Jaguar XK-E Cabriolet

[mrmike]

The Build

My latest project and the return of McNally, Boston PI.  The story is called "A Touch of English".  This is the Heller Jaguar Type E Cabriolet aka the Jag XK-E Roadster.  I have never built a Heller kit before so this will be a first for me.  Revell of Germany is releasing the Jaguar XK-E Coupe sometime in October and I hope to get my hands on one of those kits when they come out.  I have heard of issues involving the Heller body halves lining up and not fitting well on this kit.  I will be very cognizant of that.  My body paint will be Tamiya TS-86 Pure Red with a tan interior and black seats.

The Story

A British gentleman by the name of Bartholomew Richard Francis Atkinson III is driving his Jaguar XK-E Cabriolet into Charlestown for an appointment with McNally, Boston PI.  He is driving the Jag with the top down on this sunny late May day and he is enjoying the top down experience!  He stops the Jag in front of McNally's home at 157 Dardenvale St. and he removes his black leather drving gloves and adjusts his tweed driving cap before getting out of his car. On the front porch of McNally's home he rings the doorbell and McNally opens the door and welcomes him into the house.  They go into his office and sit to discuss the reason Ritchie wants to hire McNally, he had a breakin at his home in Concord, MA and his coin collection was stolen.

The coin collection was worth almost $3,000,000 with many rare coins in the collection.  Ritchie, who is almost 75 years old, has been collecting these coins since he was a 6 year old child in England.  He wants the collection returned to him with no questions asked.  A coin collection may be hard to find especially if the collection was broken up.  McNally takes on the case for Ritchie after citing his pay and what to expect from this investigation.  Ritchie thanks McNally for taking on the case and if he needs anymore information, he is available for any questions McNally may have.

[Italianhorses]

Good luck! You'll need it with this kit!

[espo]

I look forward to another one of your McNally builds. 

[absmiami]

Treat yourself to the Heller XKE coupe. Better than the Revell. The Heller kits give you everything you need for a good replica of either the coupe or the convertible

And lets start A great big argument about which was the better looking sports car ...

[mrmike]

So far, I am not being encouraged to build this kit.  I realize that this kit can be a challenge to build based on conversations with a fellow Club member who has built one in the past.  

11 hours ago, absmiami said:

Treat yourself to the Heller XKE coupe. Better than the Revell. The Heller kits give you everything you need for a good replica of either the coupe or the convertible

And lets start A great big argument about which was the better looking sports car ...

Andrew, I am waiting on the new Revell of Germany Jag XK-E Coupe which is due to be released in October.  So far, the RoG Jag seems to be a beautiful kit!  I wanted the Heller Cabriolet and the Coupe for Christmas and the vendor did not have any of the Coupes left in stock.  I got the Cabriolet and it will be built out of box with some wiring on the engine.  There will be no arguments here about the better looking sports car.  Feel free to start it somewhere else!

[bamadon]

Glad McNally is back. Maybe some Jamisons will help with the build.

[mrmike]

I have sworn off the hard stuff years ago for many reasons.  I might have a beer during the build, but nothing stronger.

[mrmike]

The Story

McNally stops at Boston Police Headquarters and goes up to his old haunt, Burglary/Robbery Division and he talks to Lt. Rueben Ferris.  He inquires about old coin shops and he finds out that Concord Police had asked BPD for assistance due to the value of Ritchie's Coin Collection.  He gets a list of coin collectors and old coin shops that may deal with old coin collections and some that does business "under the counter".  McNally thanks Lt. Det. Ferris for his time and he leaves the Burglary/Robbbery Division to go and talk to these people.

The Build

One of the first things to go was the distributor when I was going to add plug wires.  I looked around for it, but it has disappeared into thin air, so I made one from a piece of part sprue.  I added a black wash to the wire wheels and installed the tires.  The 3.8 Ltr. engine is in progress.  

McNally will return...

[Bugatti Fan]

Have seen pics of the new Revell Germany 1/24th E type Coupe to replace hat tired old 1960s 1/25th scale kit they kept re re re re issuing over many years and it looks nice. Maybe they will also follow on with a roadster version?

