AAbshier

Hi folks, I've had other resin products from CMK and have generally been pleased with the quality, so I ordered some MB Mk. 4b seats to have on hand for future EE Lightning projects. They aren't all that good. The shape of the seat is fine, but the detailing on them is pretty sparse, and the harness detail is no better than the molded-on harnesses you often see on injection-molded seats. The seats also completely lack lap belts! Even my Airwaves seats are better than this (though not by much). The Neomega Mk. 4b seat is definitely better, so I would go with one of those if you just need a seat. The Quickboost one is better still, but I had heard that it is too wide to fit in the Lightning cockpit, so I gave it a miss. Oh well, I spent the money so you all won't have to! Andy

No, he was thinking of me when he built it. ;-) I'm touched. But seriously.....great work, Bill! I'll look forward to the article when it comes out. One final question, Bill: Did you find this build to be easier than the Trumpeter 1/32nd F6? Andy

Your model is extremely well done! I do love the black tail/spine 74 markings; I did a Trumpeter 1/32nd F3 in that scheme, but not to the quality of your F1! I'm well underway on my third Airfix Lightning, this one an F6 that will be 5 Squadron. Andy PS: I'm thinking of taking a job in Australia--maybe I can bend your ear with some questions at some point?

Hi folks, I have a Lightning F6 underway that is going to be in green/gray camouflage over natural metal. In the photos I've been going over it appears the Red Tops mounted on these airplanes had the fins painted in green, similar to the green on the aircraft. What I'm not clear on is what color the body of the missile should be. The Sea Vixen instructions has the Red Tops painted with Steel-Grey bodies and Light Aircraft Grey on the fins. On the Lightning F6 instructions (original issue) they call for Aluminium bodies and White fins! Talk about confusion! Which is the right color for the bodies, both for the Lightning and the Sea Vixen? BTW the Lightning Red Tops are nicer than the ones in the Sea Vixen kit, so I'm using those for the Sea Vixen, when I get to it. Andy

Good point. Probably the Spares Department will be the last to get it! Andy

I have an Airfix F2 stuck at 99% complete because I lost the landing gear doors for it during one of the 5 house moves it made (!). With the F2A/F6 reissue imminent I sent a request to Airfix to obtain the parts I needed, thinking they might have the plastic in hand at least. Airfix replied right away: No big deal, really; I started the kit in 1998 when it first came out and got it mostly done while building the Eduard/Airfix reissue for Modeling Madness. It's waited 13 years, it can wait a bit more. But I did find it interesting that the Lightning plastic apparently isn't ashore in England yet. I hope they didn't put the kits on a 1920s tramp steamer! Andy

XS897, an F6 with 5 Squadron, had green/gray camoflage over a barley grey underside. That scheme was one of the ones given in the Grand Phoenix release of the 1/48 Lightning F2A/F6 kit. It also had Type A roundels and large roundel bars which really made it a nonstandard scheme! I'm saving my decals for a future F3A project (5 Sqdn. in NMF) because the roundel bars, roundels, and squadron badge work perfectly for it. Speaking of nonstandard schemes, with reissue of the F2A/F6 imminent, I decided to start my "stash" F6. It will be 5 Sqdn, but with 11 Sqdn. roundel bars as seen here. I've scrounged up all the markings I need from my Lightning decal stash; it will have decals from Airfix, Grand Phoenix, and Cutting Edge! Andy

Thanks for the tips. I have the Roden An-12 civil version, and the only civil decals made for the An-12 are those provided by Roden. They're large decals, so they have to be done right! Andy

There are 5 sets of decals out from Model Alliance, covering all marks of the Lightning including trainers. There's not a lot of room left for new decals! Andy

Bloody brilliant. I have a few Riley Herons in mind for my own self, so following this with great interest. Andy

Great job of hanging in there; models are too damned expensive to be throwing against the wall! I haven't tried fitting a KMC cockpit, but I recall the CE cockpit I used in my F2 was a challenge to get in. (I used kit cockpit + provided PE for the Eduard/Airfix F1A). I've finished three Lightnings and on mine, I had great luck using Floquil CSX Black, from their railroad color line, as a base coat. On my 56 Sqn. aircraft I used Alclad Aluminum overall (applied over Mr. Surfacer 1000) and Polished Aluminum for the intake ring. Here's how it came out: Maybe a thought for your next Lightning? (Because everyone knows you can't build just one!) Andy Alton IL, USA

