Here's the obligatory box and bits shot for my (first?) submission for the GB.



The observant amongst you will notice the absence of any Aires bits ...........they will be included if/when they arrive ....... Canada Post willing.

Ian

As this kit is apparently so difficult to bet hold of of at the mo- does your photo constitute model porn...? :whistling:

If it does, then I'm guilty as charged, as I have one of each kit. Nige has shedloads! And him a policeman too!

Glad to have you in the GB Ian...

Oh yeh, I must be a proper pimp if it is.

What markings are you doing your F3 in ?????

Bill,

I intend doing my F3 in 56 sqn markings (XP746/K to be precise) in the fetching red chequered tail and NMF of 1965.

Here's a linky to a pic.

Cheers,

Ian

Whoa! you'd never miss that one in the car park

That tail, that broad arrow - classic Lightning

Looking forward to this one too!

(Note to self - why are these great aircraft missing from my stash? Damn, I'll have to buy some more kits)

cheers

Grant

An excellent choice!!!

Any further upgates Ian? We only have 3 months you know .

Well Nigel my last Lightning took me 3 months so I might just squeek this one past the finish line in time!!

Progress is slow for 2 reasons :-

1) It is now 28 celcius outside and I have an (overwhelming) urge to sit in the garden and drink beer.
2) I'm waiting for the delivery of the Aires undercarriage and exhaust bits before butchering the wings and fuselage.

However, I have made some progress. Blanking plates and airbrakes have been added and sanded to shape and various intakes and exhausts have been added from card and drinking straws. Curiously all of the intakes and exhaust bits that I've added to this F3 were present on the F6 moulding.



There is also a tubular duct on the spine just aft of the cockpit on the port side which I cannot see on any of my F3 references, so unless someone can persuade me otherwise it will be meeting Mr Micro Chisel fairly soon .......

I've also given the cockpit bits a coat of dark sea grey and fitted the instrument film to the IP.



Next will be the detail painting, assembly, washing, drybrushing and weathering of the cockpit. Hopefully by the time I'm done with that the Aires bits will have arrived. If not I'll just have to sit in the garden and drink more beer!!

Cheers,

Ian

Hi Ian,

You're going to live interesting times when you fit any resin wheel well in the wings.
I fought CMK wheel wells, and I had to grind both wing parts and the resin bits to get them to (quite poorly) fit on my Lightning T4.
The wheel well "roof" is actually the upper surface of the wing.
Keep some beer for that moment...

Cheers,

S.

Sebastien, I know what you mean - I used the CMK undercarriage/wheel well set on the Lightning F6 I completed in March. As you say getting it to fit in between the top and bottom wing "skins" is a bit of a challenge ...............

So my Aires bits arrived on Friday and I opened up the wheel well package ............. first impression "these are works of art". They are gorgeous, the detail is incredible and I would recommend them to anyone .......however ......Second impression ....OMG!!! The main undercarriage bays are taller than the CMK ones

So I have spent the last 24 hours (minus some time for kip, food and drink) Dremmelling (is that a word ?) away at the inner wing surfaces trying to thin them down so that the Aires bays will fit. It is a pretty close thing - the Airfix parts have to be thinned to a translucency close to transparency!! There is very little margin for error !! Here are some pics to show what I mean - I hope they will be helpful to anyone contemplating a similar build :-

Here's a before and after shot of the inner surfaces of the wings.



1 to 1.5 mm must be removed from both top and bottom wing halves. Without a Dremmel this would be very tricky and extremely labourious. In addition the top of the resin wheel wells have to be thinned by 1-2 mm after the casting blocks have been removed :-



I also hacked the intake trunking about to fit the nosewheel bay. Contrary to the Aires instructions the front "prongs" on the intake trunking must be completely removed to ensure correct alignment with the fuselage nose wheel bay opening.



The above photo also shows some of the detail in the Aires wheel bays - well worth all of the effort IMHO (provided I don't screw things up in the glueing/painting stage .......).

