Nacho Z

Thank you, Bob, I appreciate it!

I participated in a FB group Halloween themed build. I had several models in my stash that would fit the bill. I posted 4 choices and let my friends pick which model I would build. The overwhelming choice was the Boot Hill Express. I had one month in which to build it. The rules stated the kit must not be started which mine wasn't. Please take a moment to look at the build thread here: It will answer questions about the stacks and paint choice and color. I'm happy to answer any questions about the build that you may have. Thanks for looking and Happy Halloween!

Sorry for not replying or updating this thread as often as I should have. The pace that I worked at to meet the deadline didn't really afford me a whole lot of time to stop and take pictures of what I was doing. I am getting ready to post the finished model in the Under Glass section. Thanks to those who followed along!

My wife and I are empty nesters. She has her crafts and TV shows and I have my models. When we get home from work we discuss our day, eat our supper and catch the news. Then it is clean up and take care of this or that. By 8PM I am usually making my way to my hobby room where I will spend a couple of hours each night. I tend to get a few more hours in on the weekends. Like most, I get more bench time in during the Winter months than I do in the Summer.

This update will just be on the engine. I will keep pointing out that I only have a month to build this and unfortunately life has a way of getting in the way. It would be great to drop a nice engine in this with all of the appropriate wiring and plumbing but that is not in the cards for me. What I did do was to strip all of the chrome off of the parts, except for the valve covers, and repaint them with AK Interactive Xtreme Metals paint. I did add plug wires. No, they are not in the correct firing order. Here are the kit injector stacks. They are absolutely terrible. I saw no way of salvaging them so I decided to try my hand at making my own. I measured the length of the stacks and then cut them off of the flange. I cut 3/32 aluminum tubing to length. A friend of mine made a tool, a punch really, that would allow me to flare the end of the tubing. I drilled a hole in a block of wood so that just a small portion of the aluminum tubing would stick out. This would hold the tubing and stop it from bending while being flared. This is the tool / punch. Nothing fancy but it does the job. I had to be very careful when tapping the tool with a hammer while flaring the tubing. It is very easy to split the aluminum. Go ahead, ask me how I know! Next was to figure out how to hold the new stacks in place. I drilled small holes in the flange and inserted copper wire. Next I cut small brass tubing to fit over the wire. Finally I placed the newly made aluminum stacks over the brass tubing. This will allow me to bend the stacks to the correct angle once attached to the engine. I am very pleased with the results.

Very cool, indeed!

Jim, it is one of my favorites also. I forgot to mention in my introductory post that I put a poll up on my FB page and asked my friends which kit I should build for the Halloween themed build. There were four to choose from. This was the overwhelming favorite. I really liked the Pale Brass too. Thanks, Emre, I appreciate it. I'll show the color I went with in a post coming up soon. It was really a tough choice. Thanks, Maxx! I think if you have the time, skills and the right items you can make a killer model out of this. I am very limited by time, (probably skills too...lol). I am making a few modifications to mine but I have to keep myself in check. I'm committed to making the deadline.

Thanks, RRR, I'm hoping that I will do this kit justice. So far, Joe, I have ran into a lot of flash, mold seams and ejector pin marks. The directions are really just an exploded view and you have to figure out where some things attach. I guess what I am saying is a typical '60s kit...lol.

Along with all of the parts clean up, I had to decide what color to paint this thing. I have read what others have done and it seems no two people have painted it the same way. I fell in love with the color(s) of one particular Boot Hill Express at the Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed. I believe that the original BHE was painted in a gold color. That is also how it appears on the box art, (although I feel the box art photo has been drastically overexposed or lightened in some way), but I digress. The photos I fell in love with are much more of an orangish color. I do know that lighting and shadows play a big part in photography and that is probably at play here. Anyhow, here are a couple of pics of what I am going to try to replicate. Now, how to get that color. I painted 4 spoons with AK Interactive Xtreme Metal colors, (the spoons are labeled), and then sprayed clear orange over half of each one. I had a hunch that the color would not be deep enough or too orangey. So for the other half of each spoon I added clear red to the clear orange. These would not be the final color but I'll save that for later. Please note that the spoons are not in the same order as the first picture but they are labeled. And now with red added. Lots of parts under primer. I always prime all of my parts. I know that not everybody does and that's cool if it works for them. I just always have and probably always will. Drilled out the 8 exhaust tips. Next update will be the engine. I'm pleased with what I did to dress it up just a bit.

