Revell Ag Jaguar Xk 120

[ZIL 111V]

Another review of a kit we don't see often.

A few modelers may remember that Monogram made this great kit back in 1979 with a......Metal body! go figure! (Never seen this one with plastic body in Monogram box!), odd that this kit had only "one run" in Monogram lineup until the early 80's, then the kit vanished until Revell germany reboxed it back in 1994 & again recently. If i'm not mistaking this is still after nearly 30 years the only 1/24 full detail plastic kit of this car.

Siver body, Light, Light. Light grey!, clear, chrome parts, approx 78 parts.

Monogram did a fantastic job with the one piece body with opening hinged hood: BEAUTIFUL! Monogram even added extras: closed top with correct period "tacked" side & back windows, front winshield frame with 2 piece glass (no wipers!!!) or "twin" racing type clear deflectors, even 2 rear fender skirts are included....neet looking! all small chrome acces lights/grill/bumpers on body are seperate chrome plated parts + 2 clear headlight lenses.

The inline 6 block/head & transmision is a 10 pieces affaire, typical Monogram , easy to assemble & simple accuracy: fan, twin valve covers & intake man/twin cabs are plated, engine block/trans is a 2 half parts assembly, with nicely engraved startor, fuel pump oil filter & finned trans box. Seperate top engine center plug cover,side exhaust manifolds, fan belt/pullies & generator complete this simple but nice looking engine.

Frame with molded in gas tank is nicely detailed, as seperate rear one piece: differential/drive shaft/susp leafs...even dual small brake lines with cylinders are present on the piece. Front suspension consist in a one piece: lower "A" arms/front stabilizer bar/twin torsion bars molded to a hefty front frame cross member. Seperate muffler, radiator, are also present. Tires are Monogram tall skinnies with snapin Dunlop white walls, wheels are a bit "flat" looking & back plates are pretty basic, but with center engraved chrome plated hubs the completed wheels looks OK.

The interior consist of a correct one piece patterned seats/ trans tunnel/floor piece, 2 seperate & nicely engraved side panels that make the leight of the model; one piece part: engine bay/door/trunk side panels. Seperate shifter, hand brake lever, dash mirror, firewall top section, dash with center gauges/grab bar , steering/horn hub & column complet the interior. Monogram people gives you the choice of right or left side steering wheel: pedals are molded on each side of lower part of upper firewall part, remove one set when your choice is made...nice touch!!! decal sheet consist of 5 dash gauges, hood crest & 2 sets of "oversized 1/16 scale???" vintage euro plates.

Any MC forum members made the XK120 kit, any pix? never seen that kit made up, even in contests. Revell AG side box photos only shows sections of kit!!! from what I see looks like a winner!

[JHDrew]

If you liked the kit, why the green face?

And you need a signature too Mr or Ms ZIL.

Another review of a kit we don't see often.

A few modelers may remember that Monogram made this great kit back in 1979 with a......Metal body! go figure! (Never seen this one with plastic body in Monogram box!), odd that this kit had only "one run" in Monogram lineup until the early 80's, then the kit vanished until Revell germany reboxed it back in 1994 & again recently. If i'm not mistaking this is still after nearly 30 years the only 1/24 full detail plastic kit of this car.

Siver body, Light, Light. Light grey!, clear, chrome parts, approx 78 parts.

Monogram did a fantastic job with the one piece body with opening hinged hood: BEAUTIFUL! Monogram even added extras: closed top with correct period "tacked" side & back windows, front winshield frame with 2 piece glass (no wipers!!!) or "twin" racing type clear deflectors, even 2 rear fender skirts are included....neet looking! all small chrome acces lights/grill/bumpers on body are seperate chrome plated parts + 2 clear headlight lenses.

The inline 6 block/head & transmision is a 10 pieces affaire, typical Monogram , easy to assemble & simple accuracy: fan, twin valve covers & intake man/twin cabs are plated, engine block/trans is a 2 half parts assembly, with nicely engraved startor, fuel pump oil filter & finned trans box. Seperate top engine center plug cover,side exhaust manifolds, fan belt/pullies & generator complete this simple but nice looking engine.

