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Jaguar XJR-9


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Hi All,

 

While I have this burst of energy, I thought I would try to complete as many as I could...

 

Another one that I have resurrected from the pile-of-doom. 

This Is the original Tamiya XJR-9. I have has this one for a very long time.

 

the box top:

y4mQdC9qkE0PuLTgRaFqujB8gaq_xzKlJPMwg2mh

 

The engine:

y4meuUQy4c2MvvjbKOzHWORvBH051CDGfFHI3M87

y4m39_S4cbWlkjuCfzM9z7gLqeXZ7WJdzZUtxlQq

y4mkvTvRQBNr1iVez6G7aMCF1ESjlvS-BlkLv5Qj

y4mgHCDRIVrYvcfHn-QULjXXCTdjLo6LSWvnVLrg

 

And the rear suspension, primed:

y4mjRufOBS9-CZo79mLjCi2vyhHXhPwOE2cKA91m

 

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Now there’s “being busy” and Alan’s version of “being busy”, is this an attempt to take-over the forum Alan? Joking aside, nice work once again, I struggle with two builds underway, so good luck!!

Regards Ian

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Hi Ian,

 

Not trying to take the forum over, just had a very busy day getting things started. It'll be back to usual after Monday.

 

Cheers, Alan.

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Hi All,

 

Just a minor update. The stacks in the Tamiya XJR-9 are turned shiny aluminium. I thought that I would 'bling' them up a bit. So, out came the Molotow chrome pen, and this is the result:

y4mkU9QqTV6c803rZIXU4anLFkKzP24mwbdhgvjU

 

I think it's come up well.

More updates tomorrow.

 

Thanks for looking, Alan.

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Looking good so far (as are the other projects, but I'll not post the same thing on each job). I like the idea of taking the stalled projects and bringing them back to life - just don't envy you taking on so many at once!

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi All,

A belated update on this one. There are a whole load of others to update as well, but I'll get to them.

The biggest hurdle I always face is the spraying of the other (usually larger)  parts. The engine is usually a breeze. This is main reason that a lot of my projects stall...

One of the main problems is making time to set up the kit in the garage. Sometimes, it's the weather - Too Cold!!!, sometimes it's the fact that the conservatory has to be used for other activities, and the fumes become a problem. Still, on the whole, we manage.

However, progress has been made:

I primed the floor pan, the sprayed it in Zero Paints Semi-Gloss Black, thus:

y4mE_d70rBATRxrVYwYqfM78HSIWZF2AT8USz6XP

Doesn't look too bad, does it. The paint comes up in a very nice satin sheen. However, when I looked a bit more closely, I noticed a number of dust particles embedded

in the paint. No problem, I thought, I'll carefully rub it back with fine wet n dry, the polish it up again. Unfortunately, rubbing down the dust spots just made the primer come visible in little dust spot shapes!

Then I decided that I needed to fit the lower wishbones at the back to make sure that they fitted flush with the floor pan. They did, but not perfectly. So, I sanded it down, thus:

y4mLtrE59rzMQV_APqJlEGUJdWxTE0LFWeg5WZtt

Here's a closer look:

y4mp-R6_Ud3zAMVEDla43N9IT91nkwucojEyVsVl

You can also see the grey bits where the dust-bunnies had been removed.

This now needs another prime prior to coating with the black again...

 

I have also made progress on the engine/rear suspension sub-assembly.

y4m5LbO9qXSP8azWq-yomnyHoUNLLW-cAKBfDkFr

y4mQ-yKLu68bNF5qNBySK3LpxWJ3tNuMrTt6ecQ3

y4mIj9vPV-RrYZb87kdiU5hlI9w3if-7QnUn5J2M

y4mfYQiuMkiSTmmAnddRNAbLnk_YTwzISaSxqlZW

You do have to be very careful with the rear-suspension. It is very easy to break off the springs .. How do I know that ….

After re-attaching the spring, very carefully, I was able to build up the rear suspension sub-assembly and attach it to the transmission.

This is a very tight fit, due to Tamiya precision, but manageable with care.

I also managed to get the rear-bulk-head painted, but not fully assembled:

y4m__-69kXY8WmbyI-rVVDewRQrOHARZNet8e-CX

 

Well, that's all for this post, more soon...

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

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  • 1 year later...

Hi All,

It's been a year (more!) since I updated this topic and I have managed quite a bit.

Some of these are from March, during the early stages of the lock-down.

