Rob G

Noice! Does your missus have a sister, by chance?

Not knowing Jim, or indeed any of the denizens of that apparent den of iniquity that has been mentioned, I can't comment. I can however, state that the inhabitants of this particular grotto (the airyplaney ones, at least) are a fine bunch of chaps (and chapettes ) Welcome aboard Wazza. And I'll follow along with this build, looking good so far.

I did some Googling this afternoon, and found this small nugget of information. <* After the service life of the Vampire, in the late 1960s an American firm, Jet Craft of Las Vegas, Nevada, came up with schemes for modernizing surplus T.11s, the most intriguing being a six-seat business jet configuration named the "Mystery Jet II", with a new forward fuselage and a Rolls-Royce Viper turbojet replacing the Goblin. It was something of a fun idea, but Jet Craft then went broke, with the company's boss ending up doing a year in jail on criminal contempt charges, and the Mystery Jet II never flew. Apparently Jet Craft was resurrected for a time in the late 1980s and proposed concepts much along the same lines as before, but by that time the whole idea was a complete nonstarter.> From here: http://www.airvectors.net/avvamp_1.html#m6appropriately as an addendum to the section of the 2 seat Vampires. And having found out a smidgin of information, I found a photo here: http://www.airliners.net/photo/Jetcraft-Mystery-Jet/0196893/L/ And there's an article, here: http://www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/444/Vampires-of-Las-Vegas.aspx Glad to be of service. EDIT: Incidentally, having read the whole article now, there's a really, really, REALLY mind-blowing what-if at the end of it... food for thought for the terminally insane.

Right, I have started a new thread in the KUTA VII GB forum... let's see if I can put this one to bed! EDIT: It helps if I post a link, dunnit? http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234974306-ex-lightning-gb-hasegawa-f6-old-school-continued/?p=1856635

To start this off, here's the story so far... After a week away from the modelling bench due to work commitments of varying sorts, I came home on Friday morning and had a good look at what I'd done in the mad rush to finish on time, and decided that it wasn't good. OK, but not good. Therefore, I started in on rubbing the paint down with some 4/0 steel wool, in an effort to smooth things out and remove some of the paint that had dried before it hit the target, as well as feathering the bits that were pulled off by the dodgy tape from the original masking job. All was going well until I managed to snap off the port overwing tank, which didn't surprise me, as it was never the most cooperative of parts anyway... words were muttered, and I continued the steel wooling, then cleaned up the glued joint and reattached the tank. After it set, I started in on cleaning up the joint (superglue is good and fast, but can be a bear to remove)... all was going swimmingly when... *crack*... the starboard side tank fell prey to an errant finger. More words were said, with considerably more force... Tank was duly cleaned up and reattached, then after it set up I cleaned up the joint and gave the old girl a bath in warm soapy to remove stray steel wool shards, fingerprints, sanding debris, scraping detruitus and general ookery. After a towelling down, she was put into the linen cupboard (which is above the water heater - cunning design, that) to dry out to a stage allowing paint to be applied. Today (Saturday) started early with a coat of Barley Grey under the wings, patching up the bare areas. By early afternoon, after spending time in the linen cupboard, that coat was sufficiently dry to allow the addition of undersurface colour of Medium Sea Grey - an Iwata HP-C sprays a very fine line indeed when required, which allows for this sort of paint patching job. Back into the linen cupboard for a few hours to dry - I spent the evening masking up for the top colour, which has been duly applied, and the old girl's back in the cupboard for the night. Hopefully, all will be ready to unmask on the morrow, and I can start in on redoing the natural metal areas and the fine details. I have to strip the Red Tops, as they're frankly horrible to behold, and there's some detail painting to do on the undercart and etceteras... but things are rolling. Here's the 2nd lot of masking, just in case anyone wants to see. [post=20150110_202209 by RobG67, on Flickr][/post] [post=20150110_202246 by RobG67, on Flickr][/post]

Hey Pat, how's this going? Made any progress?

I believe there was. But if it were me, I'd be wanting summat a tad more reliable than those Jumo 004s...

Hoping to restart this this evening or tomorrow... I'll move it to KUTA and update there as it progresses.

I was all set to post summat about how it was related to the Farley Fruitbat, when I decided to look it up. Good grief, it actually existed. What were those Gloster guys smoking, to give a fighter aircraft a name like that?

The 'mix' for airbrushing paint is usually said to be 'full cream milk' consistency. I tend to airbrush the whole airframe in the lightest colour first, then mask as required, going from lightest to darkest. Sometimes though, you will have to modify that order. Before you blow anything onto the masking, run a fingernail over all the edges to make sure they're stuck down, and then apply thin coats, allowing them to flash dry between layers. Once you've got a few on, you can start adding heavier coats to build up the colour and add gloss. If there's any doubt about the integrity of the masking, a first coat with the colour under the masking will help seal the edge and prevent bleed of the next colour. Don't be disheartened, it's a real challenge and anyone who's ever airbrushed will tell you horror stories. You don't say what you masked with, but I recommend Tamiya tape. It's not cheap, but it is very good.

The things you learn on Britmodeller. I didn't know that Morocco even had an airforce.

Nice work!

I just found a Babylon 5 Star Fury in the back of a cupboard... this may get added to the GB, I'll see how I feel.

Isn't it just, Mish. Back in the old rec.models.scale days, one of the regulars had actually worked for North American at the time that this was being tested, and he wrote us quite a tale about the protracted development and all the problems with that intake. I'll have to see if I still have it saved, or if I can find it in the newsgroup archives. As I recall, pilots weren't terribly happy about the location of the intake for when they had to leave in a hurry.

