Italeri Jaguar GR.1 1/72

[Phil1503]

After completing my Airfix Spitfire and Me109, I browsed the shops and internet for some more kits of my favorite aircraft that I would like to build...here is my stash so far:

I have decided to have a go at the Jaguar next; I picked up the kit in Modelzone in the sale, priced at £9.99 reduced from £15. Bargain!

Such a classic aircraft; the kit offers two versions - one from Desert Storm in 1991. The other is in the standard Green/Grey camoflage of RAF 41st Squadron, based at Coltishall in the late 80's. The decals supplied are of XZ107, and I have found a couple of pics of her on the internet:

Thanks to Airteamimages.com

Thanks to Gerrit59 on Flickr

Anyway, here are the two main sprues:

And the instructions, decals and clear sprue:

I will make a proper start on the kit soon, however I am going away next week to the Peak District. I will visit the RAF Museum at Cosford on the way back, as well

Edited April 18, 2013 by Phil1503

[Val]

Shall be watching this with great interest

[SaintsPhil]

A nice little kit of a classic jet.

Watch the joint between the wings and fuselage it's not great. Also it's worth ignoring the instructions and joining the two halves of the nose section to their relevant rear halves before mating the left and right sides. This route avoids the step between the front and rear halves.

[Phil1503]

Ok, first step...built the cockpit section:

[Phil1503]

After a week away, and a busy week at work, I can get back to work on the Jag...

The cockpit section now painted:

And the cockpit joined with the two forward-fuselage halves:

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[Phil1503]

I have now joined the two main fuselage halves...the underside is a seperate piece, and is a bit fiddly to get into position. I removed a couple of tabs and used a bit of extra glue:

I will need to tidy that bit up later...

Edited May 5, 2013 by Phil1503

[phildagreek]

Looking good so far.

[Phil1503]

A bit more work on the Jag this evening; I have painted the interior of the engine air intakes and exhausts with humbrol 33 (black); the intakes had some flash on the inside surface, and the edges of the cowling. A bit of work with a craft knife and some wet&dry to tidy them up a bit:

I have also fixed the forward and rear fuselage parts together...not quite a perfect fit between the two; it will probably need a bit of filler. Starting to resemble an aeroplane now:

[Phil1503]

Steady progress on the Jag;

I have painted the interior of the engine intake cowling; humbrol 33 (black) for the bits deep inside, and the corresponding green/grey camoflage colours for the bits just inside the intake (masked with Tamiya tape, and painted with humbrol 164 and 163)

I have also fitted the nose cone, and the two cannon either side of the fuselage. Once dry, I applied small amounts of Humbrol filler to the join between the rear and forward fuselage (just behind the cockpit), and a bit by the left-hand cannon. I masked the areas with Tamiya tape to protect the surface detail next to the gaps:

[Val]

really taking shape nicely!

[JagRigger]

Intakes should be camo colour inside ( up to the back of the intake box anyway )

[Shalako]

Hi Phil,

I wish you had done something with the kit's ejection seat, in order (for me) to use it as a tutorial. You see, I have the double seat Jag waiting to be finished but, the seats are a bit disappointing.

Anyhow, you're progressing with your build really well.

By the way, the only major filling you'll need to do is on the airframe-wings joints. Other than that, I have found this kit to be an easy and enjoyable build.

Looking forward to see your Jag finished!!

Keep up the good work.

Cheers

Sernak

[Phil1503]

More progress on the Jaguar this evening:

I sanded down the areas where I applied the model filler yesterday; a bit of work with some fine-grade wet&dry paper:

And I also sanded and smoothed over the seam lines, and tidied up the underside:

After washing away the dust with some warm water, I started to fit the undercarriage doors. I am doing the model in flight mode, so the doors had to be glued in the closed positions. Not very easy, and will need more filler later. I wish the kit had a set of doors especially for the closed position if desired:

Similarly, the airbrakes need to be fixed in the closed position, and needed a lot of work with a file to fit flush with the fuselage. A touch more filler may be needed here too:

[Phil1503]

This eveining, I have fitted the rear undercarriage doors. These were also a bit fiddly, and needed a bit of filing to fit in the closed position. To hold them in place while glueing, I put a small blob of blu-tak in the wheel bay, and placed the door on top. Not as tidy as I would hope, but a bit of filler and sanding will sort them out:

I have also painted the engine exhausts; humbrol enamel 53 (gun metal) and 33 (black):

Edited May 10, 2013 by Phil1503

[Phil1503]

This afternoon's progress:

I have fitted the engine intakes; they needed a fair amount of sanding to make them nice and smooth with the rest of the fuselage. I have also painted a first coat of black on the forward part of the cockpit, and a second coat of gun metal on the engine exhausts:

[HOUSTON]

Sir,

That is EXEMPLARY work..

MOST IMPRESSIVE.

[Phil1503]

This evening, I have added some Humbrol filler to the undercarriage doors. They did not fit very well in the closed position, so quite a lot of filler is needed. I masked off the surrounding areas with Tamiya tape, to protect the surface detail:

[Phil1503]

This afternoon, I sanded the first bits of filler I applied to the undercarriage doors. Once cleaned up, I noticed a bit more filler was needed where I had missed a couple of spots. I added another dab of filler to these parts, then I set about filling the area around the airbrakes. Again, these looked too untidy when I glued them in the closed position. I also filled in a couple of spots at the rear (there was a small gap between the engine exhausts).

As before, I masked the areas next to the gaps with Tamiya tape to protect the surface detail:



I am applying the filler with a plastic glue-stick, like we used to use with PVA in school...It's not a rigid blade, so it makes it easier to swipe the filler and smear it into the gaps. I also appled a small amount to the top and bottom of the engine intakes (no matter how much I sanded, I still wasn't happy with the seam lines on these parts):

Lots more sanding to do tomorrow... :-)

Edited May 12, 2013 by Phil1503

[Phil1503]

Just finished sanding all of the second lot of filler around the airbrakes and undercarriage doors. It made plenty of dust, and my arm is a bit tired now! The underside is nice and smooth now though, much better than the gaps I had before:

[Phil1503]

With the fuselage finished for now, I have now been able to attach the wings. The part fitted superbly, joining perfectly with the fuselage. I also like the fact they are in one piece, with no upper and lower half, so no leading edge seam to worry about:






I have also fitted the cockpit Head-Up Display, a small clear part; and also the APU intake behind the cockpit:

[Phil1503]

A quick update...I have fittted the rear stabilisers this evening. Not very easy, as the parts just had a single locator pin, and a corresponding hole in the fuselage, with no slot to aid in positioning. It was a case of holding each one in place while the glue set, and trying to get the correct angle by eye:

[Phil1503]

More progress on the Jaguar this evening;

Firstly, I fitted the ventral fins on the underside of the fuselage, and two outlets unter the engines:



Once set, I could then fit the tailplane. There are two small fins to fit to each side of the stabiliser, fixed with a dab of glue:



And then the tail fixed to the fuselage without much fuss:



So, the build is coming together now...I also did a final touch-up of the paint of the cockpit, after fitting the head-up display a couple of days ago. I guess can fit the canopy next:

[sean]

I have this same kit in the stash. I'll be interested to see how this turns out, nice going so far,

Sean

[nimrod54]

Coming along nicely Phil. I used this kit as a base for my retirement scheme model and it turned out OK.

[DerbyJaguar]

I have a few of these in the stash, might have to get one out now and do the back of the box 'snow' scheme...