53 replies to this topic

[Daves956]

I took the plunge on these 2 Tamiya Jaguar XJRs. My plan is to make them look alike as the 9LM version. I've asked a bunch of questions and finally decided to do it. One of the first things I noticed were the changes in the front fenders and the lack of a big air scoop on top of the 12 body, this means some changes in the decals since one goes over the fenders.
I'll post more as it moves along....hopefully.

[Daves956]

The first thing was to define a paint line for the body. I put the front decals on knowing they'd be trash, just to know where to mask the trouble spot and see if it would work.

[Daves956]

So I mask it all off, inside and outside and double check for gaps and stuff. I'm spraying the second coat of lavender and I notice how defined the headlight lines are. Wet paint on an unmasked area looks pretty good. I hadn't intended for the headlight area to be painted at all. I'd left my brain elsewhere and really screwed up. I read about alcohol taking it off and it didn't. I tried the Tamiya thinner and got the same result. Testers enamal thinner cut it and didn't harm the body. I masked them and the windows....I was on a major screw up run. I regrouped and shot the white backing. I still have some cleanup to do once it completely dries.

[dragnse7en]

Good job so far!

I ran into a similiar problem when I painted my vintage Tamtech Porsche 962C. I used some fine grit sandpaper to remove all the paint, and then used finer and finer sandpaper until the windshield was smooth. To get it crystal clear again, use some Testors clear gloss lacquer spray or an equivalent clear gloss lacquer spray. Be sure to spray it 10 inches away w/ the Testors spray, like the instructions say, to keep the lacquer from orange-peeling and to stop runs and drips.

[dragnse7en]

Oh - if the body is polycarbonate, then do the same thing I posted above, then instead use Tamiya 86058 Pearl Clear PS spray.

[Daves956]

The paint on the lights came completely off with just the thinner. I just felt so smart. This is what I meant about cleanup.

[charlie787b]

starting to look great no turning back now

[Daves956]

starting to look great no turning back now

Matbe not turn back but I can put it back in the box
This is attempt number 6 on the striping, I'm running low on ideas but this might work

[njmlondon]

Great project. Definitely my favourite Jag livery.

[Daves956]

I picked up the yellow Pactra trim tape thinking I could do the stripes with it then pick up some green to finish them up. Um no, it's not made in green. So attempt 6 bit the dust. The problem is matching all the little bits of yellow and finding a middle of the road for the front fenders with the multiple curves. enlarging the ones from the 1/24 make them too wide to fit around the louvers on the RC body so it's got to be some sort of custom something or other. Any ideas? I'm fresh out

[Percymon]

What about some green and yellow striped electrical tape, used in the UK for the earth wire in household wiring ? Perhaps not freely available in the USA?

[charlie787b]

How about the tape they use for pinstripe's on 1;1 car's?come's in diferent width's and colours but dont know how you would replicate the curve's either.

Are the original stickers still in tact?you could find some one to copy them and make out of vinyl.?

[Daves956]

Unfortunately the green and yellow electrical tape isn't a US or National electrical Code approved item. I've been hunting for a racing or hunter greenish 1:1 and it's not a popular color it seems. The only green so far is ivy green in 1/2 inch with a gold stripe in the center and that's special order from NAPA. The originals don't clear the louvers or stick to the edge of them well even in slide off decals, not to mention an added pair of side vents half in the decal path that are more than a challenge. There's a print shop just down the road, I'll take some stripe samples over to see what's possible..I'll take a handful of cash too.

[Skottoman]

mask outside and paint?

[charlie787b]

Unfortunately the green and yellow electrical tape isn't a US or National electrical Code approved item. I've been hunting for a racing or hunter greenish 1:1 and it's not a popular color it seems. The only green so far is ivy green in 1/2 inch with a gold stripe in the center and that's special order from NAPA. The originals don't clear the louvers or stick to the edge of them well even in slide off decals, not to mention an added pair of side vents half in the decal path that are more than a challenge. There's a print shop just down the road, I'll take some stripe samples over to see what's possible..I'll take a handful of cash too.

Might pay to take the shell to the print shop too so they have a realy good idea of what you want acheive.

