MD530F

A bit more done although it's very cold here at the moment so I don't like spending too much time in the garage. Ground out the radar bullet a little and 'repaired' some of the nose wheel bay. Not perfect but you can barely see in there. First time for PE.. an exercise in frustration really. I guess it gets easier the more you do. I nearly didn't put the pedals in but I did it just to see if I could. Almost got the radar scope right and once it's painted, you probably won't be able to tell how terrible it is. I managed to loose on the of the bits designed to go under the combing to the fourth dimension that exists under the workbench but I'm not bothering to replace it. Radar bullet and shock cone all done with a little bit of tidy up to do but I think it'll be fine I then went 'off mission' a little and tried to fit the cannon ports. Being an F1, it only has the two guns. The part is pretty well shaped but the fuselage doesn't take into account the recess in the panel for the cannon so some surgery was required. Much better.

I've also got the F3 and two two seaters sitting there. Was kind of lucky that I was in the right place at the right time.

Had a couple of these kits in the stash for a while. I'd already done the Airfix F2a and this will be the F1. Reference material. I've read on here people saying that the Sword Lightnings are too short. Putting the fuselage halves onto the Warpaint plans, it's actually slightly too long (probably by a foot IRL) Against the SAM book, the fuselage is the right length but not quite deep enough forward of the tank. Against the Airfix kit, it's virtually identical or near enough not to worry about. The mixed media. This will be my first time using PE so it will be an adventure. Decals seem pretty good but time will tell. Parts seem quite nicely detailed but of course the acid test will be how they fit together. Being limited run, there are no locating pins. The kit was released a year after the Airfix F2a and Sword have clearly taken a few hints. Plugs need a bit of cleaning up.