Airfix 1/48 Jaguar GR1

[Steve64]

Hi gents,

I was tempted too, halfway through another build as it happens, and I haven't regretted it for a moment.

Sprue goo has become my favourite filler and sometimes adhesive because it works in sympathy with the plastic. I mean it bonds and sets just like it, and sands the same way. I tend to use Mr Surfacer for the smaller jobs. Talking of which...

I've been working on filling the tiny gaps and checking seams to make sure they are hunky dory.

There's a complex little set of parts representing the fuselage area around the gun. They fit nicely but it would be asking a lot for perfection. A few gaps need filling as revealed by a very diluted application of Mr Surfacer



I tackled this area by applying watery layers of Mr Surfacer with a brush, letting them dry and repeating. I'm hoping the self levelling property and some gentle sanding will get a smooth gap free result. I'm using the 500 variety thinned a little. Call it Mr Surfacer 750 . I also use a big brush to get a wet layer. Here's where I got to about half an hour ago.



At the same time I am filling small gaps and checking seams with a very diluted Mr S mixture. A sort of focussed priming. Once happy I'll remove most of it leaving just tiny gaps filled. I paint in lacquers and don't generally prime the whole kit, so I don't want texture or surface detail flooded with painted primer.

Nose - check!



Spine - check!



Designator window - mostly check. There's the tinniest of gaps to redo, right at the top.



Fuselage front and rear - check (ish)



There is a small step on the lower part but it would be tricky to fix so I'm hoping the wrap around camouflage will do what it says on the tine and camouflage it. Let's see if my Virgo side will let me live with that.

She's looking a bit 'work-in-progress' now but I reckon once the paint goes on things will come together.

As always it is great to have you looking in.

[Stokesy44]

Interesting to see how you treat the various gaps during the process and what fillers you use. Can't wait to see the paint going on.

[Steve64]

Hi Stokesy,

Thanks very much. After a few years working on aircraft kits, I reckon getting a good finish on seam lines is pretty much a must-have skill, and it is one that's going to be needed...

[Steve64]

Hi guys,

I've found what is the most difficult construction job so far; assembling and fitting the air intakes. It started well. Each intake is made up of two parts which join just like the rest of the kit. Airfix even provide a jig to help. All good there. Attaching them to the fuselage is more problematic. Maybe I messed up, but I could not find a way to get a clean fit top and bottom. I plumped for the cleanest fit on top because that area will be most visible. There are panel lines running through the join area too and a crease that is the beginning of separation between the fuselage and air intake. In short, is is a complicated area that needs sanding, filling a rescribing. This could take a while and will need to be done carefully so as not to destroy too much detail or even the fundamental shape. I hope these pics give you a better idea.

This is the join right after fitting. Not too bad on top



However, underneath it needs work. There should not be a gap or step.



Here's a view from above. I've started the blending work on the left hand intake (as we look) and you can see that difficult area with a box-like panel and step between the fuselage and attached part.



It maybe a few days before I have this cracked. I really don't want to spoil any of the fine detail or work so far but this is surgery.

Wish me luck, chaps!

[Stokesy44]

Best of British luck Sir!

Good old jet engine intakes, the bane of every jet modeler! I know you will triumph so press on Sir, press on!

[digger303]

Ohh rescribing..not a skill in my tool box.

[Stokesy44]

Ohh rescribing..not a skill in my tool box.

Me neither. I bought a Trumpeter rescribing tool to help my efforts but it might as well be a garden rake for the results I get. They say a bad workman blames his tools. I think my civil suit against Trumpeter would last less than a minute once they saw me in action. Case dismissed Sir, on the grounds you are incompetent!

[digger303]

Ohh rescribing..not a skill in my tool box.

Me neither. I bought a Trumpeter rescribing tool to help my efforts but it might as well be a garden rake for the results I get. They say a bad workman blames his tools. I think my civil suit against Trumpeter would last less than a minute once they saw me in action. Case dismissed Sir, on the grounds you are incompetent!

