Another K&R XJ13...

Mine has been stalled since before Christmas, but seeing Steve's WIP gave me the kick up the butt that I needed.

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/body-n-book/web.jpg

The body is painted using a homebrew mix of Zero black and BRG to get a really dark colour. (The book is the excellent British Auto Legends...). I found that the undernose and undertail parts went on nicely, and I blended them with Milliput. Fortunately, there IS a visible seam below the door, where the chassis underplate meets the body.

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/engine/web.jpg

I wired the engine using "little-cars" wires of different diameters. It was a pain in the neck to drill all the little holes, especially in the hard plated induction stack parts. I "lagged" the pipe with kitchen foil. There's more you could do, but I think this busies it up nicely. There are still a couple of pressure vessels and the exhausts to add in the compartment.

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/lights/web.jpg

Not the greatest pic, but this is thanks to Steve's inspiration - I'd stalled at the badly fitting light covers. I had some plastic packaging from a brush, with a curved bulge that had many radii. I put a piece of Tamiya masking tape over the hole, stretching it into the hole slightly, and then rubbed around the edge with a pencil to transfer the shape to the tape. Then I stuck the tape to the clear packaging, and cut around the outline. Finally, it's stuck in place with "Formula 560 Canopy Glue". It will dry transparent, and I may need another go to fill any remaining gaps...

bestest,
M.

Great project. Any interior pics?

Hi Matt, nice save on the light covers, they should look great when the glue has dried.
The colour looks spot on.
Nice pipework, the dizzy looks to be a nightmare. I am not looking forward to drilling that out.
What do you think to the interior? I am thinking that it only really needs a set of belts but I am not sure of the moulded in pipework, may be wise to replace that as the cockpit is open.
Keep up the good work, I will try to catch up!
Regards,
Steve.

Thats a nice looking engine, good progress so far

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/engine-done/web.jpg

This is the engine with all the kit parts together. I'll probably add a couple of linkages which are a)easy and b) visible. Be aware, though, that the fit under the perspex cover is tight - tight enough to break one of the brittle aerostacks...

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/interior-rear/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/interior-front/web.jpg

The interior mocked up (the engine and firewall actually attach to the upper body). I'm going to make some belts - blue, four-point, unless anyone wants to tell me different. The instructions would have the seats pale green, but I can't find any decent period reference images to confirm the colour, and I _have_ got plenty of photos with the black seats. Note also that the instructions are wrong - if you screw the seats to the lower chassis before you fit the door/console panels, you will not be able to get them in! The seats go on top, after the sidewalls are fitted...

bestest,
M.

Great progress Matt. Engine bay and cockpit coming along nicely. I was a bit dissapointed with the kit cam covers having depressions where the bolts should be. I have some plastic hex rod to make bolt heads from.
My ref pics show the extinguisher on the other side do yours show any different. Biggest bother is there are a lot of really good replicas, especially interior wise.
Did you drill the intake manifold for wiring? I am a bit troubled by the brittle nature of the castings, dont want them to crumble.
Regards,
Steve.

nice job

Thanks, guys...
Steve: yes, I did drill the intake stacks. No, it wasn’t fun! I have some ASTONISHINGLY sharp, if rather brittle, micro drills from Alan Sidney (AllanSid[at]aol[dot]com) which are normally used for aerospace and electronics applications. They will cut smoothly through anything, including the plating on these parts! I don’t have any references for the extinguisher - I foolishly just stuck it into the hole following the instructions and didn’t think to check (though I’m pretty sure any pix I might have that show it are of a replica). Somehow, having it available to grab with your right hand makes sense, though, and there’s a nice big empty space instead of all that pipework on the left....

Good luck with your hex head bolts! I suspect you’ll need to polish up the vac form rear “window” a fair bit if you’re going to see them, at least if mine is anything to go by!

bestest,
M.

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/wheelsnlights14mar/web.jpg

This is my attempt at the lights. I've coated the kit parts with quite a few layers of clear nail polish, so they now appear to have a lens. As you can see, I'm doing the "buckets" using a convenient black plastic pen body of the right diameter. A lot of trial-fitting, carving and sanding, but I think we'll get there in the end.

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/toptrialfit14mar/web.jpg

The engine and firewall are properly fitted into the upper body, but that's just resting on the lower part with the cockpit. Lots more to do in there - I have made some seatbelt straps using textured tape and lead foil, painted blue, and they need to be turned into a 4-point Sparco. The dashboard is underway, but needs detail painting. And the keen-eyed amongst you will spot that I have cut away the side windows, which had decided to warp for some reason, so they will need to be replaced with clear sheet...

bestest,
M.

That's coming along nicely Matt. Good tip with the pen body, I will have to start saving more plastic bits 'n' bobs for future projects (got some old Merit kits in the stash!)
Strange about the side windows, I really hope the front and rear screens don't decide to do the same - gulp!
Regards,
Steve.

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/panel/web.jpg

This is the dash. The main console has been prepainted with a "velvet" textured spray to give it that "crackle" look, while the right hand side is smooth metal. As you can see, the decals are pretty good. The little red touches are Dymo-tape labels in the real thing... I drew them with a fine technical pen and red ink.

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/belts/web.jpg

The belts are home made, out of lead foil with some medical tape stuck to it to give texture, and painted with Tamiya brilliant blue. The hardware is from an etched fret in the Ferrari 330. I shall need to replace them, though the belts are much less visible in that enclosed cockpit.

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/cockpit/web.jpg

In situ...not sure how they are supposed to attach, but the upper mountings are loose so that they can be attached to the firewall when the top and bottom are brought together. They certainly add a colourful accent to the cockpit.

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/lashup1/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/cockpit-lashup2/web.jpg

Two slightly wobbly photos of the completed cockpit. Not bolted together yet, but we're nearly there now...

bestest,
M.

http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/lashup2/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/lashup4/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/lashup3/web.jpg

A few photos of it taped together...

bestest,
M.

Very good work Matt. The seatbelts look great in blue, I'm afraid I will have to directly copy those, are you belting the passenger seat, I definately will.
The dash and steering wheel look superb, I hope I can get mine to look as good.
She is going to look lovely when done, it looks like you are close.
Regards,
Steve.

Thanks very much, Steve. The belts were easier in the end than I thought they would be. I haven't belted the "passenger" seat - my understanding was that they were pretty much a nod to the rules for Le Mans, but were never actually used for a second person. I may well be wrong, though. They'd have to be a pretty small person, mind, with very short legs!

And this is the outcome:
http://gallery.me.com/cmatthewbacon/100325/right-profile-grey-hero/web.jpg

More pics in the completed gallery...

Thanks especially to Steve for the inspiration to get started again!

bestest,
M.