Ferrari 288 GTO vs Jaguar XKSS

[Matt Bacon]

An interesting "compare and contrast" both in terms of the original cars, and the kits!

One the one hand, the Revell XKSS, and early 90s vintage kit of an early 60s era car. The moulding is a bit "soft", but there's plenty of detail there if you look. I'm making mine a bit harder by going for the Steve McQueen car, which means messing with the interior - but I have great reference photos in "McQueen's Machines".

And on the other hand, the Fujimi "Expert Series" Ferrari 288 GTO. This too is a 90s kit, I believe, but it couldn't be further away from the Revell in approach. There are hundreds of tiny, perfectly to scale parts... but many of them will be a swine to get off the sprues intact. This one will be a challenge to my "plastic assembling" skills more than anything else! There are no compromises in the engineering, at all, but the fit may not be ideal. I acquired this cheaply as a part-started kit from a builder who may have lost the will to live, so there's a somewhat assembled chassis (though he missed a few bits out even to this stage!) I shall be paying close attention to the instructions, and ticking off each part as it is found and placed.

Anyway without further ado:

The body is painted with Tamiya "Italian Red" in a rattle can, and is now going to set for a week or two before I have at it with the polish. You can see the basics of the Jag and GTO engines in the background.

And here the engines as they are this afternoon. What's surprising is that the Jag engine is of very similar size to the GTO, despite being a straight six vs a V-8. The Jag rocker covers are chromed with BMF, and the carburettors are just press fitted at the moment.

You often hear people saying "The engine is a kit in itself", and I normally write it off as hyperbole. But in this case... there are 47 parts in what you can see above, including 8 separate cylinders, and 74 in the whole engine assembly when it's finished. Blimey!

This one may take a while...

bestest,

M.

[Foxer]

An unusual looking engine on the Jag for sure!

[Matt Bacon]

Not much done on the XKSS while I work on this beastie:

I have two very sound pieces of advice for anyone building this kit:

1) read the instructions, and then read them again

2) do not stick the exhausts into the block the wrong way round and the wrong way up, and especially not with superglue

3) and did I mention? read the instructions carefully

That little disaster solved, it didn't fit together too badly, though the lack of really solid locating points and pins does make getting the complex web of pipework together a chore that needs you to have four very small hands...

Metalwork is mostly Mr Colour "Super Iron" airbrushed, and coloured here and there with Citadel Sepia and Blue washes...

I do hope it's not all going to be this hard!

bestest,

M.

[Matt Bacon]

Starting to take shape, now:

The engine is fitted into the chassis, but the rest is just sitting unglued.

This is where I've suffered from buying a kit that had been started.... actually some of things that had been glued together so that they could be painted in one piece would have been better assembled in the proper sequence, so in order to get the engine in I had to cut apart and reassemble the back end. It's also not at all clear whether the intercoolers will sit in their proper places on the side rails, but that's a minor issue!

The tub was assembled, but not painted. I sprayed the carpet areas with Plastikote Velvet before priming the rest and painting it black. The inset panels in the doors also had some tape over them to give them texture. The real thing is black on black, but there's a variety of surface textures, and although these may not be strictly accurate, it's that alternative to monotonous black that I'm aiming for.

The front suspension just doesn't fit into the floorpan. That's not the previous owner's fault, it's the kit's. I had to grind away the edges of the raised central plinth in the floorpan, and cut away some of the sides of the I beam at the top of the suspension unit so that they'd fit around the buttresses at the rear of the weel-well tunnel, before the thing slots into place. Bad Fujimi...

Now it's time to make some progress with the Jag...

bestest,

M.

[Matt Bacon]

OK... to prove that there's life in the big cat, too:

It's actually quite nice RnR from the intensity of the GTO... you don't mind the slightly soft and simplified detailing, because it's so much easier to make progress!

And here's the GTO front axle. The brakes and hubs are exquisite, though I'm not looking forward to screwing the wheels into them. I'm pleased with the srpings... I painted them black, then lightly sanded it off the raised coils, which would then accept red acrylic paint really easily. Sadly, they'll be hidden behind the wheels, just as those lovely brakes will be barely visible inside the wheel rims...

bestest,

M.

[Matt Bacon]

Been a while since I posted an update. This thing is a real slow and steady build, with LOTS to do at every stage in the instructions. The cabin is now complete:

This is pretty much from the box, except the instruments. The holes in the dashboard for the main cluster are woefully undersized, and there was no way the decals would fit. And the decals are completely wrong as well... the GTO's dials are famously orange on black, not silver as Fujimi gives you. Fortunately, I found a great head-on shot online, which I managed to Photoshop into replacements that fitted into the remodelled binnacle. The seat belts are lead foil and medical tape, and they are fixed at floor level - the "latch" doesn't float around loose at the end of a belt as shown in the instructions! There's also an aftermarket badge for the wheel and if you look closely, a Crazy Modeller prancing horse on the centre console. That was LOT easier to use than I expected...

