Jaguar XJ-S

[Alan R]

Hi All,

 

This is the second in  my "Promise Made, promises fulfilled" project.

I had this model over 30 years ago when it was first released. When I saw that Hasegawa had re-released it, I knew that I just had to get it.

My memories of the first time was that it was a rather good model, with crisply moulded parts, and reasonably easy to build.

My biggest mistake was to use automotive cellulose paints to paint it. The end result looked very good for about 6 months... Then it started to crack, and look rather shoddy.

 

I removed the body from the floor pan, stripped the cellulose paint, can't remember with what, re-primed and sprayed it with enamels. However, that cellulose had attacked the plastic rather badly, even though I had primed it first.

I could never get a good finish on it after that.

Still, paints have moved on. I tend to use Zero paints these days and with care, they are much kinder to polystyrene.

 

So, here we are so far:

The obligatory box top.

This kit comes with a finely detailed engine. Here are the first stages of the build.

That's just eight parts to get to this stage, The fit is superb. I painted the block and cylinder heads with Tamiya XF-16, and the cam-covers with my own satin black concoction (One part Tamiya X-1, Two parts Tamiya XF-1 + three parts Mr Color levelling thinner).

This seems to make a satin black that is easy to paint and with a finish not as glossy as X-18. I mix up about 25 mL and store in a glass bottle. This gives me enough to spray, if I need to, and it will brush paint well as well.

 

One thig that I though looked a bit naff about the kit was the front disc brakes. For some reason, Hasegawa had moulded them on the 'chrome' tree. Some parts look right in high chrome, like the bumpers, and headlamps/tail lamps. But the front discs and callipers? I think not. This is what they looked like:

A touch garish, I think. So out came the tub of caustic soda solution I keep in the garage, and I popped the offending items in it for about 50 minutes, and the result was:

Completely stripped. They do seem to be coated in some kind of high-gloss varnish which the caustic soda won't touch, but the removal of the "chrome" seems to reveal more of the moulded detail.

So, a quick priming with my 'grey primer' concoction followed by the right kind of colours, will make them more realistic, I think...

That was where I stopped taking pictures, as I was making such good progress on the model. Anyway, this where I have got by early this morning...

 

 

The sharper-eyed of you may have noticed that one of the air filter chambers is not yet fitted. That's because I forgot to cut it from the sprue and fix it on.

For small parts, I tend to prime and paint them on the sprue then tidy them up on removal before attaching them to the assembly.

This is nearly done. I'll show the images soon.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers, Alan.

 

Edited April 22, 2019 by Alan R
Spelling errors I can't cope with

[Hamden]

 

Nice start Alan, I  built the TWR racing version of this kit when it first appeared, don't remember any problems but age is very good at distorting ones memory!

Will take a seat a follow along if you don't mind?

 

   Roger

[JeroenS]

You're keeping yourself busy with all these projects Alan, nice work. 

[Alan R]

Hi Roger,

 

Please do tag along.

 

I have set myself quite the task here.

I have on the go at the moment:

Fujimi Ferrari Dino 246

Revell Routemaster bus

Hasegawa XJ-S

Tamiya Jaguar XJR-9

Tamiya Ford GT

Tamiya Jeep Grand Cherokee

 

So I think I may have set yself up for a major prat-fall...

 

Cheers, Alan.

Edited April 21, 2019 by Alan R

[Alan R]

Hi Jeroen,

I like to be busy.

 

Hope you enjoy the show...

 

Cheers, Alan.

[Cooper645]

Good luck with all your builds Alan, I will be checking in to see how they’re all progressing. 

[Schwarz-Brot]

Since this is one of my dreamcars I'll probably be able to own as a 1:1 I got me the very same kit. I'll follow closely, if I may.

[Spiny]

I'm another one that will be following along with a somewhat selfish interest as I also have this kit in the stash and also have a soft spot for the XJ-S. Good to see that you appear to be confirming my first impressions that this appears a nice kit. The worst thing I've noticed on it (having only looked at the sprues yet) are sink marks on the scuttle and on the boot which suggest to me that this is the same mould as the TWR racer.

