Jump to content

dhdove

Members
  • Posts

    192
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Profile Information

  • Gender
    Male
  • Location
    South Glos. UK
  • Interests
    Wish I had a selfie with a headset on.......

dhdove's Achievements

New Member

New Member (2/9)

141

Reputation

  1. Hi Steve Thanks for that, bought my Meng kit a few weeks ago and picked up a pot of the Mr Color paint with it. Just tried it on the gearbox side panels. WOW! Thatโ€™s one bright colour but looks great. Reference pics are deceptive I know but it certainly matches some of them and also the colour reference/mixing info swatches available on the net so Iโ€™m going with it. Thanks again. TonyS
  2. Thanks for that, Hope I used the right parts....... TonyS
  3. Jessica That's great news! Thank you. Martin, looks like you won't need to add any nose weight at all, why bother since the tail bumper wheel assy. is quite substantial and easily supports the rear end. Thanks both for your kind comments. Just one or two other points.... I added Tamiya tape seat belts to busy up the cockpit a bit. I wanted to see more of the ventral radome so built it in the extended position. I was worried it would ground out when on its wheels but this wasn't the case. Quite a few of the parts weren't a great fit and needed some dry fitting and fettling before glue, this kit isn't up to Tamiya fit standards. It seems that this kit and the other Kinetic Tracker (S-2E/S-2G) share the same sprues, I had loads of bits left! The only difference I suspect being the instructions and decals. Why do I feel a bit cheated when manufacturers do this?............๐Ÿ˜• Otherwise a fun build and really captures the essence of the original, 8/10 from me. I especially like the way that the huge props are represented when completed. TonyS
  4. Hi all Next up in my US Navy Cold War series is this Kinetic offering. It was a good build tho the instructions supplied are a little vague with regard to options offered and the decalling information misses some decals completely so some research is required. Despite filling the nose with weight and also the front of the engine nacelles this kit was still a taildragger! So I cheated and extended the rear bumper wheel leg and used that to hold the tail up, not accurate I know but effective! I managed to completely destroy the large wing walk decal when I tried to apply it so I hand painted the wing walk with Tamiya German Grey XF-63. Otherwise the kit decals were fine. I scratch built a searchlight from Milliput as nothing is provided in the kit! Overall it builds up into a great representation of this wonderful looking aircraft. Mad boom, radomes, searchlight, sonobuoy dispensers, rocket pods, torpedoes, what's not to like ๐Ÿ‘ Next up, F3H-2M Demon by HobbyBoss. Thanks for looking. TonyS
  5. Gimme shelter Thanks for your kind comments! Don't worry about the size, I was looking at the new Revell limited run 1/48 B1B earlier today, now that IS a monster, nearly a metre long and just under a metre wide, GULP! Lightning 770 Yes, I agree. It was a bit of a bother but I followed advice from a previous builder as detailed and it worked for me. I don't think it's the best fitting kit ever produced....... BTW just to re-iterate, this build is now on hold pending tailfin ID marking C-Charlie.......can anyone help? TonyS
  6. Hi all I'm building the Trumpeter kit but XM173, former gate guardian at Bentley Priory, Tailcode C - Charlie. WIP here.... http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234978210-my-first-wiptrumpeter-132-f1af3-lightning/ I've used the generic Xtradecal sheet for the serial numbers but the 16" Tailcode letters only come in plain black, white or yellow. 56 Squadron used a black on white letter and also the font was an "American football" type with octagonal corners. Does anyone know of a sheet which contains these in 1/32, or could someone print a couple up for me (expenses paid). Hope you can help..... TonyS
  7. OK, so I'm nearing the end...... Tweeky, thanks for that, I've painted the Sharks fin aerial on the cockpit accordingly, tho realised that I've attached it in reverse.......it's staying that way! I've now decalled but not lacquered I think it looks OK, seat turned out nice Here's the underside CAN ANYONE HELP??? I'm modelling this as XM173, former gate guard at Bentley Priory and in 56 Squadron service tail code C- Charlie (initially V- Victor I believe). I have been unable to find a black on white 16" letter for the fin. My Xtradecal Lightning serials decal sheet has plain black, plain white or yellow only. Does anyone know of a sheet with this code on or possibly could someone print a couple for me - I have never printed a decal! That's it. TonyS
