Cookenbacher Posted November 13, 2014 Share Posted November 13, 2014 John, you have a steady hand - there is a lot of detail in that tiny pit. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 13, 2014 Author Share Posted November 13, 2014 John, you have a steady hand - there is a lot of detail in that tiny pit. Yep, steady but arthritic which started when I was in my early twenties. Anyway enough of that nonsense, here's the little chap in situ. After a test fit of the canopy it looks like I may have to crash-mold a replacement any suggestions of how I might do this? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 John, Take a look at Perdu wasp thread in WIP. He crash moulded new doors & canopy for the wasp. May give you a few pointers. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted November 14, 2014 Share Posted November 14, 2014 Yep, steady but arthritic which started when I was in my early twenties. All the more impressive! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robvulcan Posted November 21, 2014 Share Posted November 21, 2014 Well, whilst the fuselage of my T.4 bird is drying I thought that I would make a start on this. Having removed the major parts from the sprues I realised I forgotten to take photos but for what it's worth here they are along with the major parts. The first job I decided to do was to fill the gun ports in the nose of the aircraft. I did this by glueing small pieces of plastic rod in and once they had dried I trimmed and sanded them back. Then I had to do something about the missing slots from the leading edge of the wings so out came the razor saw and these were duly added. The photo below shows a modified and unmodified wing. In order to maintain symmetry the wings were taped together before I cut the second slot. I think that they may be a bit too long but I'll them over and adjust as necessary. Because I intend to do this as an in-flight model I decided I needed to do something about the very basic cockpit. The first thing I did was to scan a 1/72nd instrument panel decal at 50%, then using a Prit-Sick I glued this to a piece of 0.005in plastic card and once dry trimmed around it to get the shape. Then using some square stock I added some side-walls to the floor. Now, you can't have an in-flight model without someone to fly it (unless it is a UAV), so I had a browse through some 1/144th Prieser figures and selected a couple of likely lads for modification. Well I say modification, what I really mean is amputaion and donation of bits, to come up with something that I hope will look OK when it is painted up. I finally settled for a chap who was bending to pick something up and another figure who donated his hand because he was carrying a bone dome. I am sure the poor fellow who was bending would not have volunteered to fly had he known what was going to happen to him. Off came his legs from the knees, then I surgically removed the back and top of his head thus leaving his face and this allowed me to glue on the tittfer. Because he was bending he had a rather nasty twist in his torso so he was slice in two at the waist and repositioned. I then repositioned his arms, this has left him a liitle broad-shouldered so he will have to undergo further surgery before he can sit comfortably. I will see how much room there is after fitting the instrument panel before deciding whether he gets his legs back or not. Ouch.. The irony of this. I have heard many tales of Ex Lightning men being trimmed off at the knee when banging out... Not good and this guy has not even been in yet.. I did not know you could get a Lightning in 1/144th, I have never seen one, I hope they re release the Hunter I can never find it. Looks like a nice kit. Cheers Rob 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc2324 Posted November 22, 2014 Share Posted November 22, 2014 This is really looking great.... Far to small for me mind and would be a `should of gone to specsavers` moment if I attempted it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 22, 2014 Author Share Posted November 22, 2014 Ouch.. The irony of this. I have heard many tales of Ex Lightning men being trimmed off at the knee when banging out... Not good and this guy has not even been in yet.. I did not know you could get a Lightning in 1/144th, I have never seen one, I hope they re release the Hunter I can never find it. Looks like a nice kit. Cheers Rob Rob Yes unfortunately he had to undergo some major surgery to get him looking right and then fitting him in. The kit is a rare find and I was lucky enough to spot this when looking for something else over on the KigKit site, best of all it wasn't going for a silly price so I snapped it up. It's a very nice little kit although the position of some of the panel lines is a bit dubious, but I can live with that to have a lightning in 1/144th scale. I will gladly second your proposal for Revell to re-release this together with the Hunter. This is really looking great.... Far to small for me mind and would be a `should of gone to specsavers` moment if I attempted it. Thanks TC. You haven't seen the glasses that I have to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 23, 2014 Author Share Posted November 23, 2014 I have got quite a bit done on this today and I must say this is an absolute gem of a kit, I hope that is re-kitted again in the future. The fuselage halves were glued together then after a clean up of the seam it was on with the wings and tailplanes. As I said in my last post I have to make a new canopy, but I think that I would have needed to do this or make significant changes to get the one supplied in the kit to get it to fit even without the additions that I have made. This has probably been made worse due to wanting to display it in flight. Thanks to Hockeyboy's suggestion of checking Perdu's Wasp build I now have some idea of how to make a start, I just hope that my skills are up to seeing it through. Here's a couple of photos of how things stand at the moment. First up one of the little beast on its own Then as a comparison one alongside it's 1/72nd bigger brother Next up, I want to see if I can add some of the little intakes to the model and I might try and redo the re-fuelling probe with some brass micro tubing as well as the nose probe and then it's on with that dreaded canopy but I might save that for nearer the end. Thanks for looking in. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 12, 2014 Author Share Posted December 12, 2014 I have finally cobbled together the instrument panel coaming for this today using the Airfix 1/72nd one as a guide. There is also some good news about the canopy, after some further checking the kit part will fit, but this is bad news for Flg. Off. L.E.Gless who has had to have a little more shaved off his shoulder to do this. Now that I have sorted these two areas out I should be able to get moving on this. The only issue that remains now is the decals, I want to try and do the later grey scheme and still need to find suitable squadron markings I could finish up trying to make them myself. New coaming alongside Airfix 1/72nd version. .... and one to give a size comparison. Finally a shot of it fitted. Whilst it may not be very accurate, it doesn't look too bad and I think that things are often a compromise in this scale. The next job is to get it painted up and then close up the cockpit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 Tidy work in the 'Pit John. Coming on nicely 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 14, 2014 Author Share Posted December 14, 2014 So with work on the T.4 crawling it's way to a conclusion, I am trying to progress this a bit more. Last night saw me sealing Fg. Off. L.E.Gless into his missile and I also did some work to try and improve the IFR probe. I cut the two mounting points and the IFR nozzle away from the kit part and replaced this with a length of 0.6mm brass tubing. I also drilled out the nozzle and added a short length of 0.4mm brass tube to this. This will slide into the 0.6 tube and, fingers crossed, I should then be able to bend it to the angle needed. Just a couple of sink marks on the plastic bits that need some attention and this will be ready to go. Fg.Off L.E Gless safely seated and sealed in. Details of the IFR probe. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Wow, excellent tiny scratch work John. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Brilliant. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 Wow, excellent tiny scratch work John. Brilliant. Cheers fellas. I still have to add some of the intakes to the airframe. I have found some suitably sized microstrip in my stores that should give me a starting point, just need to get the big magnifier out. I am trying to get as much done as possible before our son and daughter-in-law arrive for Christmas, I hope that I can then finish it before the deadline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 15, 2014 Author Share Posted December 15, 2014 Another piece completed and a step nearer the end on this little rascal tonight. I have added a small piece of 0.6mm tubing to the nose ring and then cut a length of the 0.4mm tubing to create the pitot tube. Whilst I am sure it is not as accurate as the Master pitots it is certainly better than the kit offering. Finished pitot tube with kit offering in the foreground. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fritag Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Lovely. That instrument panel is ridiculous (in a good way ) Must be something masochsitic about working in 1/144 John? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabba Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Coming along very nicely. I am always amazed at the amount of detail that you get into a 1/144th model that I could not or would not dream of getting into a 1/72nd or bigger model. Keep it up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Must be something masochsitic about working in 1/144 John? This comes from the man who is putting all that lovely detail into his JP's. There is a great deal of quality in your work and they are entertaining builds too, fantastic stuff. I guess there must be some truth in your comment. I often think why am I doing this nobody will see it, but I just like to try and add that little bit of extra detail if I can. Coming along very nicely. I am always amazed at the amount of detail that you get into a 1/144th model that I could not or would not dream of getting into a 1/72nd or bigger model. Keep it up. Cheers Jabba. It's really just a matter of downscaling 1/72 stuff and then seeing if it is possible to squeeze it in. Sometimes it works and on other occasions a guy has to lose his legs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Just caught up with this, lovely work John. The ifr is incredibly neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Just caught up with this, lovely work John. The ifr is incredibly neat. Thanks a lot Neal. It's good to hear from you bud, I hope that you are keeping well. The IFR has had the sink marks filled and sanded I have to give the brass tubing a polish before a coat of etch primer and then some colour. So things are slowly progressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 Well after a lot of deliberating about a suitable scheme for this I have decided to return to the kits own 11 Sqdn camouflage scheme. The main reason for this change of heart is down to the looming GB completion date. However, having looked through the SAM modellers profile for the Lightning I have come across an 11 Sqdn F.6 (XR727) with red excecise markings on the top of the fin and leading edge areas of the wings and elevators. So as things stand at the moment the model has had the black anti-glare panel painted, this was masked off and then a coat of Dark Sea Grey was sprayed overall. This will then be masked with a combination of tape and white tack for the Green camouflaged areas. I am still hopeful of completing this in time for the deadline. Couple of shots of the little chap in DSG ... and one of the masking prep before applying the Green. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 Looking great John, and on track for the deadline too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 29, 2014 Author Share Posted December 29, 2014 Cheers Cookie, hopefully it will make it, but if not it won't be too far away from being complete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 (edited) Looking good, is a very even finish you've got on the grey. PS: for info modelling has moved to the back-back seat as the carpet monster has become mush more tangible as we appear to now have a dog. Edited December 30, 2014 by Neal 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 Looking good, is a very even finish you've got on the grey. PS: for info modelling has moved to the back-back seat as the carpet monster has become mush more tangible as we appear to now have a dog. Thanks Neal, the paint is one of the new Humbrol Acrylics from a rattle can. Good luck with your four-legged addition. We got our dog from Manchester Dogs Home nearly seven years ago now. I think SWMBO had decided that I was spending too much time sitting around and needed to get out more. She has been great company and the dog is lovely too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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