E Type Jaguar

[Bugatti Fan]

A wish rather than an announcement.

I would like to see the definitive E Type kit in plastic.    1/12th scale and of course by Tamiya !

The only thing that surprises me is that they have note done one already, even in 1/24th.

Edited March 27 by Bugatti Fan

[Justin Porter]

I would imagine that with their good friends and neighbors down the street at Gunze Sangyo having produced a stunning - for the time - E-Type kit, it simply didn't clock to Tamiya to produce one of their own during the time they had the Jaguar license.

The fortunate thing is that while they had the license they gave us arguably the two finest Jaguar kits full stop in the Mk.II Saloon and their XJR-9LM. 

Personally speaking, an XK-120 FHC in 1/24th from Tamiya as a companion to their astonishing 300SL Gullwing would have been my wish. 

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

My favorite XKE is the 68 and up(?) series with the uncovered headlights and 6 cylinder engine. IMO, that series has a more planted look. This would be a rare kit as it doesn't seem to be available in diecast. 

[1959scudetto]

1 hour ago, rrb124@sbcglobal.net said:

My favorite XKE is the 68 and up(?) series with the uncovered headlights and 6 cylinder engine. IMO, that series has a more planted look. This would be a rare kit as it doesn't seem to be available in diecast. 

There is a die-cast in 1/24 made by Ixo (released in newsstand series in France and Italy, also reboxed by whitebox in Germany) - it can be found in BRG, red and light blue metallic. It is called 1961 Jaguar E, but it is a 1969 series II 2+2 Coupé 4,2.

I have the green one:

 

Edited March 27 by 1959scudetto

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Thanks. That is good looking and of course, BRG.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

I'd be overjoyed for a 1/24 from Tamiya.

If ever, it'll probably be at least a while after Revell's most recent little present in that punchbowl...

[Radretireddad]

I think the newest Revell 1/25 kit is probably the next best thing to a nonexistent Tamiya level kit. Other than that the ancient Monogram now Revell 1/8 scale kit is your only other choice.

[BVC500]

It would be nice if Tamiya did more classics, like Ferraris or a 300SL roadster companion to their Gullwing. They used to be better about this. 

Edited March 28 by BVC500

[stitchdup]

there is a metal kit. i saw this one at a show but i know nothing else about it other than probably expensive and hard ti find. I base that on the guys other entries all being large scale euro cars. sorry about the poor pic, folk just kept pushing in the way so i grabbed a quick one as i had a boat to catch

 

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Well. I wouldn't have figured the Altaya/DeAgostini 1:8 to be part of the discussion, but here's more if you like. COVID build.

Not strictly fair, but on comparison of proportions alone, this shows what a dog's breakfast that new Revell kit really is - and I say this hastening to point out that every Revell automotive release since has been superior. 

Sometimes, vastly so.

[Matt Bacon]

33 minutes ago, Chuck Kourouklis said:

what a dog's breakfast that new Revell kit really is

That DeAg is beautiful, @Chuck Kourouklis. To be fair, the Revell convertible is pretty good... certainly better than the 60s 1/25 Revell version (though that kit is actually pretty impressive for its time, and when compared to what other companies were putting out). It's the fact that they either didn't realise that the coupe windscreen is higher than the convertible's, or did realise but couldn't afford to make it different, that means the coupe kit is "low-brow" and the roofline is off. (I mean, who could possibly imagine that the highest point on a curvaceous car's roof would be over the driver's head....?)

best,

M.

[mikos]

There were many cars with the virtual highest point of the roof over the driver’s head.  The 2nd generation F-body was somewhat similar.  With a car so well-documented like the Jaguar E-Type, it’s aggravating to know that Revell screwed up on the windscreen by making it noticeably too low.  
 

It’s similar to the problem they had many years ago with the Foxy body “notchback” Mustang police car.  The designers who worked on the master patterns obviously did not know or care what the real cars looked like in 1:1 scale.  I guess they didn’t do an internet search to view the thousands of photos of the real cars posted online.

[Radretireddad]

Wow that DeAg E-type is stunning! I wish it came in a LHD version that I could build to match my 1:1.

[Chuck Kourouklis]

Thanks, Matt & Brian!

It's sort of an augmented stock build you're looking at.  The engine was refinished according to DeAgostini's own suggestions, as even they seemed aware of the one-silver-fits-all for metallic-finished parts.  The exhaust was given the Alclad treatment, and the suspension arms were corrected in finish.  The headliner was given some textured paint and an overcoat inside its perimeter surfaces.  The body was given a few coats of older-formula U-Pol, lightly thinned and airbrushed, with a cut and buff thereafter.