Frame with molded in gas tank is nicely detailed, as seperate rear one piece: differential/drive shaft/susp leafs...even dual small brake lines with cylinders are present on the piece. Front suspension consist in a one piece: lower "A" arms/front stabilizer bar/twin torsion bars molded to a hefty front frame cross member. Seperate muffler, radiator, are also present. Tires are Monogram tall skinnies with snapin Dunlop white walls, wheels are a bit "flat" looking & back plates are pretty basic, but with center engraved chrome plated hubs the completed wheels looks OK.

The interior consist of a correct one piece patterned seats/ trans tunnel/floor piece, 2 seperate & nicely engraved side panels that make the leight of the model; one piece part: engine bay/door/trunk side panels. Seperate shifter, hand brake lever, dash mirror, firewall top section, dash with center gauges/grab bar , steering/horn hub & column complet the interior. Monogram people gives you the choice of right or left side steering wheel: pedals are molded on each side of lower part of upper firewall part, remove one set when your choice is made...nice touch!!! decal sheet consist of 5 dash gauges, hood crest & 2 sets of "oversized 1/16 scale???" vintage euro plates.

Any MC forum members made the XK120 kit, any pix? never seen that kit made up, even in contests. Revell AG side box photos only shows sections of kit!!! from what I see looks like a winner!

[ZIL 111V]

.....Green face???

[Harry P.]

I'm building this kit at the moment...just painted the body yesterday. I'll post pix soon.

The missing windshield wipers are the biggest problem. And why in the world is the body molded in gray plastic, but the hood and fender skirts are molded in a very pale mint green???

[Zoom Zoom]

I'm building this kit at the moment...just painted the body yesterday. I'll post pix soon.

The missing windshield wipers are the biggest problem. And why in the world is the body molded in gray plastic, but the hood and fender skirts are molded in a very pale mint green???

Revell AG comes up with some doozies when it comes to plastic molded colors. The tree w/the hood/skirts may be from a different source than the body. I've seen a Ferrari Superamerica kit from Revell AG w/a red body and gray mirrors, hood, and IIRC one of the bumpers. The Revell USA version is all pure white. Revell makes some odd decisions...multicolor bodies, stickers in curbside snap kits, etc.

Question about the hood fit on the plastic version: I have the diecast XK 120 kit, and the hood doesn't fit the body very well. It's as if the hood is scaled a bit small for the opening. How does the hood fit on the plastic kit? I kind of want another XK 120, so I can build one stock and one as a vintage racer. I may use a Burago diecast XK 120 fixed head coupe body to make the stock version since the resin version is unobtanium.

[ZIL 111V]

I'm building this kit at the moment...just painted the body yesterday. I'll post pix soon.

The missing windshield wipers are the biggest problem. And why in the world is the body molded in gray plastic, but the hood and fender skirts are molded in a very pale mint green???

Pretty good question...My kit as silver body & very light gray hood/fender skirts!!!! different source for sure... some parts comes from other plants (Poland)?

As anyone made or seen that kit in an "all" plastic version in Monogram box?

Many "Metal" body kits of the 70's where later made with plastic bodies in early 80's: MG-TC, 53 Vette, 56 T-Bird, to name a few, but never saw the XK120 with plastic body in Mono box....was the "all" plastic body conversion made by Revell AG???

[jbwelda]

ah so this "new" kit is the old metal body monogram with a plastic body?

thanks just saved me 30$ i would guess!

[Yad']

Here's a quick pic' of a completed styrene version [RoG]. I'll have to post any further details later as it's the early hours here and I really shouldn't be messing about online right now!!

Suffice to say I found the kit a real bear of a build - it took me weeks of filing filling, re-building, making good then more filing and filling just to get that bonnet [hood] to fit properly, and the rest of the kit didn't seem much better. Having said that given the time you spend - it will reward you with a very handsome model.

I have a very extensive build album showing most of the areas that I worked on if you'd care to see it?

