kensar

Well, first of all I determined that an adjustment needed to be done. I got this information by looking at other's builds of this same kit and if they adjusted the ride height. Next, how to do it depends on the kit design - what parts set the ride height where it is. Then modify those parts to raise or lower the chassis relative to the wheel hubs. On this kit, the rear ride height is set by the tabs on the wheel hubs (part C10). Lowering the chassis is a simple matter of filing down the tabs (by 0.060"). A number of other parts need to be adjusted to accommodate this change. The axles needed to be bent, the shock absorbers needed to be shortened, and part C18 needed to be bent. This was the initial adjustment I did. Later, I test fitted the wheels when the body was attached to the chassis and I determined that the initial adjustment was too much. By this time I did not want to readjust all the parts I had done earlier, so I made a smaller adjustment to the backs of the wheels. The wheels are attached to the hubs by fitting the hub into a 'hole' on the back of the wheel. I used aftermarket wheels here. I was able to cut the material forming the hole so that it was open on 1/2 of one side, effectively, elongating the hole. This enabled the wheel to be lowered on the hub. Although the wheel is not aligned with the hub, it is only a small amount (0.030") and is not noticeable. I then glued the wheels to the hubs with the car supported at the right height on a piece of glass (a flat surface) so that all four wheels will touch the ground surface. Hope this is clear enough. Again, the ride height is adjusted by modifying the parts that set the height.

Looks awesome. Can't wait to see it in the completed section. 👍

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by and commenting. The interior leather paint is Model Master enamel leather color 1736, which is nothing special. I did apply it with an air brush after thinning quite a bit. It is applied very lightly, building up layers of paint and not completely covering the white primer underneath. This technique yielded the uneven coloration and realistic look. I'm currently spraying on some chrome on the chromed exterior parts, so hopefully this project will be completed soon.

Thanks for the nice comments everyone. The chassis relative to the rear axle was lowered about 1.5mm (0.060")based on a couple of other build threads I came across, however, that was too much after I test fitted the wheels with the body on, so I adjusted the back of the wheels to raise the body up about 0.030". Consequently, the wheels are not lined up with the rear axles, but this is not noticeable. I frequently need to make last minute ride height adjustments to my models.

After many distractions and problems with paint, I have finally made some progress with this. I have the body painted and the wheels on it. I adjusted the rear ride height. After looking at numerous pictures of real XKEs with the rear ride height appearing to be all over the place, I went with this. Now there's just the outside details and some weathering left to do.

Great detail on this model, Andrew. Exceptional result, especially considering the base kit. My only experience with UMI models was a Porsche 908 - nothing was straight or square on it.

Completed this Airfix Tiger tank (1/35 scale) recently. This subject is not my cup of tea but the kit was a gift from my wife, so I had to build it, right? It depicts a tank that participated in the battle of Kursk. I find that armor kits take a different approach to building and painting and this was a new experience for me - I survived it. Thanks for looking.

If you're going to slice up the hood vent decal, use a new blade! Will still need some green touch up paint after the knife work. Good luck with it!

Great restoration of an old model and a cool subject.

I found some photographs of the tail and scanned them. Hope this shows you what you need.

Here's my LeMans Miniatures Audi R8 from the year 2000 LeMans. Built in 2004.

One interpretation of the label could be that the base color and clear coat are combined in the same can and no additional clear coat is needed.

I've built several LeMans Miniature kits and have had not big issues with any of them. I built another version of the Audi you are doing here and don't remember having any issue with it. LeMans Miniatures are typical resin kits and better than a lot of them. Just take your time.

Really nice looking paint and decal work there, Pierre.

The aluminum panels on the dash and console are aluminum sheet. The switches on the dashboard and the brake handle are scratchbuilt additions. The molded-in kit details appear to be fairly complete, just not very sharp and crisp. Thanks to all that dropped by.

More pics ... Thanks Trevor!

A small update - the dashboard.

Very nice work there, Mark.

Update - engine compartment is completed. Interior is next. Thanks to all that commented and looked in on this project.

I wanted a color like Primrose yellow, but I didn't have a matched paint color to that, so I just mixed up the color to be similar. Interior will be a leather brown. I read that Jaguar wanted this model to be a follow-on to the D type as they were getting out of racing and wanted to have a reference to their 'golden years' of successful racing, so this became the E model. I believe the 120 in XK120 is a reference to the top speed of that model. This car also had a top speed of 120 mph (barely), so they wouldn't name it an XK120 also.

Latest update pics The wheels are from Ukrainian Scale Cars Production. Nice 3D prints.

For once in what, ten years? I am planning to be there. I would like to meet forum members, so if you have no issue, consider wearing a name tag with your forum name and real name. Bob, would it be possible to have blank name tags at registration?

ACME Nationals next weekend in Cartersville GA - who's going?

If by chance you didn't realize it - you are a scratchbuilder! Continuing to follow this build.

I'm starting a Revell Jaguar XKE. This new tool kit has some disappointments for me as it has a lot of sink marks to fix and a sprue was short shot, omitting one half of the engine block and another small part. Fortunately, I have a second kit but when I build it, it won't have an engine to display. I'm planning to make this one a pale yellow exterior and a brown leather-like interior. I'm not planning an extensive build log, but will post a few pictures as I progress.