jaymcminn

I recently built the Hasegawa Jaguar XJ-S Twr version. They snuck unrealistically low-profile tires into the kit and left the ride height sitting at stock XJ-S level because somebody during the development process realized the wider TWR wheels and lowered suspension would never clear the bodywork unless a lot of the original kit was redesigned. After a lot of fiddling and some truly ugly (and fortunately invisible) surgery I was able to use tires with a slightly higher profile and got the ride height where it should be. I'm fighting the same battle now with my Monogram C4 Callaway Speedster. I wanted to widen the rear wheels to use the steamroller rear tires that the real cars used, but doing so would require more work than I'm willing to put into what I'm looking at as a quick, fun build...mini-tubs and fairly major suspension mods at least. Fortunately the old Monogram kits tend to lend themselves easily to ride height mods so I can get the stance right...If I can't get accurate than I guess I can live with easy to fix!

The E-Type is one of those cars that has had many models released of it and none of them have ever seemed "right" with the exception of the original Monogram 1/8 scale. If the new RoG tool is as good as it looks here I will buy every variant they care to release.

Amazing work on a really cool subject. This is awesome!

Thanks man!

It's color time! 10(ish) Callaway Speedsters were built and the colors tended toward wild... The lime green over electric blue leather of the prototype car is pretty typical. I wanted to stick with the green theme, so I decided on Tamiya's Pearl Green over grey primer. The look is very era- appropriate and works great with the slick lines of the Speedster. The Pearl Green was sealed under my favorite Testor's Wet Look Clear and wet-sanded with 2500 grit sandpaper. Polishing was done with Meguiar's Ultimate Compound and Polish. I hit the outer rims of the wheels with a Molotow chrome pen for a nice polished look. We're up to date now, so everything going forward is in real time...still milling over a few different options for interior colors. I think I'm going with teal blue over black carpet.

Didn't Monogram do a C4 snapper the ASG could have been based on? I seem to remember one from back in the day.

I've been watching this build and it just gets better and better. I built the Spyder a few years back in bronze with the HRM Campagnolo wheels and liked how it turned out, but the work you're doing here is next-level!

Tamiya putty is your friend... The entire body required block sanding and filling sink marks. In addition I had to fill big sink marks on the interior tub, seats, dash and some of the engine parts such as the top-mounted intercoolers. There was moderate flash and some nasty mold lines that needed cleanup as well. In addition I beefed up the attachment points for the front fascia by adding slots on the body shell for the fascia to slide into. You can see the results in the stance pics above... The front piece slides in securely and the fit can be fine-tuned during final assembly.

My original plan was to slam it on Rays te37s and give it a ZR1 motor, but getting the wheel fitment right on the rear would have required major surgery!

It's been a while since I've posted up a build... about 1 1/2 years ago I took a new job that led to better money, which is good, but less free time which is less so. I've been getting back to the workbench lately, though. A sane person would get back into the hobby with a nice easy project, so I jumped back in with the Fujimi Daytona Spyder, which I didn't take a lot of WIP shots of. After that I tackled the Hasegawa Jaguar XJS TWR... both of these will be posted in Under Glass when I can get some good shots with my DSLR. Project 3 is the old Monogram Callaway Speedster. So yes, I am definitely a glutton for punishment! I originally bought the Speedster to steal the windshield unit for an idea I had involving a Tamiya Testarossa (it'll happen someday, I swear) but I wound up deciding to build it after all. This kit comes from an era in Monogram history when they were trying to produce highly detailed kits to rival Tamiya and Fujimi but they didn't really have the ability to replicate the quality... The detail is soft and I swear somewhere on this kit there's a mold line that runs through an injector pin mark that's imbedded in a sinkhole. Attachment points are often vague at best when they exist at all. But the shapes are correct and there is something to be said for a model you have to finesse as opposed to just assembling. You hardly ever see one of these built up online, which is probably due to this kit predating the widespread use of the internet as well as the incredibly fiddly nature of the model. The few I've seen tend to exhibit several traits... High stance... Not 4x4 high, but these cars were looow. Poor hood fit... This is probably due less to the actual good fit than the vague front fascia fit, which interferes with the hood if not exactly right. Poor window unit fit... This is definitely the kit's fault, and just takes some careful sanding to correct. The suspension was lowered up front by cutting the uprights and adding 1/16 blocks below the spindles. I decided to switch out the Callaway wheels for O.Z. Futuras from Fujimi. Most Speedsters seem to have had these and the Fujimi wheels came with some nice Brembo brakes. The rear was lowered less than the front by trimming a couple of tabs on the rear axle. Stance check... More to come soon!