Hopefully I should have the cockpit painting finished and the fuselage closed up by the end of the weekend. Another update then.

Cheers,

Ian

Good work Ian, It must be a Airfix thing, I still get flashback of trying to get the wheel wells in the 1/48 Hawk for the first time.
Keep up the great work

Wow.

Don't sneeze too close to your wing, you'd rip it apart!

I need to find a way of reducing my Dremel speed. At 10,000 rpm (lowest speed setting), the wing would melt...

S.

Just a thought - would it make sense to use the roof of the resin as the wing upper surface? I know it would be a bit of filling and sanding which is always interesting for a bare metal finish, but it might make it easier to adapt the wheelwells?

Great work though - I have a Lightning in the stash with the intention of building it some day. Will make mental notes.

Jens

Wow, those wheel wells really show up the Airfix ones don't they?

A lot of work though for something that will not be seen....

Sebastien - on a whim a couple of months ago I bought a Dremmel Stylus which has variable speed the lowest of which is suitable for grinding/cutting plastic without melting if you are careful ......

jens - I guess you could use the roof of the resin wheel wells as the wing surface but you would still need to thin the lower wing. Just the thought of cutting the hole in the upper wing and sanding everything down to match the upper wing surface gives me nightmares - too risky for me!!

So, trailing along in the wake of Bill's lightning progress (sorry!!) I've made some headway over the last day or so.

At last I finished the 'pit :-



I added a radar controller and throttle lever to the port sidewall - both are missing from the CMK parts.



As you can see, the fuselage is now closed up too, after having carefully sprayed the intake tunnel and fan face Alclad airframe aluminium - not that it's visible without a torch and mini borscope

Wings and tail fin are now installed and joints filled and rubbed down in preparation for priming.



The fin is already primed as I was tempted to mask and spray the checkered patten before fitting ....... but I decided against it. That will be first on the list after priming.



You will notice the black patches on the upper wings - they are the result of spraying the wheel wells gloss black - shows how thin the upper wing panels need to be to fit the wheel bays.

Next update should have her all primed and with a red spine and checkered tail ........

Cheers,

Ian

Ian,

Lovely job so far, although the Aires parts are not for the faint-hearted! With such thin surfaces, did you stiffen the wing upper sufaces at all? Was thinking you could sneak some thin CA inside and bond the wheelwell roof to the wing or maybe even some slow setting epoxy?

Jens

I'd be quite careful with the CA, as the heat it releases when curing could melt the styrene.

Crikey - I've never had this happen before!

I had it happen on my Canberra T17, but it's my fault (too much CA, nothing to cool it down and dolphin shaped holes in the plastic).
With plastic as thin as the wing here, I'd be extra careful (looking at it with too much intensity could melt it anyway).

I didn't use any CA to bond the top of the wheel wells to the upper surface of the wings. Although the surface above the wells is thin the skin is still quite rigid and doesn't deform to the touch. You're getting me worried though - I'm now having visions of the wings disintegrating as I spray the primer coat tonight

I've just given the wheel wells a coat of Alclad dull aluminium - they really do look good - I'll post some photos later, hopefully with some shots of the F3 in a primer coat and with the spine and tail painted..........well that's the plan anyway .....

Cheers,

Ian

Nice job on those wells... those wing uppers look SERIOUSLY thin though... I'd be very worried about them deforming with the slightest finger pressure

Made some progress today, giving the wheel wells a coat of Alclad Dull Aluminium :-

One of the wing wells :-



The nose wheel well :-




I then used a rattle can of Krylon Flat White acrylic paint as a primer - this is amazing stuff - smoother than Tamiya Fine primer yet fills imperfections just as well ....oh and a huge can costs cdn$3.

After the priming I set about masking the tail with 22 sqares ................during which I questioned my sanity for not using a decal. Anyway after an "interesting" hour or two, when the masking tape wasn't the only thing that was blue, I got the tail all masked up :-





After which it was out with the airbrush once more and the tail and spine were sprayed red. I couldn't wait to see how it looked and, fearing a catastrophe, I unmasked the tail.................