I thought I would share what I am currently working on and what is keeping me away from my 1:12 Tamiya/Ebbro Matra MS11. I am building the Boot Hill Express for a Halloween themed FB group build. I have 1 month to build it, (the month of October), and have underestimated how long it is going to take me. In my defense, I am going a little above and beyond with it but not overboard. As with just about every build thread I do, I am further along than what I am posting. I like to document what I do for two reasons, (mainly). First, it helps me to remember what the heck I did and secondly it may be of some use to one of my fellow modelers. In this thread I will caption each photo as needed. I would love to hear from you guys. Let me know what you think and what you may have done differently. Thanks! Mine is the 1994 issue of the Boot Hill Express. It was molded in a horrible orange styrene. Why?!?! There was a lot of clean up that went into this. Too much to list but let me say that I worked on just about every single part with only a few exceptions. I also made the decision to strip all of the chrome and airbrush it in AK Interactive Xtreme Metal Chrome. More to come shortly.

What a great job on the personal touches! They really bring this old kit to life.

Like so many guys have already said, you nailed the look! This is such a cool model on so many levels!

Absolutely gorgeous!!

Hobby Express is amazing! I didn’t know that they were expanding. That is great news! I hope you found the paint you were looking for.

I love everything about this!!

I literally don’t know what to say that hasn’t already been said. This is absolutely gorgeous! Just magnificent.

I am really enjoying watching this come together. Thanks again for posting all of the updates!

She is a beauty, Tim! An amazing build for sure!

Beautiful!

Very nice, Tim! Great lookin model.

Such a beautiful car. Your model is looking great, Chris! And man oh man, that color!!

I have had basically the same issue with Zero. To keep this very brief, I ended up setting a timer for 10 minutes between coats. Very thin coats at that. I also found that some colors were hotter than others. My biggest difference in making things better was waiting at least 10 minutes between light coats.

Thanks, Jonn! When you mention the extra tanks I am assuming you are talking about the side fuel tanks(?) If that is correct then yes, I will be adding them. Concerning your statement about not a lot of pictures with the tanks on, you are correct. My car is not going to be a specific car or specific race. I’m basing it off the box art and pictures on Motorsport Images. I will be adding the nose wings too. I just like the looks of it and the excess of these cars with their V-12s, big wings, etc.

Paul, thanks for checking out this thread, I appreciate it. I don’t think these odd subjects get a lot of traffic and/or discussion. It is nice to get someone stopping by, as it were. I always appreciate the nice comments, Andrew!

And here we are, ready for another Monday night update. This will more than likely be the last update for a month or so. I will be working on my Halloween themed build for 2022. I may sneak an update or two in, in the next month, but I doubt it. This update is all about the gauge cluster. If you go back to page 1 of this build thread you will find where I began working on the gauge cluster. You will see my failed attempts at various scratch building ideas for the gauges. I will repost a few things from page 1 just to show the steps I took to get to the final product. Front of the gauge cluster as it came in the kit. Back of the gauge cluster as it came in the kit. Using a punch tool to make styrene discs for each gauge housing. These styrene discs cover the oddly molded "wells" in each gauge housing. Beautiful machined toggle switches from Top Studio. Gauge cluster was primed and then painted Tamiya TS-10 French Blue. Once cured it was masked and airbrushed Tamiya LP-3 Flat Black. The decals were then applied. I used the same punch tool to punch discs from clear sheet that had been polished to nearly glass like quality. These were glued in place and then photo etch rings, which were also polished to a chrome finish, were added. Two gauges are done. You can see the clear disc and photo etch ring for the third gauge. For the large center gauge I did not have a punch large enough. I hand cut and hand sanded the clear sheet to make one that fit correctly. It took three attempts to make. Gauges are done. Toggle switches added. Fire extinguisher painted, foiled and decaled. To the back of each gauge I added heavy/thick tinfoil to replicate brackets. I added a bolt and nut head to each bracket. The toggle switches will be wired and all gauges will have the appropriate wiring or plumbing added.