I haven't yet passed the finishing post, but I'd like to thank all those who popped over to my thread and looked over my shoulder. Thanks for the support. I'll finish the little lovely off shortly, hopefully this weekend. Seems the pilot was well named

It's a challenge to build, Dermot; not so much because it's a bad kit, it's just an uninteresting one for some reason (I've certainly built worse ones, and had more fun doing them). If you conquer it, well done to you. My local model club tried building one each a number of years ago as a group build kind of thing... the only person who finished theirs was our resident Sci-Fi nutter. I should dig mine out for the next KUTA and get it done.

Fresh from the success of my first (almost) built model in a decade (thank you to the EE LIghtning GB hosts and participants), I have exhumed this kit to have a bash at finishing it off. As you'll see, the hard work is mostly done, it's just a matter of paint and dangly bits. If it looks all nice and clean, that's because it is - the box sat open on my modelling bench for a few years, then sat open on the shelf for a few years, then got closed up and stacked in the pile for a few more years. Opening the box was an adventure... after brushing out the cockroach poo and dust that had accumulated in the corners, I washed the kit bits to remove all the nasties, and I now present them for your comment. As I recall, there were no real issues with the kit that weren't solvable with a little bit of thought. Some gaps were filled with sheet styrene (as shown in one photo) and a bit of filler sorted the rest. The main problem was the way the real thing was designed - that overhead intake is just a PITA to work on... On with the show. [post=20150105_154511 by RobG67, on Flickr][/post] [post=20150105_154706 by RobG67, on Flickr][/post] [post=20150105_154837 by RobG67, on Flickr][/post] Markings for the 3 prototypes are included, as well as a NASA tail band. It looks quite striking in the red and natural metal, so that's the way I'm going to do it.

I'm actually surprised by how much I like her in grey - for my money, the F.2As in green are the bomb, followed closely by anything in nat metal (the 2 colour upper camo is hideous, IMO), but the grey has grown on me. And for an old kit, they do indeed scrub up well - I'm considering finding another and throwing all the resin and etch at it that I can find, plus some rescribing, just to see what can be done. However, I think that Airfix may have made Hasegawa's version irrelevant, and I do have one each of the Airfix kits (so far... although I do also have a pair of the 48th F.2A/F.6 kits and no less than 4 of the other version. My name is Rob and I have an addiction. ) Never mind, worse thing happen at sea, as my old Grandad used to say (He was RNVR during the war.) I'm going to let my Lightning sit for a few days to allow the paint to cure properly (and because I'm back out to work on Wednesday), then I'm going to do some judicious sanding and repairs, to pretty it up a bit. Then it'll be getting finished before I start another GB, I think. For the Lesser etc GB, I have a selection of Latvian marked a/c to choose from (late WW1 and between the wars types), and I'm also doing a Super Tucano from Mauritania, if the Big H ever get the decals back in stock; that's what happens when you hesitate. However I have decided that in between doing new stuff for GBs, I will be working on reducing the large quantity of half built kits on the shelf, so before I start the LBAFGB, I'm going to finish off my Trumpeter F-107A - unconventional single seat fighter, somewhat like the Lightning. It's mostly there, just needs paint and dangly bits adding, so it will be a quick study. I hope. Shame indeed, but I had fun. Thank you to all who looked over my shoulder and commented, I appreciate the support! This one will be finished soon, hopefully over the coming weekend.

I would have made it if not for having to earn a crust, old bean. So, are we gonna WiP them, or KUTA them? GBs, I'm in a few, and may I say, I'm not so certain... (sing it with me now...)

If you thought that was exciting, you need to get out more! Mine will end up on either KUTA or as a WiP, I guess. Although seeing as I'm doing single seat jet fighters ATM, I have another KUTA candidate to put up for that...

Dang Pat, I was hoping that at least one of us would manage to finish. Oh well, not the end of the world.

Nice work sir, very nice. One of the best looking ships that ever took to the skies. What's your opinion of the A-Model kit? Nice to build, or will it be a challenge?

Thanks Nimrod. Sadly, this isn't going to quite make the cut-off. I've been detail painting and all that, but there's no way I can get her decalled and finished in time - real life is just not going to allow it (and the paint is still soft...). Oh well. I'll post photos when I do get her completed, warts and all. Probably later in the week. If I'd had the 2 1/2 days I missed due to work, all would be done. Never mind, it's not the end of the world. On with the Lesser Built Air Forces GB, I have months and months left on that one!

I was there. Didn't much like hair metal then, either. Although I must admit to seeing Def Leppard the last 2 times they have come Down Under - my little brother was/is a huge fan and they still put on a great show. Whitesnake can be excused their hair metal tag because of Dave Coverdale's cred as a 'real' rock singer - he was in Deep Purple, don'tcha know (and Tawny Kitaen, as well, but anyway...) I was a Pat Benetar sort-of fan, and I still love Joan and Suzi (although she's more of a 70s rock chick.) Now if you young folks want to see a real rock'n'roll band, go to YouTube and look up Rose Tattoo. I'll be here, leaning on my walking frame.

There's as many ways as there are modellers... I like a combination of Tamiya tape for the edge separation lines and Scotch 'Magic' tape (the frosted stuff) for the infill. I'd use Tamiya for all of it, but it's horrendously expensive here. That method will get you nice hard edges. If you want feathered edges, then you can either use BluTack or paper masks. Or an airbrush and skill.