Monogram Jaguar XKE (kit 2907) 1:24

[drunken monkey]

First of all, I've checked the dimensions of this kit and it is not 1:24 despite what the box/instructions says.


It is closer to 1:25 and without having the actual kit to check against, I'm certain that it is a rebox of this.



Anyways.

Pretty straight forward build with a few small additions.
I fixed the eternal E-Type kit problem of body seam by cutting the sill area parts from the lower half of the chassis and fixing them onto the upper half.
This meant that I could carefully fit (force) the interior into the body then slide the bottom of the chassis into place.
Of course, I planned this without realising that the steering wheel gets in the way.
It worked out fine in the end...

Primed with Halfords Grey Plastic Primer undercoat, sanded then top coated with Tamiya Light Grey.
Paint is Hycote Double Acrylic Ford Purple Velvet Metallic
Cleared with Hycote Double Acrylic Clear


















Some shots of parts.

Quite nice engine block.
Chrome on cam covers is a little thick but other that that, this builds into a nice little thing.
Missing a few things like starter motor and no fuel delivery details on the carbs either that I scratched up from various diameter styrene rods.



The front chassis frame is very nice and surprisingly complete.
Once installed though, it isn't 100% which makes fitting additional detailing parts a little akward.



From left to right:
Fuel filter, brake booster assemble+vacuum bellows, vacuum chamber.



Frame with various bits added.
Washer bottle was carved out of a chunky bit of clear parts tree plastic with the original bottle lid sawn off the kit part and added.
I gave the reservior bottles a little sawing to make the bottle caps more noticable.



With engine fitted.
You can't really see it because it's mostly black on black but the brake booster-vacuum chamber has been plumbed in.
Didn't wire the brakes though because that is too much of a logistical nightmare in the very cramped space of the frame since at this point I had already fixed the engine on place




Independent rear suspension.
Very nicely done that with a little work, you can actually make into a fully working version.
I replaced the kit springs with my own little styrene+wire shocks because the kit parts are awful - not ever a realy spring coil detail.


In place.



A test fitting of engine+frame onto bodywork to check fitment.


What this doesn't tell you is that if you build according to the instructions, the front clamshell doesn't actually want to fit. When closed, the front clamshell will pull the engine+frame forward out of position by about 1mm.
Simply remedied by mounting the hinge parts on a bit of styrene but future builders beware.
Otherwise, this is a very nice kit to build and with a bit more planning could be turned into a very nicely detailed model but I'm saving that for the Heller kit that is 1:24.

[endac]

Looks really nice, great work

[360spider]

Real nice! One of my favorite Jags, and you sure did it justice. Beautiful paint, both application and color.

[BVC500]

Yes, great job and helpful build comments too!

[Porsnatic]

Excellent...Youdid a marvelous job on a kit I know is the best. I did the Aston Martin DB4 and I know how one suffer with this kits that are almost 40 years designed already.

[mattbacon]

That is a really most impressive job! Somehow the shape looks rather better in your pictures than in model pictures on the box art! Nice detailing work, though I can understand why you'd save your energies for the Heller kit. Good idea with carving off the sills as well... I'm going to have to do something similar. I'm slightly sad to hear that there's someone else out there on the hunt for a Heller coupe... I've been looking for months! If it's any help, I've confirmed that the same plastic is in the Airfix 1/24 E-Type Coupe box (in a lurid blue) and also in a Gunze Sangyo box (ie the GS coupe is NOT a derivative of their own convertible), so don't get suckered into buying a high-priced Gunze from Japan via eBay...

Still, SMW is just around the corner, with its Kit Swap and traders...

best regards,
Matt

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Very nice work, I don't think I've ever seen this kit built to this standard

I have the Heller "faux" race version, and trying to figure how to build that one in a similar "separate sills from chassis pan" fashion to get rid of the seams. I haven't figured it out. On the Gunze convertible, you can build the interior from outside, to the point you can even slide the instrument panel inside through the cowl area. It's just not going to be that easy w/the Heller. But it will be worth it...I think?

[quadzero]

What a beautiful car and great looking model. I like the colour and really appreciate the in progress shots.

[gionc]

Nice! Sure this wouldn't be my color choice, but seeing built I admit, it is quite interesting, great.

[drunken monkey]

Thanks guys.