[Kevthemodeller]

Nice save on the intakes, as said they can be a right pain at times. Looks like some old Airfix germlings are still in there

[Steve64]

Hi guys,

I know what you mean about re-scribing. There seem to be more ways to do it badly than there are to do it well. It's very difficult to match the manufacturer's depth and cross-section of line, not to mention the precision of machine tooling versus manual work. Scribing can be more like scribbling it seems.

For what it's worth, my approach is to start very gently at first, slowly deepening over many passes. Sort of like, er, well... ask the missus. And, I tend to do it before any filling and sanding. That way the manufacturer's lines help me out. It is almost tracing. Of course, the clean-up process can still obliterate the initial work, but it gives me a head start. Filling as precisely as possible helps to avoid unnecessary repairs too.

Tools are good too - from masking tape to templates. Anything that can aid precision. I may be saying things you already know, but in the interest of discussion I thought I'd share. And, just in case I'm sounding like a Youtube guru who always gets it right, I made two big mistakes so far. Both involved a pointy scribing tool popping out of line and gauging lovely plastic. In both cases I filled and repaired with Mr Surfacer, and in both cases it was because I was losing patience and pushing too hard. The missus might have something to say about that too.

Back to the kit, and yes, the lower join between the intakes and fuselage feels like bad old Airfix, but to be fair, it's an area many manufacturers struggle with on jets. I don't think I've built one yet that didn't need some work. Maybe there's a better approach to the engineering or a mistake in the moulding or perhaps less than perfect building by me. Anyhow, it has been tricky on this kit.

Right, all that deserves some pics. Next comes an update.

Happy modelling chaps!

[cor]

Hi guys,

I know what you mean about re-scribing. There seem to be more ways to do it badly than there are to do it well. It's very difficult to match the manufacturer's depth and cross-section of line, not to mention the precision of machine tooling versus manual work. Scribing can be more like scribbling it seems.

For what it's worth, my approach is to start very gently at first, slowly deepening over many passes. Sort of like, er, well... ask the missus. And, I tend to do it before any filling and sanding. That way the manufacturer's lines help me out. It is almost tracing. Of course, the clean-up process can still obliterate the initial work, but it gives me a head start. Filling as precisely as possible helps to avoid unnecessary repairs too.

Tools help me out - from masking tape to templates. Anything that can aid precision is good. I may be saying things you already know, but in the interest of discussion I thought I'd share. And, just in case I'm sounding like a Youtube guru who always gets it right, I made two big mistakes so far. Both involved a pointy scribing tool popping out of line and gauging lovely plastic. In both cases I filled and repaired with Mr Surfacer, and in both cases it was because I was losing patience and pushing too hard. The missus might have something to say about that too.

Back to the kit, and yes, the lower join between the intakes and fuselage feels like bad old Airfix, but to be fair, it's an area many manufacturers struggle with on jets. I don't think I've built one yet the didn't need some work. Maybe there's a better approach to the engineering or a mistake in the moulding or perhaps less than perfect building by me. Anyhow, it has been tricky on this kit.

Right, all that deserves some pics. Next comes an update.

Happy modelling chaps!

Its interesting to hear what you're doing as Im going through the same thing and Im a newbie at it. Mr surfacer 500 has beena godsend for all the errors.

The jet is looking really good. You're putting a lot of work into it and its really paying off.

[Steve64]

Hi Cor,

Thanks very much. Honestly, I try and enjoy the build and painting process almost as a hobby in its own right, so the finished item is a by-product. That way I avoid rushing to finish, which is always a temptation for me.

I hope you keep having success with Mr Surfacer. I agree - it's a great product.

Happy modelling!

[Steve64]

Ok here's the promised update.

First a look at the forward area. You can see where I used (yes, you guessed it) Mr Surfacer to start filling an area on top. It will just show once a part is fitted. You can also see the meeting place of air intakes and fuselage. They look patchy in this pic but a quick brush application and removal of very diluted you-know-what revealed that under paint they should be flat and smooth.



I'm not so sure about that problematic underside. The pics exaggerate some of the surgery but maybe there is more to do. I'm hesitant because all this work may be getting close to disfiguring the kit. I think I'll have to spray the whole area with primer later and then decide what next. I forgot to mention earlier that I drilled out the cooling holes for the guns - I just noticed!