Quite a challenge to get over all the curves,there's bound be some "tricks of the trade".

[Daves956]

I went to a different LHS just to see what they had and picked up a sheet of yellow detail vinyl that color matched the Pactra trim tape. I picked up electrical tape at Walmart and headed for the printers I thought. Couldn't find the printer but found an auto paint supply house. They said they didn't carry pin striping but could order it. They stopped carrying it and only had a few left. One that was left was a metalic dark green double in 1/16. Meaning it had two runs with a non stick center, 150 feet for 18 bucks so 300 feet really. I used one i'd printed for a template and cut the sheet for the front and back pieces. I used the trim tape for the straight striping. Trimed it in green and well, it's as good as I can do.

[Daves956]

I was talking to a guy at a LHS and he told me to take the body and get the striping done by a guy that did custom motorcycles. Ya, I could have done that and I know somebody that does body painting much better than I. Then taken it to the printer to let him do all the decals that were left. I know it's far from perfect but it's mine and I did all the work on it. The yellow and green are too bright and it's just not the right body for this livery but I like it and in the end that's what's important. Oh, white decals create a huge vacuum all during their creation process. They really do

[Daves956]

I had to change a few things but nothing drastic. I was looking at the diffwewnt chassis types here and I do have a 200x280. It's the F201 4 wheel drive with a sensored 5600 kv brushless in it. The F201 runs great and it's a beautiful chassis but somehow it just screams wrong to me.

One thing about this that I learned was that the non RC body sets have almost nothing in common with the RCs. Once blown up the dacals were mostly just templates. The art type were usable but with a lot of work. Most everything used turned out to be custom stuff.

Right now it's just a shell I may put lights into, but I'm kinda fond of it.

[mr crispy]

Looks great to me, top job you've done there Daves956!

[charlie787b]

Yep,that look's awsome,are the purple square's on the roof sticker's too?so many tricky curve's

[Daves956]

Yep,that look's awsome,are the purple square's on the roof sticker's too?so many tricky curve's

The 9LM has a big air intake above the drivers head and all the front decals were to fit in and around it. This body doesn't have that so I exterior painted the squares and trimmed them in yellow tape. All the purple lettering and decals are one stripe or letter at a time deals so the spacing would look right. The Jag name and cat logo were borrowed from the RC stickers but redone for size in white slide offs. All the white Silk Cuts are my own since nothing fit right. The square Silk cut logos are from the internet. The sun visor and a few small decals are blow ups from the 1:24th. The stripes are vinyl and the rest are all slide offs. One thing that was hard to deal with is the purple paint. Tamiya is the only source for that color and only TS with no touch up of any kind out there.

What you see as white decals aren't. They're transparent with a border from a color sampled piece of test polycarbonate to match the car color and make the white slide off look like a white decal. The graphic software I use handles transparents but a lot don't deal with it well and shift into grey scale. Oddly you can do this on a colored background but a white background with colored decal turns out bad. The 3 tries for the simple Castrol up front and then letter by letter from 2 sets of letters just to get that close without screwed up letters is an example.

[charlie787b]

That's alot of work you put into it,thats a great finish on the roof panel paint,looks like a sticker

[Daves956]

I started looking at wheels for this car and the best price was 18 a pair with 5 shipping. That's without tires too. So figure 60 or 70 just for wheels and tires. I pulled the trigger on a better idea. 99 plus 15 for shipping. Used with a rather ugly livery but it beats nailing 4 tires to a block of wood.

[charlie787b]

A group c chassis is exactly what your shell deserve's...Good decision bet you cant resist taking it out for a spin

[Daves956]

A group c chassis is exactly what your shell deserve's...Good decision bet you cant resist taking it out for a spin

Why not, put a big motor in it and a fairly tall gear. Enough power to outrun the local Porsches is what the original was built for, but the Silk Cut body stays on a shelf while it runs. I have 2 Porsche bodies that are never run. One of them is the Rothmans 956/962 that was put to shame with the return of Jaguar to group C. The Silk Cut body will be the party dress and the Castrol will be run. I already have a third body for it. An original Parma that Tamiya copied and put on that chassis. It's been sitting here in hopes of a chassis it would fit.