I do actually like this kit a lot as everything is there for you to play with but there are a few issues that make it also very annoying to work with.
My biggest gripe was with the clear parts that are too thick and don't actually fit into place properly without work; work that I didn't know was neccessary until I was ready to put it all together.
My fault I suppose.

For those interested:


You can see where I cut the sill parts from the lower half of the body/chassis.
Along the bottom of the car are a series of ridges. I thought it best to hide the cut along the edge of one of these ridges. I also thought it looked better painted black too but not 100% sure if this is accurate. Then again, my painting of the suspension parts haven't been 100% accurate anyway because it would've ended up black on black again and more or less invisible.

Originally Posted by mattbacon

If it's any help, I've confirmed that the same plastic is in the Airfix 1/24 E-Type Coupe box (in a lurid blue) and also in a Gunze Sangyo box (ie the GS coupe is NOT a derivative of their own convertible), so don't get suckered into buying a high-priced Gunze from Japan via eBay...

Never been aware of a Gunze Jaguar coupe.
My gut tells me it might be part of the range that Gunze reboxed from other manufactuers for sale in Japan.
I recall a very good reboxed Revell 300SL and even the (equally nice) Uhlenhaut Coupe in a Gunze box.

Annoyingly, I also had one of the Airfix Fake Racing kits when I got this one but for a reason I can't remember, decided to get rid of the Airfix kit and build this one instead.

[AmazonSprite]

Very nicely built! It will be interesting to see this next to the Heller one, as that is a much more accurate representation. IIRC, Monogram got their tooling from Aurora, and it's from the same series as the Aston DB4 & Maserati 3500GT.

Originally Posted by mattbacon

I've confirmed that the same plastic is in the Airfix 1/24 E-Type Coupe box (in a lurid blue) and also in a Gunze Sangyo box (ie the GS coupe is NOT a derivative of their own convertible), so don't get suckered into buying a high-priced Gunze from Japan via eBay...

Originally Posted by drunken monkey

Never been aware of a Gunze Jaguar coupe.
My gut tells me it might be part of the range that Gunze reboxed from other manufactuers for sale in Japan.

Indeed - Gunze reboxed a whole load of Heller kits - the Jag FHC, Citroen Traction Avant, Bugatti T50, M-B 500K, M-B 170, Bentley 4 1/2, Delahaye 135 and Talbot Lago Record amongst others. Completely different from the HiTech range and its derivatives.

Originally Posted by mattbacon

I'm slightly sad to hear that there's someone else out there on the hunt for a Heller coupe... I've been looking for months!

They used to appear every so often on eBay. However I think I have a spare one - let me know if you're interested & I'll have a hunt for it

[CrateCruncher]

What a great build of a horrible, crappy model car kit. You must be a total masochist Pete. The shape of that front end...Oh the humanity.....

I wish that tool would roll off a truck into a deep gorge never to be seen again!!!

I think the Fixed Head is a much more interesting car than the roadster. It's a shame Gunze never made an FHC. Looks like I'm also on the lookout for a Heller.

BTW, all E-Type engine compartments were body color so that would solve your black on black dilemma for the next one.

[drunken monkey]

Originally Posted by CrateCruncher

What a great build of a horrible, crappy model car kit. You must be a total masochist Pete. The shape of that front end...Oh the humanity.....

Well, I have a thing about trying to build the kits that people seem to buy/sell over and over again on Ebay. That and I have a thing for old cars which there ever are only old crappy kits of...

Originally Posted by CrateCruncher

I think the Fixed Head is a much more interesting car than the roadster.

I've always thought that the Series 1 Coupe was the better looking car.
It could be that in terms of a roadster/convertible form, the XK-SS beats the XKE in the looks department any day.

Originally Posted by CrateCruncher

BTW, all E-Type engine compartments were body color so that would solve your black on black dilemma for the next one.

You have a point there...
A lot of my reference pictures were from restoration projects and/or race cars and in the case of the race cars, the frame in the front were occasionally bare/gloss aluminium coloured and sometimes black and more often than not, rust coloured... But yeah, I should've at least painted the firewall section body colour.

[klutz_100]

Wow, you've made a great finished product out of this kit!

I guess this is the same Mongram XKE kit that I bought some years ago. I looked inside the box once, said "no way!" and gave it away

Respect for persevering with it!

[da_ashman]

Nice work, looks really good in that colour