Post by Bernard Kron on Jun 5, 2022 20:13:51 GMT -8
Last month I finished my first non-plastic model, the metal bodied 1/24th scale Monogram Jaguar XK120 Roadster. It’s a great kit that I can highly recommend. The parts fit, kit engineering and accurate details carried me a long way, despite my apprehension over doing a metal kit. Of course the vast majority of the kit is plastic, except for the body so it was really about body prep as much as anything, since I built it stock and out-of-the-box with only minor modifications.
The success of that project got me thinking about doing some additional XK120s, this time with more modifications. I bought an additional Monogram Roadster ,which I’ll be doing as a sports racer. But I also wanted to do a coupe if I could find one in 1/24th or 1/25th. It turns out that the only one I could find is the Bburago die cast. I was able to score one cheaply on eBay so I wasn’t too concerned about the quality of the model. It turns out the fit and detail of the Bburago isn’t too bad, certainly good enough that, with some care in detailing and painting, it should make a pretty nice model.
While researching this project I discovered a couple of modern Resto-mod customized coupes that I thought were especially nice: the Justin Hills and Thornley Kelham. The Justin Hills coupe is more like a radical custom with its aggressively chopped top, smoothly shaved body and slammed stance. The Thornley Kelham car is a true modernization of the XK120 coupe while still preserving much of the original DNA. To my eyes it’s everything that’s right about a successfully done Resto-Mod. Each of these cars have elements that inspired me for my customized XK120 coupe.
The Justin Hills XK120 custom coupe
The Thornley Kelham XK120 “European” series resto-mod
After receiving the Bburago die-cast I blew it apart, which was quite easy because everything is either snapped or screwed together and the parts count is quite low. Despite this it’s surprisingly well detailed and should respond well to paint detailing. Next up was to lower the stance some 4+ scale inches and do a mockup of the overall look I’m going after. Here are some pics of that stage:
Then I stripped the paint off and began the body work. The wheels and tires are pretty awful, being modern wide tires and decidedly one-dimensional wire wheels. They will have to go although I’m debating what kit to pilfer for this project. It will have to be a true 1/24th kit because the Bburago is on the large end of the 1/24th world. The pictures below show that I’ve removed the flat plinth that mounts the license at the rear of the original XK120 and filled in the tail light and turn signal holes and the outer front bumper holes. The rear bumperette mounting holes will be used to mount taillights. The square hole at the rear will become a sunken license plate mount. Chopping a metal body is wayyyyyyy beyond my pay grade so this will be a slammed “East-Coast” style custom with a stock height top. In keeping with the retro them I’m using AMT ’36 Ford skirts. The color will be a darker metallic red with maroon wire wheels.
Thanx for lookin’
B.
The success of that project got me thinking about doing some additional XK120s, this time with more modifications. I bought an additional Monogram Roadster ,which I’ll be doing as a sports racer. But I also wanted to do a coupe if I could find one in 1/24th or 1/25th. It turns out that the only one I could find is the Bburago die cast. I was able to score one cheaply on eBay so I wasn’t too concerned about the quality of the model. It turns out the fit and detail of the Bburago isn’t too bad, certainly good enough that, with some care in detailing and painting, it should make a pretty nice model.
While researching this project I discovered a couple of modern Resto-mod customized coupes that I thought were especially nice: the Justin Hills and Thornley Kelham. The Justin Hills coupe is more like a radical custom with its aggressively chopped top, smoothly shaved body and slammed stance. The Thornley Kelham car is a true modernization of the XK120 coupe while still preserving much of the original DNA. To my eyes it’s everything that’s right about a successfully done Resto-Mod. Each of these cars have elements that inspired me for my customized XK120 coupe.
The Justin Hills XK120 custom coupe
The Thornley Kelham XK120 “European” series resto-mod
After receiving the Bburago die-cast I blew it apart, which was quite easy because everything is either snapped or screwed together and the parts count is quite low. Despite this it’s surprisingly well detailed and should respond well to paint detailing. Next up was to lower the stance some 4+ scale inches and do a mockup of the overall look I’m going after. Here are some pics of that stage:
Then I stripped the paint off and began the body work. The wheels and tires are pretty awful, being modern wide tires and decidedly one-dimensional wire wheels. They will have to go although I’m debating what kit to pilfer for this project. It will have to be a true 1/24th kit because the Bburago is on the large end of the 1/24th world. The pictures below show that I’ve removed the flat plinth that mounts the license at the rear of the original XK120 and filled in the tail light and turn signal holes and the outer front bumper holes. The rear bumperette mounting holes will be used to mount taillights. The square hole at the rear will become a sunken license plate mount. Chopping a metal body is wayyyyyyy beyond my pay grade so this will be a slammed “East-Coast” style custom with a stock height top. In keeping with the retro them I’m using AMT ’36 Ford skirts. The color will be a darker metallic red with maroon wire wheels.
Thanx for lookin’
B.