The Heller one has been around for some time now.   Didn't Gunze make one with white metal chassis etc,

I have a fully detailed 1/24th scale white metal roadster kit by SMTS to build that looks like a bit of a challenge. They had a bit of a dabble at 1/24 a number of years ago and also made an AC Cobra kit. Their main lines consist of  1/43rd stuff.,

Edited June 23, 2020 by Bugatti Fan

[absmiami]

The mysterious Gunze kit ...  

expensive.  Includes some photo etch. Lots of white metal. Need to build it. Should turn out well  Didn’t know about the new revell Of Germany kit ...their D type Sports car was a near miss. Engine was only okay ...Let’s see how it turns out ...

[dbostream]

Will follow this build with great interest. I have the kit in my stash and want to start building it but I have too many kits in progress already as it is.

One thing I don't like about the Heller E-Types is that the windscreen wipers are molded into the windscreen.

[mrmike]

Thanks Daniel!  I can understand having too many kits started.  I make sure that I have only 2-3 kits going at a time.  If I get bored of one, I'll work on the other.  You are correct as the Heller XK-E has the wipers molded into the windshield.  I find that often on many other kits as well. 

[mrmike]

The Story

McNally stops and talks to the various pawn shop, coin collectors, and even some back room sellers that he knows.  No one has seen any coin collections come by them.  Not even individual coins from Ritchie's collection.  Some have said that they heard of the break-in and theft, but they haven't seen anything come up for sale from it.  He will have to look closer towards Ritchie's home for clues and to check out his alarm system.

The Build

My attempt at creating a distributor for the Jaguar 3.8 Ltr. engine failed, so I dove into my parts box and and found an 8 cylinder distributor.  I sanded off the nubs, drilled it out and added my plugs wires and let the glue dry for a day.  This morning, I routed the wires to the cylinder head.

McNally will return...

[mrmike]

The Story

McNally drives out to Ritchie's home in Concord, MA and Ritchie invites him in.  He asks Ritchie for a tour of the house and grounds ending back in the foyer of the huge house.  McNally asks him about the alarm system and Ritchie says he changes the password for the alarm every two weeks.  But, he changes only one number and it is consecutive order.  McNally makes him change his password to a completely different name and number since changing just a number in consecutive order makes the system easy to hack. 

Everytime he changes his password, it has to be something completely different and Ritchie finally understands why.  And, all it took was a $3,000,000 theft from his home to make him understand.

The Build

I washed the body parts yesterday and let them air-dry overnight.  This morning, I assembled the engine frame on the chassis and based on my research, this will be painted all one color...Tamiya TS-86 Pure Red.  The interior will be a mix of different blacks and I might add some embossing powder for carpet.

McNally will return...

[Bugatti Fan]

Looking back again at earlier posts in this thread at the picture of the ( I assume Heller) kit wire wheels. They do look a bit odd as though the brake disc is lodged within the spokes.

Not a lot that can be done about this apart from retro fitting some wires from another source. From what I have heard the Heller kit is a bit of a challenge and this build appears to be going very well, so all credit where it is due.

Andrew's picture of the Gunze kit reminded me that a number of years ago Airfix released it under licence for a short while. I believe that Gunze dropped the white metal bits eventually in favour of good old polystyrene plastic but possibly retained the photo etched parts.

There have been no further comments from mine so far about a brand new tool E type coupe this year from Revell Germany. Anyone got one to comment on it?

[mrmike]

19 minutes ago, Bugatti Fan said:

Looking back again at earlier posts in this thread at the picture of the ( I assume Heller) kit wire wheels. They do look a bit odd as though the brake disc is lodged within the spokes.

Not a lot that can be done about this apart from retro fitting some wires from another source. From what I have heard the Heller kit is a bit of a challenge and this build appears to be going very well, so all credit where it is due.

Andrew's picture of the Gunze kit reminded me that a number of years ago Airfix released it under licence for a short while. I believe that Gunze dropped the white metal bits eventually in favour of good old polystyrene plastic but possibly retained the photo etched parts.

There have been no further comments from mine so far about a brand new tool E type coupe this year from Revell Germany. Anyone got one to comment on it?

Noel, when did this become your thread about other makers of a Jaguar XK-E kit?  I think that you should be asking that kind of question in "General Automotive Talk" and not in my build thread.  If you want to comment on my build, I welcome it.  But, asking about comments on your posting of Jaguar kits should be put somewhere else.  There is a time and place for everything and this is not the time or place for that.

