cmatthewbacon Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 (edited) One of the sleekest supercars ever designed. And don't believe all you read about how the car was compromised by replacing the V12 of the concept with "the engine from a Metro". Not exactly... the engine is a custom version of the TWR racing engine that powered the Jaguar XJR-11 Le Mans car, so its racing heritage is strong (it also powered the Metro 6R4 bonkers rally car, which is where the Metro jibe originated). Interestingly, the output of the engine in the XJ220 is almost exactly the same (540-odd BHP) as that of the V8 that powers today's XKR-S and F-Type R coupe. The engine is where most of the extra work on this kit went in, since the Tamiya original lacks most of the "plumbing" that is shoehorned into the engine bay. A wide range of wire, solder, jewellery elastic and even cigarette packet foil served to "busy up" this important part of the car. There's also a fully wired distributor in there, but you can't see it! (For anyone building the kit, the small cylinder at the rear end of the cam cover of the left hand bank of cylinders is the distributor, and it should be painted red!) Otherwise, the kit is great in terms of shape, fit and detail. The cabin responds really well to simple detail painting (though I did add some seat-belts, which are kinda obvious in that pale interior). The working headlight covers do work, somewhat surprisingly... It is possible, as you can see, to make the rear engine bay cover open. I ground out the slots on the body into which the hinge pins moulded on the clear part fit so that they were deeper and bigger from front to back than moulded. This allows the the cover to slip backwards as you lift it, so the front edge can clear the roof in front of it. When it shuts again, it slides forward and drops into place as gravity does its thing. The fit of the chassis into body is easy enough, but it's lacking positive locations, so you really do have to glue it in place at the front end and at the sides of the rear diffuser. All the pictures were done in exactly the same lighting. The difference is the tone of the card background -- the "brighter" shots later were taken on dark grey card, the earlier ones on a more neutral grey. It helps explain why pictures of a "Brooklands Green" XJ220 can look like anything from almost British Racing Green to zingy turquoise (check out "DK Engineering XJ220" to see the inspiration for this build...) Thanks for watching! bestest, M. Edited March 16, 2015 by cmatthewbacon 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macgregor Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Lovely build & finish Matthew, as always! Well done. Mac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Breaker Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Nice job Matt, cracking job of an interesting looking car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1 Insider Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 A very well executed build of a beautiful car. Would still hold its own against the current lot. I remember having posters of this on my wall as a nipper. You have managed to get a real depth and 'weight' to the car. If I was going to be picky, the only thing I could see that might appreciate a look at were the wheels, in particular around the centre nut. They just lack that final touch to bring them into line with the rest of the build. A fantastic looking car none the less though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobs of Espresso Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 beautiful! great job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookytooth Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Great looking Cat there Matthew. Having got this in my stash, it has shown me a few pointers for the build in the future. Simon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sennapod Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Photography is great too. Ps the model is excellent, and the colour is gorgeous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
louiex2 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shood23 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Wow lovely finish matt really it's something to be proud of Shaun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rishi Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Superb finish. The Honda NSX 3.0L V6 timing belt arrangement is is like the TWR engine. Cheers, Rishikesh 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theanorak73 Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 very nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted November 16, 2014 Author Share Posted November 16, 2014 Thanks for the kind comments, everyone. It may not be a "state of the art" Tamiya kit, but it's still a fantastic canvas to build on. As ever, reference is key, and I found a great book at a very reasonable price. I could have spent even longer in the engine bay, but life's too short... and there are too many other goodies in the stash. What's up next? Decisions, decisions... Thanks again, all! bestest, M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roymattblack Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 A beautiful build of one of the worlds most beautiful cars. Love the colour. Roy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lethal Posted November 18, 2014 Share Posted November 18, 2014 Fantastic build of this awesome Jag. Bravo sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gobs of Espresso Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 From this view, the car looks like the real deal as if one was looking down a balcony over this car. Even the reflection plays along. I can't get over the finish of this build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 Oh yeah...proper piece of kit this...and a great model Matthew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F1 Insider Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 From this view, the car looks like the real deal as if one was looking down a balcony over this car. Even the reflection plays along. I can't get over the finish of this build. I never knew the wing mirrors were asymmetric... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vinnie the panda Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 I never knew the wing mirrors were asymmetric... They were on production cars but you often see them in the same position these days, personal choice or maybe repaired cars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted November 20, 2014 Author Share Posted November 20, 2014 (edited) Thanks again for the kind words, gentlemen. I wanted to do the asymmetric mirrors because it's a "quirk" that really adds character, and as we just proved, it's also a talking point. I did a lot of Google image searching during this build, and there's no real life "balcony shot" that I can find. There are plenty of low angle shots, but because there both left and right hand drive cars out there, the mirror you can see can be in either position, and the steeply swept windscreen means that 99% of the time you can't see which side the steering wheel is on in the photo. I eventually put the arrangement together from three separate pictures... One other thing I learned: if you look around the edges of the clear sunroof, you can see the reflection reveals that the tint film has separated slightly from the surface. The film is the real thing -- I got enough for years of pimped 1/24 rides by ordering some samples online. It obviously needs to go on a completely smooth surface -- the thickness of one layer of Tamiya spray paint is enough to cause the separation you can see in the picture. Next time, the tint goes on first, followed by the black framing... Bestest, M. Edited November 20, 2014 by cmatthewbacon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike100 Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Tbh I'm not a fan of the 220 at all but I gotta say I do like this one , great work and a lovely paint finish top job . Mike . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuck Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Beautiful !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 Very nice build of my dream car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted December 2, 2014 Share Posted December 2, 2014 cmatthewbacon, EXQUISITE !❤️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmatthewbacon Posted March 16, 2015 Author Share Posted March 16, 2015 Belated thanks, guys, and I couldn't resist adding some new pictures: ..that last one is a bit quirky, I know, but I really like the composition, somehow... bestest, M. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A5h Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Thats a really nice build, looks great. I ust received this kit from Ebay, £11 including postage was too good to miss, anyway will be building it someday and I hope its half as good as yours. Superb job you did on it, well done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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