One thing that just struck me is how good the leading edge of the air intakes is. Considering these are two halves joined, there's very little to show it. Some gentle sanding led to an almost seamless result.



On the subject of good fit, here are the wings glued to the fuselage. They have some lovely delicate moulding and the trailing edges are as thin as paper, so avoiding major work preserves all the detail. Really nice. The join at the front spine will need attention but the rest is as close to perfection as I could wish for. Airfix's instructions indicate that the front section must be clamped, and on my kit that was sound advice. It got the best flush fit, as there was a tendency for it to push up and away from rest of the kit. By the way, I'm pleased I got the undercarriage bay well glued in because that was the only place I could fix the lower part of my clamp.



Finally, a little Mr Surfacer around the rear stabilisers (?) helped to blend them in. Actually, in this shot it looks like the application is too thick but it is a trick of the light.



There you go my friends. More soon.

Happy modelling.

[Stokesy44]

Coming together nicely

[RangerNeil]

Impressive work!! I think I may have to give this Mr Surfacer a try too.

[digger303]

[Steve64]

Hello gents,

It's still slow going as I fill and add various little bits. Here's a shot that illustrates my two favourite gap fillers when there's no tricky curves for big spaces to deal with.



The hump just behind the cockpit is filled with Milliput where it joins with the fuselage. This is the grey/green variety. You might need to zoom in to see it. I've used Milliput for years and I know the properties well, so I don't have to think much about it. The small gap was filled by first pushing in the material, then drawing a moistened cocktail stick around the edge to get a good finish. Finally I remove the excess.

I think you can also see where I used Mr Surfacer on a thin gap between the wings and central fuselage. In this case I thinned it right down with Mr Levelling Thinner and let capillary action suck it in. This gets a very thin coat - ideal for closing the gap without losing the panel line. It runs into adjacent moulded panel lines too, so once dry I lightly run a scriber over them to restore the depth.

Tonight I'll be working on more construction so she'll be looking even more Jag like next time I post.

Happy modelling chaps!

[Steve64]

Impressive work!! I think I may have to give this Mr Surfacer a try too.

Thank Neil, and yes give it a try. Mr Surfacer is forgiving because it can be dissolved by lacquer thinners, so mistakes are easy to correct. Straight from the bottle it can be sort of thick and sticky, especially the 500 variety, so I nearly always dilute it, but not everyone does. Of course the thinner grades are more runny.

Good luck!

[digger303]

Hello gents,

It's still slow going as I fill and add various little bits. Here's a shot that illustrates my two favourite gap fillers when there's no tricky curves for big spaces to deal with.



The hump just behind the cockpit is filled with Milliput where it joins with the fuselage. This is the grey/green variety. You might need to zoom in to see it. I've used Milliput for years and I know the properties well, so I don't have to think much about it. The small gap was filled by first pushing in the material, then drawing a moistened cocktail stick around the edge to get a good finish. Finally I remove the excess.

I think you can also see where I used Mr Surfacer on a thin gap between the wings and central fuselage. In this case I thinned it right down with Mr Levelling Thinner and let capillary action suck it in. This gets a very thin coat - ideal for closing the gap without losing the panel line. It runs into adjacent moulded panel lines too, so once dry I lightly run a scriber over them to restore the depth.

Tonight I'll be working on more construction so she'll be looking even more Jag like next time I post.

Happy modelling chaps!

Good tips and the prep work is always the hardest slog as you no doubt know, but it always pays off.

[Stokesy44]

End result of all that work looks really good. It will all be worth it when the paint goes down

[Steve64]

Hello again gents,

Thanks as ever for taking an interest and for the replies. I have to confess that I look at loads of threads but rarely make a comment. When I'm not posting I lurk but it's always good to have a conversation.

So, see if this sparks any thoughts. I've been hopping around working on various parts as I wait for oils to dry again. This time it is a section of oil wash at the front of the cockpit coaming that refuses to cooperate. I used oils to pick out some details and add a little fading. The wash was supposed to add colour variation, which it did, but there's a tide mark despite my blending and after a few days there is only now signs of the oil evaporating. At the risk of sounding like a bad workman blaming his tools, I think I might need some new oils or mineral spirits or both.