I managed to get the floor assembled a bit further. The rear bulkhead installed, etc.

y4mLC0sxikPI6kpraq1nekPwTPy1v4rMR4M6H3wB

The silver bits are supposed to be reflective (aluminium?) heat shielding. Next time, I might use aluminium foil. I have quite a bit of this stuff lurking about. Sad that chocolate bars are no longer wrapped in aluminium foil... :( 

The two smaller ones at the back were hand painted and the larger areas sprayed. I noticed that the silver was a bit mottled. I wasn't sure why. The paint in the pot (Tamiya X-11), looked OK, just a bit thick. I thinned it with Tamiya Thinners, and gave it a good mix. Still a problem. Eventually, I decided that the pigment had clumped up, no amount of bottle shaking was going to work. So I resorted to my trusty 'paint-blitzer', my old como-drills drill and a bit of bent brass rod. I wizzes the paint with that for a few seconds and it made all the difference. All the clumps seemed to have disappeared and the paint laid down evenly. Success.

The two smaller silver heat-shields were, as I said before hand painted and a bit of a mess. I eventually touched up around them with semi-gloss black.

The black strip is the dash-board. There's a lot of work to be done on that yet.

I also installed the cockpit. It's not so visible here, however:

y4m17uVZvElDQlJr4qfwRdv7szxLxWt-gxX9KxYp

The seat belts were moulded into the seat bucket, but I carefully ground them out (Note to self, must order those dental burrs for my Dremel).

The seat belts are blue painted paper, and the buckles from a non-specific car seat-belt buckles photo-etch set. Not quite correct, but good enough when it's all closed up, I think.

I have also sprayed the wheels their final colour. It was my Satin-black home-brew of Tamiya X-1 & XF-1 (About 3 parts XF-1 to 1 part X-1), thinned with Mr. Color Levelling thinners (Love that stuff for this kind of work. Makes spraying of Tamiya acrylics so easy!)

y4mKG0G3-Q7iOyv54TNKGEqYw6GzVb29I6Zu3rYL

Here are the wheels with the tyres installed:

y4mNkykXFw2cjBefGjAO7i-WBqu3K1EfaWSUqp3Y

I removed the seam line from the tyres using a relatively coarse sanding stick until the tyres looked a bit 'used'.

The two black blobs are the radiators, also in satin black.

y4mqpyCHcQ5SNGnjdLqwGXAFX7Cfknp0PHiirVE7

Here is the engine and transmission installed. You can see how 'tatty' the exhaust heat-shields look. The two connecting rods that are part of the chassis were a bit of a bugger to fit, requiring tweezers.

However, there it is.

The front of the chassis, with the front 'spoiler' painted green with a lilac block:

y4mTZXQVQjQQ5di4Mir7nbPINdQMONHdSqtGYAZV

The lilac bit is using Tamiya TS-37 (Lavender), specially formulated, I think for the XJR-9.

You can see that I also have installed the front radiator. I'm amazed that these radiators work, lying at such an acute angle!

Here are the front brakes:

y4mCERAe5D2JzFIOzQTaD5asA2tk2gNRoYsYWDDC

 

Again, I am doing this in instalments, as these pictures were taken back in March, and more progress was made.

 

Thanks for looking.

Cheers,

Alan.

 

Edited by Alan R
Missed a bit!
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Hi All,

Another update.

This took place a few days later than the last update.

Here, I have installed the front suspension. I am always nervous about connecting the steering rack as I am afraid that just a little too much force and either the rack breaks or the suspension arm breaks. So far, so good. And in this case no problems, just the usual 'click' as the thingy pops over the pin:

y4mRtG2BtEJCy_ealf0GAJnV-3Z2pGuQGNTPg0cy

This is where the chassis starts getting a bit heavy and delicate at the same time. Too many protrusions to be knocked off … 

The exhaust system, primed and painted in Citadel 'Abaddon black':

y4mw7E9xa7v2xxotNqVe30TICnZU_vYVlW9vYetC

 

The instructions call out the colours for this a equal mixture of X10 (Gunmetal) and X-12 (Gold). I duly mixed them up and painted the 'sausts that colour:

y4mXzc8UfpAyKVBm526X7hDuQew39kO-LxhWLqr5

Hmm, I'm not sure. It's a bit too glossy for me. Needs toning down.

It also looks a bit dusty here, but I think the camera is exaggerating the effect. (My excuse and I'm sticking to it!)

 

More soon.

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

Edited by Alan R
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Nice choice of kit, I remember when these came out, I had the Sauber Mercedes C9, it would have been nice to have the Jaguar as a companion for it.

 

I'm sure I've got some photos of the Jaguar Heritage Trust's XJR9 with some panels off when I saw it in the workshop, no promises but if I can find them, would you want to see them?

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Hi All,

 

A final update for the moment.

The wheels are on!

We got here wit not a little drama though.

In my previous session, I had put the exhausts on, but this was a complete pain.

It's quite a complex set-up the exhausts for this car, made up of four parts, with two parts being quite fragile.

