CliffB Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 Hi all, my entry will be a 1/32 scale 1952 Jaguar XK120, using an "Autocraft" kit from 1954. The kit was produced by a company called SMEC (which stood for Scale Model Equipment Company), who were based in Steyning in Sussex. It's a multi-media kit, using a mix of plastic, metal and card pieces. The one piece body shell is beautifully moulded in Old English White coloured plastic, which was intended not to require any painting. The floor pan and seating are diecast metal. There's then a bag of mixed bits made from various materials. My secondhand example is missing a few small pieces (for example the steering column), but hopefully nothing that can't be easily replaced. It also, unfortunately, lacks any of its original packaging. This has been sitting in my stash for a while now, so it's great to have an excuse to build it . Cheers 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted May 29, 2022 Share Posted May 29, 2022 Great stuff Cliff, Where do yo find these unusual offering's? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted May 29, 2022 Author Share Posted May 29, 2022 35 minutes ago, stevej60 said: Great stuff Cliff, Where do yo find these unusual offering's? Thanks Steve. Unfortunately, I spend far too much time trawling the pages of eBay Cheers 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted May 30, 2022 Share Posted May 30, 2022 9 hours ago, CliffB said: Thanks Steve. Unfortunately, I spend far too much time trawling the pages of eBay Cheers Guilty of that Cliff! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted June 11, 2022 Share Posted June 11, 2022 Looks an interesting build, a few bits missing, that sounds like Evil-bay, I once bought Mrs H a T-pot which came with no lid. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted June 11, 2022 Author Share Posted June 11, 2022 8 hours ago, Hockeyboy76 said: I once bought Mrs H a T-pot which came with no lid. Probably better than having no spout though. Look on the bright side 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted July 1, 2022 Share Posted July 1, 2022 How are you getting on with this? Any progress to report or share with us? 1 month has gone already! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted July 1, 2022 Author Share Posted July 1, 2022 2 hours ago, Black Knight said: How are you getting on with this? Unfortunately there's a bit of a traffic jam at the moment, due to a stalled Evo VII. Fingers crossed that we'll get moving again shortly 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted July 15, 2022 Author Share Posted July 15, 2022 I've finally made a start on this one . The first job was to buff up the two major metal components and to glue them together. The seat/transmission tunnel piece still has some surface roughness, so it may need a few shots of Mr. Surfacer. I then had a go at the wheels and axles. There's no location marks for the axles, so it's a case of drilling some holes by eye. I think/hope that I've got them in roughly the right place. With everything clipped together, the car starts to look quite smart As I think I mentioned earlier, the bodywork is moulded in a very hard plastic which carries a nice, deep shine (a bit like a snooker ball). I believe it was intended that the body be used un-painted. I've decided to go down this route, mainly out of respect for the kit's heritage. The one piece bodyshell carried a few fine mould lines, but I was able to polish these out easily enough. The only other issue is a couple of slight shrinkage marks on top of the bonnet, which obviously I won't be able to fill if I leave the body unpainted. You really have to hunt for them though (to see them), so no real problem as far as I'm concerned. To demonstrate my model's 1952 credentials, it'll be based on this real life example. Cheers 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted July 17, 2022 Author Share Posted July 17, 2022 OK, there's been a slight change of plan! One of my tasks was to drill holes in the body, in order to accept the machined-metal headlights. The first one went OK, but during the second one I pressed too hard, the bit snagged the brittle plastic and there was a loud snap 😱. The damage is repaired now, but there's no way that I can still use the body unpainted. On a more positive note, I'm now free to choose any colour I want and I've selected this rather nice BRG example. Every cloud..... Cheers 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arfa1983 Posted July 17, 2022 Share Posted July 17, 2022 Nice save 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted July 18, 2022 Share Posted July 18, 2022 Great save and excellent choice on the colors, cant get more classic than BRG with a Camel tan interior. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Knight Posted July 20, 2022 Share Posted July 20, 2022 May I suggest you go over the bodyshell with a real car painter's prep pad? They are like pot scrubbers but better. I have several new ones plus some worn parts of pads. They are excellent for preparing the surface for taking paint and also for smoothing down in between coats of paint 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted July 29, 2022 Author Share Posted July 29, 2022 I'm pleased to say that this one has now come to the top of my build pile. My first job, since last time, was to fill in the rear wheel arches. As supplied, there is a gap at the front of these which gives highly visible 'see through' past the seat squab. Easily fixed though, with some plastic card. I've also had a go at fitting the tyres. With age, their rubber had become very hard and getting them on to the wheel rims took real effort (plus the use of two small screwdrivers as tyre levers). Thankfully, they didn't split. Now they're on, I'm not taking them off again, so painting the wheels will now be a little trickier! With the tyres on, I was able to better check the positions of the axle holes that I'd previously drilled. As a result, I made a few adjustments with a needle file to get the wheels sitting nicely in their arches. I also filed a couple of mm off the axles, as they looked too long to me. I fleetingly gave some thought to replacing the spoked wheels with aftermarket ones, but decided against this. I did however 'borrow' a windscreen frame from an Aurora XK-120 kit, which with a little fettling should fit OK. The Autocraft kit would have you cut the windscreen from acetate sheet (a template is provided), and then paint the frame on to it. The template allows for a couple of tabs at the base of the screen, which then fit into the slots that you can see on the top of the body (now filled). Cheers 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted August 3, 2022 Author Share Posted August 3, 2022 Still moving forward... I've now painted the interior and the wheels. The dashboard is provided as a printed piece of card, which I scanned and reproduced as a decal. I've also added the few pieces of injection moulded plastic (the black bits). The front bumper needed four more holes to be drilled in the body - thankfully without drama this time! I've recently read that the body was made from a material called Diakon, which is an acrylic plastic. This may explain its brittle nature. Cheers 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 3, 2022 Share Posted August 3, 2022 Is Diakon anything like Bakelite ? If so I have an idea as to what your going through. Did some work on an old Firearm that had a bakelite fore-grip stock. That was very crumb-lie at about 90 years old and tested my nerves a bit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted August 4, 2022 Author Share Posted August 4, 2022 10 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said: Is Diakon anything like Bakelite I think the two are chemically different Dennis, but it sounds like your ancient Bakelite was particularly challenging. It hope it all turned out well 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 4 hours ago, CliffB said: I think the two are chemically different Dennis, but it sounds like your ancient Bakelite was particularly challenging. It hope it all turned out well It did but wasn't particularly fun. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bandsaw Steve Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 Sooooooo cool…. Very pleased you have chosen BRG, this is going to look awesome! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PattheCat Posted August 4, 2022 Share Posted August 4, 2022 A kit produced 10 years before I was born and sooooo nice! Thanks for giving us the opportunity to watch such. BRG is the one and only way to go for such a classy and classic car. Good choice. Well done so far. Cheers. Pat 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted August 6, 2022 Author Share Posted August 6, 2022 On 8/4/2022 at 10:47 AM, Bandsaw Steve said: Sooooooo cool…. On 8/4/2022 at 11:31 AM, PattheCat said: sooooo nice! Thanks both for your kind comments. You're absolutely right, it is a beautiful car! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted August 9, 2022 Author Share Posted August 9, 2022 Time for another update. Most significantly, I've added the windscreen surround. You'll recall that it's actually from an Aurora kit and as a result it had to be bent into place, supergluing as I went. Normally I'd add the screen after painting the body, but I needed a good plastic-to-plastic bond in this case. The frame is much heavier than on the original, but hopefully this only grates if you know your XK120s . As you can see, I've also added a column and centre boss to the kit's metal steering wheel, plus I've made up a couple number plates. On to the home straight now and time to start applying some BRG paint - Humbrol enamel of course! 🇬🇧 Cheers 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted September 7, 2022 Author Share Posted September 7, 2022 The painting's largely finished now, although I'm going to wait a few more days (and the paint is odour-free), before masking for the chrome-work and other details. It may be finished over the weekend 🤞🏼 Cheers 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheyJammedKenny! Posted September 8, 2022 Share Posted September 8, 2022 Awesome job. How did you achieve the nice leather fabric effect on the seats and cockpit coaming? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 4 hours ago, TheyJammedKenny! said: Awesome job. How did you achieve the nice leather fabric effect on the seats and cockpit coaming? Thank you. There's nothing clever about the leather, it's just a satin varnish top coat. Maybe the skilful moulding of the seats helps with the illusion too? Cheers 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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