Have a look



Meanwhile I got the tail together, which needed a tiny amount of filler, and started on the engine components. Personally I like the kit approach of providing only the detail that can be see. The fit is good enough to slot the engines in at the end of the build. That will save some masking. You can see the coaming pre-detail painting in this shot too.



Right, now I am off to do some lurking.

Happy modelling chaps, and belated rememberance for D-day.

[Stokesy44]

Its a shame about the visible line in the oil detailing, particularly when the rest of the part looks so good. It sometimes happens that oils dont co-operate, it might be the age of the product or just something dodgy that got into the mix.

As for rarely commenting, on other threads, dont underestimate the importance of your input. People like interaction on their threads, whether its just a compliment or a question that adds depth to the subject and tests the modeler's knowledge.

[cor]

Looks pretty good to me. You're really putting the effort in.

[Stokesy44]

What color scheme are you going for? Apologies if you have already told us!

[digger303]

Filling seams and sanding the joys of modelling
Looking forward to seeing your progress.

[Steve64]

Hello gents,

Thanks as always for the interest, advice and encouragement. After a few days of socialising I'm back at the bench and planning to post an update later.

Stokesy, I'm going for a 1970s wrap around grey/green.

Engines, flaps and oil paint fixes coming next.

Cheers!

[Stokesy44]

Hello gents,

Thanks as always for the interest, advice and encouragement. After a few days of socialising I'm back at the bench and planning to post an update later.

Stokesy, I'm going for a 1970s wrap around grey/green.

Engines, flaps and oil paint fixes coming next.

Cheers!

You just set off a Nostalgia Bomb on my bench. I built the old 1/72 kit in the grey green 40 odd years ago!!

[Steve64]

Hello gents,

Thanks as always for the interest, advice and encouragement. After a few days of socialising I'm back at the bench and planning to post an update later.

Stokesy, I'm going for a 1970s wrap around grey/green.

Engines, flaps and oil paint fixes coming next.

Cheers!

You just set off a Nostalgia Bomb on my bench. I built the old 1/72 kit in the grey green 40 odd years ago!!

Hey Stokesy, did it survive the decades? It might be fun to have a look.

[Steve64]

Hello again gents,

As promised here is a quick doing-this-in-my-lunch-break update.

First, the engines are now mostly painted and assembled. My drilled out bolt holes look ragged so I may do a little extra work. I'll see if I can later. I also want to paint the lower part of the aluminium exterior as per references.

By the way, I have seen criticism that the ends of the exhaust shrouds are too thick. My research shows this is not a mistake. There is a lip that runs inside each, and the thickness is a representation of it. Airfix are clearly capable of moulding very thin parts when it's right to do so. For example, the trailing edges of wings and flaps are like paper.



Phew, the oils on the cockpit coaming finally dried. I left the kit out in strong sunlight and swabbed the area quite aggressively to get rid of the tide mark. With the front canopy temporarily in place you can hardly see the problem or the desired change in colour from black-brown to black-blue.



I couldn't resist dropping the seat in. Maybe the colours are too saturated but I kind of like the visual interest, and of course when viewed with the eye they look tiny. When the camo is on I expect it all to calm down.



I promised flaps too, which are a work in progress. I'll post more when they are in place.

For now, be at peace and enjoy your kits

[cor]

Cockpit is looking top notch. This is gonna be great when its finished.

[digger303]

Cockpit is looking top notch. This is gonna be great when its finished.

Hear hear

[Stokesy44]

Hello gents,

Thanks as always for the interest, advice and encouragement. After a few days of socialising I'm back at the bench and planning to post an update later.

Stokesy, I'm going for a 1970s wrap around grey/green.

Engines, flaps and oil paint fixes coming next.

Cheers!

You just set off a Nostalgia Bomb on my bench. I built the old 1/72 kit in the grey green 40 odd years ago!!

Hey Stokesy, did it survive the decades? It might be fun to have a look.

Sorry Steve, nothing has survived from my childhood save for my VHS copy of The Empire Strikes Back. I had limited room so ditching old kits was a frequent occurance.

