Monogram Boot Hill Express

[CabDriver]

I wasn’t totally sure where to put this one - it’s a showrod/hot rod but kinda a drag car...but a drag car that never did any real passes (and would likely kill you if you tried) and it’s kinda a commercial vehicle if you consider hauling bodies a commercial activity too...so I figured I’d post it here with the more normal stuff and if it’s in the wrong place I apologize to the mods...

Anyhoo; I’ve had this kit on my shelf for at least a decade, probably more: 

Finally got around to opening it and looking it over and it’s all fresh and ready to build except for a cracked pain of glass and the engine was missing.  Probably too late after a decade to ask whoever sold me it on eBay to send the missing bits...

Luckily, I just finished an AMT 53 Studebaker and had a complete Hemi from that sitting around, and though it won’t drop right in it’ll allow me to build the kit anyway.  I’m not going for an all out replica of one of the 1:1s (this kit would almost need reworking front to back to get it REALLY right) but I’d like to get this looking good and on my shelf anyway.

First up was to figure out how to mount the AMT Hemi in the Monogram frame.  The original kit block had pins either side of the trans but I decided on making a trans cradle type mount for mine:

And a quick mock up of the engine in the mount - I’ll need to extend the driveshaft because the original kit transmission was longer but itll work! 

Everything is just poster-tacked together right now for ease of messing with the frame...but dig that weird 5-leaf suspension system:

More soon, soon as I’ve done more! (Sorry again if this is in the wrong place...)

Edited December 15, 2019 by CabDriver

[Dave Van]

It did make some 'show' passes.........

 

 

As a kid I got to sit in Boot Hill....sitting still on a car show floor...it was scary!!!!! at speed!!!!

Edited December 15, 2019 by Dave Van

[CabDriver]

1 hour ago, Dave Van said:

It did make some 'show' passes........

As a kid I got to sit in Boot Hill....sitting still on a car show floor...it was scary!!!!! at speed!!!!

Cool pic!  I hadn’t seen that one - although I did a bunch of reading up on the car today - it’s really cool!  You’re right, it did some exhibition runs, but I guess no one was quite crazy enough to actually floor the thing and see what happened ??

[Claude Thibodeau]

Hi!

I've built this kit when I was a teen (in the 60's). Cool project. ter

The drag version on the pictures was a fiberglass "clone" of the actual show car. I saw the real one in advanced state of disrepair in a fair, in Lake George NY in the early 70's. Sad encounter...

CT

[Dann Tier]

This is looking GREAT so far, bud!!!!......Tina has this kit, so we WILL be following along!!!

[mod3l Lover]

  I have wanted to find this kit for quite

a while now. It is one of the fond memories 

of builds I did as a kid!  So want to build a

much less glue covered version maybe!?! 

 You might already realize this, but the

engine needs to be mounted at a steeper

angle, aiming it at the rear end more!

  That will help with a few of the issues I

would think?  ?

  But it is looking great, that's for sure!!

       David S.

[CabDriver]

On 12/15/2019 at 1:43 PM, mod3l Lover said:

  I have wanted to find this kit for quite

a while now. It is one of the fond memories 

of builds I did as a kid!  So want to build a

much less glue covered version maybe!?! 

 You might already realize this, but the

engine needs to be mounted at a steeper

angle, aiming it at the rear end more!

  That will help with a few of the issues I

would think?  ?

  But it is looking great, that's for sure!!

       David S.

You’re absolutely right David - the engine should mount leaning towards the center yolk more, yes!  It actually does lean more when I have the oil pan on there too, and the suspension is all droopy and tacked together at this point making it look even worse...I couldn’t find much in the way of pics of the real car with the ‘body’ off (or indeed a model version in progress) so I’m making it up as I go along here a little!

Thanks for all the nice comments everyone!  I had a fairly unproductive Sunday except for a trip to one of our local hobby stores for some of the Tamiya clear paints - I can see myself needing some of their clear orange and yellow on this one!

Edited December 18, 2019 by CabDriver

[CabDriver]

So, into some paint!  I wanted to do a nice candy paint job on this one - still kinda looking like the 1:1 but less wood and more sparkles ?.  So, first up, I shot the body, frame and roof with a chrome silver to act as a base:

I had an idea I was excited to try on the roof panel, so I’m starting with that.  First up. Some flames:

Next, I gave them an outline - I’m going to run a kind of wide pinstripe around the edge of the roof but I wanted it to look like the flames were sitting over the top of it so I needed to add some depth with a light outline of black:

Next up, I added the stripe and some lettering that I designed (using a font called ‘Boothill’, appropriately enough)...

