The real Boot Hill Express was created from an 1850 Hearse built by Cunningham of NY.
The Show Rod was built by Ray Farhner and now resides in the Volo Auto Museum in Volo Ill.
This model was built using Revell/Monogram’s 1994 Re-release of the original 1967 Monogram
kit. The 1/1 car has gone through a few different modifications in its lifetime.
A short list includes: rear suspension, wheels, tires, steering wheel, seat rail, pinstriping,
and a short lived roll bar for drag strip excursions.
I used several internet sources, photos supplied by friends
(Thanks Fernando) and an old ISCA Show program to come up with the final configuration I chose
to model. I actually used a couple of different items from each of the Original’s time periods,
because the kit out of the box didn’t represent any of the time periods correctly.
• Paint: HoK Pagan Gold over HoK Gamma Gold Base. Clear coated w/ HoK Clear, Alclad,
Tamiya Spray Lacquer, and various Testors’ Metalizers.
• Scratch built items: Seat Rail & Grab Handles from Silver Wire,
Injector Tubes from aluminum tubing, Coach Lamp Brackets & Trim pieces from
polished aluminum flashing, and the Steering Column support from styrene.
• Modified: Added braided silver wire to the coffin rails, flocked drivers footboard,
trimmed & thinned lamp and seat bracket to a more prototypical appearance.
• A/M items: Detail Masters Moon Fuel Tank and Ign. wires, Slixx Valvoline Decal,
(photos show only one on the r/h side of the tank) Testors flock, Bare Metal Foil,
MV Lenses for taillights, and Scale Motorsports hardware.
• Base is made from pink foam insulation covered with various Woodland
Scenics landscaping materials. The “tree” is a branch from Sweetwater Products in Wyoming.
It is actually Sage Brush. The tombstone & Skeleton are from the kit. The skeleton’s stance
has been modified by completely cutting apart the kit piece at the joints and adding brass
wire to the joints. The skeleton was then pose-able. After finalizing the pose, super glue
was used to secure it. The hat has also been modified.
