There were a couple of hurdles I needed to overcome on the way to completing my miniature cockpit, not least of which was its overall black finish.
1st May 2025
Having teased my work on this new kit over the last few days, I’m happy to be able to finally reveal a few of the details that I have now painted, including the cockpit and seat.
Truth be told I have something of a love hate relationship with cockpits. Most of the time I see them as a means to an end; complete the cockpit and the fuselage soon follows. Occasionally though I spend a little more time in the cockpit (so to speak) bringing out as much detail as I can with the paintbrush. Today was one of those days…
At the risk of repeating myself, this is my first Jaguar build so I’m keen to create as detailed a model as possible. Having consigned the idea of running towards the finish line to the bin, I’ve added additional details and now, with those details in place, I want to bring as many of those out as possible.
There were a couple of hurdles I needed to overcome on the way to completing my miniature cockpit, not least of which was its overall black finish. Tempting as it can sometimes be to simply paint the parts black, drybrush the details and then pick out some individual features, I wanted more to be seen. Time for a different approach.
The trick here is to paint those parts that should be black, dark grey. I tend to basecoat in black and then cloud over a layer of grey, focussing on larger open surfaces before spraying everything from above to add some subtle highlights. This initial layer works wonders, not only tricking the eye into believing the parts are still black, but also bringing out a large amount of detail with the waft of an airbrush tip.
Though I don’t want to discuss too much about the intricacies of the paintwork here (I’m saving that for a later date) the above image shows my work and how the cockpit now looks after bringing out all of the details with carefully applied layers of acrylics. For this project I used AMMO, Vallejo, AK3G and Games Workshop paints to good effect, showing just how versatile these paints can be.
The second hurdle was what to do about the lack of seat straps. I’d halfheartedly considered a pilot, but relegated that to second place in favour of a seat detailed with some straps from an Eduard Sea Harrier FRS.1 set. Not entirely accurate, they were I surmised, good enough for government work. That being so I used those to mimic, if only loosely, those fitted inside SEPECAT’s ferocious feline.
So that’s been today’s shenanigans. The morning will see the completion of all of the interior parts, thus concluding the 20+ hours it’s taken to paint the cockpit and wheel bays. I’ll then be able to fit everything in place so I can finally hold a miniature Jaguar in my hand. Now that is, trust me, something I am very much looking forward to.
See you tomorrow.
SPENCER POLLARD'S KIT BOX 
Beautiful work Spence, Gerry
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You have done a awesome job and well made. Best wishes to you always.
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Superb. Black cockpits are the hardest IMO. BZ
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Superb work on the Jaguar.
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