Anyway here's the finished build for now...............

Give us a shout if you want more pic's?....................... Andi

[Zoom Zoom]

Pretty good question...My kit as silver body & very light gray hood/fender skirts!!!! different source for sure... some parts comes from other plants (Poland)?

As anyone made or seen that kit in an "all" plastic version in Monogram box?

Many "Metal" body kits of the 70's where later made with plastic bodies in early 80's: MG-TC, 53 Vette, 56 T-Bird, to name a few, but never saw the XK120 with plastic body in Mono box....was the "all" plastic body conversion made by Revell AG???

I don't think the XK 120 was ever sold in an all-plastic variant by Monogram, I think it's been relegated to Revell AG. I'm not sure, but it may have also been issued by a Japanese company. I've also got a metal-body '53 Corvette, which makes me laugh...a metal bodied Corvette w/a plastic chassis. Go figure and I built the metal-bodied T-Bird back in the late '80's. One of my favorite builds of the XK 120 was built by, I think....Gary McNutt, and it was featured in Scale Auto or Car Modeler magazine. It was done as a vintage racer, and very inspiring.

The metal XK 120 is a pain to deal with, the hood fit isn't good and there's a terrible mold like going down the side of the car that has to be removed. That's one reason I want a plastic version. I know it's not up to Revell's latest and greatest, but the models from that era are still very buildable and result in a great finish, as Yad's example shows. If only Tamiya would do more vintage Jags...full detail. I'm just dreaming, I know it'll never happen

[Harry P.]

I'm no kit historian-not by a long shot, so I have no comments on the origins or evolution of this kit. It does have a noticeable mold separation line running along the body sides, but that's easily sanded smooth. And the fact that it's missing the wipers is a bit odd, considering the rest of the model is very nicely done...right down to the seperately-molded chrome dashboard grab handle.

The hood needs a little trimming along its rear edge in order to get it to seat correctly, but again, a very simple fix. Other than that, everything goes together perfectly. It's a real gem of a kit. If any of you are into vintage sportscars, get yourself one of these kits...you'll love it!

[ZIL 111V]

If you liked the kit, why the green face?

And you need a signature too Mr or Ms ZIL.

...Nice to see long time forum veterans giving advices, you can call me Paul or...Mr.Zil!

[Harry P.]

Here are a few in-progress shots. No clear coat on the paint yet (Duplicolor Chrysler color). This is a very tiny model. It's 1/24, but seems smaller.

[samdiego]

HEY, ANDI! More pix, please!

[Paul Payne]

Here's some photos of the metal bodied version- I added a driving light and outside rear view mirror, used the racing windscreens, and left off the bumpers. The car is right on in scale- these were small cars, as were the D Jag and XK-SS. I only wish they had included wire wheels as a build option- I haven't found any that fit the tires.

[Zoom Zoom]

Okay, you guys are in trouble now

Nice work on the Jags, so I dug out my diecast-bodied kit from '79. Forgot how rough it really is; good thing I like the car enough to deal with the pain of getting up to snuff. I assume the plastic body is a lot better; I'm wondering why the plastic hood/skirts are a different color now than the plastic body, they may have added those parts to the rest of the original (non-body) trees? My kit has the body, hood, and skirts all as separate parts w/no trees. The rest of the parts are all molded in gray plastic, chrome quality is good, no side mirror nor wipers. I'm impressed w/the fact you can do it as RHD or LHD from the box.

Here's the raw body. Hood fit is rather bad, it will need a good deal of tweaking to get it to fit nicely. Worst is that where it sits naturally the opening at the cowl isn't very clean and you can easily see the notches for the large hinges.

After looking this over I'm going to get out my Burago coupe and see if it's a viable body conversion. It can't be much worse than this...I don't want the opening doors though.

The mold lines look worse in person than these photos!

The gap where hood meets cowl naturally isn't good. The hinge notches are way too visible. Fun fun fun!

[Yad']

Ok guy's.............

