Jaguar XJR-8 LM, Silk Cut Livery, Hasegawa, 1/24
Jaguar has always been one of favourite marques since seeing D-Types winning at Le Mans when I was a kid, spotting E-Types as a school boy, and later owning and driving a few examples, including the beloved Mk II and E-Type. Anyway, Jaguar has always, for me at least, been about sports cars and sports car racing at Le Mans. Following their success with the XJS Coupe in European Touring Car races, Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) turned to Group C Sports Prototypes at the end of 1985, returning to Le Mans in 1986. This model is Hasegawa's 1/24 kit of the 1987 XJR-8 LM in the beautiful Silk Cut cigarette livery. It's very much a kerbside model with no engine, transmission or suspension detail at all, just a pair of tail pipes popping out of the rear. Showing the age of the kit even the safety harnesses are moulded as port of the driver's seat. However, I think it looks the part. The bodywork is sprayed with Tamiya's white primer (the instructions called for "off-white") and virtually everything else is decalled, with a finishing coat of clear gloss and a radio aerial from the kitchen broom. Thanks for looking, George
Nicely done, George...it'll fit right in with your stable of like machines.
Thanks for your quick response, Craig, much appreciated. The problem now is that my display case is full...
Great looking Jag George! These marques of cars were also one of my favorites. Kitchen broom? Why you could sweep the series with these kind of innovations. Very nicely done.
California Steve
Cheers, Steve, not as inventive as some of your creations, so I appreciate your kind comments.
A real beauty.
Glad you enjoyed it, Robert.
Well done George.
Cheers, Allan, thanks for looking.
I seem to remember these cars running in a true global series of 1000km events. From an era of exciting, fast and dangerous cars. What did you do to the wheels? Paint or "weathering"-they look the part.
Thanks for looking, Bryan, I know you're a fellow car nut. For the wheels the instructions called out for "steel" but in all the pictures I've seen the wheels look quite dark, so, I used the rattle can gun metal, but, it was much too glossy, so I brushed on a coat of XF56 metallic gray over the top which gave me a finish closer to what I was looking for. I also sanded down the tyres but you can't really see that!
I think there was also an IMSA version of this car. The Le Mans cars often had an extended tail to help stability on the long Mulsanne Straight, hence the suffix "LM".
absolutely stunning George
You're too kind, Bob, much appreciated.
George, beautiful work!
Thank you, Bernard.
Up to your usual standards George, another beaut!
Cheers, Simon, hope things are going ok for you and you can get back to modelling very soon, I want to see that Porsche 935!
Great build on an iconic race car there George! I see you managed to get the tobacco advertising past the censors as well!
Tobacco advertising doesn't seem to be much of a problem here in China, hence the decals being included as standard. There's no age limit for purchasing f**s either, smoking is extremely common, especially among adult males.
I'm not much of a car enthusiast, but I do enjoy your work - always colorful, well-built and nicely detailed. Great looking model!
I'm very grateful for your comments, Greg, that's what iModeler is all about.
Great looking George. I liked it so much I revisited the Tamiya kit I started some time ago and will hopefully see it through completion thanks to you. I was put off by having to paint and decal the Castrol scheme. It looks complicated and I do not want to screw it up as it would probably be difficult to find replacement decals. I also wanted to detail out the engine area which is very busy.
Thanks for your kind comments, Jack. I haven't got the Tamiya kit (yet) but I think it's the 1988 version which is slightly different, having covered in rear wheel arches among other things, and the livery is a little different as well. I've just got hold of two of the other Tamiya Le Mans kits, the Nissan and the Toyota, they are definitely more detailed than the Hasegawa equivalents. Looking forward to seeing your finished model, I'm sure it will look great.
Well done, George. Fit and finish are very realistic !
Thank you, Joe, your comments are always appreciated, especially as you are something of a "car nut" yourself!