[Alan R]

15 hours ago, Spiny said:

are sink marks on the scuttle and on the boot which suggest to me that this is the same mould as the TWR racer

Hi Spiny,

 

I'll keep an eye out for those. Not looked at the body in any detail yet.

 

Hi Schwarz-Brot,

Welcome on board!

 

Cheers, Alan.

Edited April 23, 2019 by Alan R

[ElectricLightAndy]

Will be watching this gleefully, I was so glad they re-released this kit, I have one in the stash (also 1/16 Bandai and 1/43 heller) and will be replicating my own arctic blue 88 3.6 with this and the Bandai eventually... I will... honest, there's just never enough time when the real one requires so much polishing... and driving... and a little more driving

 

Keep posting!

Andy.

[Alan R]

Hi All,

Just a brief update on this. I have finally completed the engine. It's a little gem, a model kit in itself.

So, only two pictures:

I made a visual comparison with the V-12 in the Tamiya XJR-9, and they are very similar. From that. I assume that they are accurate representations... (or they could both be very wong it the same way!)

 

The floor pan is primed, but before I can install the engine, I need to put the colour coat on...

 

More soon,

 

Cheers, Alan.

 

[Alan R]

Hello all,

 

A small update on this one.

Here is the floor pan primed.

I have decided to paint the body Gun-Metal, I am going to use Gunze Mr Color paint for this. Hasegawa suggests this colour as one of the body colour options.

I have primed the body and valances semi-gloss black.

They look a bid red here, but I have further painted it, to make the coverage better.

 

And, I have painted the front seats:

They look a bit "matt", but they don't look as bad in reality.

 

More to come,

 

Thanks for looking,

 

Cheers,

Alan.

 

[Spiny]

23 hours ago, Alan R said:

And, I have painted the front seats:

They look a bit "matt", but they don't look as bad in reality.

 

But on the bright side, in this photo they could pass for velour...

Have to say that your Jag's body is looking a bit less sink-marky than mine, I could be envious of you or instead I'll just ask how much work went into that. Keep up the good work.

 

[Alan R]

Hi Spiny,

Apart from some mould lines (vary light, actually), there were few if any sink marks.

I must have just been licky.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[Spiny]

8 hours ago, Alan R said:

Hi Spiny,

Apart from some mould lines (vary light, actually), there were few if any sink marks.

I must have just been licky.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

Hmmm, licking a model to get rid of sink marks isn't a technique I've tried before. Although that said, I think licking a model without permission is probably the sort of thing which could land you in jail

 

[Alan R]

Hi All,

Another update on the XJ-S.

I have built up the front suspension and steering:

I was a bit worried that it all looked a bit fragile and I was sure that I would break the steering rack trying to push the ends on to the axles.

In the end, it all just popped together without drama.

Here are some of the bits that make up the underside (No suspension here though)

All the suspension bits.

 

I had decided to paint the car a gun-metally colour, so I needed to spray the front wings on the floor pan body colour. I used Mr Color 'Burnt Iron' (60) thinned with Mr Levelling Thinners. This is the result:

A very smooth finish.

Front suspension installed.

Exhaust system installed. This just clicked into place.

Rear suspension installed. Not without issues!

I followed the instructions that have you install the springs onto the rear suspension arms, then attach the combined assembly to the frames.

It was a right bugger, getting the springs to match up with the holes and lock the swing arms into the locating points on the frames.

If I were to build another one, I would put the springs into the floor-pan and then put the swing arms in  and then attach the springs to the swing arms. Never mind, I got there in the end.

The whole shebang together.

 

More to come soon.

Next is the cabin.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers.,

Alan.

[Spiny]

23 hours ago, Alan R said:

I followed the instructions that have you install the springs onto the rear suspension arms, then attach the combined assembly to the frames.

It was a right bugger, getting the springs to match up with the holes and lock the swing arms into the locating points on the frames.

