Jaguar Mk2, Tamiya, 1/24

[Matt Bacon]

Not sure why this one has been lingering unopened on the shelf for so long, but I decided it was time it wasn't. Usual Tamiya well-engineered kit, which even includes material and templates for carpets!

First few parts getting started. Body is primed with Stynylrez, which is my go-to for going under Zero paints these days.

It was a choice between gunmetal with red interior, or this Opalescent Silver Blue (a homebrew using Zero Pearlescent White as a starting point). The interior will be blue and grey.

And with the Diamond 2K Clear on top. Shutlines darkened with Citadel Leviadon Blue Contrast paint.

best,

M.

 

[Italianhorses]

Paint look great! Panel lines are a bit dark.

It is a great kit!

[beeRS]

The finish with that 2K is flawless.

[Dann Tier]

This is gonna be an AWESOME build to follow!!!! -love this car/kit!!!...and i love the kolor you chose!!!

[espo]

Very nice paint work. 

[Jonathan]

Beautiful work!  I'd love to find one of these kits - but alas, they're always $$$ 

[Funkychiken]

Agree with the comments, the colour really sparkles and suits the subject, it's a shame the panel lines came out so dark...

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks, all... progress is still being made, albeit slowly...first, the engine:

...and the interior is done:

The instructions have neat templates for cutting out the "carpet" provided in the kit. Mine had the self-adhesive "velvet" material, but in red, so not really appropriate for this colour scheme. However, a few quid on eBay later, I have enough blue material to carpet at least 20 classic cars...

Time to finish the chassis...

best,

M.

[beeRS]

Nice work on the engine. Good to see you've added the ignition wires.

What search term did you use to find that carpet material on ebay? It looks great!

[89AKurt]

Great paint finish and color.  Is the wood a decal?

[warra48]

The wood are decals. I'm building this myself at present.

 

[Matt Bacon]

Thank you, gentlemen. @beeRS I think I searched for “self adhesive velour vinyl” but “velvet sticky backed plastic” might work as well... A 3ft x 14” roll was about £5 (The red piece in the kit is about 3”x2”, so I’ve got 80 or so cars worth, as long as they’re blue...)

best,

M.

[Anglia105E]

Your paint finish on this one is excellent, Matt...... and this Jaguar is one of the best from Tamiya, along with the Morgan...... I have two of these Tamiya Jaguar kits, one is built and converted to a MK I with rear wheel arch spats, and the second is waiting to be built as a MK II at some point. This is how a 1:24 scale kit should be produced, and Tamiya have got this one absolutely right, in my opinion.  The fit of the parts is so precise, particularly the chassis / floor pan to the body.

David

[geordie]

I am interested in trying this kit one day myself ... although I fancy transplanting the running gear into a old Austin ... an making a circuit racer for the Goodwood Festival of Speed

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks very much, guys.A bit more substantial progress over the last few days:

That's the chassis done. Brake disks are my usual recipe: Humbrol Metalcote Steel from a rattle can, polished up for the disks, lightly drybrushed for the callipers, and the centres painted Tamiya Titanium Gold.

The interior assembles nicely. I've seen people complain about the simplified door furniture, but I figure once it's all inside you won't be able to tell...

Finally, a quick mockup to see how it all goes together:

Which confirms my feeling that although the contrast on the seats maybe looks a little overdone out in the open, once it's inside it just gives an impression of some detail.

Lots of details to start adding now. The one area where this Tamiya kit is lacking is in engine bay details. The heater and battery are there and still to go in, but if you open a real Mk2 bonnet, the impression is of a pretty well packed engine bay, while in the kit there's really a lot of room around the engine. Still, there are plenty of good reference photos out there...

best,

M.

[oldrevellfan]

very nice

[slusher]

Excellent work and beautiful color choice 

[Eric Macleod]

This is really looking great.  Well done.

[Tom Geiger]

Lookin’ good!  I always liked this car, I have to keep an eye out for this kit.

[mrmike]

Looking good!  I built this kit and found out that the metal side moldings didn't want to stick.  I ended up using thin strips of Bare Metal Foil instead.

Edited May 26, 2020 by mrmike

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks, guys!

This is (more or less) what the kit gives you for the engine bay. The Lucas decals for the battery came from some handy sponsor logos I had available, and the little filling cap on the radiator and its overflow tube are home made. But see those big empty blue sidewalls? They are pretty crowded on the real thing. So, on with some "gizmology", based on my "Factory Original Jaguar Mk2" book...

I know what some of these are... The fuel filter (clear dome thing) is a bit overscale, but I wasn't going to start turning down perspex rod to make a slightly smaller one, so it's a spare bit of clear sprue. The wash bottle and pump (clear blue thing) should in theory either be clear, with blue liquid, but square, or cylindrical but white plastic. However, I had a blue cocktail stirrer that I'd been keeping for just such a purpose, and the hybrid design will add interest to the engine bay. The black and silver box thing in the middle is the main electric control unit, which has a lot of terminals under the black cover. The other two are probably reservoirs of some kind, though the smaller square one has several wires coming out of the top. The wash bottle, control unit and wiring loom go on the exhaust side of the engine bay, and the fuel pump and the two reservoirs go on the carburetor side. I'll put some wires and maybe the fuel lines in when I mount all these on the bay walls, but I'm not planning to reproduce them all... I just want it to look well-filled and busy...

best,

M.

[Funkychiken]

Fantastic, I like the extra engine detail too!

[Italianhorses]

Interior looks fantastic!

[Justin Porter]

Built that particular kit myself last year and it's such a dream of a piece. It's a shame Tamiya has only issued it twice. Yours is looking particularly good with the little additions to flesh it out.

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks, guys... I think I've done more or less as much in the engine bay as my patience, eyesight, and stocks of varied sizes of wire will stand...

A little bit of cleaning and tidying to do, but the chassis is now complete, I reckon.

Window glass next...

best,

M.

Edited May 28, 2020 by Matt Bacon