I'm afraid the problem with the Revell kit goes a bit deeper than the coupe's windshield height.  There's just something in the transition of the bonnet to the cowl that makes it seem too high at that point, reinforcing the sense of a downward cant from the cowl forward that just isn't there on the 1:1.  Convertible suffers from that too, and the wheel and tire package does the kit no favors.

Edited April 1 by Chuck Kourouklis
agreement error

[rrb124@sbcglobal.net]

Always a pleasure to see an E type. This beautiful 1/8th scale model would love a lighted glass case!

[Bugatti Fan]

The DeAg E Type looks great built up. Another company, Agora make a 1/8th kit of the Roadster version that to my.kind is the nicer looking car of the two, but both look great none the less. I saw the Agora one built up on their stand at Telford last year and must say it was very impressive along with other items in their range.

I have a very rare 1/24th scale E type kit in white metal by SMTS. Looks to be quite accurate just by checking out the bits in the box. SMTS normally make 1/43rd scale but looks like they dipped their toe in the water with a few 1/24th scale kits. The Jag E Type that I have, and they also made the AC Cobra and a Ford GT40 that I know of. Keep looking at my kit and wondering whether to build it or not !

The Gunze kit was nice that I can remember and didn't it have some either white metal or die cast bits? Pretty sure Airfix made it under licence for a while. Apart from that the only others that I can think of may have been made by Heller, and really way back by Aurora/Monogram? Frog made a 1/16th scale motorised kit too.

Edited April 7 by Bugatti Fan

[Radretireddad]

I have the Gunze E-type convertible kit and everything forward of the firewall is cast metal. It also has multi piece photo-etched wire wheels along with many other photo etched parts that have to be folded. I bought it because there was nothing else available at the time. Even though the newer Revell kit has some design flaws, I still think it’s better than the Gunze kit which seems unnecessarily complicated. Casting parts in metal instead of plastic doesn’t add any degree of realism to the kit over plastic pieces. It just makes it heavier. Same with all the photo etched parts. Since acquiring the Revell coupe kit, I have no plans to finish the Gunze kit.

[Zoom Zoom]

2 hours ago, Radretireddad said:

I have the Gunze E-type convertible kit and everything forward of the firewall is cast metal. It also has multi piece photo-etched wire wheels along with many other photo etched parts that have to be folded. I bought it because there was nothing else available at the time. Even though the newer Revell kit has some design flaws, I still think it’s better than the Gunze kit which seems unnecessarily complicated. Casting parts in metal instead of plastic doesn’t add any degree of realism to the kit over plastic pieces. It just makes it heavier. Same with all the photo etched parts. Since acquiring the Revell coupe kit, I have no plans to finish the Gunze kit.

Yet Gunze captured the shape of the body, especially the subtle arc on the hood/fender unit from the headlights back to the cowl area better than Revell, and that part fits better than Revell's does to the main body. I'm not a fan of all that metal either, but Revell kits are cheap and the ideal build would use parts from both and a set of finely 3D printed wheels w/proper tires that are available from several sources. The Gunze rear fender openings need a little trimming and the interior can be installed from outside so the body can be glued together to remove the seams fore and aft of the door openings. I built the Gunze curbside kit and it looks great...I have the full-detail one for "someday".  

[Justin Porter]

17 minutes ago, Zoom Zoom said:

Yet Gunze captured the shape of the body, especially the subtle arc on the hood/fender unit from the headlights back to the cowl area better than Revell, and that part fits better than Revell's does to the main body. I'm not a fan of all that metal either, but Revell kits are cheap and the ideal build would use parts from both and a set of finely 3D printed wheels w/proper tires that are available from several sources. The Gunze rear fender openings need a little trimming and the interior can be installed from outside so the body can be glued together to remove the seams fore and aft of the door openings. I built the Gunze curbside kit and it looks great...I have the full-detail one for "someday".  

I'm glad you pointed out the Gunze rear fender openings because they are absolutely wonky. I built the Gunze curbside roadster too and I am equally not 100% convinced on their radiator opening either. It's not as undersized as the old Revell E-Type tool, and it's not the "what happened at the cowl?" issue of the new Revell E-Type, but it feels puckered somehow in a way that makes me squint. Honestly, I have to hand it to Heller. Their E-Type FEELS the most right to me and that's just on a roadster to roadster basis. Obviously they still hold the FHC crown.

