Jaguar XJ6 (Autocar magazine - simple kit)

**Rubenandres77** · #1 07-22-2019, 04:46 PM

This kit was originally released as a freebie in the October 3, 1968 issue of Autocar Magazine in the UK,
just a few days after it was presented to the public.

It's just 2 pages, and only has 5 parts. But is not so simple.
It took me two full afternoons to build it with the care and detail I wanted.
That because instructions are extremely simplified and vague. And because some parts need careful fitting,
some tabs and fold lines are missing too.

At 25 cm, the scale is around 1:19. An unusual scale, but understandable given that it fills the whole page size.

There is a low-quality scan of this out there on the internet which I built some time ago.
But I really didn't like the result. First, because the detail of the print was not sharp enough,
and second because it turned out too small and flimsy.

So I decided to buy the original magazine. And was lucky to find a remarkably well preserved copy.
Thanks eBay for that!

Already knowing the fitting issues this kit had, I was ready to cut out the original with confidence.

If you are willing to build this same kit, a couple recommendations.

First: keep a paper strip on the sides below the windows line.
That will make gluing the top to the sides much easier.

And second: be careful with the slots. The four corners (A and C pillars)
rest a few millimeters outside what is marked on the kit.
So you better measure before opening the slots or you will end up with a
weirdly curved roof top.
Cut the new slots around 5-6 mm in front of the A pillars, and about 4mm behind the C pillars.

Central slots under the windshield and rear window are ok.

I cut out all the windows because I used clear acetate instead.

The 1-piece interior is specially confusing and takes some time to do carefully.

Once you finish it, it looks really good. And you're glad is finished and not having to build it again.

A pity printing limitations of the magazine limited the amount of colors in the kit.

Unfortunately, the black interior is hardly visible once the top is glued in place
and is hard to photograph with everything closed. So you can see it now here.

The outer skin is not glued yet to the interior, because the long white strip
I let under the windows will need to be sandwiched between them.

Once finished, the kit looks nice despite oversimplifying many shapes.

You can recognize the sleek lines of the Jaguar.

The steering wheel was the last piece to be glued. I added some cardboard behind it to make it look better.

It is interesting to be able to open the hood and see the image of the engine.

And here's what you get by building the original kit from the magazine.
Some technical data of the car printed on the back side of the hood.

You don't get that from the scans found in the internet.

This turned out to be a nice little kit. Needed some attention in a few points. But nothing so bad really.

Probably would be appropriate for intermediate modelelrs. Not exactly beginners.

The finished kit looks very good from afar, and on a close inspection you really get
the amount of engineering that came into this kit, specially the complex 1-piece interior.

There's also place for adding details, and maybe someone could adapt turning wheels to make it even more attractive.

Thanks for reading!

(watermarks added to limit the possibility of the photos to be stolen and misused in other sites)