Nacho Z

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.

She is coming along nicely, Paul! Thanks for the updates.

It is funny that you replied when you did. I took another aircraft to a model contest this weekend and it placed 2nd in the aircraft category. I don’t want to oversell the award. It was nothing close to the Nationals but there were airplane guys there. I enjoy building the Tiger Meet aircraft because of all of the decals. I love doing decals!

Thanks, Chris! I always appreciate the kind words, Pierre! Thanks, Stephen!

It is Monday night and I'm back on track with updates. For those following along, I mentioned that I was going to miss a few weeks because of a FB group build. I did finish the Corsair and it is posted here on MCM. Getting back to the Matra, the last update was the wheels and tires. They needed something to mount to so I began work on the front suspension. I don't have a lot of in progress pics, there wasn't much to document. This car used 6 wheel studs rather than 1 wheel nut like those used in modern F1 cars. I made crossover tubes from #24 wire and aluminum hex nuts. (I did not use the wire in the picture due to the bend in the right side leg.) All parts with kit chrome were stripped, cleaned up, primed and base coated in Tamiya LP-1 Gloss Black lacquer and shot in AK Interactive Xtreme Metal Chrome, Dark Aluminum and White Aluminum. Coil over shocks have a decal and working springs. The suspension arm looks much better now than how it came in the kit. Calipers were two parts. Photo etch rotor faces, front and back. Crossover tubes and fittings added. Temperature paint added to the rotors. A brake line will be added once the rotor assemblies have been mounted. Another view. Two part calipers were assembled, filled and sanded prior to paint. One last view.

Aww, Rich, you set the bar pretty darn high. I'm sure your Matra is a beauty. I sincerely appreciate the kind words and the fact that you are following along. It is the interaction with other modelers that keep me going on this one.

As always, thank you, Pierre!

I enjoyed your WIP and know to see it completed is just something else! My first car was an Olds Cutlass and I’ve had a love for them every since. What a great looking model!

Loving the updates on this, Chris! She is a beauty!

Ghostbusters car. Elvira's car. The Supernatural Chevy.