[Radretireddad]

56 minutes ago, Zoom Zoom said:

Yet Gunze captured the shape of the body, especially the subtle arc on the hood/fender unit from the headlights back to the cowl area better than Revell, and that part fits better than Revell's does to the main body. I'm not a fan of all that metal either, but Revell kits are cheap and the ideal build would use parts from both and a set of finely 3D printed wheels w/proper tires that are available from several sources. The Gunze rear fender openings need a little trimming and the interior can be installed from outside so the body can be glued together to remove the seams fore and aft of the door openings. I built the Gunze curbside kit and it looks great...I have the full-detail one for "someday".  

The flaws in the Revell kit are not glaring enough to be an issue for me. Some minor trimming and filing of the rear edge of the hood latch tab on the body is the only extra work necessary to correct any hood to body fit issue. I’ve substituted a better set of tires from an old Tamiya kit and I’ll grant that a better set of 3d printed wires would really stand out but overall I’m satisfied enough with the Revell kit to build it OTB and toss the Gunze kit. I want the coupe anyway and IIRC the convertible was the only version Gunze kitted.

[Radretireddad]

1 hour ago, Justin Porter said:

I'm glad you pointed out the Gunze rear fender openings because they are absolutely wonky. I built the Gunze curbside roadster too and I am equally not 100% convinced on their radiator opening either. It's not as undersized as the old Revell E-Type tool, and it's not the "what happened at the cowl?" issue of the new Revell E-Type, but it feels puckered somehow in a way that makes me squint. Honestly, I have to hand it to Heller. Their E-Type FEELS the most right to me and that's just on a roadster to roadster basis. Obviously they still hold the FHC crown.

The headlight openings in the Gunze kit are way too small and it’s too squished together ahead of the wheel openings. The rear edge of the latch tab must be trimmed back to get the cowl to fit over the top edge of the firewall properly on the Revell kit. When I quickly compared both kit hoods to my 1:1, It also appears that the center dome profile on the Gunze kit is too flat. Since it’s dark out and the lighting in my garage is less than optimal, I’ll back my car out during the day tomorrow and take some side profile shots to post.

Edited April 8 by Radretireddad

[Chris in Berwyn]

1 hour ago, Radretireddad said:

The flaws in the Revell kit are not glaring enough to be an issue for me. Some minor trimming and filing of the rear edge of the hood latch tab on the body is the only extra work necessary to correct any hood to body fit issue. I’ve substituted a better set of tires from an old Tamiya kit and I’ll grant that a better set of 3d printed wires would really stand out but overall I’m satisfied enough with the Revell kit to build it OTB and toss the Gunze kit. I want the coupe anyway and IIRC the convertible was the only version Gunze kitted.

l

It builds up into a very nice looking model!

[Zoom Zoom]

8 hours ago, Justin Porter said:

I'm glad you pointed out the Gunze rear fender openings because they are absolutely wonky. I built the Gunze curbside roadster too and I am equally not 100% convinced on their radiator opening either. It's not as undersized as the old Revell E-Type tool, and it's not the "what happened at the cowl?" issue of the new Revell E-Type, but it feels puckered somehow in a way that makes me squint. Honestly, I have to hand it to Heller. Their E-Type FEELS the most right to me and that's just on a roadster to roadster basis. Obviously they still hold the FHC crown.

Those rear fender openings were simple to fix. I've never had the Heller roadster but I do have a couple of the racing coupes. I never figured out the best way to deal with filling the seams from upper to lower body. The Gunze roadster was simple, as the interior stuff can go in after seam filling/painting. Revell coupes are already hitting Ollie's. Fit one of them w/3D printed wheels/tires and don't look at it from a direct side view and call it a day LOL. 

[Radretireddad]

Here are the previous profiles of the kit body and of my 1:1 FHC for comparison. I’ll grant that the kit body roofline isn’t quite right especially in the area of the top edge of the windshield but as far as the overall profile from the headlights back to the base of the windshield, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. The overall fender line arc may be a bit more pronounced on the kit body but I wouldn’t have noticed it if no one pointed it out. The only other flaw I spotted is that the kit includes all the parts for LHD and RHD versions but they forgot about the wipers which can only be assembled as RHD.

Edited April 9 by Radretireddad

[peteski]

On 4/8/2025 at 8:06 PM, Radretireddad said:

I’ll grant that the kit body roofline isn’t quite right especially in the area of the top edge of the windshield

Actually your photos show just how drastically wrong it is.  The front edge of the roof seems to extend way too far forward and it is also flat where your car's windshield curves up into the roofline. 

Since your car is black, it is also very difficult to compare the shape of the wheel openings on your car with the ones on the model.