I think RoG was supposed to release the 250swb a few years back but for reasons unknown the deal fell through. As cool as the Delta is, I would have been all over a 1/12 Stratos or Miura. The big scale releases are very encouraging and it's great that Italeri is recognizing that adult modelers are willing to pay for big scale kits of unusual subject matter.

Well, looks like Italeri is getting all the money I'm not giving to Revell this year. I'm definitely down for the SLC and the Range Rover classic. I'm also thiiiis close to springing for the 1/12 scale Alfa 8c, but I know the second i buy it they'll release the Stradale version i really want...

It never even occurred to me that they might not sell these anymore. I'm going to have to be extra careful with mine from now on.

Thanks Bruce! I was laying on my belly on a wet driveway to get these. If my neighbors didn't already know I was nuts, they would probably suspect it now!

That is some beautiful paint. Can't wait to see how this turns out!

As promised here are some under glass shots... If I had it all to do again I would DEFINITELY have waited and installed the plug wires before installing the motor. What a nightmare. I made wire guides from aluminum printer's plate. Underhood decals were printed on Micro-Mark decal paper from an online pic of an aftermarket set. Just for the hell of it, I scratchbuilt a hood prop rod as well. The window trim has been blacked out, which looks great against the dark green and hides the "chunkiness" of the moldings somewhat. I blacked out most of the body trim as well. This really scratched my annual itch for a big-scale build. It's a challenging kit, mostly due to the relatively primitive (and sometimes downright bizarre) engineering, but can turn out really nice with some extra effort. Thanks for looking, and as always questions and comments are welcome!

This is actually pics of my first run at the windows. I didn't like the visible edge of the window so I polished the edges and ran around them with a black Sharpie, which cleaned up the whole look a lot. I actually did print underhood decals, which really complete the car. I've been pretty lazy about getting under glass pics up of this model... I think I'll have to remedy that situation tomorrow!

I went to a PT (2005 Turbo Convertible) after my Stratus too! Solid car with none of the issues of the Stratus. After the Stratus pulling the airbox to get to the battery was a piece of cake!

Aaaah yes, my beloved 98 Dodge Stratus was one of those. I would have kept that car even longer if it hadn't been such a bear to service. The first time I had to change the battery I couldn't believe what I had to go through! My mechanic used to hate seeing that thing roll in too. It was quick, drove nicely and looked good, but the v6 leaked oil like a sieve, it was impossible to get to half the engine, and I eventually washed my hands of it when the A/C died and the repair would have been roughly the value of the car. The cab-forward Chryslers were pretty machines, but cramming all the mechanicals into as small an area as possible led to some pretty serious issues.

Once again, Tamiya is coming for the contents of my wallet...

That is truly beautiful. Amazing color combination, and the shut lines on those doors are perfect. Wonderful!

Looks like a Chinese knockoff of an Iwata Eclipse. It might be okay for basic use but I wouldn't trust it for fine detail work. In addition, "hot" solvents like lacquer thinner might degrade the needle bearing if it isn't Teflon, which is frequently the case with cheap airbrushes. Hope it works out!

I love this so far. Great scratchbuilding and detailing, and the fact that you're redoing an old build makes it even better. Lamborghinis just look right with a white interior!

I LOVE my Dyson V6. And yes, it's found more than a few missing parts for me too!