1949 Jaguar XK120 Roadster

[Bernard Kron]

1949 Jaguar XK120 Roadster
(more photos below)

This is the old Monogram 1/24th kit first introduced in 1977. It’s my first project involving a die-cast body. Despite the big leap into the unknown of working in metal I actually took this on as a slump-bluster, my goal being to do as clean a build as I could and sticking to the basic kit to make a luxury sports roadster as the XK120 was first presented in 1949. The color is Duplicolor Venetian Gold which resembles the stock “Bronze” color of the early years of the XK120. I chose a light hued metallic to show off the voluptuous lines of this gorgeous ground-breaking car which simultaneously encapsulated the final design elements of late 1930s luxury and race cars with the emerging theme of relatively affordable performance. With its DOHC in-line 3.4 liter 6 cylinder motor, dual carbs and 150 HP when first introduced at the end of 1948, it was offered for less than $4,000 USD, or about the same price as a fully optioned Cadillac convertible. Manufactured in the hundreds from the outset, as opposed to the dozens at best for most immediate post-war European luxury sports cars, whose manufacturers struggled to rebuild and start up their factories, Jaguar was able to tap into the hard-currency treasure trove that was the USA import market, no doubt helped by the fact that it delivered the goods in both performance and style. Backed up by an aggressive and innovative competition program highlighted by world speed records and rally and endurance success, this made the Jaguar XK120 the choice of movie stars, sports figures, industrialists and the social elite at the dawn of the WWII recovery boom. It was this spirit that I tried to capture with this model.

Thanx for lookin,
B.

[Chris K. Hale]

What a Beauty Bernard! Well Done. A great color for this Cat! Love It Chris

[tatocorvette]

May 18, 2022 8:55:33 GMT -8 Bernard Kron said:

 It was this spirit that I tried to capture with this model.

And that is exactly what you achieved!  What a beautiful car!  The color combo suits it perfectly and the clean build is top notch.
Great job!

Thanks,
Ismael

[afx]

Very nice Bernard.

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks guys. Your kind words are much appreciated! I was surprised on how straightforward prepping the metal body turned out to be. Much less drama than I had feared. Now I'm looking into the world of (relatively inexpensive) die casts for future projects. There's so much more range in subject matter than in styrene models. I just scored a Bburago XK120 coupe on eBay for a very modest sum. It looks slightly off to me in the photos but it's worth a look-see for the $$$. There's is no equivalent in plastic that I know of.

[Joel_W]

Bernard,
Now there's one Outstanding build of a car one doesn't see very often.

joel

[Bernard Kron]

May 20, 2022 5:04:28 GMT -8 Joel_W said:

Bernard,
Now there's one Outstanding build of a car one doesn't see very often.

joel

Thank you Joel. It's a beautiful car. I did it as a slump-buster because there was every reason to build it OOB, keeping it clean and accurate, to capture the glamour and panache of the original. It's an excellent kit with very good parts fit and detail. Even the body prep isn't so bad. There are plenty of seams that need to removed, but no pitting or dips so it's just some extended Dremel time and you're good to go. There's a plastic version that Revell of Germany did in 1994 (perhaps also released at the time by Aoshima). The plastic version is far more expensive than the metal version, no doubt because many, including myself, will avoid the metal body. I'm glad I took the plunge! I have a second one which I will do as a competition car. But it was important to me to first do the stock version before messing around with modifications.

[Bernard Kron]

I know some people don't care for the dark background artificially lit studio style of photos - you know, the kind you sometimes see in car magazines. I like doing them but I get requests occasionally for more neutral outdoor lit photos. Those pictures have their own challenges but I can understand that folks might think they are more "objective" in their rendering of colors and textures. So today I took some outdoor shots against a neutral gray background. I was surprised, because I didn't use a white background, how much they resembled the studio shots. I didn't use a white background because it tends to throw a blue-white glare.