Heller, Jaguar XJR-9 & Peugeot 905, 1/43

[MarcoSaupe]

Hi

while waiting for the paintjob of the Lotus 91 to dry thoroughly, I did a little side project, one of the Heller 1/43 toys, the Jag XJR-9.

Even with the Tamiya Kit the purple of Decals and TS Paint did not fit, though they manufactured both, so it's no surprise the Heller Decals are off as well. Unfortunately they were a catastrophe to apply, I had to touch up so much, I could probably restore old paintings by now
And I noticed, I never made pictures of the Peugeot 905 I built some years ago, so I restored it a bit before shooting some pics.

Yes, those kits are basic toys, but they don't look too bad from a distance. I hope for a reissue of the Porsche 956 and if that happens, I'll see what Indycals can offer

Hope you like it.

[indycals]

"I hope for a reissue of the Porsche 956 and if that happens, I'll see what Indycals can offer" I already offer quite a lot for those (and I'm sure more will come down the road) Those Jaguars are tricky - I got so burned out doing the Tamiya set I never got the motivation to do a Hasegawa set. The problem with that scheme is that it needs to be precisely tailored for the body it goes on whichi is why I only offer them for the 1/24 Tamiya. Still you did great with what you had to work with.

[martinpesce]

Hi Marco, thanks for posting and great job on both kits. I am a great fan of these Heller kits because of their simplicity and the freedom they offer to add your own details (and yes, decals ). Aside from the 1:43 kits I even enjoyed the 1:18 Renault R24, believe it or not. I recently purchased the 905 kit even if I should not even collect non-F1 subjects and quite like the way it is shaped. Yours is a good inspiration to do something with it! Do you have other Heller’s waiting for a gap in your schedule, maybe the Sauber C9 or one of the F1 kits? Thanks again!

[CK]

Hi Marco,

You did great on both kits. I don't see any touch up from the photos.

I have the XJR-9 kit and the Sauber C9. I painted the C9 but the job was not good. The car is still in the box half done. These little kits are fun to build.

[GF-F1]

Hello Marco,

Cool to see those 2 kits built, it is not that often, all those prototypes from Heller were very simple kits, but it was the only one brand to propose something in this era to this scale, you paid them a very nice tribute.

Cheers

Franck
www.gf-models.eu

[JamesB]

Yes, great jobs!
And surely with Michael´s decals, when available, can be done as really nice stuff.
I only disagree in calling them toys. They certainly are not. They are well above the honest but kinda flawed diecast efforts of the era (namely vitesse and also Minichamps) and (and due to the fact that) they were much more workable: panel lines (the core of quality definition in such a subect) are easily improved and then better the usual trenches of 80´s diecasts... or the non existant ones in nowadaysmainstream diecasts.
They were more or less par with Starter resin kits of that moment and cost the equivalent of three euro, when the resin ones cost 25 or 30.
Yes decals were horrid, generally speaking.
Nevertheless a great base to do stuff nowadays with all the things available.
Well, back to the OT excellent job, thanks for sharing, yes that´s honoring them

[vekkuli]

Job welldone .

[MarcoSaupe]

Thanks all!

I already offer quite a lot for those

I know, but I need a rerelease of the kit as I only have 2 more or less gluebombs of the Porsche that are difficult to restore...

cost the equivalent of three euro

If I could get it for 3€ I'd immediately buy 10 of them

I tried to 3D print a body, was almost acceptable, I'd only have to make a few adjustments I think, and then to think about how to do the windows, but I'd need 48 hour days...

maybe the Sauber C9 or one of the F1 kits?

Sure, I already built a few, see below, I used Indycals decals for the Lotus. I have the other F1 Kits in the stash and I'm currently looking for decals for the Lancia Beta and Delta S4

[JamesB]

cost the equivalent of three euro

If I could get it for 3€ I'd immediately buy 10 of them

...and I'm currently looking for decals for the Lancia Beta and Delta S4

Well, that's good old 80s modeling memories, and you know I like that!
I remember, it was 1988, I used to buy AUTOMOVIL magazine and firts thing I looked was the modeling page. I remember the thrill, haveing it in the passenger seat in my SEAT127 (er... ahem! ) and could not believe!! Heller releasing those, and the Modeling pundit who wrote that said they were better than the Tameos in some aspects!! and 500 ptas!! (the exact equivalent to 3 euro) like 8 DM of that era...
The funny thing is that they indeed have been available here in Spain at those prices quite recently. In one of many oversized toy shops in process of being "scuttled" they were on sale for 4 euro. I bought some Paris Dakar cars (another quite interesting category in that series) and occasionally some F1. In fact I have a box with probably 4 or 5 of each.
Anyway!
If you need Decals for Beta and Delta, I have them!! I made them for my own ones
Nowadays that there´s the possibility of making custom PE parts, etc, these are very good bases to make nice things.
3D? maybe for these resin replicas are a better option

[SanMarino]

They look great despite all the challenges.

Thanks for sharing.