LightningBoy

I've done a few, 21, and think they're great...

Hello, Whilst taking some photos of my girlfriends Lightning & Buccaneer models I thought Id take a few photos of the display cabinet where they live. I bought the cabinet from a charity shop, I had wanted something similar since a child - my dad took me to visit a modellers house and he must have had 4-5 similar ones dotted around the house. In order to allow the maximum light to display the models, I wanted a cabinet with glass sides which are more difficult to find. Each shelf is a miniature diorama, hence contributing to this thread. I appreciate each shelf is minimalist as dioramas go but thought it would be worth sharing the concept with others. The T3 hangar was scaled up from photos. It is a T3 not the more common T2 in case anyone thought I had made a typo.🤣 LightningBoy

Hello John, Here is a photo of the A Airfix Lightning F3 Hazel built - pretty good I think for a second model😀 This Matchbox Buccaneer was her third model An Airfix 617 Lancaster followed.... Cheers. LightningBoy

Progress on hold whilst the finishing touches are put to XM995 (see WIP) The fuselage halves have had the cockpit and intake trunking fitted and weights added in the form of nuts from the Pound Shop. Now to progressively glue the 2 halves together, bit by bit. Red Top Tips Pad out the nose weight with BlueTac to stop it separating when all the fuselage is glued together. It is virtually impossible to see down the intake on a Sword Lightning, next time I'm going to fix some weight in front of the No1 Engine compressor; LightningBoy

On the final stretch now... Decals are all on, those on the undercarriage doors are fitted before fixing them to model Undercarriage is built up before fitting to model and fitting is left until after all the decals are on and any weathering is done, especially on the fuselage. The small doors at the top of the undercarriage are a real challenge to fit when the main undercarriage legs have already been fitted, very fiddly. Fit them before fixing the undercarriage to the model. The shoebox is ideal to support the model at most stages of construction, undercarraige now fitted securely and left to set overnight. Ejector seats now nearly finished, just awaiting seat pan handles. I will touch up the painted areas with paint of the correct colour on the tip of a cocktail stick. Red Top Tip The main undercarriage of the Lightning is raked forward, not vertical. LightningBoy

Actually the photo shows WT913 in silver and gayglo orange.. Senior moment. Search Kirby Cadet WT913 and it should get you there. LightningBoy

There is a photo of a Cadet Mk 3 on a trailer in silver and yellow scheme. I found it when looking for photos of aircraft I had flown. The photo was taken at 613 VGS RAF Halton, the same aircraft I did my 3 solos in, on the same day I went solo and judging by the length of hair of the cadet sat in the seat, I'm 90% certain it's me. How wacky is that😀😀😀😀 LightningBoy

Great memories Biggles, similar experience at Cold War Jets at Bruntingthorpe - deliberately not wearing ear defenders to fully experience it, Don't try this at home 😀 LightningBoy

Very memorable experience shifting into reheat 😀😀😀 Makes me chuckle when a Boy Racer tries to impress me at the lights 🤣🤣🤣🤣 LightningBoy

No I don't Tweeky, I only suspect that it might be an area to support the fuselage at some point but that is purely a guess! Would be great if you know. On another matter of my Lightning ignorance, do you know what the small exhaust looking thing is positioned just ahead of a lowered port flap and just behind a lowered starboard flap?? I suspect they may be vents? What I do know is they are a bug**ger to fit and my carpet has eaten it's fair share 😬😬 My latest method is to fix them on with satin varnish then when they are dry carefully strengthen with another few coats of satin varnish. LightningBoy Thanks for the feedback Chis. LightningBoy

Brilliant Tweeky, thanks for clarifying both vents and dotted lines. As a 'Sooty' I got to run the Engines on XR770 after we finished the Check 3 and when you select reheat on only one engine it wants to leave the chocks and the thrust pushes the nose down quite rapidly which would probably overstress the rear fuselage. I remember other members of the team grimly hanging onto the rear fuselage whilst kneeling on the tailplane looking through a panel at the rear end with a torch looking for fuel leaks when reheat was selected🥴🥴 Happy days pre 'Elf and Safety'. LightningBoy

No I don't Tweeky, I only suspect that it might be an area to support the fuselage at some point but that is purely a guess! Would be great if you know. On another matter of my Lightning ignorance, do you know what the small exhaust looking thing is positioned just ahead of a lowered port flap and just behind a lowered starboard flap?? I suspect they may be vents? What I do know is they are a bug**ger to fit and my carpet has eaten it's fair share 😬😬 My latest method is to fix them on with satin varnish then when they are dry carefully strengthen with another few coats of satin varnish. LightningBoy

No I don't Tweeky, I only suspect that it might be an area to support the fuselage at some point but that is purely a guess! Would be great if you know. On another matter of my Lightning ignorance, do you know what the small exhaust looking thing is positioned just ahead of a lowered port flap and just behind a lowered starboard flap?? I suspect they may be vents? What I do know is they are a bug**ger to fit and my carpet has eaten it's fair share 😬😬 My latest method is to fix them on with satin varnish then when they are dry carefully strengthen with another few coats of satin varnish. LightningBoy

Applying the decals on the fuselage now, there are lots... The Sword decals release very quickly from the carrier paper so just dip them in the water and let them soak on your modelling mat / board. The serial numbers on the fuselage and wing are thin and care needs to be taken when applying them to prevent them 'concertinaing'. Photos to follow. LightningBoy

Update on XS458... The wings are now together and test fitted to each fuselage half. The flaps have a lot of runner feeds on which means a progressive trimming process as described on the wings above ie. Snips, scalpel then emery board to finish off. Red Top Tip The flaps do not need to be fitted at the stage when you glue the 2 halves of the wing together with the danger of fixing them permanently!!! They can be eased into the wing after the wing parts are set by fitting the thick end into the wing and carefully flexing the small end into the wing. LightningBoy