jaymcminn Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Last week, after nearly three years of dodging that particular bullet, the Virus That Shall Not Be Named finally got me. After two days of praying for death followed by a day of just sleeping, I started looking for something to kill the time while I was still quarantined. About three years ago as well, I put a very nearly finished Tamiya Jaguar XJ220 back in the box because my 1/12 Italeri Alfa Romeo 8c showed up and I wanted to get stuck in. The Jag has been patiently waiting all this time... When I opened the box I realized that a lot of good work had gone into this kit. It was basically ready for final assembly when I packed it in. The paint is Tamiya Metallic Red with a cream interior. I basically built it box-stock with the exception of embossing-powder carpet and assembly stuff like pinning the mirrors. When I test-fitted the chassis and body shell together I remembered another reason it went back into the box: a big warp in the chassis that made it nearly impossible to seat properly. THis issue was exacerbated by Tamiya not including any sort of positive attachment point for the chassis. This led me to my favorite modeling challenge... trying to re-engineer finished components without disturbing a really good paint job. I added tabs at the nose that allowed me to glue the front end down and extensions at the side of the chassis plate that allowed it to snap into the body shell, which also drew the warp out of the chassis. Problem solved. This is a good kit, but comparing it to modern Tamiya releases isn't quite fair. The engineering isn't nearly as good. Many components, like the side windows, are designed with little thought as to how they're supposed to be attached. I was able to use Krystal Klear to get everything into place cleanly. I did glue the headlight covers into place because the kit headlights are fairly terrible and i preferred to make sure the covers were flush. Wheels were finished with Testors Aluminum Plate Metalizer (R.I.P). The Jaguar lettering is a kit transfer and went down perfectly. I just wish they'd done the mirror faces as well! Overall, this is an excellent kit that builds up nicely out of the box. As long as you're not expecting 2023 levels of Tamiya engineering perfection, you won't be disappointed. Anyway, on to the pix! 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hard_2_Handle_454 Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 😍 Good looking car Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JollySipper Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 This is awesome! One of my all-time favorite cars...... Nice to see one in something besides silver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Chernosky Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 That's a sweet looking Jag. I like that kit and yours turned out great. Glad you were able to overcome those body fit problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy124 Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Hi there, glad you have recovered. The Jag is looking great. The paint you have chosen sets it apart from the usual silver/ blue/ green colors. It looks a lot like Jaguar's original paint Morocco Red Pearl (?) to me. Great model! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galaxyg Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 That's very nice, and a great shine. I've built this same kit and encountered similar problems, also solved by making my own locating tabs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeSchumacher Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Beautiful rendition of a beautiful machine! Sorry to hear about your health, bets wishes for a speedy recovery! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 Sting Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 I’ve passed this kit over many times while looking for something interesting to build. I believe Italeri makes one as well. Yours is the nicest I’ve seen.👍 Glad you finished and shared it. Excuse me while I run out to buy this kit. :^) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamsuperdan Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 That turned out great! Excellent colour choices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOBLNG Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 That is a beautiful looking car! Well done.👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted January 19, 2023 Author Share Posted January 19, 2023 1 hour ago, 70 Sting said: I’ve passed this kit over many times while looking for something interesting to build. I believe Italeri makes one as well. Yours is the nicest I’ve seen.👍 Glad you finished and shared it. Excuse me while I run out to buy this kit. :^) Thanks! Italeri and AMT both kitted this car up as well. The Tamiya kit was state-of-the-art at the time and is still a nice, if occasionally challenging, kit. The XJ220 is definitely an interesting car... I won't go into a history lesson but its development was troubled, to say the least! Matt Bacon on this forum a few years back did a really nice build of this kit with fantastic engine bay detail. It shows what's possible with a little extra work. 8 hours ago, Tommy124 said: Hi there, glad you have recovered. The Jag is looking great. The paint you have chosen sets it apart from the usual silver/ blue/ green colors. It looks a lot like Jaguar's original paint Morocco Red Pearl (?) to me. Great model! I always like to play with color a bit, and the metallic/pearl red seemed a perfect choice for a car that can seem a bit "flat" in the most common colors. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espo Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Beautiful looking finishes wherever you look on this build. Like the body color and the interior contrast looks great with the outside color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
70 Sting Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 2 hours ago, jaymcminn said: Thanks! Italeri and AMT both kitted this car up as well. The Tamiya kit was state-of-the-art at the time and is still a nice, if occasionally challenging, kit. The XJ220 is definitely an interesting car... I won't go into a history lesson but its development was troubled, to say the least! Matt Bacon on this forum a few years back did a really nice build of this kit with fantastic engine bay detail. It shows what's possible with a little extra work. 10 hours ago, Tommy124 said: Thanks for the heads up… I will have a look for Matt’s post. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonhawk1066 Posted January 19, 2023 Share Posted January 19, 2023 Very nice, I like the color! Always thought those were cool looking cars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bainford Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Gorgeous Jag, Jay. To be honest, I never cared for the look of the XJ220. Something about its lines just seemed awkward to me. The situation is exasperated by the fact that almost all are painted silver, which I also don’t care for. But seeing your build with that beautiful red paint, the XJ220 is transformed. The lines have purpose, and that rear 3/4 view is downright sexy. Never saw that in an XJ220 before. Well done, I say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobthehobbyguy Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Nicely done. Glad you were able to fix the warped parts. Great color and paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaymcminn Posted January 20, 2023 Author Share Posted January 20, 2023 2 hours ago, Bainford said: Gorgeous Jag, Jay. To be honest, I never cared for the look of the XJ220. Something about its lines just seemed awkward to me. The situation is exasperated by the fact that almost all are painted silver, which I also don’t care for. But seeing your build with that beautiful red paint, the XJ220 is transformed. The lines have purpose, and that rear 3/4 view is downright sexy. Never saw that in an XJ220 before. Well done, I say. As Francis Bacon said, "There is no excellent beauty that hath not some strangeness in the proportion". Jaguar could have used that quote in the promotional materials for the XJ220. It does accomplish its mission of looking like it's doing 220mph while just sitting still, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonathan Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 Such a beautiful build. You so rarely see these completed. Really nice work. Glad you're on the mend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slusher Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Beautiful model, excellent color choice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zippi Posted January 21, 2023 Share Posted January 21, 2023 Fantastic build. Love the colors. Great looking build. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PappyD340 Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Beautiful Jaguar, well done! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanL Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Really nice work here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beeRS Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 That is stunning. I’ve always liked the XJ220 and this looks fantastic in that pearl red. Well done on a beautiful build. Unusual to hear of a warp issue in a Tamiya kit. I have the Tamiya and the AMT kit in my stash - waiting to be built. I wonder if the Italeri kit shares tooling with either of these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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