Novice build - Jaguar XJR-9LM (NOT Le Mans contest!)

[nmsmith]

As it was one of my favourite sports cars when I was a kid, I recently bought Tamiya'a XJR-9LM kit to keep me going over the school summer holidays while my wife was at work.

After a disastrous reaction between primer and topcoat, the body has now been stripped and the first colour resprayed. The chassis is seen here relatively complete, save for a few tidy-ups.

I appreciate it's not a patch on robrex's car, but it's here for comments or encouragement all the same.

This is my first kit featuring significant decals, so that will be an interesting hurdle when I reach it.


I had some fun staining the exhaust with a clear blue and then a clear red wash. It isn't too obvious in the photos, but looks pretty good in the flesh. It's the only suggestion of weathering I have considered.




Purple bits will come next. Bear in mind that the untidy edges here are because the interior is still caked in masking tape!


The air intakes have resisted spraying, and still exhibit signs of the flat black interior coating applied earlier. All the same it doesn't look too offensive, so I quit painting the white coat as I thought that the layers were thick enough already.

All comments welcome. More photos in due course!

Thanks,

Nick

[nervestrikes]

Looks good so far. You will love the decaling. I won't be as bad as you may suspect, but it will take some time.

[OrangeR]

It looks pretty nice at the moment.
Keep the same, keep us posted.

[Spitfire7]

This is one kit i will have to get some day, its just getting hold of some Silk Cut decals to make it look more realistic. Good luck!

[nmsmith]

its just getting hold of some Silk Cut decals to make it look more realistic.

If I've misunderstood you then apologies, but: the kit does have a full decal set for either the number 1, 2 or 3 cars, including driver names etc.

Unless you mean that aftermarket decals are preferable for some reason.

Nick

[labandabonnot]

Yes: the kit decals are politicaly correct: they miss the tobacco brand name... that were actualy present on the real car. So Studio 27, I think, made a decal set to correct this.

Honestly, you can feel free to enter the contest with this build: no reason to be ashamed of it! and it would be a pleasure for everybody: the more fools we'll be, the more fun we'll have! (sorry for the bad english...)

Good luck with the decals! But as for everything else, just take your time and it will sure look awesome!

[RallyRaider]

That Jag is coming along very well Nick, the paint looks great. Welcome to AF BTW
As labandabonnot says the restrictions on tobacco advertising means the Tamiya kit is missing the "Silk Cut" logos that the real cars raced in at Le Mans. To be 100% accurate you will need to source some aftermarket decals. Your choice...

Agreed, with guys like Rob in the comp that does give the rest of us little chance of winning. But the fun is in the competing and encouraging lots of cool models to be built. You will be welcome in the comp should you choose to join with this or any subsequent builds.

[nmsmith]

I can't believe I hadn't noticed the decal anomaly until now.

I had been using a couple of photos of the real car, and some built models found online, and had presumed that they were box-stock. Oops.

I'd like to get the Silk Cut logos on there in that case, even though I guess in principle I too object to tobacco advertising. Ah well, we'll see.

Nick

[nmsmith]

Good news of the moment is that I have ordered (will take 5 or 6 weeks though) the Studio 27 Silk Cut addon set, so I'll have a proper looking car.

Bad news of the moment is that I have snapped the windscreen in two while cutting the mask for the black edge striping. I just held it too firmly in one hand while cutting with the other .

If anyone wants me, I'll be in the corner sulking for a while.

~nick

[StephenDeli]

Sorry to hear about the windshield.

[RallyRaider]

You should be able to order a new windshield through Tamiya. The XJR-9 was recently reissued, so spares shouldn't be a problem.

[nmsmith]

I had great fun on two consecutive evenings this week applying all the decals to the model. It was much more entertaining and *much* less stressful than I had imagined.

Here's the latest:



Below you can see the colour comparison between TS-37 (cockpit roof) and the Tamiya decals (rear cowl). Robrex take note.



The crack in the windscreen is a pain, but personally I have succeeded in blocking it out subconsciously pretty well! Oh it hurt.

I noticed that most reference pictures seem to lack some of the decals pointed out in the Tamiya instructions, so I have left them out too.






The only curve I have struggled to get the decals to sit nicely over is this one, around the left hand side air intakes. The curves are just too tight and too complex, and the decals are not happy there!



The front part of the body was a complete git to glue to the chassis. It seemed slightly warped, and polystyrene cement wasn't enough. I had to use a quick drying epoxy, and that presented its own challenges!



Similarly the rear cowl isn't a perfect fit: it seems wide over the wheels,(see rear end pictures above and below) but I don't want it to be permanently attached, so I can't glue it into place. I guess I'll live with it, unless anyone out there has any ideas.



I always liked this car because of the covered rear wheels . . . "dark wheels" as I used to call them when I was six. I'm pleased with the look so far. Only small details like wing mirrors, aerials and some lights remain now. Then I'll post some arty shots.

[robrex]

Nick,
The paint and decals look great!
I'm thinking about getting the Studio 27 decals even though I have the original Tamiya kit with the Silk Cut Decals.
The paint and decal colour match looks pretty good?
Looking forward to seeing the completed pics.

[StephenDeli]

All in all I think you are walking out of this one with a very nice build. The windsheild might be cracked, but look beyond that and you got a VERY nice model!

[willster127]

Certainly doesn't look like a novice build to me.

Awesome job on the decals, sounds like you need to get some decal solvents for your next kit, I think you'll be sticking around after this build, at least I hope you will! Anyway, microset and microsol are what you need for the complex decal curves, get some of that and your onto a winner!

Nice build, thanks for sharing.