The chassis is also fully assembled:

Getting to this point has been quite the challenge, but that's most of the parts assembled. I'm a bit nervous about getting something this complex and fragile inside the body shell, but we'll see how we get on ;-P

...I'm sure it'll fit! I've been using Novus polish on the Tamiya paint, and I'm very impressed with how well it has come out. There's still work to do on that demarcation line, and it's time to start on the glass...

bestest,

M.

[Matt Bacon]

Ready to put the inside, err... inside:

The windscreen is quite thick but very clear; however, on my example the side windows had a very visible "internal seam" where plastic flowing from the two ends had met, and were also quite "wavy". I cut them off and have replaced them with thin acetate sheet for a better view of the inside. The fit of the quarter light vents was very impressive, though.

And finally, together:

It goes in surprisingly well, with some springing of the sides. The back end has to go in first, and if you had a new kit, you might even get the chassis stays into the holes in the body. Since they were parts that had broken off and been refitted on my "slightly-used" kit, they didn't fit, and promptly broke off again. Fortunately the chassis clicks into place even without hem, and stays where it's meant to!

The wheels are tricky to align and screw in place, and one of mine has had to resort to epoxy glue!

Finally, I think we're on the home stretch!

bestest,

M.

[MrObsessive]

Matt, BEAUTIFUL job on the GTO! That's one of my favorite Ferrari's from the '80's!

A word of caution when you get further on the XK-SS..............when building up the "insides" of the car, make sure EVERYTHING falls below the cowl line! This will even include the engine itself! Failing to do this will lead to a hood that will not close! I had to find this out late in the game when I was building my XK-SS which I turned into a D-Type Jag.

I was able to salvage the build as I shaved the engine mounts down a bit, and I also remember having to file down the firewall to make sure that it too fell below the cowl. Test fitting every step of the way is VERY important when building the Jag!

Hope this helps!

Edited May 3, 2011 by MrObsessive

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks for the support and tips, Bill!

I'm calling this Work in Progress done! When the decals have set, I'll give it a good clean, and then proper photos tomorrow, in decent light.

It's been a challenge all the way through, but it's certainly one of the most satisfying kits I've built as a result...

bestest,

M.

[Boreham]

looks great.,

288 is a beautiful machine

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks, mate... I'm now back on the case with the XKSS:

Although it's obviously far cruder than the GTO engine, it's starting to look pretty solid. The frame is a pain to get and keep together, but once it's triangulated and set it's pretty sturdy. I decided to detail the basic engine a bit... some cables, pipes and ducting. I'm pretty happy with the iginition wires! They were much easier than I expected, when I remembered I had some pre-cut 5mm length of 0.3mm ID brass tube, intended for WW1 turnbuckles. I drilled out the plug locations and glued the brass tube in place, then it was just a matter of sliding the black-painted 0.25mm lead wire into the open ends of the tubes - easy to adjust the length, easy to fix in place with a drop of superglue. The rest of the detailing will have to wait until the firewall and tanks on the frames are in place, since the pipes and cables connect the engine to various details in the bay.

best regards,

Matt

[Matt Bacon]

Here's the cockpit test assembled:

The seats are meant to look like that, honest! I have a great article in a recent issue of "Classic Cars" magazine, about driving 8TXK, which is described as "the most original XKSS in existence", and I rather liked the look of the battered original seats. I was going to do the Steve McQueen car, but I decided that an unrelieved black leather interior in a very dark green exterior would look too drab. 8TXK is classic BRG with tan leather, and I think will look much more interesting.

The seats aren't fixed...I'm going to leave as much as possible out of the cockpit for the moment, to making masking it easier while I fix the body seams and spray it in one piece. There's also some detail painting to do - the gear shift "glove is actually black, and I'm not quite sure what that widget in front of it is...

The dashboard has come out very well, I think - it's mostly the excellent decals, which settled down very well with touch of Microsol...

8TXK also has a "shield" over the air intake stacks, so this is fabricated out of a cleaned up Stella Artois can!

bestest,

M.

[Matt Bacon]

Here's the cockpit going in:

Those door handles facing upward on the upside-down top half are real "because God can see" details. There isn't an angle that you can see them from, even without the seats in place! But I know they are there...

And a first look at those lovely curves:

The back end is now very firmly glued together, and setting...

bestest,

M.

[Jim Gibbons]

Great work; looking forward to seeing this progress. I also saw an article of the original one you mentioned; way cool. The D Type and derivatives are among of my favorite cars. I dream of a D Type model as Mike Hawthorne's '55 LeMans car in plastic.