[OldNYJim]

This is going to look gorgeous in red!  And I’m glad McNally has returned too.  Inside job on those coins maybe?  Intriguing!! 

 

[mrmike]

Thanks Jim!  I have quite few stories written with many models to be built and I have tried branching out to stories not involving models.  The coin collection?  I'm not saying!  Keep watching!

[mrmike]

The Story

As McNally drives back into Boston, his cellphone rings and he answers the call.  The caller is Alexander Cannon and he would like McNally to stop by his house in Brookline, MA for a quick chat and the Boston PI heads to the Cannon Residence.  He s escorted to the study where Cannon is talking on his telephone and McNally is greeted by Lila Stenna, Cannon's executive assistant.  They talk for a few minutes until Cannon ends his phone call and turns towards McNally and Lila and he motions him to his large wooden desk.  He points to a chair next to his desk and they start to talk.

Cannon tells McNally about a phone call he got a call from a former associate who is still in the shady business of Boston's Underground.  He wanted to know if Cannon could move a valuable coin collection and Cannon told him he doesn't do that sort of thing any longer.  The associate who name is Johnny Wilson, wants to know why Cannon is not interested and he tells Johnny he has turned a new leaf and his in no longer interested in Boston's Underground.  Johnny tells Cannon he'll look elsewhere and Cannon tells him good luck.  Then, he called McNally since he heard he was searching to the coin collection.

The Build

I painted and assembled the rear suspension and the underhood structure.  Both are ready for primer and paint.

McNally will return...

[espo]

The rear chassis/suspension looks well presented . Interesting inner support for the hood, this may be a more accurate kit than some have said. 

[mrmike]

Thanks David!  I just realized that I took the pictures of the rear suspension upside down!  Oops!

[Bugatti Fan]

Mike,    Can I just say in my defence that  I was not attempting to hijack your thread. You have made your feelings abundantly clear about my post, but I was not knowingly trying to cause you any offence or steer your thread in another direction.

 The first two lines of the four were referring to your build, and I tried to give credit to you on your build of that reputedly difficult Heller kit but somehow it appears to have been lost in translation. I have been looking at your further posts since and your build is coming on really well.

I hope that you will accept my apology as it was not my intention to upset you in any way.

Kind regards  Noel

[mrmike]

Noel, I will consider your apology.  

The Story

McNally discovers that Johnny Wilson hans out at a dive bar called Rott Gutt.  He goes into the bar and orders a cold beer and the bartender puts a luke warm can of beer on the bar top and opens it as if the Boston PI was disturbing his very busy day.  He asks about Johnny Wilson and the bartender lights his cigarette and points to Johnny sitting in a booth near the front window.  McNally goes over to Johnny and introducrs himself and says he's looking for the coin collection and Johnny says he doesn't know anything about a coin collection.  McNally pushes the table into Johnny's stomach and says that if Johnny doesn't start telling him about the coins, he will do much worse to him.

Johnny says he is a go-between for the collection and the seller.  McNally asks what the seller wants for the coins and Johnny says $1,000,000.  McNally says he has the money and where and when does the seller want the cash.  Johnny says to meet him in the alleyway in Jamica Plain off of Camber St. at 11:00 AM.  McNally says no funny business or somebody is going to die and it won't be himself. 

The Build

I was looking at my laptop background which happens to be of a '61 Jaguar XK-E and I noticed something about the headlights.  Something was missing and I looked at the instructions for the missing parts and the instructions show nothing!  Zip, zilch, zero, nada!  No tunnel buckets for the headlights!  The tunnel buckets run from the headlights along the bottom of the headlight tunnel under the clear plexiglass.  What to do, what to do?  I have some 11/32 tubing and I will try to cut and shape a piece to fill in that open space in the hood.

McNally will return...

[absmiami]

Ah yes. This brings back memories. The case of the missing headlight tunnels. A very strange omission in a very good kit ...

your fix should do the trick. Consider adding / making the half round backs of the head lamps ...

[Matt Bacon]

IIRC I used some plastic “fake nails” from the make-up aisle to make the “sugar scoop” headlight tunnels on my last project that had that problem...

best,

M.