Jaguar GR1

[Bodmin]

Well this Group Build is as a good an excuse as any to get started on my Jaguar that's been sat in my stash, neglected.

 

The box says GR3 but my understanding is that Airfix reboxed their GR1 with different decals and sold it as a GR3. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Picked it up off ebay at a reasonable price, and the vendor even included a resin ejector seat which was an added bonus. The decals will need replacing as they are: a) old and ....b ) unsuitable for the jet I plan to build. Which jet am I going to build? I don't know yet, but possibly one from 14 Squadron, RAF Bruggen mid seventies. It will depend on where I get the decal set from.

 

[mirageiv]

Great to have a Jag in this GB, nearly did one myself, look forward to it!

 

David

[Col.]

Great to see a second Jag in the GB and on the front line as well if you pick a Bruggen based one.

Good luck finding suitable decals. It looks as if the kit ones are out of register anyway.

[Bodmin]

Quick question. Did the Jag have the overwing mounted sidewinders in the 70s. Asked a guy who worked on them and he said they were just coming in late 70s. Cant see any pictures to support this. Any thoughts?

[RMP2]

Only after 1990 I think, certainly not used by the RAF in the 70s.

Chop the rails off the overwing pylons and sand the buggers to shape!

[Col.]

From what I can recall everyone thought the RAF Jags didn't have that capability until we seen pink ones in the Gulf.

[Bodmin]

1 minute ago, Col. said:

From what I can recall everyone thought the RAF Jags didn't have that capability until we seen pink ones in the Gulf.

Yeah. They are the only pictures I can seem to find with them fitted.

[Bodmin]

15 minutes ago, RMP2 said:

Only after 1990 I think, certainly not used by the RAF in the 70s.

Chop the rails off the overwing pylons and sand the buggers to shape!

Yeah i think thats the way forward.

[RMP2]

Pretty sure they werent even cleared for underwing use until the early 80s, shame really as they look great underneath.

[12jaguar]

There was a mod which we did on the Jags which introduced the capability to carry Sidewinders on the outer pylons when I was at Abingdon (1984-89). Latterly the overwing pylons were introduced under a Special Trial Fit (STF) 15/90 (which dates it) for Op Granby. This wasn't formally cover modded until the early 2000s IIRC

 

John

[Bodmin]

10 minutes ago, 12jaguar said:

There was a mod which we did on the Jags which introduced the capability to carry Sidewinders on the outer pylons when I was at Abingdon (1984-89). Latterly the overwing pylons were introduced under a Special Trial Fit (STF) 15/90 (which dates it) for Op Granby. This wasn't formally cover modded until the early 2000s IIRC

 

John

The most precise answer I could have hoped for. Thank you 😉

[RMP2]

Its all a bit odd really - The Jaguar International was always marketed with overwing pylons for AIM-9 or Magic missiles and the likes of the Oman Jags had them underwing quite early on. Mind you, the French Jags didnt see the overwing option either... Budgets? Role constraints? One would expect all the "wiring" to be there from production, so just whack em on n go! Well, sort of.

[12jaguar]

Historically MOD Procurement has been to contract for a cat, change the requirement to a dog and progressively modify it into a goat LOL

[RMP2]

On 05/02/2017 at 6:15 PM, Bodmin said:

The decals will need replacing as they are: a) old and ....b ) unsuitable for the jet I plan to build. Which jet am I going to build? I don't know yet, but possibly one from 14 Squadron, RAF Bruggen mid seventies. It will depend on where I get the decal set from.

 

Dont write off the kit decals completely - I found the large, No Step area decals went on really well, theyre nice and thin and not a lot wrong with them. Ive heard of people suffering silvering issues with the same decals from the likes of the Model Alliance sets. But granted, much of the rest of the kit sheet is a bit pants.

[Bodmin]

2 hours ago, RMP2 said:

 

Dont write off the kit decals completely......

Yeah. I'll certainly use most of the miscellaneous ones. They are old and withered like I said but nothing microsol wont sort out. The squadron markings I'll definately have to change for obvious reasons.

[Tim Moff]

handy ref here:

 

http://sepecat.info/b/decals/

 

Got one in the stash, so will be watching for top tips!

