Matt Bacon Posted April 18, 2015 Posted April 18, 2015 Yep: This is pretty much an OOB build, though I wired the engine, added the leather cover behind the cockpit using lead foil, and replaced the sidescreens with acetate for a more accurate, thinner, look. The detailing is based on an Octane article about test driving one after restoration in the UK, which gave me plenty of photo reference. It's a nicely detailed little kit, a bit fragile here and there. You will need to spend some time fettling the windscreen to fit the frame, but that thick rubber seal is prototypical, and covers up a multitude of sins. The other thing is check you photo references carefully for the location of body seams. The body breaks down into top and bottom halves, like all E-type kits, except the XKSS has more visible panel lines than an E-Type around the cockpit, so don't try to fill and eradicate all of them! It is possible, with a bit of fiddling around, to modify the bonnet hinge mechanism so that you can join the lower nose valance to the bonnet moulding, fill and eliminate the seam, paint it and THEN fit it to the body. Warning: you won't get many open/close cycles out of the "straps" for the bonnet before they come off and need to be reglued. Second BIG warning: wrap the rim of the wheels where the tyre sits with BMF, or give it several coats of Klear, before installing the tyres. I have discovered several years on that these are the kind of rubber tyres that eat styrene and exude horrible gunk as they do it... I need to get a new set of resin Dunlop racing wheels from R&MM to replace the ones on this one. The kit's also a good "bash" with a Merit or Lindberg 1/24 D-Type if you want a pure racer... Have fun with it! bestest, M.
The Junkman Posted April 18, 2015 Posted April 18, 2015 (edited) This isn't helping. Your's came out very well but I've been torn between replicating Steve McQueen's stock SS or going full boat with it toward a racing version to pair with a resin Fisher Models D Type I managed to aquire. Maybe I'll settle on just finishing a model. Thanks for the heads up regarding the tires. Edited April 18, 2015 by The Junkman
Matt Bacon Posted April 18, 2015 Posted April 18, 2015 I was going to do McQueen's as well, but then the Octane issue with the reference photos came along, and it was too good an opportunity to miss. Just be aware that McQueen had Tony Nancy redo the interior, so you'd have to redo the seats and the trim to get the real deal -- which will be highly visible with it being open and all... bestest, M.
sjordan2 Posted April 18, 2015 Posted April 18, 2015 (edited) Just beautiful. I love these cars. A couple of years ago, I saw a line of several of them at Pebble Beach and couldn't believe how many there were. I think there's a company in England that makes replicas. Edited April 18, 2015 by sjordan2
jbwelda Posted April 24, 2015 Posted April 24, 2015 I built one of these back in the early 90s when I was just getting reintroduced to model building. went together very well though as mentioned kind of fragile. I believe I used some Dunlop aftermarket tires so hopefully I dodged the melting tire bullet. I mostly built it OOB but did wire the engine, I think I ran some brake lines and stuff like that. this kit hasn't been in production in a long time, has it? jb
dimaxion Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 Was not the XXSS the Prototype before the D Type ? A production Car was being considered in this design . It crashed in testing . The decision was made to produce the D Type for Racing to fix some issues . The E Type developed form the D for "civilian use" . The wreckage was restored in the '70's . I am confused why replicas of it ? Thanx ..
1959scudetto Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 Yep: This is pretty much an OOB build, though I wired the engine, added the leather cover behind the cockpit using lead foil, and replaced the sidescreens with acetate for a more accurate, thinner, look. The detailing is based on an Octane article about test driving one after restoration in the UK, which gave me plenty of photo reference. It's a nicely detailed little kit, a bit fragile here and there. You will need to spend some time fettling the windscreen to fit the frame, but that thick rubber seal is prototypical, and covers up a multitude of sins. The other thing is check you photo references carefully for the location of body seams. The body breaks down into top and bottom halves, like all E-type kits, except the XKSS has more visible panel lines than an E-Type around the cockpit, so don't try to fill and eradicate all of them! It is possible, with a bit of fiddling around, to modify the bonnet hinge mechanism so that you can join the lower nose valance to the bonnet moulding, fill and eliminate the seam, paint it and THEN fit it to the body. Warning: you won't get many open/close cycles out of the "straps" for the bonnet before they come off and need to be reglued. Second BIG warning: wrap the rim of the wheels where the tyre sits with BMF, or give it several coats of Klear, before installing the tyres. I have discovered several years on that these are the kind of rubber tyres that eat styrene and exude horrible gunk as they do it... I need to get a new set of resin Dunlop racing wheels from R&MM to replace the ones on this one. The kit's also a good "bash" with a Merit or Lindberg 1/24 D-Type if you want a pure racer... Have fun with it! bestest, M. Excellent model, Matt -I have this kit in my stash sind 1993 when it was first released. Thanks for theinfo on the tires eating the rims....
1959scudetto Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 Was not the XXSS the Prototype before the D Type ? A production Car was being considered in this design . It crashed in testing . The decision was made to produce the D Type for Racing to fix some issues . The E Type developed form the D for "civilian use" . The wreckage was restored in the '70's . I am confused why replicas of it ? Thanx... No, the D-type was developed as a successor to the C-type that won at Le mans in 1951 and 53 - the D-type managed wins in 1955, 56 and 57. Info from Andrew Whyte's book "Jaguar D-type & XKSS": 1956 Le Mans regulations required manufacturers of over 2,5 litre-cars (the Jag had 3,4) to declare their intention to manufacture 100 similar vehicles... during 1955 and 56 Jaguar continued to build D-types, listing them at GBP 3878,00 in the UK, though most of them were exported. Bythe winter of 1956/57 production was in sight of the promised 100 when it was decided to convert the unsold ones into a new model - theJaguar XKSS... The XKSS was announced in January 1957. It was a D-Type with specially-made windscreen, a folding soft-top, a nearside door, side curtains, a luggae grid on the tail. Gone were the headrest and the stressed alloy sheeting which had formed the deck between the seats of the original. In Feburary 1957, several carsin the course of transformation from D to XKSS were lost in a fire which swept through a third of the assembly plant. In the end, only 16 XKSS were built as new cars, and a further two converted at the works for existing D-type owners, thus establishing a grand total of 18 "official"XKSSs. All in all, 87 D-types including all factory XKSSs were fabricated, not very far short of the goal of 100. Well, as we can see, the XKSS was derived from the D-type as a slightly tamed road-going version of this famous race-car, and is a lot more rare than the D. (similar to the Ford GT40, with the roadgoing Mk III)
Matt Bacon Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 IIRC, at the Pebble beach event Skip's talking about, they got about a dozen of the 18 total there to mark Jaguar's 75th anniversary: There are companies that will turn a D-Type into an XKSS for you, and others that will build you a replica for a price: http://www.jaguarreplicas.com/xkss.html Personally, if I had £95K spare, I'd spend it on an Eagle-tuned E-type rather than an XKSS replica, but that's just me... bestest, M.
Matt Bacon Posted May 5, 2015 Posted May 5, 2015 Excellent model, Matt -I have this kit in my stash sind 1993 when it was first released. Thanks for theinfo on the tires eating the rims.... If you have it in your stash, I'd get it out and have a good look inside -- it's not just the rims the tyres will eat! I'd make sure they're in a separate bag away from the other bits... bestest, M.
jbwelda Posted May 6, 2015 Posted May 6, 2015 I have an unbuilt one, vintage unknown, but the tyres are packaged in a separate sealed bag from the factory. jb
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