Jag XK-120 for Bonneville w/ Potvin-blown Chevy: High-build primer

[Ace-Garageguy]

This is based on the old metal-bodied 1/24 Revell Jag kit, still available as an all plastic kit. 

I got two incomplete and partially built metal models in a bunch of stuff years ago and almost immediately wanted to do a salt-flats car, as one of them was missing the Jag engine.

Had to strip the dirty-pinecone-painted BRG from the shells first. REAL paint stripper. Brutal but effective.

The metal bodies are rough, with LARGE mold parting lines. They take some effort to get nice, but it's definitely worth it. I'm used to working metal on 1:1s, so I've been enjoying the metalwork on this thing.

It takes some heavy file work to get rid of that long parting line going down the entire side of the car.

I removed the license bump from the decklid to clean her up a little.

Then started filling the slots in the cowl for the bonnet hinges. This is fine f'glass cloth and aircraft epoxy.

First primer, self-etching SEM black.

Aluminum tape on the naked body shell will form the basis for a full cockpit tonneau. Hood fits nice after a little work, ready for its own primer.

A Potvin front-blown smallblock Chebby will most likely supply the go. Brian Chuchua ran a similarly equipped '58 Corvette in 1960, posting a speed of 171MPH.

 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy

[blunc]

wow, trying to get all the other threads off the first page?   

 

I have this kit...

[slusher]

Looks good in primer Bill. I will be watching....

[Ace-Garageguy]

wow, trying to get all the other threads off the first page?   

I didn't knowingly do that. Sorry. Post took forever to load. Mods...please delete the headers on the others. I've removed the content.

Edited July 13, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[afx]

I didn't knowingly do that. Sorry. Post took forever to load. Mods...please delete the headers on the others. I've removed the content.

Bill you can delete the multiple posts yourself.  Near the upper right there is a drop down menu "Moderation Actions" click on it and select "Delete".

[58 Impala]

Looking good. I'll be watching this build. I've been working on the plastic version of this kit on and off for several years. Its a frustrating

semi crude kit that requires some work to make it look right.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Bill you can delete the multiple posts yourself.  Near the upper right there is a drop down menu "Moderation Actions" click on it and select "Delete".

Thanks.  I still don't recall exactly what I did to get all those copies. Obviously had an idiot moment.  

[Ace-Garageguy]

The engine and blower nestle down in the chassis like they're made for it. This is the old (recently re-released) AMT parts-pack engine. Soon as I modify the firewall to clear it, I'll make up permanent mounts.

I beveled out the upper side of the hood-hinge slots...

...and filled them with a mix of epoxy and cotton flock.

After cleanup.

While that was working, I also laminated a couple of layers of glass cloth over the previously prepared tape tonneau. The tape and the body adjacent to it were coated with with polyvinyl-alcohol mold release, first. I try to think in advance so I can do several pieces of glass work at the same time, as about the smallest amount of epoxy you can mix accurately is 10 grams. (I hate to waste the stuff...what I use is 1:1 aircraft grade, it's expensive, and it has to be mixed on a gram scale).

Cured and popped off the tape mold, it looks like this. Because it's translucent, you can easily see how it picks up the detail from the cockpit trim rail perfectly...which will be important later.

 

 

 

Edited July 6, 2022 by Ace-Garageguy

[cobraman]

Another very cool project in the works.

[slusher]

Keep er going Bill i really like it...

[Ace-Garageguy]

Thanks for the interest guys.  

Here's a look at the underside of the tonneau after the top has been shot with a coat or 2 of SEM self-etching black. Detail is picked up exactly from the tape and cockpit rim, just as in any other molding process.

After the part is trimmed, it literally snaps down on the the other body like it was made for it...which of course, it was. The fit is perfect, not close, but dead-on because it was made in-place on an identical body shell. At this point, the hood has been shot in a minimum number of coats of SEM self-etching green. The hood required zero bodywork correction, so a black primer that would really show imperfections was unnecessary at this point. The green is simply there to protect the surface until final priming and sanding begin. Also notice the filled areas where the hood hinge slots used to be are just about perfect at this point too.

A coat of SEM high-build buff primer reveals the way-too-heavy weave that is apparent on the visible side of the part. This was really an experiment, so I didn't try to get a super-fine texture (which could be achieved by using a finer fabric weave for the final layer). Notice too that the molding-over-tape method has produced quite believable folds and wrinkles in the "fabric" of the tonneau. These would be difficult to sculpt and get as realistic a result.

After several coats of high-build primer and sanding, the rough weave is starting to disappear. As this is still an experiment, I'll probably see how far I can go with this technique. If the final results don't satisfy me, it's easy to simply mold another tonneau over tape and use a more appropriately fine weave for the final layer.

Now we're getting to the original vision I had for this thing. The helmet fairing is borrowed from one of my ongoing '29 Ford lakes car projects, and has about the look I'm after. Making a f'glass copy will provide another part for this particular model.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 15, 2016 by Ace-Garageguy

[cobraman]

Man, I wish kit parts fit that well.

[Foxer]

yes ... beautiful lines, in that last shot especially!

 

I'm sure you'll show us how you do the faring in fiberglass.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'm sure you'll show us how you do the faring in fiberglass.

Yup. I'll be doing a full set of f'glass molds of all of the parts for this shortly...soon as I get my anal-retentive old self to think it's "good enough".  

                                                             

[Jonathan]

Nice work!

[geemoney]

excellent as usual!

always jealous of your mad glassin' skills!

somewhere I have that body....

and the 56 bird...

and the MG.....

[DrKerry]

Very kool work!!!!!

[Twokidsnosleep]

Metal body work is top notch with the self etch primer and custom fiberglass cover.Wow.

Edited July 23, 2016 by Twokidsnosleep

[Agent G]

Good stuff!

G

[aurfalien]

OMG this is HOT!!!

Wow!

[Ace-Garageguy]

Nothing Earth-shattering. Had to cover the body in an automotive high-build primer. Unfortunately, a couple of the panel lines weren't lined up perfectly between the upper part of the tool and the lower part of the tool when this particular body was cast. It's necessitated some heavy re-scribing of some lines, which requires a little heavier fill than I'd really wanted to do...hence the high-build buff primer.