6 Ford Fusion - NASCAR '14 Custom Paint scheme

I finally got mostly done with my Mark Martin #6 Valvoline Ford from his Roush days. I always liked the classic look of the early #6, though some of his later schemes were pretty good as well. In this case, I used the game's default Valvoline logo on the hood, so it's not exactly the same as the one he used back then. I'm considering going through the effort to create my own custom one that will fit the color palette of the car a bit better, and have italicized text. Lastly, it may need some more work on associate sponsors, such as Pyroil or something else.

The #6 is a custom brush created from a lower case "g" with a few rectangles and curved bits added on to make it look smooth. Not my best effort, but I think it works in this case. I should also go ahead and create a dark blue duplicate for the headlight number.

The colored stripes are made from three distinct custom brushes where I worked out the approximate thickness I wanted for each color then overlapped rectangles. The first brush was used for the front of the car, and the second for the diagonal sides and top. The third was just another set to help transition the two by staggering the front rectangles to go along with the tilt of the diagonal stripes and blend in. I used a navy blue base for the rest of the car -- which should make the number icon appear white on navy.

Work in Progress - Mark Martin Valvoline #6

Not quite done yet.

#21 Wood Brothers Citgo Ford Fusion

Some of my favorite cars have always been the old Wood Brothers Fords. In this iteration, I went with one I've done before - the early 1990s era Citgo Ford, as driven by Dale Jarrett and Morgan Shepherd. Probably the most famous appearance of this scheme was at the conclusion of the 1992 Daytona 500 where Morgan raced Davey Allison down to the line.. Of course, back then it was a Thunderbird. Nowadays it would be a Ford Fusion.

Davey Allison #28 Texaco Havoline Ford Fusion - NASCAR '14

It's such a classic, I had to add it to my NASCAR '14 stable. If I ever figure out how to get a proper metallic gold gradient going in these games, I want to tackle the earlier version of the car.

Like most classic paint schemes, this time around I'm embracing the current body styles rather than going through the effort to paint on some sort of Thunderbird styling. None of the current cars are really boxy enough to pull it off.

NASCAR Gulf Livery

Continuing on the theme of NASCAR Ford Fusions looking ridiculously similar to Aston Martin GT sportscars, someone requested I take a crack at the old-school Gulf Livery that some have been running recently. My first attempt looked a bit too close to the STP 43, so I got rid of most of the color along the side skirts as a compromise. I might post a few variations of this scheme until I'm satisfied with it.

 

NASCAR Martini Livery

Part of the fun of the NASCAR '14 paint booth is seeing if you can create custom schemes from other series. With the old school MARTINI livery making its return to prominence in motorsports in F1, WEC, and the Tudor United Sportscar series (owned by NASCAR's France family) I decided it was time for it to join our game. I went with the Ford Fusion, because it looks closest to a GT sportscar. Many have noted to similarity between the Ford front end and that of the Aston Martins. Maybe I should do a Gulf Livery next...

Updated Classic Paint Scheme: Brett Bodine Quaker State Ford

I've been toying around with the idea of taking long-time sponsors and mixing classic elements with their new logos/the new body styles. Bredd Bodine's Quaker State car was a Buick, then a Ford he drove for Kenny Bernstein. Quaker State has since updated its logo, and generally runs fairly generic paint schemes for Kasey Kahne. Personally, I liked the older, solid colored cars. This is currently the car I'm running online (at least until I make my next one.)

NASCAR '14 Paint Booth 3: STP #43 Ford

After testing out the STP scheme with a special Pontiac scheme, I decided it was probably easier to use the default game manufacturer templates. Since the 43 Richard Petty Motorsports team currently runs Ford Fusions, I decided to see how one of the older paint schemes would look on the current body style. 

First Paint Scheme Test: Bill Elliott Budweiser #11

It's become a tradition for me to test out the paint booth with a basic variant of this scheme. ETX has removed the need to "earn" basic shape decals how you needed to in NTG: Inside Line, reverting things to how they were in NTG2011, while keeping IL's interface. Otherwise, there seem to be few changes to the paint booth. They have changed up the pre-made sponsor decal list somewhat, and added a new "mirror" option for decals, which can somewhat help match up decals on the left and right hand sides of the car, but it doesn't work perfectly. Still, it's a welcome addition. One problem is you can't zoom out as far on the top down view or others, making placement of certain decals a tricky proposition.

Here's how the test went:

Another new feature of the paint booth in NASCAR '14 is the ability to write phrases in the text box with spaces. Previous games did not allow that. The "KING OF BEERS" phrase on the hood would have had to be three separate decals put down individually or into a custom "brush." Allowing spaces eases some of the old burdens of making a custom paint job in the game.

On the other hand, the new unique shapes to the cars makes it difficult, if not impossible, to simulate older car designs for these retro paint schemes. That's why I kept this as a Fusion, rather than trying to simulate a Thunderbird how I did in NTGIL: