AnonymousAA72 Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 (edited) Well, got a bit fed up waiting for Drewe to slap some paint on , so I thought I'd start my first one... FMk6 XR770/"AA" of No5 Sqn in Barley Grey and Signal Red!!! Anyway - have to build the thing first!! A few general observations: This is the BEST 1/72nd Scale Lightning out there!! There is no other comes anywhere near it! There are problems interms of accuracy in places, but like anything in this life, you can live with them or do something about them - I'm going to choose the latter. The good parts: The overall dimensios are pretty good, the wings seem to be very good and I love the way they've dealt with the undercarriage bay - it may not be 100% accurate - but it works. The cockpit and seat is very adequate in this scale. I have the Pavla and Flightpath sets so may go to town on my next F6 - XS903/"BA" of 11 Sqn The undercarriage units are excellent. The tooling and panel lines are nicely done - though there are a few inaccuracies here and there - luckily the Trumpy Rivetter hasn't gone mad here!! Heres a non-exclusive list of the problems I've encountered thus far: (i) We all know about the tail pipe area - and for this F6 I'll be using a version of Drewe's method - I'll use plastic tube rather than brass - to save a bit of weight as much as anything - plus I have plenty of plastic tube in the spares box! (ii) The belly tank is too deep - by about 2-3mm! I've checked this against a couple of sets of plans and compared it to my Echelon 1/32nd Lightning (iii) The wings upper surface is too straight - there should be a slight kink in line with the ailerons - this in turn ensures that the leading edge extension droops correctly (iv) The NACA ducts should be opened and those with scoops above need those added. There's a few fuel dump pipes that could also be added (v) The nose ring is too deep - this can be easily addressed by removing a bit off the front and thinning the inner facing (vi) The formation light on the IFR probe should be below - not on the side. (vii) a formation/tail light needs adding to the port side aft of the tail plane (viii) a formation light needs to be added in front of the fin on the spine (ix) the intake scoop on the mid-upper spine is way too big! (x) the exhaust outlet on the rear port fuselage looks too big I dare say there may be a couple more! Now this may sound a lot but most of these are easy to rectify (or ignore) To address the over sized tank I first removed the fixed section by scribing though the joint line and carefully snapping off Not a great pic - but here I've re-attached the amended rear tank section And the front after removing a tapered section off, so the depth at the front remained more or less constant - this meant though that the cannon blister is a little non-parallel to the ground now!! Added plastic rod to add a bit of strength before I added the Milliput Th Wings - I scribed a line on the inner surface of the upper wing and gently bent the outer wing downwards Here you can see the kinked wing a little better The tank has had milliput added and has had some of it sanded down The fuselage and wings together - 3 or 4 hours work so far.... Edited October 23, 2008 by Bill Clark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 23, 2008 Share Posted October 23, 2008 Having pored over the kit a bit myself, I'd agree that it's easily the best lightning kit out there in 1:72 scale, even if you're extra curmudgeonly & just put that down to the 30-40 years improvement in tooling technology. It's coming on nicely too, not to mention quickly! Plenty of panel lines to rescribe though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skii Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 Nice work Bill, I had a feeling that belly tank looked oversized but as you have shown its a relatively simple fix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DamienB Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 I had wondered about the 'break' in the wing line - the real thing looks broken from some angles! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted October 24, 2008 Author Share Posted October 24, 2008 I had wondered about the 'break' in the wing line - the real thing looks broken from some angles! It does indeed. I'd never really noticed it until I'd spoken to Frank Brown when I bought the Echelon kit a few years ago. I've tried to incorporate it into my build and it has improved it - but it could do with a bit more bending downwards I think... Anyway made a bit of progress today (as I had a day off work!!) The ventral fins appear to be too big and have too much "rake" to them - easily remedied though... Here's my version of Drewe's fix!! I used a flattened piece of sprue for the triangular wedge Almost ready for some paint....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Drewe Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 The only reason mine awaits paint is being too tired to model most of this week due to work commitments (damn those early morning and drugs warrants!), and waiting for some bleedin' bloody flippin' decals to show up. I really wanted to do a 92Sqdn one, but looks like I'll have to settle for a 19Sqdn one when the Xtradecals show up. . oh well, as long as it's my favourite dark green uppers I'll survive, 92 would have been the icing for me though. . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 (edited) The only reason mine awaits paint is being too tired to model most of this week due to work commitments (damn those early morning and drugs warrants!), and waiting for some bleedin' bloody flippin' decals to show up. I really wanted to do a 92Sqdn one, but looks like I'll have to settle for a 19Sqdn one when the Xtradecals show up. . oh well, as long as it's my favourite dark green uppers I'll survive, 92 would have been the icing for me though. . . . Not got an old Matchbox kit with spare decals? I had a quick look, but mine are missing the 92 badges (where they went, heaven only knows!!) Or maybe someone has a spare Modeldecal sheet 23? Edited October 24, 2008 by Dave Fleming Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousA667 Posted October 24, 2008 Share Posted October 24, 2008 I could supply those. Drewe, PM me if you're interested. peebeep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Drewe Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 PM sent to Peebeep. In fairness the kit's decals look okay in general, but the 92Sqdn badges (which weren't exactly restrained or inconspicuous during this period!) are a tad too clumsy. BUt the scheme, even if only applied to 31 or so F.2A's is even more synonymous with the Lightning than bare metal in my mind. . . don't know why. Makes an aggressive brute of an aeroplane even more so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousA667 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Sorry Drewe, I don't have the Modeldecal set, only Matchbox. You're welcome all the same if you want them. peebeep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 (iii) The wings upper surface is too straight - there should be a slight kink in line with the ailerons - this in turn ensures that the leading edge extension droops correctly There is also a kink in the L/E much further inboard - roughly in line with the undercarraige, where the l/e dips down -very visible on the F2A/F6, not so (or not there) on the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousA667 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 There is also a kink in the L/E much further inboard - roughly in line with the undercarraige, where the l/e dips down -very visible on the F2A/F6, not so (or not there) on the others. I never really took in this feature until I was stood in front of the airframe at Hendon, when all became obvious. Quite difficult to replicate in miniature I would've thought. I don't think this is on the 'straight' wing. peebeep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted October 25, 2008 Author Share Posted October 25, 2008 I never really took in this feature until I was stood in front of the airframe at Hendon, when all became obvious. Quite difficult to replicate in miniature I would've thought. I don't think this is on the 'straight' wing. peebeep The F2a/F6 wing is a nightmare to get right in modelling form..that inner crank is very apparent from that angle, but not so apparent from in front and slightly above..it seems to be due to the under-camber of the extension....somehow?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Fleming Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I think it's the start of the undercamber, so 'looks' like a kink! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fmk.6john Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Evening all, The 'kinks' from another angle which illustrates the three agles of the WLE, the first portion of the wing starting from the root has a droop which was to improve low speed handling, the next portion is the straight WLE which then changes angle and direction just prior to the inward vent valve/airflow diffuser, this extention of the WLE was to improve transonic handling and fuel consumption. HTH. JB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousAA72 Posted October 27, 2008 Author Share Posted October 27, 2008 Evening all,The 'kinks' from another angle which illustrates the three agles of the WLE, the first portion of the wing starting from the root has a droop which was to improve low speed handling, the next portion is the straight WLE which then changes angle and direction just prior to the inward vent valve/airflow diffuser, this extention of the WLE was to improve transonic handling and fuel consumption. HTH. JB. Thats a fantastic pic John - thanks for that.....just goes to show what a complex shape the F6/F2A wing was/is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted October 27, 2008 Share Posted October 27, 2008 Ooh err that's looking tasty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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