I did the same trick with the lettering as I’d done with the flames, and then cut a skull pattern mask and overlaid that...now, this pattern won’t be super obvious or easy to make out on this panel but I’ll be replicating it elsewhere on the car so I wanted it here too so it all ties together:

I shot some Tamiya gunmetal through that to give some contrast between the bright chrome and the dark black - the gunmetal is somewhere in between so it works well for this part of the process.  Then; we’re left with this:

Finally, I fogged a band of flat back around the edge of the roof to cover those masking lines and then peeled off the masks:

Super pleased with that!  Next up, some candy yellow - I wanted the lettering to look gold so it stands out, but I added some shading to the whole roof with this color anyway:

Then, some little bursts of red on the flames - I would normally do this after the last color but I didn’t want them quite as bold and bright as they would be if I did that...

Then, finally, candy orange!

I’m happy with how that turned out - I need to let it sit a couple of days to harden up before attempting to clear it...actually, I probably DON’T need to leave it that long but I’m cautious of ruining that work!  Plenty more to do in the meantime though...

More soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[iBorg]

You've got to wonder when or if this one is going to be reissued.

[BIGTRUCK]

Really nice work on the extra paint effort. 

[Howard Cohen]

I took these shots at the Fleetwood Country Cruise in London, Ontario in 2013, they should help with a few details  

[Eric Macleod]

I built this in high school and always thought it was a weird but cool model. Very interesting.  The work on the roof panel is looking excellent. 

[DukeE]

 That is a tribute I believe, Howard. Lots of different details, wood, engine, steering.  Car went through auction not too long ago. It is currently in Speedway Motors museum in Lincoln NE. 

Pics from various sources. Drag pics fun. There are 3, the original, the drag car, and a runner. Virtually identical save for fiberglass on the #2,3 cars

Great build of cool kit. 

https://www.museumofamericanspeed.com/boothillexpress.html

[Tom Geiger]

Cool. I never realized how small the real car is!  

[Vince Nemanic]

I think that Howard Cohen's pictures are of a "tribute" car. Several details are incorrect-for instance, it has a small block Chevy engine.

[CabDriver]

Thanks for all the comments and helpful pics guys - really useful!  I’m not going for an exact replica but seeing all those details and pics is really cool! 

Cut some more masks to add a little detail to some of the body parts and frame today:

Then gave them a little red candy:

Then some yellow:

And then the main color - pleased with how this candy orange looks on there!

Got a bunch of clearing to do now!  More soon, soon as I’ve done more!

[Misha]

Wow, great work Jim! Especially your detailed paint scheme, thanks for providing the details. Also great to see it in a different scheme. Your work is very clean, looking forward it being Under Glass. It is also neat to see the photos of the body tilted up for access to the engine. Built this kit many years ago, still in the display cabinet. I added a rad for the engine by positioning it under the seat structure. Now thinking of getting another one to build it with the body tilted. 
Thanks for the inspiration. Cheers Misha

Edited December 21, 2019 by Misha
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[Dann Tier]

HOLY WOW!!!...you're really bringing this to life, bud!!!!

[DukeE]

Amazing paintwork and masking. Just beautiful. 

[bobthehobbyguy]

Great start. Amazing paint work.

[rustybill1960]

Curious........

what has come of this build?

[CabDriver]

2 hours ago, rustybill1960 said:

Curious........

what has come of this build?

Ohh, yeah, I need to get back on this ?

I need to find a couple of parts, or scratchbuild them, and I’ve been meaning to pick up some Rub n Buff for the ornamental lamps (?) that go on the roof.  Didn’t realise I’d been so slow in picking that stuff up though ????

Edited July 5, 2020 by CabDriver

[TimJ]

Great paintwork, that roof is a work of art.

[Bugatti Fan]

A pic of mine built way back in the 70's.                 Not a very sharp image unfortunately, but you can get the gist. All hand painted except for the roof that was sprayed in semi matt black. The kit did not come with the red translucent rear lamp lenses that were cribbed from the spares box at the time. Apart from a bit of wiring on the engine the kit is pretty much a straight from the box build.

Jim's feature BHE of this thread is fantastic. Particularly the imaginative roof and other panel graphics. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the build and the completed model.

Edited July 7, 2020 by Bugatti Fan