AnonymousAA72

Coming along nicely Drewe.....are you still after the Tamiya B.IV?

A fantastic result there Mike!! Very mean and moody looking........

Yes and very nice they are too.... I had though already decided to re-model the bell intake housing - as Nick did on his FRS1 detailled builds.I've opened up some of the auxilliary doors already... Its not that difficult to do, nor is it particularly time consuming - I've nowt against the Pavla sets (nor the Heritage sets for that matter...)and in fact looking at them again, I must say that the nozzles do look very tempting.........

Spot on Andy!! Lovely!! You can't have enough Hunters....................

Ah yes but..theres also an awful lot of work required to bring the Airfix kit into the 21st Century!!!!

Thanks Ian, I think I may go down the "Airframe Alu" route.......I've no confidence in the Chrome I'm afraid

Just a thought.....I've used solid yellow decal strip (Xtradecal - good local hobby shops @ £1.50) and painted sections in the canopy frame colour with some success in the past.......

Thanks for the advice chaps! I'm not sure of what action to take next on this. I partiularly wanted a high gloss metallic finish - as seen at Airshows etc., (sometimes!). The chrome looks fantastic for this, but tamiya tape did leave marks - blotchy as Phil says. I may just concede some of that chrome finish by applying a thin coat of satin or gloss acrylic varnish -hope that doesn't bugger thigs up more, but its looking like I may have already reached that point!!

Dunno Jens, I may give it a go before I strip it for the second time.....

Cheers Phil, I have used Tamiya gloss black and that was fine. I checked the thing this morning and applied a small piece of Tamiya tape and it still lifted- and is noticeably patchy where it has lifted! I've already stripped it down once, and may have to do the same again...third time lucky- or I may revert to Halford's Aluminium!!!

Thanks for that Ian. I think I'm used to using SnJ which was rock hard within minutes!! "I managed to put a nice fingerprint on the aluminium wing upper surface of mine last night some 3 hours after spraying". Guess what?......Me too!!!

Very nice Dave...and its a nice change to see the tanks actually modelled on the outer pylons...personally I fancy a four tanked machine..........maybe I'll get around to it one day!!! Great Viffing!!!!!

Had a bit of a disaster with my first application of Alclad Chrome! Heres my second attempt - a lot better but a bit too shiny!!! I've applied a top copat of "Airframe Aluminium". My aim is to show my F3 as new and highly polished (as Lightnings sometimes were!). I'll pick out a few panels in a different shade tomorrow.... Ready for the Tamiya masking tape's removal.... Can anyone advise......how easy is it to mask this stuff, as it appears to have lifted some off in areas where the tape overlapped!?!. Is it worth sealing Alclad, with varnish?

Was quite busy today.....building my GR1 in between customers...... Mandatory box shot.....I will be able to use most of these decals......luckily most seem to be in register!! Quite a bit of "destruction" required before "construction"..... LRMTS nose removed, fins FWR removed and re-profiled I've rescribed one wing (over done a bit!) and re-profiled the wing top vortex generators Intakes being amended......

Hi Stephen, I will use a set of nozzles - though I may well have some decent ones spare from previous builds....

While the Alclad is drying on my Lightning F3 , my thoughts have turned to "Coldwar Project II". I've decided on a Harrier GR1 in 1/48th scale - and I'm going to use the Airfix GR3 as the basis. (Despite having a Monogram GR1 in the stash!) . Now to backdate and detail the Airfix kit, I've compiled a "to-do" list ... (i) New detailed cockpit, built around a Paragon(?) MB mk9 (from the Jaguar) virtually identical in this scale - I'm thinking.... Canopy detailed ...MDC, latches, mirrors, de-misting ducts etc., (ii) New pointy nose -incorporating side view camera - from Milliput, pitot tube added from alu tubing/needle (iii) Removal of FWR and RWR rairings on fin and tail boom (iii) Addition of scuff plates on tail-plane (iii) Detailed airbrake bay, and enlarged Airbrake (the kits is okay for the SHAR but not the HAR!) (iv) Re-scribed panel lines (v) Intake auxilliary doors drooped and lined up (vi) "Pegasus" fan moved forward and intakes/bell housing detailed (or red FOD blanks added!!!) (vii) Wing top vortex generators replaced/improved, wing fences removed and new plastic acard replacements added, inner flaps drooped, fuel dump pipe added (viii) upper fuselage rectangular "ducts" opened and detailled, exhaust fairing in front of the ducts removed and two new added further forward (ix) out-rider's opened up and detailed (x) wheel wells opened and detailed (maybe-maybe not!!) (xi) Undercarriage units beefed up (xii) Weapons.....Aden cannons added and detailed (probably - I may scratch build a pair of strakes) 100 gal tanks on inner pylons, SNEBS most certainly on outer pylons - and maybe on inner pair too - instead of tanks? Or maybe a 1000lb iron bomb on centre pylon? (xiii) Pylons detailed (xiv) extendable ladder added (xv) decals....use those in the kit - for stencils etc., I have a few squadron badges that I can adapt, and have plenty of suitable red/white/blue roundels.. (xvi) Nozzles.....I'll replace these with a set from Heritage or Pavla or someone! rear heat shields added from plastic card (xvii) antennae etc added from plastic card (xviii) "Puffer jet" holes opened and detailed (xix) RBF tags added A lot of the detailling stuff is the same as that on the SHAR, so I can use Nick Greenall's notes on the HARSIG site, or in the latest IPMS magazine... Is there anything else? Anything I've missed (like an announcement that Hobbyboss or Trumpeter are issuing a GR1/AV8A??) I'd better get my finger out......photo's to follow this evening (of the model, not me getting my finger out..........!!)

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.......

Wow Jen!!! A phab model and I 'm loving it!!! You just can't have enough Phantom's!!!!

A nice recovery Gary! Where did you get the 6 Sqn markings from? The only set that I'm aware of came on a Maintrack sheet that you place on th emodel and then soak!!!?!?!?

I love that Micromesh stuff!! Spent best part of two days (in between customers of course!! Best basil Fawlty voice: "What do you mean you want serving? Can't you see I'm building a model!!?!?!") polishing the thing up. I've used Tamiya Gloss Black - and can't help but ponder..If only 111 Sqn had painted their Lightnings the same way as their Hunters........ And yes Alclad CHROME is due its initial application tonight......wish me luck!! Couldn't help myself -Ii just had to have a look to see what the nose ring looked like with the gloss black.....

Thanks Col, got her in some nice shiny black paint!! You know.......it's a shame that 111Sqn never flew their Lightnings in a shiny black scheme

Hi Neil, Its a lot easier than their Meteor or Vampire!! (which on reflection may not be saying that much !!!!) I had a few problems with the twin booms but, got there in the end. Don't look too close at he alignment of the tailplane though!!!! Worth checking out Brett Green's video build on Hyperscale....

Been busy beavering away at this baby for the last few weeks...No pic's of the build I'm afraid - I'll save that for the FB4.... Box Art... Parts and decals - not a particularly inspiring choice for the RAF bird!! As I say no "In progress" shots as such, BUT thought I'd pst afew as she travels through the paint shop.... ... thought I'd try a differnt approach to pre-shading .. PRU Blue added to the lower surfaces.. And....following Dark Sea Grey to the upper surfaces...some masking while she waits for the Dark Green...

A couple or three pic's of progress thus far.. "Halford-ed" - and cleaning up commences, prior to the glossy black....

I was originally thinking of this baby!!! Ex- XS452 - The Pink Flamingo!! ZU-BBD