[Bodmin]

2 hours ago, Tim Moff said:

handy ref here:

 

http://sepecat.info/b/decals/

 

Got one in the stash, so will be watching for top tips!

Thanks Tim.

 

Don't hold your breath on much in the way of tips from me though. I tend to need more of them than I can offer

[RMP2]

15 minutes ago, Bodmin said:

Don't hold your breath on much in the way of tips from me though. I tend to need more of them than I can offer

 

Theres a useful build thread here with links to other, also helpful, builds, references etc -

But dont be afraid to ask - seems theres a lot of Jaguar knowledge on here. Oh, dont forget a bottle of Patience Lotion and perhaps some Valium for the build. Good luck!

[Bodmin]

Right, it's about time for an actual post of progress. I have been chipping away over the last few days so here's where I'm at.

 

Little filler needed for the fuselage join lines and the holes for the upper sidewinder railings.

 

Added minor detail to the nose undercarriage bay, nothing special. Engraved the panel lines for the resy of the undercarriage doors while I was at it.

 

That's all for the minute. I'll be honest though, does photobucket get any quicker if you pay for it because it rips my pc browser to bits and is really beginning to test my patience.

 

 

Edited February 14, 2017 by Bodmin

[RMP2]

Nice. It does like a bi of filler - those gun sections are a bit of a bugger to fill and smooth nicely, especially top side.

 

The "yellow" looks a little deep, is that just the photo or can it be toned down a bit?

 

Any thoughts on boomy stuff?

[Bodmin]

1 hour ago, RMP2 said:

Nice. It does like a bi of filler - those gun sections are a bit of a bugger to fill and smooth nicely, especially top side.

 

The "yellow" looks a little deep, is that just the photo or can it be toned down a bit?

 

Any thoughts on boomy stuff?

Yeah. Finding plenty of places for filler; had to pack the exhaust deflector to plug a massive gap.

 

Not sure about the yellow. Its Tamiya flat yellow with a very slight tint of olive green. I think the wash may have dirtied it to much and a re highlight may be in order.

Boomy stuff? I dunno yet. Any suggestions?

[RMP2]

Yup - filler sponge! Nice shape but not such an amazing kit next t the Kitty Hawk as some would have you believe. And thats a harsh statement!

 

Yellow wise I just think it needs paling off a bit if you can be bothered - not that much will really be seen at the end of the day, just didnt want to not say anything while you have the chance to change it.

 

Boom wise - youre looking at regular 1000lb iron bombs or BL755 cluster bombs really unless you fancy going nuclear with a single WE177 on the centreline with its adapter pylon.

[RMP2]

Oh, unless you go for 2 Squadron and stick the recce pod on it, thats how my KH build that got started over a year ago is going, but on a different serial numbered aircraft to anything the Airfix may offer. Have a look on google images, see what you find, but theres not that much in the way of options for Jags of that perios, dont think they even had the ECM or chaff/flare pods back then either - nice clean look!

 

Thats a point - youll want to fill those 4 holes at the back of the rear underside for the flare pods, they didnt have them back then for sure.

 

Oh and the rear most area of the air brake recess should be in grey I believe, close to a LAG I think - check photos in either the walk around section or google again. Such stuff is a bit inconsistent on Jags and a bit annoying for us lot too.

 

 

Edited February 14, 2017 by RMP2

[Bodmin]

Further progress this week, albeit only slight.

I decided that as I wasn't using any cockpit detail other than what came with the kits I could not justify wasting the resin seat. And besides, it wasn't the correct seat for a Jag anyway.

 

To that end I decided to have a dab at sprucing up the kit seat.

 

Added some milliput to cushion out the seat and back a little, and used some old tin tray cuts for the seatbelts.

 

It didn't look much after priming, but a little detail did show through.

Added a crude catapult to the rear and an ejection control handle. Overall, I don't think it turned out too bad. Rather better than I'd hoped.

[stever219]

On 14 February 2017 at 7:21 PM, Bodmin said:

Right, it's about time for an actual post of progress. I have been chipping away over the last few days so here's where I'm at.

 

Little filler needed for the fuselage join lines and the holes for the upper sidewinder railings.

 

 

You're going to need those holes for the wng fences: they were the production standard items and were adapted(?) for Sidewinder rails as discussed previously.  The parts for them ought to be on the sprues somewhere.