It didn't turn out too bad - there are a few squares where the red has bled under the tape but nothing that can't be fixed later.

So after a few bits of clean up it will be time for more masking and the gloss black ...............

Cheers,

Ian

Excellent work Ian - really like your approach to the tail. You kinda know this is going come out pretty awesome.

Wheel wells & tail look pretty damn good

Thats some superb masking, such a great job on those chequers. Fantastic stuff Ian

She's looking good!!!! I attempted that on an Aeroclub Mk3 some years ago- this was of course before anyone had issued a decal sheet - and of those I have seen since, the "Post Office Red" seems very dark!!, so your masking and spraying is justified!

Looking forward to seeing the black and Alclad on.......

Thanks for the comments guys.

This is my first attempt at a BMF so things are bound to go wrong .................. I sprayed the gloss black from a rattle can - coincidentally, the model that caused me to quit this hobby 30 years ago (a 1:12 Tamiya Lotus 72D "JPS Special") was also sprayed gloss black from a rattle can. I swore then that I would never spray a model gloss black from a can again. But I'm older and wiser ( ) now so it couldn't go wrong again .......... So I have spent the last couple of days sanding down surfaces that resembled the surface of the moon Anyway, thanks mainly to the excellence of the Mastercasters sanding sponges she is now just about ready for some Alclad.

Apologies for the quality of the pics






Cheers,

Ian

Coming along nicely Ian, just remember very light coats with the Alcad I find the lighter the better.

Great Work
she's looking good

Well, it seems that I have contracted Bill's "Alclad disease"

Two days ago I sprayed the fuselage with Airframe Aluminium and today masked off and then sprayed some panels Aluminium. When I removed the Tamiya tape ........... the Airframe Aluminium came with it. When I (very gently) wiped over the affected areas even more Alclad came off (almost as a powder) exposing the gloss black primer coat beneath. It seems that the Alclad isn't "sticking" to the primer coat ( Krylon black as recommended here) at all despite being sprayed in very light (almost invisible) coats.

So I will leave everything for a day or so to see if the Alclad "cures" - if not I guess it will be time to strip it all off and start again ........ grrrrrrrrrrr

Ian

Might be worth contacting Alclad. Apparently there was a dodgy batch doing the rounds..... I've never had any problems with it but loads of people do, er, do.
Try using post it notes for masking panels, they're less sticky but still leave a nice edge.

Jen.

Thanks for the suggestions Jen. I bought my Alclad last October which is precisely when the "dodgy batch" surfaced. It's beginning to look like all of the "glossy finish" Alclad (Chrome, Airframe Aluminium and Polished Aluminium) that I have is "dodgy".

Before spraying the fuselage I'd sprayed various panels on the wings in Polished Aluminium , Airframe Aluminium and Aluminium then masked the wings with post-its ......If I have to re-do the fuselage then I'm certain that some, or all, of the wings will have to be re-done ........ The slightest touch removes the Alclad in tiny "specs", almost like dust .......

And this is a hobby we do for fun and relaxation ........

Cheers,

Ian

After leaving the AIrframe Aluminium to cure further overnight I masked the panels that I'd sprayed Aluminium and resprayed the fuselage Airframe Aluminium.

So at lunch today she looked like this :-



I then decided to bite the bullet and remove the masking to see how much of the Alclad on the wings lifted with the Tamiya tape.

So she now looks like this :-







I'd sprayed the wings a combination of Polished, Airframe, White and straight Aluminium. Unfortunately where the masking tape has been over the "shiny" shades (Polished and Aircraft Aluminium) the tape has lifted the Alclad showing some of the black primer. So I will have to redo a few spots

If the Alclad doesn't become more resilient over the next few days, I have no idea how I'm going to handle her while decalling and adding the "fiddly bits". Anyone got an anti-gravity worktop?

Cheers,

Ian

Its looking pretty good Ian, sorry that you're suffering too though!!