Great work on both Lightnings! As a veteran of three Lightning builds (Airfix F2, Eduard/Airfix F1A, Trumpeter 1/32nd F3) the one thing that has been universal is that the fuselage halves in my hands NEVER close at the forward end. I had to force or shim all three of mine to get them to fit! I like the T5 conversion; may consider that for a future build. Right now I have an F6 in the queue for 5 Sqdn. markings (green/gray over NMF) in due course. Andy

The Eduard Weekend Edition Mirage IIIC has that scheme. It's in my pile to be built one of these days. Andy

Hi folks, I have the external color for my Mirage (conveniently called "Mirage Blue" from Vallejo), but need to know what to use for cockpit gray. A Vallejo colors match would be ideal (I'm switching over to that paint line for almost everything) but other acrylics or enamels would be fine also. Off the shelf would be ideal! Thanks Andy

Hi folks, I'm contemplating doing a 1/48 Sea Vixen (yes, I'm late to the party) and was thinking of replacing the seats. I know Pavla makes the Mk. 4 seats for the Sea Vixen, but I like the Mk. 4s Quickboost did for the Lightning, and they are available from my LHS, unlike the Pavla items. The only difference I see is that the seats for the Sea Vixen have single pull rings at the top, vs. the double pull rings on the seats fitted to the Lightning. Has anyone tried out the QB seats in the Sea Vixen cockpit? I'd hate to buy two and find out they're too wide, like someone else found out when he tried on in a Lightning! Andy

It looks far less cranky than the Aconagua kit; I have a partially-built Aconagua and that has been the most difficult resin build I have done so far. Andy

Save one for me! I don't know when I'll ever build it, but what the hey. Andy

Just finished the basic paint on the ship. I still need to do touch-ups and clear coat for decals. The Cybermodeler kit is very good, and goes together easily. A full build review will be published on Modeling Madness once I'm finished. Paints: I used a mix for the light gray using Vallejo paints, based on a color chart I found on one of the ship modeling sites. I lightened it from the stated formula for scale effect, and think I might have made it too light! The dark gray is the Vallejo Luftwaffe uniform blue-gray, and the black is Floquil SP Dark Lark Gray. The ship will be on a sea base, which is why it's perched on the wood base. I won't mount it until I get the decals and clear coat done. Andy Alton IL

Also known as a license to print money. Of course if they blow it on the wheel wells, the sturm und drang will be heard on the International Space Station..... Andy

A must when building an early MPM or any Mach 2 kit. Using it on the kit is optional........ Andy

Yeah, that is kind of stupid on QB's part on not fitting the seat beforehand. Neomaga makes a good seat that should do what you need it to do. What scheme are you doing? I have an F2A/F6 in the pile, and am doing mine as a 5 Sqn. F6 in camo over NMF. Andy

A lot of people don't like the surface detail of the Hasegawa kit. For the price of the Hasegawa kit, one can get a Monogram kit and dress it up with all sorts of aftermarket! This looks like a good deal, other than the yellow plastic. Andy

We used to send new guys on the ship down to Engineering for some relative bearing grease. On the ships that were steam -powered and had Boiler Technicians (BTs) we'd send them down for a BT punch. They usually came back topside with a nice bruise. :-) Andy

When I built the Eduard rebox of the Airfix 1/48 small-tank EE Lightning, I noticed that Eduard had done the cockpit in something approximating Admirality Gray when it should have been black. I made color photocopies of the printed PE parts and used them to cut small masks for the printed black parts on the panel and consoles, then painted with Floquil SP Dark Lark Gray. It looks like the same method could be done to fix the neon blue in the MiG cockpit. It's kind of fiddly but it comes out real well. Also, I tried to do the harnesses for the MB Mk. 4 seat included with the Lightning, struggled with the PE harnesses, didn't like the result, and ended up buying a resin seat with molded-on harnesses. Looks like that's what I'll do for the MiG also, when I get around to building one (I'm waiting for the PFM variant). For me the wrong color of the harness is a moot point! Andy

I got my things directly from them, and it took about 3 weeks. I think Linden Hill in the U.S. carries their line also. Andy