Never done a build diary before, and its a long time since I built a model, that would have been in the 50's while still at school. I saw the T.V. ad and then saw Part 1 of the model in Tesco's.
What sort of petrol head, growing up in the '60s could resist a BRG E-Type?
So I bought Part 1 and thought about the expense over the weekend. The Jaguar won and my budget lost.

This diary entry is not contemporary, so no point in stretching it out, having ordered a subscription Parts 2 to 5 duly arrived and the fun started. Part 1 had required little effort, just attach the growler badge and store a random wheel spinner, but now i was faced with the first wire wheel. I wasted a lot of time with double sided tape, I know some have used that method but I'm afraid I really could not make that work. After sleeping on it I decided to use glue. I checked to make sure any excess glue would be covered by the rim and with some trepidation I used tiny spots of "No More Nails" applied with a cocktail stick, pushing each spoke into its groove.
O.K. maybe not the best adhesive for this, but it takes awhile to set and is sticky enough to give a quick hold and it worked!
Once completely assembled the wheel looked great and gave a warm glow of satisfaction. I will use the same method for the next four and expect to do them quite quickly.

that wheel looks stunning, i think you will enjoy this build jg, looking forward to your next instalment.

Door Exterior view

Now the diary is getting up to date, I have started work on the engine. The cylinder head cams and cam covers already assembled and i now have both halves of the block and clutch housing along with the inlet manifold, carbs and ancillaries. I read the tip about painting the block at this stage, but not having any paint or a local model shop and being somewhat impatient I assemble everything, taking care not to over-tighten any screws, then I go looking for photographs of 1960s E-Type engines.
I decide the block should indeed be black. I remember on the cars with S.U. carbs i had in the 60s the dashpot damper was usually black. The ones on the model are gold and on most photos of E-type engines they are gold (in colour LOL, probably brass) I also noted that the fuel pipes are grey, probably steel, but the unions are brass, so I think a bit of brass paint is called for.
The distributor cover was probably black originally but I have seen various covers including blue and red, probably generic replacements, mine will be black.
It will be almost 4 weeks before any more parts arrive so next task is to find a model shop and get some paint.
The inlet manifold and carbs look great.

And the other half

I note that a number of people drop and risk losing small parts. I was worried that I would lose wheel spokes. I work on a well lit desk in the room I call my office. I keep all parts I am working on, and do the work on or maybe I should say in a deep (1 inch) tray. The bottom of the tray is covered by paper kitchen towel. If I drop a screw or a spoke it does not bounce and it stays in the tray.

Welcome to the forum J.G. Always good to see another Jag being built.

Hi J.G.

Have a look at SPAL's wheel spoking tutorial...

http://forum.model-space...spx?g=posts&t=23122

As you carry on doing the model you may want to use the 3 spoke crossover that he uses. This means that each spoke you put in on the second row of issue 4 of the build crosses over three spokes from the first row rather than two (see SPAL's 11th picture down. This shows the first spoke on the second row crossing over three of the original spokes).

This gives added strength to the inner hub supporting the outer hub.

May be worth ringing customer services.Hope you are enjoying the build so far.

http://forum.model-space...amp;m=150240#post150240

Al