AdriaN (MLT)

You are absolutely right! they are too thick and dark. I used the Trumpeter scriber and i find its too wide for a 1:72 model. My wash might have been too concentrated & in contrast with a polished finish. I have a tendancy to press too hard when scribing and pass over the same line too much. ive learnt my lesson. next time light passes.

Yes i had to rescribe it ALL. Yes it is from the PDF team. This kit put me off Heller...

thank you all It looks great from a distance, but full of flaws in close up Next up (after some 1:48 builds) is a 1:72 Fouga Magister. Not Dassault, but still French!

Dassault MD.450 Ouragan The Dassault family Left to right: Super Etendard, Super Mystere, Mystere IVA, Ouragan. Next up? 'Patrouille de france' Mystere & Ouragan.

Wheels bays painted aluminum. Unfortunately... this model was a "tail sitter"! My only option was to place a few lead pellets into the gear bay. IT WORKED! This is the way i do it... Wheels broke off so to strengthen them i had to drill holes and insert copper wire. Hole drilled into wheel bays...and... The drill bit came out onto the other side!!

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/127765-airfix-02010-3-lightning-f-1a

the gear doors will strengthen it up. mine has been standing on its 3 legs for over 2 years with no breakages!

Decalling has been completed and i must say i did enjoy it. Decals went down really well and with zero silvering. The stars on the fuel tanks were put on based on what looked "right" to the eye. After decalling the model was washed and a Klear coat was applied to decals, with a brush. After... the model was given a wash using artists water colours: The wash sank nicely into the panel lines.

Too late! Ive almost completed decalling and it really made the model POP & distracts you from the NMF. Im just stuck with figuring out the fuel tank star decals. But decalling has been going very well and fun.

Heller truly are a disaster! Not only is it a bad kit but....Their attention to detail is minimal and it seems the instructions were not proof read before printing. There were many decal reference numbers on the instruction sheet which were WRONG or mixed up with others. Some decals didnt even have any reference! So i followed other decal options. to make life worse... on the most complex part of the decalling stage.. they forgot to give reference numbers on the wing tip fuel tanks. Just TWO tanks are made up of EIGHT decals!

Canopy masked and sprayed. Unfortunately some black primer seeped under the masking tape. Hopefully some acrylic cleaner will rub it off without damaging the plastic. Rudimentary ejection seat. Seatbelts were made with masking tape.

Panel lines are a bit too thick. i used the Trumpeter scriber. Wing p.lines came out the best! The fuselage panel lines are horrible and look like swiss cheese! Many came out slanting and wobbly. Scriber has a tendancy to "wander off" Primed up using Revell acrylics Blue parts were painted with Revell acrylics French Blue. Not at all happy with the results! The Alclad "polished aluminum" came out very 'dotty', very grainy and patchy (dark and light patches). Almost like normal aluminum paint. This is my third NMF model and ive never had this problem. Also airbrushing pattern-lines show up. The black primer was quite smooth and i also gave it a soft sanding session before. Also the panel lines are way too thick! and all my seam lines and 'mistakes' (sciribing) which i covered up with filler/liquid filler.. then sanded.. showed up like a sore thumb!! On the other hand.. the blue paint was the most positive part! Sprayed on and layered on like a dream. i LOVE revell acrylics! Panel shading on airbrakes and gun area was utterly random.

Im not too happy with th panel lines. They are too thick and the ones on the fuselage look like swiss cheese! anything but straight or square. The wings on the other hand.. came straight.

haha yes i realized something was seriously wrong when comparing both 1980 and 2013 decals! They even got it wrong on the box artwork. they put the tongue at the top and top part of the mouth at the bottom!