Tamiya Box Art - accurate?

is tamiya box art accurate enough to detail from? am thinking more of the sauber c9 and jaguar xjr-9LM kits i have. the only reference photos i have are from goodwood festival, and i fear that these would not be fully representative of the cars details at the time it raced (due to maintenance and such, and lack of availability of original spec components). and so, are the tamiya box arts accurate enough for reference to colours and details?

cheers for any help. might actually get these built in time for the 80s contest! been sayin that for last 2 months............

matt

I wouldn't say the box art is 100% perfectly accurate but it certainly is accurate enough you could use it as a guide to detailing.

On the other hand, you could google the subjects you're building and they're bound to turn up some results. I get all my reference material searching the internet and there certainly is enough out there to build an accurate model.

They're probably about as accurate as the kit, but not necessarily with the same details. Both the kit and the box art are both "artist conceptions" of the actual car. It's probably a decent enough guide, but you'll still run into omissions and errors.

it could help.

Race cars are a moving target for modelers.
They change or evolve during the season and often differ in details from driver to driver within the team as well.
And, well, box art is 'art' so expect some artistic license.
:p

The box art is an artist's impression, the kit is an artist's impression- but hey, any built model is itself also just an artist's impression. Especailly so in a small scale like 1/24. Will following the box art be as acurate as going over the real car with a camera and set of dial calipers? Of course not. Can it be used as a primary resource to build a good looking and reasonable accurate model? Definately. If you had access to all the information you wanted, could you build a fully accurate model in 1/24? No. Remember, in modeling (to paraphrase Billy Crystal), it's always better to look accurate than to be accurate. If it looks good, go with it.

You could do worse. Any reference picture should be treated with caution, race cars are constantly changing throughout their racing lives and restorations can be even more misleading. Tamiya themselves have been caught out modeling restored cars, like their Lotus 25 kit which has the wrong wheels and tyres for 1963.

In the case of Tamiya box art, there would be no general answer possible on their accuracy, some would be better than others I imagine. Which ones you can trust and which you can't would require some heavy reaserch to establish!

Interesting story here http://cgi3.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=darkly2 about one Tamiya box painting that has apparently created a myth.

Jon

Very interesting story, thanks for the link.

just my opinion but don't just try to make a perfect copy. By example If the ignitionwires are in the real car black and you think grey will make them stand out moren.. just do it... I don't think a model has to be 100% accurate to be beautiful.

Hello, I'm working at the moment on a XJR-9, and I found these interesting walk - arounds:

http://www.xs4all.nl/~robdebie/models/jaguar.htm
http://www.modelersite.com/Abr2002/English/Jaguar_Eng.htm

I hope they're also interesting for you.

Regards,

is tamiya box art accurate enough to detail from? am thinking more of the sauber c9 and jaguar xjr-9LM kits i have. the only reference photos i have are from goodwood festival, and i fear that these would not be fully representative of the cars details at the time it raced (due to maintenance and such, and lack of availability of original spec components). and so, are the tamiya box arts accurate enough for reference to colours and details?

cheers for any help. might actually get these built in time for the 80s contest! been sayin that for last 2 months............

matt

Well, actually, i have found the box art to be a bit different from the painting and decal instructions at times. Personally, i have never used the box art as a reference pic. If i want more then what the instructions show - in terms of paint and such - i go to my computer and look for some real pics of the car. I have never tried to make a car look like how it appeared in a specific race, but i am sure it must be a task. As one member said, if you find that some colors pop more then others, then use them. In engine bays, it's always nice to see a kaladeiscope of metallic colors - alteast that is what i think. Conclusion: Don't rely on the box art for detail. Search for real pics.

Tamiya kits and art are the most accurate so far I have used. I dont know any other company that makes better model generally. That's why I use them for reference blueprint for my artist impression.

Ow, if you really want THE best reference for you're models.. take the pictures yourself. I send a email to a porsche dealer if he knows where i could find some detailed pictures of the carrera gt. He invited me to come to his showroom. He had one in and there was another one in the garage. he opened the engine bay, i could take pictures inside, details of the different carbon,... if it works for such an exotic.. i think you could find almost any car. (BTW about 2km further of my porsche garage, there is ferrari garage who sells an enzo, i like belgium... ;-)

That is true wouter1981, however in the case of historic and race cars that have been restored/modified several times since their heyday even that appraoch can be confusing.