  8. Thanks for all the feedback guys! Re the missiles. Since I'm building this for a friend from his kit I used the Firestreak decals from my own kit to make up two missiles. I applied them as shown on the decal sheet......I did this before you posted back, hope they're OK? I'll build my own kit with Redtops and use the spare decals from his kit, maybe I'll do the F3 version, 111 Squadron, nice yellow and black scheme.... I started decalling the airframe this afternoon and having built the Airfix kit decided to start with the most difficult, the wing walkway outlines. They didn't quite apply perfectly and they are not the correct length, but with ten inch long 1/8" wide decals I cut my losses eventually and decided to live with them, they wanted to fold under etc. BTW the decals are not the right length for the wings but a bit of careful, judicious trimming almost set things right. I'll live with the errors. The decal instructions seem to be wrong re the rear end, showing one side in front of the panel line and the other to the rear. All my contemporary photos show the dotted line straddling the panel line so that's what I did. For some strange reason the port wing roundel self destructed on the edge when I applied Micro Sol (none of the very delicate wing walk lines did this?) I may touch it in later. More likely I'll leave it as a bit of Mach 2 weathering.... My misgivings over lack of weathering are starting to recede. As always as the decals go on the improvement is huge! I'll still probably run over with pastels tho. Here's the cockpit canopies after painting and decals, the masks did a brilliant job but note how the decals are too big for the canopy.....I'll fit them as is and they'll just overlap the fuse..... That's it, thanks and please keep the comments and advice coming. Best TonyS
  9. Tweeky Thanks for that confirmation, I've never seen a Lightning with a differential missile fit. Also, forgive my ignorance re exhaust...... :-( Bizarrely the kit only contains one decal set for each type of missile.......beats me! TonyS
  10. Hi all Well, some time has gone by and progress has been a little slow I'm afraid. My airbrush returned in perfect condition as promised by Martin at air-craft.net (thanks Martin!). So I've embarked on getting the airframe together. Studying contemporary colour photos seemed to show that the 56 Squadron aircraft were pretty clean other than local repairs eg top nose cannon covering plates so I've not done too much in terms of colouring panels. I'll take another look after decals with pastels. I've given the whole airframe a coat of Tamiya Gloss lacquer ready for decals During this process I've managed to break off the right hand elevator......twice.....I know, lack of care and hamfistedness. Second time around I drilled out the locating holes and put a steel panel pin in, hopefully that'll hold it. I've replicated the nose cannon blanking plates in 15 thou plastic card (tho I think this is still too thick) and attached the intake ring with it's BareMetal chrome covering, not perfect but looks OK I hope? Some light smoke effects on the APU exhaust were added. I had some difficulty exactly locating the Eduard canopy masks but got there in the end, here in primer Masked and painted the anti dazzle panel in Tamiya Flat Black and then protected with Vallejo Satin Varnish 70.522. I still think this is a little too Matt but I don't intend to do it again. I had to add a little filler between the fuse and the nose ring, also slightly scuffed the Bare metal so the primer and top coat would grip. Canopies then got the same treatment of paint and lacquer.... Next up, think about some decals.... QUESTION Is it me or is there only one decal for each type of missile with this kit??? I can't believe it.....the paint and decal page show a Firestreak on one side and a RedTop on the other but the instructions show them as alternates in pairs, surely there can't just be decals for one of each missile? Then again it's a Trumpeter......I'm not sure I like trumpeter kits.... Best Wishes TonyS
  11. Hi all So at last I've managed to make a little progress this weekend, I painted the fuse and wings and elevators separately with the Tamiya TS-17 gloss aluminium and then assembled the major airframe parts using a combination of poly glue and CA. One thing I have realised, 1/48 is ideally sized for my workbench, this 1/32 Lightning is a real handful! My next plan is to highlight and "lowlight" selected panels with a brighter and duller silver shade, although contemporary photos show the aircraft as pretty shiny all over, but I guess it will look a bit more realistic. The airframe hasn't been lacquered yet hence the masking still on the spine and tail which has been lacquered. I had some problems with the fuse half join showing way too obviously, some sanding has sorted this although at the expense of some detail, especially on the belly tank. Oh well...... Next up Panel detail Lacquer Cockpit Missiles Decals Stand ..... ....and finish! Thanks for looking in! TonyS
  12. Hi Guys Thanks for your interest :-) It's been a while since I posted the reasons for which will become clear. I painted the fuse spine and wing and elevator leading edges with Tamiya XF-1 Flat Red which I've used on a previous lightning and seems to hit about the right shade.... I then covered the fuse spine with X-22 clear lacquer to protect it. It was time to think silver. I'd done some research but there seemed to be some conflicting opinions so I thought I'd try trial and error. Tamiya X-11 Chrome silver first. I went to fill my airbrush and DISASTER! What did I find? What looked liked solid clear bathroom sealant filled my lovely H&S Evolution. I'd neglected to clean it after last use and days later it was now full of dried clear lacquer.....oh how I cursed myself! I had to get quite robust to clean out all the offending solidified lacquer but eventually I managed it. So on with the silver. I knew straight away all was not well, it wouldn't feed the paint properly, still more grunge to clean out. A second attempt was then made and it went from bad to worse, bubbles in the