[Steve64]

Hello again gents,

I was trying to think of a Star Wars related introduction in honour of Stokesy's vintage copy of The Empire Strikes Back, but I failed. Google came to my rescue, and maybe this one is right for us modellers.. 'Do. Or Do Not. There is no try'.

So with those words of wisdom to guide me, here is the latest progress on the Jag. It's slow going right now because of roasting temperatures and the lure of swimming or just loafing about.

The flaps are on, making the wings look very authentic to my eye. The kit only provides the dropped version, so there's no flaps up or down decision to make. All very straightforward really, which got me here



Now I wonder if it might have been better to fit them after painting but it's too late.

Next up is the undercarriage. This looks like the most complex part of the kit with several pieces making up each main leg. I started by gluing the two halves of each strut so they got plenty of time to dry. The fit is good but the clean up will be fiddly simply because of the intricate detail to work around. I also have to deal with just a tiny bit of filling and sanding at the bottom of each part. Here's the start, with more to come soon.



Difficult work ahead? The odds are against me?? 'Never tell me the odds!'

[cor]

Looks good with the flaps breaking up the large flat top surface.

[Stokesy44]

The dropped flaps add character to the Jag's outline and I like how the Eagle Claws undercarriage is looking.

What a cold war icon this bird is

[RangerNeil]

The dropped flaps add character to the Jag's outline and I like how the Eagle Claws undercarriage is looking.

What a cold war icon this bird is

I remember these entering service - the most expressed view at the time was how aggressive they looked both on the deck and airborne. Make me feel old when you see them in museums now......

[cor]

Ive never even heard of this plane before.

[Steve64]

Hello gents,

I have to agree - the Jag' always shouts Cold War cool to me. Some of the reference pics I used show examples just before they are about to be torn up for scrap. It seems a shame that such a beauty (and so much money) are squished, but that's the nature of things, I guess.

Back in the modelling world, I finished assembling the 'talons' or rear landing gear. At this point the kit goes from exceptional to just plain good. As you can see the moulding is a little soft, and despite the innovation in other areas, this is all standard assembly, which means a lot of fiddly cleaning of sprue gates and moulding lines all while trying to preserve detail and the profile of the parts. The final look seems authentic, and the fit is good. The work required is no better or worse than I've encountered in other kits, but even so I'd hoped for something more modeller friendly. Perhaps 3D printing is the only way to avoid all that clean up.

Here's a quick Look.



Oh, and now I can see a tiny hole that needs filling.

I'll be on holiday so there will now be a short interlude.

See you soon chaps.

[Steve64]

Hi guys,

Back from holiday, I'm ready to post some progress on the Jag. Just before I left, the undercarriage was finished and a representation of the cabling was added from stretched sprue. The cables are an impression of the real thing rather than an exact replica simply because I didn't have the will to try and make them all authentic. One of the supporting arms was broken so I made a simple repair using plastic rod - that's why one part is white. You can see some filler too.





By the way, I had to tickets to the cancelled ELO farewell concert in Hyde Park. So, in the spirit of 70s cool and saying goodbye to ELO and Jaguars, here's a little listening about the perfect flying day (or not)



Happy modelling guys.

[Steve64]

P.S. I just noticed a couple of missing bolts I could add to up the busyness even more. I seem to see these things in photos when I miss them in real life.

[digger303]

Airfix might have gone a bit soft on the landing gear detail, but just by adding that little bit of tubing really lifted it back up.

[Kevthemodeller]

Coming alone really nicely shame about the old Airfix fit/engineering but just goes to show you what skill will over come

[Steve64]

Hello again gents,

I am back after a holiday and a week of illness that followed. I guess time spent on planes, trains and buses exposed me to a virus soup . With that finally clearing I've made some progress, and also managed to make a mistake. But first the stuff that has gone to plan.