Following on from Bob' here's mine at just the next stage along, lengthy clean-up and much messing around with the Bonnet [hood] in order to get a neat fit. Those awful mould lines along the body were as bad as Bob' suggests and far worse than it would appear Harry's were?

Anyhoo, a few pic's - more to follow as this cyber build unfolds.

I'll upload some more areas later - I'm trying to find pic's where it's obvious extra work or subtle differences are apparent.

Later ...................... Andi

[Harry P.]

So did the metal and plastic bodies come from the very same mold? The parting lines on both the metal and plastic bodies seem to be in exactly the same places.

[Zoom Zoom]

So did the metal and plastic bodies come from the very same mold? The parting lines on both the metal and plastic bodies seem to be in exactly the same places.

Yes, they use the same molds but they have to modify the sprue/runners for plastic vs. metal; apparently the parts are the same but they have to run the plastic with thinner sprues; not sure why. It's a lot of work just to do that, but with the price of zinc skyrocketing we've seen Revell recently modifying their diecast models back to plastic.

I'm never a fan of cast metal for model cars; the parts always are rough compared to plastic. Don't even get me started on white metal and it's prevalence in high-dollar kits. Worst. Material. Ever. for model cars

[ZIL 111V]

Yes, they use the same molds but they have to modify the sprue/runners for plastic vs. metal; apparently the parts are the same but they have to run the plastic with thinner sprues; not sure why. It's a lot of work just to do that, but with the price of zinc skyrocketing we've seen Revell recently modifying their diecast models back to plastic.

I'm never a fan of cast metal for model cars; the parts always are rough compared to plastic. Don't even get me started on white metal and it's prevalence in high-dollar kits. Worst. Material. Ever. for model cars

[/quote

The XK120 was one of the nicest of the Metal kit series always wonder why Monogram did not make an all plastic version, in early 80's, same could be said for the awesome Metal Duesy "boatail" SJ in the same series.

As mentionned earlier can't undersatand why this beauty was not made more often in 1/24, Tamiya (MK'II sedan???), or Gunze Sangyo, Italeri....even Airfix!!!!!! would have made I'm pretty sure great kits of the XK120... FHCoupe would have been so nice! BUT as said by Zoom Zoom, think it's only in my dreams too.....like the ZIL 111V 3t parade ship.....what a beauty!!!

Like I said, from the awesome pix you sent of your "museum" pieces, this is a real winner, thanks to all

[larrygre]

After looking this over I'm going to get out my Burago coupe and see if it's a viable body conversion. It can't be much worse than this...I don't want the opening doors though.

Bob, I had the same thought years ago and bought a cheapie marked-down Bburago XK120 coupe at a local Kay-Bee. The dimensions betwen the two bodies vary so much that I put the while shebang away. I'm a modeler, not a metallurgist!

[62rebel]

click your heels together and repeat three times:

"At least it's not a Hawk or Palmer..."

apply directly to the forehead. all kidding aside, that is great work; i love XK Jags.

try making a go at the Minicraft TR3 now....

[Zoom Zoom]

Bob, I had the same thought years ago and bought a cheapie marked-down Bburago XK120 coupe at a local Kay-Bee. The dimensions betwen the two bodies vary so much that I put the while shebang away. I'm a modeler, not a metallurgist!

Ah well...makes me feel a little bit better that I couldn't find my Bburago diecast when I looked for it before the holidays. Guess I'll settle for a standard convertible and a vintage racer. Maybe I can get a friend to recast their Scale Kraft 120 coupe before building it...

[Ettore]

Bob, Excellent chance of that... Ettore

[GeeBee]

I don't think the XK 120 was ever sold in an all-plastic variant by Monogram, I think it's been relegated to Revell AG. I'm not sure, but it may have also been issued by a Japanese company.

I have this very kit to build, and yes, the Japanese compnay, Aoshima kitted it, i did have a look at one, and it is indeed the very same kit as the Revell AG version.

Edited September 13, 2008 by GeeBee

[Rob Hall]

Looks like an interesting kit. I wish RoG or someone would tool up a modern XK like this: