|
|
In the attempt to finish this model, an old Crosby, Stills & Nash
song came to mind (now that's showing my age). The lyrics went
something like this, 'and it appears to be a long time coming,
it appears to be a long time gone…' Well that just about
describes my feelings about the progress towards completion
of what in hindsight will probably be the last ever Jordan GP
winner. Bare with me if you will and I will explain.
At the time of writing, some thirteen months has elapsed before this model was
anywhere near to being finished. Initially I held back on starting the kit as
I also had the Z-model EJ12 on back order and it seemed a good idea at the time
to build these together as they were much the same only differing in final application
and detailing.
Well, sometimes plans just do not work out the way one would wish them to. Lets
be clear here though, it is no fault of the manufacturer except in only perhaps
one area. It is really the way I wanted to complete both models to an acceptable
level.
After a few e-mails to and fro with the esteemed editor, he suggested that it
may not be a good idea to include the Z-model offering as it would be unlikely
to be available after a very short space of time and would only lead to problems
later if further examples were required, which is indeed exactly the case now!
So I pressed on with the Silverline EJ13 (TMS006) on its own.
The castings are very similar to those in a Tameo kit, i.e. well presented with
negligible flash. When assembling the main body parts (pt #s 11 & 13), the
fit was so good only the smallest amount of filler was used to hide the joint.
I then glued the front wing support (pt #13) after I had made sure that it was
bent to correct shape and lined up with the front wing (pt #68). Curiously, the
front wing has the end plates produced integrally; this does not really matter
but would have made radiusing the leading edges of the wing and end plates much
easier.
 |
I assembled the cooling stacks
(pt #s 5 & 10) and the aero features on the rear of the
upper body (pt #s 14/15 18/19) but left out the small wings
at this
stage. The exhausts (pt #s 6 & 9) were also ignored at this stage. The front
wing was now assembled as per instructions, however I chose to fully assemble
the rear wing including the lower aerofoil support (pt #38). In hindsight, not
a good idea.
On the front wing support, close to the nose, there are small Gurney flaps on
each side which were not in the kit, so I filed a small piece of photo-etch and
glued it in place. Look closely at the photo on the bottom right hand corner
on the instruction sheet, they can clearly be seen. All parts were now primed
with Halford's white primer and then set aside to harden for a few days.
At this juncture, I had to find a suitable Yellow. Yes I know Jordan's are yellow
well mostly in the last few years. But which and what shade? As usual I try to
do as much research as is feasible. The last time I came in close contact with
a Jordan was at the 10th anniversary celebrations at Donington Park in September
2000, and yes there were a few yellow cars. It seemed to me at that time those
that were yellow were all the same shade except one, that being the EJ10. It
was/is a very weird yellow, best described as green in hue and fluorescent.
Now fluorescents being fluorescents, they do not show up well on film and this
shade is no exception, they do however differ significantly in tone and hue when
compared to 'conventional' colours. So the recommended colour of Tamiya Fluorescent
Yellow MS10 I believe is wide of the mark for this application. That being the
case what colour should I use?
Well you name it, I bought it and none seemed anything like close enough when
compared to the multitude of photographs I had accrued.
|
 |
|
 |
Quite by chance when
trying to find the elusive BRP Green (try Xtracrylix XA1007
RAF Sky BS210) I happened upon Xtracolour X108 FS13655
Blue Angels Yellow enamel. This was the very best yellow
match when comparing to photographs. I duly gave all parts
three coats on top of Halford's white primer. Now whether
it was the primer, I am not sure but after three weeks
the paint had still not cured sufficiently. It's just about
this time I started to lose interest for the first time.
During the winter of '04, a trip to Toronto for family reasons beckoned. Whilst
out that way I always visit as many models shops as I can find. There is always
something I can find useful that never seems to be readily available in the UK.
Apart from tools that I have a fascination with, I found in one store ModelMaster
Acrylic Blue Angels Yellow, in fact I emptied the shop of it. When I returned
home the enamel was still tacky to the touch, so I stripped it and eventually
applied the acrylic version. Now this stuff is just great providing the correct
thinner is used (I also purchased sufficient ModelMaster recommended thinner).
After a week I started to apply the decals including the black underbelly. For
this I made a template from card then transfered it to a solid black decal sheet
and then applied the cut out decal to the model. I cut small rectangular shapes
that go on the underside of the front wing support using BBR carbon fibre (BBD015).
After allowing a few days to harden off, I lacquered the main body with my customary
Gipgloss. The end result was more than acceptable.
I then started the protracted process of decaling all the wings and suspension
again with BBR carbon fibre decal. This is not as easy as it sounds and I came
to understand quickly why the term 'Braille Scale' is applied.
Each carbon component at close scrutiny has a specific direction. I reasoned
that if I have gone this far I might just as well make sure the carbon pattern
follows the correct directional path.
So at last I could now complete the final assembly of the model……well………no.
Everything was plodding along quite nicely; this is until I came to install the
barge-boards. These two components are single casting, and very well executed.
If the kit had been a 'super kit' there would have been huge scope here, but
it is not necessary as very little can be seen, largely hidden as it is.
|
The method of assembly
is to thread the front suspension assembly through the
front part of each barge-board. At the rear of the lower
suspension, is a small
locating tab that must be bent in position and the fitted into a corresponding
hole pre-drilled at the rear of the barge-board. Well this where everything came
crashing down around me. This rearmost part of the barge-board is a little delicate,
and its location somewhat fiddly. As I tried to mate all locations together,
the rear part of the barge-board separated from the main casting. To say I was
not best pleased was an understatement. Pretty well everything was finished at
this point and no amount of various types of superglue could persuade the two
parts to stay fixed together. I can only assume that there had been a flaw in
this component that I had not picked up during the paint prep.
There was little point in asking for a replacement part, as the suspension was
all glued in place and disassembly to replace the damaged component would have
only compounded the problem.
The other side was fine and went together with no problems. It was at this moment
I lost interest in this model again and so it sat forlorn for the next twelve
months or so whilst I attended to other projects. Eventually, about a month ago
(at the time of writing), I thought it was about time I put the EJ13 to bed so
to speak. I picked up the broken pieces, opened a new bottle of Zap-a-gap and
low and behold the separated parts just fell together and have stayed joined
ever since. It just goes to show that if it's all going wrong, it's best to just
calmly put the model away and come back to it later.
The final parts that required finishing were the mirrors. The kit parts are not
too precise. The mirrored surface itself is set back into the mirror housing,
I suspect this is to reduce reflections and glare on the actual car. I replicated
this with .005" plasticard on the upper and lower surfaces. I had tried
using thin pieces of photo-etch initially, but this proved rather unsuccessful
as I could not keep the pieces flat during cutting.
All the black that can be seen, has BBR (BBD015), carbon decals applied. One
heck of a time consuming task but well worth the effort in the long run.
Well better late than never, the model is completed, and in general I am quite
happy with the result. It is far from perfect, not one that I would enter into
a show as it does not quite stand up to close scrutiny. Considering I very nearly
did not finish it at all, perseverance paid off. A satisfactory conclusion then?
|
|