I think I'm gonna have to give up on my Alclad "trip"!! It looks fantastic!! Until you handle the thing! I though that the second batch was better.... but sadly no!!! I'll give her another coat of Chrome tomorrow and see if that works...if not......
is SnJ still available?

"It looks fantastic!! Until you handle the thing!" - I hear ya Bill. When I unmasked the wings I accidentally touched a leading edge wing root that had been sprayed with Alclad Polished Aluminium a week ago - result ....... a thumb print in the Alclad I must be doing something wrong - this stuff can't take that long to cure and be that fragile ...............

I dry fitted the nose ring this evening having sprayed it Chrome yesterday - it looks great but there is no way to mask and spray the (flat black) curved bit of the anti-dazzle without the Chrome lifting with the masking. Which will mean that I will have to respray the Chrome and mask the Airframe Aluminium on the fuselage, which will lift off when I remove the masking and I will have to respray the Airframe Aluminium, masking the Chrome , which will lift when the masking is removed and I will have to respray .......(this is called a "circular reference" in the IT world.......).

Time to start on my second Group Build entry ......... OMG it's a Folland (HS) Gnat T1 in a dayglo orange and Aluminium scheme ..... arrrrrgggghhh more Alclad !!!!!!

Good luck with your (hopefully final) Chrome coat tomorrow Bill.

Cheers,

Ian

Having read all your posts here I think you have a bad batch of alclad I use it regularly and that never happens to me in fact it dries immediately it goes on.

I hope you wont mind if I offer a couple of tips here,
1/ You only need gloss black when you intend to spray chrome all the other colours you can use alternatives, Humbrol enamel 21 gloss black is the one to use.

2/ I spray alclad straight onto the surface if the plastic has no flow marks and the surface is good (except chrome). providing the resin is CLEAN and free of oil you can spray straight onto it as you can not harm that at all.

3/ You will find that Halfords car primer is excellent for the undercoat I use both grey and white straight from the can, leave it for 24 hrs then give it a very light rub over with a worn out strip of wet and dry 1200 grade.

4/ An alternative is Johnsons Klear a couple of fine coats will do the job just as well as all the others remember all you need is a smooth surface not a glossy one (except chrome) again give it the wet and dry treatment just to get that "baby's bum" finish
.
5/ When you spray the alclad keep the brush almost closed and give light coats but make sure that you are not too far away as the stuff will dry before it hits the surface and the solvent will not be able to bite into the layer below to give a key, this may be the cause of your problem perhaps.

6/ You could coat what you have done with Klear and that should protect it.

7/ The way to do the matt black antiglare panel is to spray the matt black first then mask that before the alclad, always spray and mask the smallest areas first it is easier than masking an airframe to spray a tiny bit such as that.

I hope this helps you over the problems and BTW I love that tailfin you got the painting and masking in the correct order there

cheers

Ted

Couldn't agree more - and looks tremendous.

Thanks Ted, Maybe thats my problem, trying to layer it on too quickly.........I 've re-msked the fin again and will give it another go later. I had thought about a protective coat of acrylic varnish - just to assisit in handling while decalling....

Incidentally, for the undercoat I used Tamiya Gloss black - from a rattle can - (TS-range?) It went on really well and polished up nicely with Micromesh.......

there is no problem putting it on too quickly it is "too thickly" that does it, as I said you don't need GLOSS BLACK (Except Chrome) Halfords is best. and Johnsons KLEAR is ACRYLIC Varnish it will slightly affect the look of the alclad if coated with it but in my opinion to a more realistic look.

Bill if you ever get up to Hannants London on a Saturday, Gary and Carmel have given us a demo area and there are a few of us on hand to show "HOW TO" if you would be interested.

Cheers
Ted

Here is one of my Echelon birds and this is without any protection like Klear etc. etc.



a closer look and this has been to several shows with me and handled quite a bit

Ted,

Many thanks for your input. Your tips are greatly appreciated. Your "CLEAN and free of oil" comment got me thinking. I cleaned the primed surfaces using washing up liquid and water and I'm wondering if I didn't completely remove all traces of the detergent. This would explain why some areas are resilient to the touch while others are not. Anyway, I think (fingers crossed!!) that the current finish is durable and so I've just got some touch up to do .....