pot, paint up the trigger...OH NO! Had I damaged the seals with such industrial cleaning. I called my guru on all things airbrush related, Martin at Air-Craft.net who calmed me down and promised to despatch a seal kit immediately. He was as good as his word and I was soon presented with a bag full of little rubber seals. Now I don't know if you air-brush types have ever completely stripped one, I hadn't and I soon came to appreciate that they're complex little beasties. However I did my best and all seemed to go well so on with the silver..... DOH! It's still not right, spattering and inconsistent. But the X-11 certainly seems too bright, I persevere with X-32 Titanium Silver but that's too dark and a mix of the two doesn't seem too good either and the airbrush is just getting worse despite some more seal replacement. It was at this point that I hoisted the white flag, called Martin again and asked if I could send it back to him for diagnosis and repair. He was as calm as ever and I felt better so it was parcelled and despatched. Meantime with a flash of lateral thinking I bought a can of Tamiya TS-17 Gloss Aluminium (which is probably what I should have done in the first place). I got my repaired airbrush back after a just a couple of days, arriving this morning Special Delivery..........along with the old body that I had managed to put a thumping scratch in with my ham fisted cleaning efforts. OOOOPS! So. Not much progress in the last couple of weeks I'm afraid. Tomorrow we try the TS-17....... Xenol Pre shading panel lines with pens is my lazy way of doing it. It can be very effective but is somewhat dependent on the top coat. The silver that I did manage to apply rapidly obscured it with only a light coat so I may have to rethink. That's it for now, I hope to be able to make some actual progress over the next few days.... .....wish me luck. TonyS
  13. Well, the fuse went together fine, phew! Fin glued on Panel lines roughly marked with Faber Castell shades of grey artist pens, but I don't know how they'll fare under the silver.... Now I'm thinking of starting to get some paint on, but...this is one BIG kit so for the first time ever I'm thinking of painting the fuse, each wing and the elevators separately and then assembling the components post painting. Not sure if this is a good or bad idea, bound to get glue onto the painted surfaces on assembly requiring touch up :-(( Any suggestions gratefully received. TonyS
  14. Time for an update....the fuse halves are together! Yay!!! Anyway, rewind slightly Here's the APU exhaust outlet with the pipette cut off. Not the best...the soft vinyl(?) didn't lend itself to sanding, this is the second attempt using a very sharp scalpel, still not perfect but I'm not sure I want to meddle with it anymore. I started second guessing myself on the strength of my new bulkhead which the acrylic rods will rest against when it's on it's stand, so added a reinforcing beam from thick sprue inside the fuse. Result. It's now rock solid..... After some thought I assembled the intake tube and radome and painted it The nose ring was painted and then covered with chrome Bare Metal Foil, I like it. .....the radome is a colour I mixed myself from Tamiya sky and deck tan. The cockpit tub fitted very well (amazing) tho I had to butcher the top of the intake tube slightly to prevent fuse distortion Nearly ready to assemble, here's the rear end, jet pipes and the rear of the new bulkhead with sponge to rest the stand rods against, Then, plenty of glue and try not to rush, this is a big fuse to assemble but I decided to do it in one hit. I took the white tac out.... Then taped it up for tonight The Tamiya pot gives an idea of size, I popped the fin on for effect. That's it! I hope it all works out OK. Tomorrow some tidying up, nosegear doors and maybe fit the flying surfaces which I have pre-assembled and primed. Hope you enjoyed. V Best TonyS
  15. Hi all Much butchery of late....... Following AAbshiers lead I have been trying to solve the intake trunking problem. I have moved the trunking forwards approx 5mm and modified the nose ring to take it (some light carnage) I know, it looks awful! Since I'm building wheels up I was ruthless with the U/C bay as I couldn't seem to get the fuse halves to fit, but this wasn't the problem. The fuse narrows to the front and didn't want to close around the trunking.......which is wider now since it moved forwards..... So then I ground away the outside of the trunking and the inside of the fuse halves, eventually I have reached a point where the fuse halves fit together and the intake trunking meets the nose ring. This was not a job for the feint-hearted and I was worried I had written off the kit at one point. However, all seems to be well and looking down the intake it seems fine. There may be a need for some judicious filling and touching in..... Moving the intake trunking forwards has led to the radar cone being too far forward so again, following AA's lead I have swiped 5mm off that to retain the right "penetration" of the radome through the nose Finally I have been opening up some fuse vents etc. I didn't have a suitable straw available so have employed a flexible pipette for the port rear outlet. If it works I'll cut it down to size and paint accordingly. I'm hoping to close the fuse in the next couple of days and praying that things are more straightforward from then on! Best TonyS
×
×
  • Create New...