 

y4mw7E9xa7v2xxotNqVe30TICnZU_vYVlW9vYetC

The sequence is this:

  1.  You put the two rear headers in first (The ones in the middle)
  2.  Once they are installed and sturdy enough, you put the front headers in. They are supposed to rest on the plate on the rear headers.
  3. Finally, when all the other parts are sturdy, you put the final exhaust pipes on (The parts on the left)

Well, if you wait between each of these steps for about 3 or 4 hours, it would be OK. I was impatient that night. I had already had a disaster on the BMW 750 and needed to do something that would work. So I thought "Ah, Tamiya XJR-9. What could possibly go wrong. It's Tamiya, isn't it?". Yes it is Tamiya, but you still need to take your time.

The rear-headers went on well enough, but the I tried the front headers. Oh dear!

First, the front headers were a bit of a fiddle to get in. If I hadn't been in the foul mood that I was, I would have taken my time and carefully ploughed on. I lost my rag (again!) and tried to force them in. The pipes went in, the engine came adrift (OK if completely fell out :(.) I then needed to re-fix the engine and those truss-rods! I should have left it there and come back later...

Eventually, I managed to get the engine in and the pipes located. Now for the last stage, the rear exhaust pipes. These fit on the platform and clip around the support for the rear wing. As I was doing that, they split apart!

Some glue later and a considerable amount of sweating, swearing and huffing, I got them to stay put.

Phew.

I left it at that point and went to bed.

 

The next day, I decided to fill the gaps on the manifold 'junction'. I used my dwindling 'Mr. White putty and filled the gaps and left it.

The next day, (See I learnt from my hurry...) I sanded the putty, but the gaps didn't really disappear. At this point I decided to leave as-is. But I DID address the pipe colour.

This time I mixed X-12 and Citadel Bolt Gunmetal in equal proportions. Bold Gunmetal is a matt finish and when mixed with the gold gave a more realistic metallic finish.

So, after all that rabling, this is where we are:

y4m_cffpeqIwC1xy5QQeJ9h2WcSlxOF3s8YWIDLW

 

Not too bad, and the pipes are acceptable (almost!)

I have installed the air-box and stacks, which after all the other trials and tribulations went on easily!

The air box was primed, sprayed satin black, then sprayed silver (X-11). Came u up OK, I think.

 

The 'bolts' for the wheels are aluminium pins that you paint clear red on one side and clear blue on the other. They come up with that 'anodised' appearance.

 

Now, on to the body. It's already sprayed white, I need to paint the lavender stripe along the bottom and around the head-lamps. Not looking forward to the masking for that.

 

More to come soon (I hope!).

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

 

PS. I think I will have another go at that gap on the manifold!

 

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11 minutes ago, johnlambert said:

I'm sure I've got some photos of the Jaguar Heritage Trust's XJR9 with some panels off when I saw it in the workshop, no promises but if I can find them, would you want to see them?

Hi John,

 

That would be great. Any research is always helpful.

 

Thanks,

Alan.

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Hi Spiny,

 

Seat-belts are a bit of a nightmare!

 

Loved your Countach by the way. I have the Fujimi Enthusiast Series 5000QV to build. Way too many parts and operating doors to boot.

 

Cheers,

Alan.

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Nice to see this one making progress Alan, sorry to hear you had problems with the exhausts but you have overcome them superbly!

Looking forward to more progress on this

 

       Stay safe          Roger

    

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Hi Roger,

Thanks for the encouragement!

I am hoping to get on to the 'lilac' stripes on the body. A masking nightmare!

 

Cheers,

Alan.

On 6/10/2020 at 9:25 PM, johnlambert said:

Sorry it's not the greatest photo, if I find any more I'll let you know.

Hi John,

Thanks for the picture. One more for my arsenal of data for this fellah...

 

Cheers,

Alan.

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Hi , Alan . Are these any good to you ? Taken at Bicester Scramble last June . Don’t know what model it is , but thats an impressive engine . They even fired it up . 
  Gary . 

50006161462_ae0432a52c_c_d.jpg
50005903111_87ae0aa38d_c_d.jpg

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3 hours ago, Windy37 said:

Hi , Alan . Are these any good to you ? Taken at Bicester Scramble last June . Don’t know what model it is , but thats an impressive engine . They even fired it up . 
  Gary . 

50006161462_ae0432a52c_c_d.jpg
50005903111_87ae0aa38d_c_d.jpg

XJR-12 with non-standard wheels.

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It's worth noting that many race cars now run on non-standard wheels/rubber. J12-C-488 (the '88 LM winner) ran in period with black Dymag wheels and Dunlop Denloc tyres, still wearing the correct wheels at Goodwood FoS in 1999:

 

13 488 (23)

 

More recently it has been wearing Speedline/BBS-type wheels and non-Dunlop tyres (can't recall exact year of the appearance below):

 

13 488 (8)

 

I also have seen J12-C-190 (the No.4 LM'90 car) painted as J12-C-1090 (the winning car), but with Martin Brundle's name on the door instead of Eliseo Salazar's.

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