My first WIP.........Trumpeter 1:32 F.1A/F3 Lightning

[tweeky]

As far as i can remember the only natural metal on the Lightnings i Worked on (grey/green camo and Air Defence grey schemes) were the intake, intake ring, the small strip around the jet pipes and the Stress panel on the fuselage underneath each wing.

DhDove no need for forgiveness, if your like me i wonder what various intakes/ outlets are for when I'm building a kit.

What markings are you interested in the missiles on the didn't have a great deal on them yellow and brown band to show the missile was live and what the warhead contained ( blue band for drill and Acquisition missiles) then there was two sets of dashed lines (like the ones on the rear of the fuselage) decals 76 and 81 .

The decal Nos 79 and 80 are actually showing the proximity windows that triggered the missile to explode.

A few pics to follow you'll see the natural metal stress panel in the side shot.

Edited May 28, 2015 by tweeky

[tweeky]

Edited May 28, 2015 by tweeky

[tweeky]

[marauderdriver]

Hi Tony,

I did the very same with my F1A and mounted her climbing like a "Homesick Angel"

Your build is very similar as mine, but I used aluminum foil on her, she was my 2nd foil job

As far as the Firestreaks were concerned I didn't mark them because I built her as a "Show Bird"

At least that is my excuse and I'm sticking with it... Are you planning a Pilot in the pit?

I modified a Master Details USAF Fighter Pilot for mine.

Keep up the Great Work and looking forward to more updates.

I love the Lightning and have several on the docket, including a 2 seater

[dhdove]

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

Re the missiles. Since I'm building this for a friend from his kit I used the Firestreak decals from my own kit to make up two missiles. I applied them as shown on the decal sheet......I did this before you posted back, hope they're OK?

I'll build my own kit with Redtops and use the spare decals from his kit, maybe I'll do the F3 version, 111 Squadron, nice yellow and black scheme....

I started decalling the airframe this afternoon and having built the Airfix kit decided to start with the most difficult, the wing walkway outlines.

They didn't quite apply perfectly and they are not the correct length, but with ten inch long 1/8" wide decals I cut my losses eventually and decided to live with them, they wanted to fold under etc.

BTW the decals are not the right length for the wings but a bit of careful, judicious trimming almost set things right. I'll live with the errors.

The decal instructions seem to be wrong re the rear end, showing one side in front of the panel line and the other to the rear. All my contemporary photos show the dotted line straddling the panel line so that's what I did.

For some strange reason the port wing roundel self destructed on the edge when I applied Micro Sol (none of the very delicate wing walk lines did this?) I may touch it in later. More likely I'll leave it as a bit of Mach 2 weathering....

My misgivings over lack of weathering are starting to recede. As always as the decals go on the improvement is huge!

I'll still probably run over with pastels tho.

Here's the cockpit canopies after painting and decals, the masks did a brilliant job but note how the decals are too big for the canopy.....I'll fit them as is and they'll just overlap the fuse.....

That's it, thanks and please keep the comments and advice coming.

Best

TonyS

Edited May 29, 2015 by dhdove

[tweeky]

The little sharks fin aerial on the canopy would be silver

The wing walk way lines look about right to me.

Edited May 29, 2015 by tweeky

[dhdove]

OK, so I'm nearing the end......

Tweeky, thanks for that, I've painted the Sharks fin aerial on the cockpit accordingly, tho realised that I've attached it in reverse.......it's staying that way!

I've now decalled but not lacquered

I think it looks OK, seat turned out nice

Here's the underside

CAN ANYONE HELP???

I'm modelling this as XM173, former gate guard at Bentley Priory and in 56 Squadron service tail code C- Charlie (initially V- Victor I believe). I have been unable to find a black on white 16" letter for the fin. My Xtradecal Lightning serials decal sheet has plain black, plain white or yellow only.

Does anyone know of a sheet with this code on or possibly could someone print a couple for me - I have never printed a decal!

That's it.

TonyS

Edited June 9, 2015 by dhdove

[lightning770]

Hi all

Much butchery of late.......

Following AAbshiers lead I have been trying to solve the intake trunking problem. I have moved the trunking forwards approx 5mm and modified the nose ring to take it (some light carnage)

I know, it looks awful!

Since I'm building wheels up I was ruthless with the U/C bay as I couldn't seem to get the fuse halves to fit, but this wasn't the problem.

The fuse narrows to the front and didn't want to close around the trunking.......which is wider now since it moved forwards.....

So then I ground away the outside of the trunking and the inside of the fuse halves, eventually I have reached a point where the fuse halves fit together and the intake trunking meets the nose ring. This was not a job for the feint-hearted and I was worried I had written off the kit at one point.

However, all seems to be well and looking down the intake it seems fine. There may be a need for some judicious filling and touching in.....

Moving the intake trunking forwards has led to the radar cone being too far forward so again, following AA's lead I have swiped 5mm off that to retain the right "penetration" of the radome through the nose

Finally I have been opening up some fuse vents etc. I didn't have a suitable straw available so have employed a flexible pipette for the port rear outlet.

If it works I'll cut it down to size and paint accordingly.

I'm hoping to close the fuse in the next couple of days and praying that things are more straightforward from then on!

Best

TonyS

Crickey a lot of work for a simple solution.

I've made a stack of these lightnings and all I've done to remedy this problem is cut a piece of plastic the whith of the gap and carefully glue it to the intake ring. There's even a lip on the ring to glue the plastic strip into. Once done and radar bullet in place you can't see much down the intake anyway.

Great build by the way.

Dave

Edited June 14, 2015 by lightning770

[Gimme Shelter]

what a monster of a kit - but you certainly seem to be tackling it nicely.

I bought one of these last year - I'd watched a documentary about the Lightning and suddenly got all sentimental - so much so that I could not but have one in anything less than 1/32. Due to the size, her indoors will kill me if I ever build it for display at home

Keep up the good old English electric work there

[dhdove]

Gimme shelter

Thanks for your kind comments! Don't worry about the size, I was looking at the new Revell limited run 1/48 B1B earlier today, now that IS a monster, nearly a metre long and just under a metre wide, GULP!

Lightning 770

Yes, I agree. It was a bit of a bother but I followed advice from a previous builder as detailed and it worked for me. I don't think it's the best fitting kit ever produced.......

BTW just to re-iterate, this build is now on hold pending tailfin ID marking C-Charlie.......can anyone help?

TonyS

Edited June 21, 2015 by dhdove