I've fitted what my references tell me are a little turbojet starter motor and refuelling pipe into the rear airbrake bays. These were hard to get in and I would have inserted them earlier if I'd figured that out. The starter motor is interesting. Airfix give us a partly hollow tube with an odd beaked shaped exhaust to represent the real thing. I guess the hollow is to avoid a sink mark but the (admittedly limited) references I found show a complete tube, and that makes logical sense too. Now, I could have filled and sanded to get rid of the hole but it tucks mostly out of sight. The outer tube is black so painting that and the hollow very dark grey camouflages the missing structure. I settled on that approach and it seems to have worked. I also scratch build a new exhaust nozzle for the little turbo starter because Airfix's didn't look much like my reference. Here we have the starter and refuelling nozzle in pics.





OK, now the part that pains me to write. Wheels. Airfix give us two part, nice-looking wheels but the tyres have virtually no tread pattern. I spent some time looking at pics and making a plan to scribe in the characterisic tread. The plan was to make some narrow lines around the tyre with a knife by rolling the tyre around a static blade and then deepening them with a saw or scriber. Yeah, nice plan. Part one went well. Part two was a fail. My scriber kept slipping and instead of parallel lines I got a bent ones that did not always meet. I tried fixing this with a razor saw but that made things worse. I knew that slipping was a risk on the curve of the tyres and thought I'd got it figured out. Clearly my planning was better than my skill. I used some Mrs Surfacer to highlight the lines and... yuck. So, now I have a sense of having messed up and three options:

1. Look for aftermarket replacements (if any exist)
2. Fill in my mistakes and restore the original moulding
3. Try again to fix my lines

I think option three is not really a good idea. It is more likely to make things worse. So, I'll look for replacements and start work on filling in my errors in case no after market exist.





In the meantime I'll make progress elsewhere, and try to restore my sense of enthusiasm.

Happy modelling chaps.

[cor]

They dont look too bad. Once you paint them black and weather them up a bit you wont even notice.

[RangerNeil]

They dont look too bad. Once you paint them black and weather them up a bit you wont even notice.

I was thinking the same thing. Some slight of hand with paint and you have a worn looking set of tyres!!

[Steve64]

Hi guys,

Thanks for the suggestions about the tyres. It's a great idea, but my perfectionist side is nagging me. I like everything neat (unless it shouldn't be) and my jag is going to be depicted early in its service life.

It turns out that there are some reasonably priced after market options, so I decide to buy these:

https://reskit-models.com/sepecat-jagua ... rch=jaguar

While I'm writing, I want to praise Airfix again. Have a look at the fit of the undercarriage doors (closed when parked). This a dry fit - no glue, Blutack or tape in use. Wow.



Happy modelling chaps and thanks again for the suggestions.

[Stokesy44]

Those resin wheels and tires look tasty.

The fit of the doors is superb. Shame to cover up the detail though but I guess its accurate to have them closed.

[Steve64]

Those resin wheels and tires look tasty.

The fit of the doors is superb. Shame to cover up the detail though but I guess its accurate to have them closed.

Hey Stokesy,

Unfortunately, closing up the big undercarriage doors looks authentic. Nearly all the Jag pictures I've seen show them that way and people more knowledgeable than me say it's correct. So yes, details will be hidden. I really should have looked ahead because I could have saved myself some weathering. At least I have no worry that bare plastic will show.

Those resins wheel are on their way so it's on with other parts of the build...

[Steve64]

Hello friends,

It is starting to feel like the end of construction is sight. The next stage is to get the undercarriage doors ready for fitting. Even though most of them are closed, I gave the interior surfaces a coat of home brew yellow/green just in case. Here they are:



You can see I sprayed the inner ends of the main landing gear legs too because a small part of them form a bulkhead.

As I was dry fitting parts I noticed that the closed version of the front landing gear doors aren't secured in any way. They can just drop into the wheel well. Luckyily, the little slots designed to fit the doors in the open position take some small strips of plastic card which then keep the closed doors in place.

Before...



...and after.



With the paint dry I could close up the underside. I test fitted the landing gear before doing so, to avoid any problems with fitting the legs. It will be a slightly tight and fiddly job but they will go.

Here's how the underside looks now.



Next time I post I think the main construction should be done. Then it's on to my favourite part - paint.

Happy modelling chaps.

[Stokesy44]

I like the paint phase best on aircraft too. Its looking good, best of luck with the paint job