Blast from the Past

[Matthew Usher]

Here's my buildup of the Fisher Model & Pattern 1/24 scale Jaguar D-type -- the car that won the 1955 Le Mans 24 hours.

The kit is all resin. I scratchbuilt a new instrument panel face (with clear lenses and instruments) as well as the leather bonnet straps. The chrome-plated release handles are door handles from Gunze-Sangyo's VW Karmann Ghia kit.

The model is painted with Tamiya British Racing Green from the spray can, and admittedly, the green should probably be a shade darker.

This is my first time posting a picture here. What do you think?

Matt

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

Welcome aboard Matt! I love that kit, and your build has inspired me to get it eventually at least

Lots of Subaru models around here too, if you're interested

Keep posting pics...got any of your Miata? (check my handle...)

L8r
Bob Downie aka ZoomZoom.

[Veyron]

Beautiful job! Welcome to broke modeler central!:flash:

[flyonthewall]

Welcome Matt, a great model of a british classic. What was it like to build?

[NoBrakes]

First of all, Welcome

That Jag looks awesome, makes me want to start on my XK-E


Keep posting more models

Cheers

[JOSE MARIA]

amazing

mm rsin kits are super expensive , but...well , after all Fisher has a good rapport quality / price. I´d go for the Alfa BAt bby Bertone of the `50s

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

I´d go for the Alfa BAt bby Bertone of the `50s

By all means, get this kit. It's superb. I don't know how he can mold it so well, what with the beautiful curved fins in the back. I drool every time I look at it. Well worth the $75 I paid for it. Now I need to find some decent color reference shots for the interior...

[JOSE MARIA]

I gotta save some bucks first , but anyway Zoom you have reason about the info. I try to search something there in Turin almost sure I get anything. May be I could even see it at The Museo Dell´Automobile if they bring it.
I was taking shots of lots of prototypes in May-june , and with a little lucky-strike...

Mmm BAT5 , I can´t wait.

[Matthew Usher]

Thanks for the kind words, guys!

If I'm not mistaken, this was Fisher's first kit, and it's pretty basic. The body is a little unusual in that it splits into halves horizontally along the beltline. You have to paint and install the interior parts before gluing the halves together and painting the body. It's a lot like building an airplane model, where you install the cockpit parts before gluing the fuselage together.

I'd like to do another one of these sometime. If I do, I'll use the cast-resin Jaguar wheels from Replicas & Miniatures of Maryland. They're really nice.

I have a couple of Fisher's more recent kits (a McLaren and a Chaparral) and they're unbelievably well engineered. Certainly they're not cheap, but in my opinion they're worth every penny.

Matt

P.S.: Now that I'm getting used to my new digital camera I'll post some more model photos...

[Veyron]

Cool! We want to see more! I have Fishers 312P and 512 Coda Lunga, very nice kits!

[ZoomZoomMX-5]

I was really impressed with the article on your buildup in SAE. It was truly inspiring because of the subject matter and the fact that it wasn't another NASCAR model! Something different is what catches my eye, and the Jaguar fits that to a "T". I've been eyeing the Fisher kit ever since, though my first one was the B.A.T. 5 that I have yet to build. What issue was the Jaguar in, do you remember?

For those who may not recognize your name immediately, perhaps you can tell the people on the forum a little bit about your former job as Assistant Editor (I think...) for Scale Auto Enthusiast magazine.

Glad to have you here, and you'll love the digital camera. Film? What's that?!

[Jay!]

Welcome to AF! By all means, post more pics!

[Matthew Usher]

As Bob mentioned, this model was the subject of a build-along feature in the August, 2000 issue of Scale Auto Enthusiast.

The article was titled "D-Day," You can read a .pdf version of it at:

http://www.scaleautomag.com/sca/feat...lesamples.html

(You may need to scroll down a little to find it...)

It was a pretty unusual subject for SAE, but we wanted to do an article on working with resin, and the then-editor, Kirk Bell, let me pick the model I was going to build. Because of the subject matter, it wasn't too popular with the muscle-cars-and-hot-rods SAE readership, unfortunately.

Ah well. At least I still have it to show to you guys!

Matt

[Veyron]

I knew I recognized your name from somewhere, I saw the article, in fact the only time I purchase SA is when it has something other than something that appeals to the Dinosaurs R Us crowd. As soon as Revell, AMT and SA finish their suicide missions, Tamiya, Fujimi, Hasegawa and this board will be thriving. Scott T Hards, owner of Hobby Link Japan will be the Micheal Dell of model distribution, if not already, and will have never had a Revell or AMT kit in stock. Not a reflection on you, just my continuous rant on the narrow minded state of a segment of the hobby. :flash:

[Jay!]

Originally posted by Veyron
...and this board will be thriving.

It looks like we already are...