Heller Jaguar Type E 3L8 OTS Cabriolet (80719) and Heller Jaguar Type E 3L8 FHC (80709)- 1/24

[CarlR]

I've always liked the look of the E-type Jaguar and I keep hoping that Tamiya will (one day) release a kit of this car. But... it doesn't appear that that's going to happen anytime soon so when Heller re-released their Jaguar kits I ordered one of each.

The Heller kits offer the potential for a skilled modeler to build a decent model of each of the Jaguar E types but not without a fair bit of
skill in the "bringing it up to snuff" department.  There was very little in the way of flash but I found the parts to be "chunky" in their interpretations of the Jaguar form and lacking in detail. It's as if Heller set out with the right idea but just didn't follow through.

For example, the wiper blades... The bottom half of the wiper arms are molded onto the windshield frame. The upper half of the arms and blades are molded as part of the clear windshield - but they don't align properly when the windshield is installed. On my kits I shaved off the wiper arms and replaced them with round plastic rod. On the plus side, the other parts of the kits fit together very well when they're cleaned up. The tops for the convertible (folded and erect) fit perfectly. I was particularly happy with the headlight covers which I consider to be the weakest point of the Revel kit. It's critical to get the "eyes" of the XKE correct to give it the right look.

Also disappointing in the Heller kits was the decal sheet. To say it is simplistic might be being overly generous. The whitewalls I applied to the coupe did not come with the kit - they were surplus decals from an other kit (exact source unknown).

But all griping aside, I am happy to finally have these cars in my collection.

Edited April 19, 2018 by CarlR

[darthsideous]

That's a nice pair, and I want to stress, I mean that in a totally NOT weird way. ? lol.

[ChrisR]

Looks great!

[landman]

Lovely.

[PARTSMARTY]

Very nice builds of 2 great cars !!!

[drodg]

Nice job.    I love the coupe especially.

[donb]

Beautiful in red or blue!

[bbowser]

Great renditions of both cars, I'm partial to the convertible.  Well done.

[Modelbuilder Mark]

Looking good

[Dann Tier]

VERY cool!!  -love the spokes too!

[slusher]

Two great classic Jaguars!!!!

[Lone Wolf]

CarIR, Nice "review" mate, and spot on about the "chunky parts", which I hadn't noticed before with my unbuilt coupe kits. That said, they do look pretty nice once built, at least yours do! I'm looking forward to starting mine, hopefully one (bone stock) in the near future. Another will be wildly modified into something along the lines of a V-8 (BBC) powered Pro Street Machine (I can't help myself), if I live long enough.

Thanks for sharing and posting sir!