Procopius Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 No pictures yet, but I'm going to try and do a side-by-side of the Sword F.3 using Xtradecals for 74 Squadron, and the Airfix F.6, either as an actual 74 Squadron Lightning, or as the 11 Squadron "74 Squadron" Lightning from the 25th Anniversay Lightning Show at Binbrook in 1979. Both kits have been washed, and I did some test-fitting on the Sword kit, and I have to say, so far it looks like it's going to be really awful and frustrating to build. Not terribly excited about it now. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Welcome PC, looking forward to these.The Sword kit may be a difficult build, but your true challenge is going to be coming up with amusing names for your pilots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 I fear you'll be disappointed then, for I never use the pilots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Sacrilege! Oh wait, I guess most 'proper' builds don't have pilots. Orthodoxy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Sacrilege! Oh wait, I guess most 'proper' builds don't have pilots. Orthodoxy! Ah yes but even aircraft on the ground occasionally have pilots in them! PC hope your builds go well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Both kits have been washed, and I did some test-fitting on the Sword kit, and I have to say, so far it looks like it's going to be really awful and frustrating to build. Not terribly excited about it now. It is symptomatic of being a short run kit, however if you test fit, test fit once more and test fit again before commiting to glue a good result can be had. A little time spent in preparation will reap big rewards later in construction. One area to pay attention to is the fit of the upper and lower wing halves, with another being the cannon inserts around the nose. Protect the nose ring edges with some masking tape too as the plastic is easily susceptable to damage from careless sanding. One of the reasons I'm using an intake blank on mine is that it'll cover a multitude of sins within the nose/intake area - if I can't fix, I'll hide it! If there is anything I can help with, just ask! Mark. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 From what I've seen here both kits will benefit from patience and test fitting. Steady progress is the key to the Sword kits. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 Thanks, gentlemen! I've built a number of Sword kits before -- Seafires and Spitfires all -- so I'm not entirely unfamiliar with their idiosyncracies, but it's definitely new territory to attempt NMF on a limited-run kit like this. I've put one of the wings together now, and I had to do quite a bit of sanding to get the underside more or less flush. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 9, 2014 Author Share Posted November 9, 2014 I had to stop working on them for today because my mood is so foul -- and for no reason -- that I was just doing a terrible job at breakneck speed. Got noseweight in the nosecones, the fronts of the fuel tank on the F.6, and the F.3 wings together -- badly, they're covered in Mr. Dissolved Putty and Tamiya putty along the leading edge and around the flaps...god in heaven, on models do I ever loath separate flaps, folding wings, multipart canopies, all that needless foofaraw. In other news, I'm up for the (probationary, acting) position of social media manager for the 380,000 member not-for-profit I work for, as the previous holder of that sinecure has quit. Since I basically spend most of my working day on facebook anyway, this seems to be an ideal position. Let's hope my superiors agree. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Great to see you in with these PC but sorry to hear that they are causing you some grief. For the Sword kit I can only advise that you take your time and keep test fitting the parts, as Mark has said it's just one of the peculiarities of a short run kit. If you do this you will acheive a good result but it will try your patience at times. Just hang in there it will come right in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Sounds like you're making progress on a difficult build PC. Also congrats on the new, hopefully permanent social media manager position, you'll be running that place in no time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 God rot Sword. After they make some more Spitfires. Then god can rot them. Having finished this guy: I got hard to work on these stupid kits. It'd be lying to say I'm rarely angry, but I'm rarely visibly angry; working on the Lightnings, however, really evens me out: I'm perpetually in a rage. So here we are: Not for the first time, I find myself wondering why Airfix didn't just make the belly tank entirely separate from the fuselage, as it was on the real Lightning. So the Sword kit has a similar breakdown to the Airfix, although the breakdown I am experiencing is dissimilar to that found in any styrene kit anywhere. It's not that it's limited-run; I've built eight limited-run kits (not counting a Roden kit and a CMR resin one) this year alone, and usually I enjoy them. I think it's an ingredient in the plastic of Sword-tooled jets, because I recall thinking the Swift they did for Xtrakit was a festering pile, too. In any case, it's infuriating, and doubly so because I can't really curse as much as I'd like to on the forum about it. Or maybe it's just my constant companions, anxiety and depression, worming their way into my hobbies as well as my daily life. In any case, the blanking panels for the gunports do not fit splendidly: I'm micromeshing the hell out of these, of course. The F3 bullet is already assembled and noseweighted with a fishing weight and liquid gravity, here's the shock cone on the F6 filled with white glue and liquid gravity: One of the flaps was a little short, so I tried to fill it out with Tamiya putty, but it cracked. So now I guess I'm trying a plasticard shim? (I have no idea what I'm doing.) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Looks like you're doing a decent job there fella. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duncan B Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Good to see you here, I have chosen the same kits to make and have similar mixed feelings about both. I've decided to start with the Airfix kit as I have a little experience with it from earlier this year and the thought of the limited run Sword kit was giving me the creeps. Has to be said though that the Airfix kit has a lot of traits of limited run about it too. My F6 version seems to have a lot more flash on the parts than the earlier (by a couple of months) F2A kits! The plastic of the Airfix kit is horribly soft and has a texture that is not smooth and has various dimples and marks on it. Shake and bake they may not be but I'm sure you'll turn out a pair of great Lightnings. Duncan B 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Well, whatever happens, you'll always have that Phantom. That perfect, perfect Phantom. I've long daydreamed about making a Phantom just like that, but in 1435 Flight markings. Some Perfect Plastic Putty would probably do nicely in that flap gap. Just slather some on, then wipe away with a damp bud - no sanding. It will leave a small demarcation, which is what you want. I just bought some (translation: too many) Sword Spitfires/Seafires. What is your opinion of their build-ability PC? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 I've been meaning to get and try some Perfect Plastic Putty for a while now, would have grabbed some if I saw any at the Chicago-area IPMS show I attended, but perhaps it's just as well I didn't, I was already in hot spousal water for my expenditures, as she had gone with, so. I just bought some (translation: too many) Sword Spitfires/Seafires. What is your opinion of their build-ability PC? I have built a Seafire III, a Spitfire XII (which they did for Xtrakit) and two Seafire IIs when I first started modelling again and before I learned about filler and airbrushes, the less said about them the better, a IXe, and a Vc trop. Have you ever built an AZ Spitfire kit? Not one of the new IXs, but one of the older ones? The plastic on a Sword kit is nicer looking and harder, and in general there's less flash -- or none at all. But as everyone above has mentioned, Sword kits need a lot of patient work to fit properly, and on the Merlin-engined Seafires, the arrester hook really does not fit well at all and requires quite a lot of work. Here's their Seafire III next to an Eduard Hellcat; I built one last winter or the winter before that: Things to look out for: The tailplanes need to be butt-joined, and it can be hard to get them symmetrical and not looking like absolute poop. The fit of the prop in the spinner is generally indifferent; I've used an Airfix prop on my Vc and resorted to heavy sanding on the Seafire. IIRC, there was a decent gap at the wing root if care wasn't taken. As always, the landing gear was a bit of a trial to get at the right angle -- only Airfix has done anything about this on their kits, everyone else...nuthin' The MG ports are not drilled out and I was too lazy to do anything about it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 Oh, and I have never felt confident about where I put the cockpit in one of their Spitfire kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Thanks for the advice! I haven't built any AZ Spitfires yet either, but may have purchased a few in the same order as the Sword kits (yes, I have a problem). In fact I haven't built any props since returning to the hobby. Perhaps I should start with an Airfix Spitfire (bought some of those too) or the Eduard Hellcat, before tackling a Sword or AZ kit. Oh, what paint did you use on the Seafire and Hellcat above? Oh, and go Lightnings! (a little bit on topic). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 10, 2014 Author Share Posted November 10, 2014 The Eduard Hellcat is one of the nicest kits I've ever built, and the Airfix Spitfire I is another favorite for ease and pleasure of build. I'd recommend either. I resize these handy mask templates to 1/72 and print out paper masks for Spitfires. AZ kits are generally a little simpler than Sword's, and I'd try AZ before Sword. The Seafire was painted with Pollyscale Extra Dark Sea Grey and Humbrol 224 Dark Slate Grey, the former of which is sadly out of production, and the latter is deucedly hard to thin for airbrushing. Underside is Testor's Sky Type S. The Hellcat is Testor's Gloss Sea Blue, which I stupidly hit with a flat coat instead of a semi-gloss. Oh right. Lightnings. Rah. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted November 10, 2014 Share Posted November 10, 2014 Thanks again PC, looks like I have my next few builds lined up now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 11, 2014 Author Share Posted November 11, 2014 I fear this was a GB too far. Short of trashing the F.3, I can't think of a way to make it look good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hockeyboy76 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 (edited) Keep going PC, stiff upper British lip & all that!, I'm sure you will make a beauty. Edited November 11, 2014 by Hockeyboy76 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 I fear this was a GB too far. Short of trashing the F.3, I can't think of a way to make it look good. Put it back in the box for a week or so and DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES get it back out again. Don't even be tempted to look at the box, just forget about it! However, you are allowed to occassionally think about it and mull over some solutions to the problems you have encountered. Then once the week is up, you may take out the box and try again with renewed vigour. It might also be worth considering a change of scheme to a grey LTF one in order to help mask some of the construction problems as well. I think we modellers sometimes need to be engineers, artists and illusionists in equal measure. Mark. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 I fear this was a GB too far. Short of trashing the F.3, I can't think of a way to make it look good. Hey PC sorry to hear that your modelling mojo is taking a bit of a battering bud. If the Sword kit is the cause then I would leave it until you feel more like tackling it again (as I am writing this Mark has just come along with the same sound advice). If it is more of a general lack of interest in modelling then have a break from it for a while, after all it is meant to be a relaxing hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted November 11, 2014 Share Posted November 11, 2014 Seeing as you have built approximately twenty-five thousand high quality models this year (including that Phantom), you may have earned a break. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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