[jbwelda]

i know youve backed off the mcqueen car, and i understand why. i saw it at the petersen museum in LA and it would be pretty monochromatic in 1/24. i think he had black tuck and roll done by tony nancy maybe? or did he take it to tijuana like everyone else in those days? if so, maybe some newspaper batting hanging out of the bottom of the seats would be appropriate?

great builds those two.

[Matt Bacon]

Thanks, gents... yep Tony Nancy did the leather in McQueen's car, and Von Dutch also did some "adjustments" in the cockpit...

This is where we are tonight:

The body is firmly glued together, filled, sanded and then rescribed, to make sure that it is solidly fixed, but with panel lines in the right place. You can see my first experiments with rivets, but I decided to do the rest AFTER the primer was on. They should be raised, but I have a neat little tool for large scale rivets, and they aren't hugely visible on the real thing, so I'm going for the impression of rivets rather than an accurate "boilerplate" look...

This is pretty much every kind of masking tool I have - tape, foil, cosmetic foam, pink blu-tak and even some Copydex glue here and there...

... and here is the riveter - a hypodermic needle, cut off square and sharpened on my Dremel.

And finally, my answer to those "How do you strip Chrome?" questions:

Caustic Soda from the hardware shop. A teaspoon of powder in a big yoghurt pot half full of water, stir and let it cool, and then dump the chromed parts in. 30 seconds to strip the chrome, a minute more to take the varnish off too, back to bare plastic...But make sure you wear rubber gloves, and pick the parts out with metal tweezers, dump in a big pot of water, and rinse very well.

bestest,

M.

Edited May 12, 2011 by Matt Bacon

[Matt Bacon]

Here's the body primed and "riveted". There are lots of the darn things, so this is more about impression than strict accuracy. They'll look less stark than this under a coat or two of paint. The lines of rivets are in the right places, there should just be more of them, and raised...

...and here is that coat of paint - Tamiya TS-9 British Green. It's only part-cured here, so it won't be quite that "wet-look" until I've finished polishing it, but I'm not going to do that for a couple of weeks. I can still work on the car, but it's not ready for Novus until the paint is cured cured cured...

And finally the wheels. Tamiya Mica Silver on the stripped wheels to get the proper Dunlop racing look - they aren't really highly polished, except possibly on Steve McQueen's car! The knock-offs, however, ARE chrome, and although they are slightly screwy in shape, it's not that obvious, so I'm living with them.

Apart from this lot, some detail bits are under way - windscreen, replacement sidescreens and steering wheel, but not much to photograph as yet...

bestest,

M.

[Harry P.]

While both models look very good, Ferraris are pretty common in the scale model world... to me, your Jaguar is the far more interesting model. Not to imply that the Ferrari isn't beautifully done, it is... but the Jag makes for a much cooler model, in my opinion.

[Harry P.]

An unusual looking engine on the Jag for sure!

How so? It's the classic Jag straight six, same engine that was in the "American" Jaguar XKE model that was sold here in the states during the '60s and early '70s. It's about as classic and iconic an engine as any.

[jbwelda]

>It's about as classic and iconic an engine as any.

yep those twin OH cam covers really scream JAGUAR. though didnt E types come with SU carbs and not webers?

Edited May 13, 2011 by jbwelda

[Matt Bacon]

Yep.. the original E-types had triple 2" SU carburettors, and about 270bhp from the 4.2 engine. Then the US emissions laws kicked in, and they ended up with twin Strombergs and 170bhp.... though that was measured slightly differently, and the real power loss wasn't quite as bad as it looks! Still means, IMHO, if you are in the market for a "proper" E-type you should look for a "Series 1.5" with the original body and the 4.2 engine, and retrofit the "faired in" headlights, which I think look much cooler... ;-P

bestest,

M.

[Matt Bacon]

Tamiya sprays are pretty impressive! Three coats and this is what you get. No polishing yet, this is straight out of the can...

bestest,

M.

[Matt Bacon]

These are the new sidescreens:

The plastic is from an Easter egg package; the framing is kitchen foil bent double, with white glue to hold it together, and the "rivets" embossed into the back using a 0.25mm Rotring pen.

Here's a couple of "dry fits" to see what it might look like...

Lots more work to do, but I'm feeling hopeful that it will come together nicely...

bestest,

M.

[Jim Gibbons]

Looking really good; I, too, like Tamiya sprays. I built a Tamiya Lotus 7 for a friend in BRG, and had to do very little polishing. She had one in her vintage racing fleet. I didn't want to make it too shiny, as that's just not seen on club racers. Really nice work on this.

[charlie8575]

An unusual looking engine on the Jag for sure!

Mike, I think that's the Ferrari engine. No, they don't look too much alike!

Matt- very nice job on both of them. I like Jags and I'm enjoying watching this.

Charlie Larkin