Many thanks again.

Ian

Cheers Ted, I wanted my Lightning to be almost "factory fresh" (well, polished up for display anyway! )So used Chrome in its entirity - see pic's in the other Lightning thread!. I wanted to give some tonal value by applying a different "metal" application to the wing leading edges etc., but just cannot mask the already applied chrome -and its been on nearly a week!!

(Oh, and as for "Airbrush displays"...I can well recall the master at work at various Model Engineering Exhibitions!!!)

I'll have another go tonight hopefully.........

As if the Alclad problems weren't enough .................

Last night I was just about ready to start decalling and was doing some "this goes here" dry fitting when I noticed that there wasnt enough room on the nose for the roundal and chevron ..... "Hmmm, are the decals too big?" I thought. And then it dawned on me ............ the ducting that runs the length of the fuselage sides (which I was using to "locate" the roundal position) was 1 cm too far forward Moral of the story, never trust "drill here" location pin marks ..............

I knew there was only one course of action but slept on it just in case a less drastic solution occurred to me ...... it didn't, so this morning I practiced some "brain surgeon" surgery and removed the nose and tail sections of the ducting.

So the nose looks like this now :-



And the tail like this :-



The "surgery" went better than I expected and the patient (and surgeon!!!) are enjoying a few quiet moments to recuperate before restorative actions can be taken. More bl$%dy sanding and filling of the the damage before fitting the trimmed and cleaned up portions of removed ducting to give the correct length. Then on to more priming and Alclad ............... OH JOY !!!!!!!!!

Ian

Ouch!!! Luckily, I was aware of the discrepancy by Airfix on the F3 cable ducting - I know that this won't make you feel better - but at least your ALCLAD's sticking!!!

Ick! Poor you... having had to perform surgery on my Hawk recently, I can sympathise. Good job it turned up during decalling. Keep the faith, and good luck with the repairs

The patient has now been restored to health. Luckily the portion removed from the fromnt was just right when fitted to the rear and vice versa. So the ducts now are the correct length and in the correct position on the fuselage.

Inspired by the (relative) success of the surgery I resprayed the damaged areas with Alclad Airframe Aluminium yesterday evening and commenced decalling today.

Here's a photo of the nose after the surgery and with the roundal and chevron decals in place :-



And here's a view of the completely decalled upper wings :-



I'm using the decals from the Flightpath set which are very crisp - unfortunately the red and white K decals for the airbrake are severely out of register so I will have to print some replacements. My task this evening I guess ....

Bill : I'm not that confident the Alclad is sticking - I just decided to ignore any that rubs off and touch up at the end if necessary, otherwise I'd NEVER finish this thing. FWIW I decided to do a test 3 days ago using the other side of my Tornado fin test piece that I'd sprayed gloss black over a month ago. 3 days ago I sprayed Alcald chrome in very light (almost invisible) coats from about an inch @ 12 PSI. It took five coats sprayed 3-4 mins apart to get good coverage. I let it dry overnight and in the morning applied Tamiya tape, gently pressed down and equally gently removed the tape. Result?................... Alclad came off with the tape leaving a "marked" surface. I have repeated the masking test on a different part of the fin every morning since with the same result. I'll post when I get no "lift" .............. or when I run out of fin

Thanks for looking. Comments and criticism welcomed as always.

Ian

Looking good

I think she looks great Ian!! I've stripped mine down to bare plastic!!! I'm giving up on ALCLAD for the time being - well, I say giving up, I'm going to spray the airframe with one of Tamiya rattle cans (not sure which) and then I'll add a few panels with an ALCLAD - not sure which!!

I can understand this "Dodgy" ALCLAD batch , but I'm in South East England, and you're the other side of the Atlantic!!!!