If I were to build another one, I would put the springs into the floor-pan and then put the swing arms in  and then attach the springs to the swing arms. Never mind, I got there in the end.

 

 

I know it's a bit late now, but this was probably the trickiest bit I've found too. As you say, the instructions to assemble the rear suspension assembly before fitting to the chassis is a bit nonsensical as very difficult to get all the angles right without the chassis as reference. What I did was put the swing arms in first, then with a very fine pair of tweezers I was able to fit the spring pin into the chassis first then hook the other end over the pin on the swing arm. Fiddly, but no chance of getting the angles wrong.

 

The build is coming along nicely too. There's always something interesting about seeing what someone else makes of a kit I've built/am building and it's always good to see how someone else's vision for the same thing comes together.

[Alan R]

Hi All,

Just a minor update on this one.

I started prepping the interior parts, but before that, here is a picture of where the floor-pan has got to. Not much different from before, but the sharper eyed of you may notice I have put the exhaust tips on. One is a bit wonky, but I hope that it won't show when the body in on...

I have prepped the interior by sticking on the panels to wooden craft sticks ready for primer.

These have all been primed with Zero Paints Grey Primer, thinned with Mr. Color Levelling thinners.

I think that I thinned it too much, as it gave a superb smooth finish, but failed to fill the recesses.

So, later I 'un-thinned' the primer (I added more primer to the mix) and gave a quick mist coat. That solved the problem after a couple of coats.

I think that the ideal ratio is 50:50, I suspect is was more like 30:70 paint/thinners.

I'll post up the primered picture later.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[Alan R]

Hi All,

Just a minor update.

All the interior parts primed.

 

More to come...

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[galaxyg]

I must've missed this thread along the way, but it's looking good so far, nice engine. I'll be following along.

[Alan R]

12 minutes ago, galaxyg said:

I must've missed this thread along the way, but it's looking good so far, nice engine. I'll be following along.

Thanks. It's a nice kit with only a few gotchas...

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[Alan R]

Morning all,

 

Another update.

 

Earlier, I mentioned that the seats looked a bit to "matt", well:

 

Now I think that they are a little too glossy. However, I am not going to fuss too much about that. Once it's all buttoned up, I don't think that it'll show too much.
 

 

This is the fire-wall. It looks a lot blotchy. I think that the plastic has reacted rather badly with the Zero paints stuff. I can live with it, especially when I have 'weathered' it a bit...

 

I painted the body parts with Mr Color 'Burnt Iron'. It looks a bit like Tamiya Metallic Grey.

 

 

 

 

 

I had previously sprayed the body-shell with satin-black (A Tamiya based home-brew cocktail) before spaying the metallic grey. I think it came out really well.

As can be seen on the last picture, there was a minor imperfection, that I sanded out and re-coated with the metallic grey (No picture, I'm afraid)

 

I am going to use bare metal foil for the chrome-work, but I think Ill gloss coat it first.

 

More soon, I hope.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

[desert falcon]

Nice work so far, will be following the rest of your build with interest 👍 

[Spiny]

I remember that imperfection well, although it was very noticeable on mine - I think it was from a plug for one of the race car holes. And that grey is very close to the 'blocking' colour I used to stop the red coming through so I think you should be safe on that.

 

In terms of the 'shiny' seats, if they are too shiny you could always say it's a high mileage example Looking at mine, the interior is more noticeable than you'd think on this, but I think with you going with black it will stand out less than my cream so you should be ok.

 

Good to see you making more progress on this, it looks to be coming together nicely.

[Alan R]

14 hours ago, Spiny said:

Good to see you making more progress on this

Hi Spiny,

As soon as the kitchen is fitted, I will make a push to finish this, the XJR-9 and the CLK-GTR.

Then it's on to the Razor Crest! A bit different for me, the only space/sci-fi stuff I did was way back in the 60s & 70s. Airfix LEM, Airfix 2001 Orion and Airfix Saturn V Apollo Rocket.

 

Cheers,

Alan.