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'F.53 Lightnings in combat'


mirageiv

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I made a start on the JL-100s. They need a good deal of faring in and filling but the basic shape is there. The front Matra rocket pod seems to have a slightly larger diameter than the tank looking from photos and decrease in diameter at the rear vents which are yet to be added. They are cobbled together from other bits from spares, Hasegawa sets I think.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/EE_Lightning_F.53_418_G-AXEE_Kuw_LEB_07.06.69_edited-5.jpg

Also made the outer wing pylons and shaped them to accept twin store carriers. I took measurements from this photo:

http://aviadejavu.ru/Images6/AE/AE72-6/304-1.jpg

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Still waiting for my kits to arrive but these bits will keep me busy for now :)

David.

Edited by mirageiv
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The kits (purchased for a very reasonable price from a fellow member :)) and bits arrived today, time to get going :)

L1010748_zpsxfvayabc.jpg

As we all probably know the Hasegawa tool is an old kit, but I like it. Easy to build, well fitting and looks like a Lightning at least. I'll build them pretty much OOB bar some Aeroclub seats and pilots and they will be 'in flight displayed' as the norm for me :).

On previous builds I have spent ages detailing cockpits only to realise in the end nothing is really seen to the eye when pilot figures are in and the canopy closed.

Just to check what can be seen I mocked up the kit a little,

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Basically only the top of the tub will be visible so I will give a little attention to the bulkhead and coaming after major assembly, the rest of the tub will be OOB. Pleased with how the canopy fits, probably will have no need for filler on the majority of this kit :).

For the Saudi jet I'm leaning towards a tweeked version of the colour scheme for the jet. Initially on the 2 trail jets the camouflage consisted of Middle stone+Dark Earth wrap around, andDuck egg blue undersides for the second trial. I may go ahead and paint the underside like Saudi Hunters with a deeper blue much like the scheme on Qatari Mirages,

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Mirage_F1_Qatar.jpg

looks awesome IMHO.

Anyways till the next update,

David.

Edited by mirageiv
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Hi folks, progrèss update.

This is a pretty simple kit so its blooming quick to build (why I chose it :D). Some of the main components glued up and filled.

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Wings and tail dry fitted atm. The wings will need some adjustments as they seem to have too much anhedral. Cockpit area is ready for detailing now too.

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Airbrakes have been the worst fit out of everything. In an attempt to preserve the raised lines I will try the Mr.Dissolve putty/thinner method here, on the wing roots too.

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4x1000lb retarded bombs for low level release raided from the spares. You can also see Hasegawa's attempt at the fuel probe, so I replaced it from one going spare from a Sword kit.

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Hopefully have the main construction done tomorrow evening and painting this weekend :hobbyhorse: .

Cheers,

David.

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Hi chaps, finished the tub last night. Added a few bits to resemble 'something like a F.53 cockpit' in order to make it look a little more busy through the canopy. Glad I did not bother with detailing the tub itself as you can barely see anything below the coaming with the canopy on.

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With the Saudi Prince installed :D,

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Oops, seeing the pic I need to add the stick!

Most of the kit is filled and nearly ready for primer now :)

Cheers,

David.

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Thanks chaps :)

Primed and got a few colours on last night. Not very pleased with the Humbrol undersides, they always seem to spray way too matt and grainy for me requiring polishing before gloss. In comparison black bits sprayed with Revell satin enamel which went on beautifully and is actually satin!

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Going to try get the export equivalents of middle stone and dark earth on today, I think they will be Revell versions too given the info I have read about the export Hunter Desert colours on here. Powering through :D

Cheers,

David.

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Hi folks,

I managed to get the main colours on this weekend. Revell enamels which went on pretty well. For some reason the sand is coming out very strange on the photos, maybe the black backdrop but it is far less yellow/mustard in real life. I mixed the colours to match the export colours found on Middle East Hunters which were not traditional dark earth etc..but different 'export' equivalents. My main point of reference was the Qatari Mirage F1 in the below picture:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Mirage_F1_Qatar.jpg

I changed the undersides to Azure blue however 'as the RSAF found this far more effective in reality' and also because I think it just looks cooler :D.

The Model Alliance decals come with a colour diagram of one of the test schemes the RSAF used, however it is not accurate! I have the Tim McLelland book at hand with the two photos of the camouflaged jet where the camouflage demarcation lines are very different in reality to what Model Alliance suggest. So just a heads up if anyone wants to build one of the true test camouflage airframes, don't rely on provided paint schemes.

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I tried to match up the upper tank colours to the upper wing as seen in this pic,

L1010773_zpsu5i1jdba.jpg

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Now I will go about correcting some of the camo/overspray then on to detail painting the various airframe parts, then gloss for decals. I might get that done today as these Revell enamels seem to dry very quickly.

Cheers,

David.

Edit, here is a better photo showing the colours a little closer to reality:

L1010776_zpsryq1ws9w.jpg

Edited by mirageiv
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Hi Mattblack, many thanks :). For the masking I just used the standard white tac sausages and Tamiya tape for the hard edges. I try to remove the white tac immediately after painting which stops it leaving those greasy lines on the demarcation.

Cheers,

David.

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The end result of a full weekend to model :)

Finished the paint and glossed for decals. They were very thin and well done, stencils from xtradecals the same. Looking at the pics again of the actual camouflaged jet I mixed and matched the stencils to what I could see, all the white backed ones were not present bar the tail hook warnings.

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Only 1 problem I found was the front fuselage roundels. I think it is the kit's inaccuracy in that the roundel should overlap the front part of the cable duct on the sides, however this made the roundel sit too low and it looked silly so I just raised it to the correct position and will have to ignore that little error. I think also the fuel tank is not deep enough, something is not right with the shape but I cannot exactly put my finger on it.

L1010786_zpsszoaqto5.jpg

Matt coat added and weathered to how I like. As the panels are raised I relied on the paint shading to do most of the apperance but I added a little wash here and there and some oil smears.

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Stores nearly done, with clear plastic bits added to Sword red top missiles.

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Now I have to do the detail painting, ariels etc...I left the Alclad bits until the very end so no masking on the high shine ones I plan to use.

Finish line is not too far away now :)

Cheers for looking,

David.

Edited by mirageiv
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Many thanks for the kind words folks.

Just a small update, currently doing all the little details that seem to take the most time :). Only one really of note, I made the light that sits inside the intake. I made my own punch via a sharpened piece of aluminium tube and tapped it into some aluminium insulation tape. It came up very reflective making the light appear 'on' and as this will be in flight it works pretty well. In natural light it works best but the pic gives the general idea.

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During assembly I tried to sand the nose ring as thin as I dared as it is so distinctly 'sharp' to me in real life, I also tinted the blue armoured glass on the front cockpit,

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The finished,bar a little wash, RedTop missiles (the brush painted white didn't really turn out too great but is passable for me),

L1010812_zpsi1usdw5b.jpg

Currently finishing off the stores so should be completed probably tomorrow, thanks for looking,

David.

Edited by mirageiv
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Thank you Col!

The model is now finished. Some pics here and in the gallery.

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'Only two poor quality photos have ever surfaced of the RSAF Lightnings in action, taken by an Iranian Officer during an evening RSAF low level airfield attack on Bushehr Airport. One of the jets flew right over his head whilst engaging reheat resulting in the loss of hearing in his right ear' :winkgrin:

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or

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And one more with a desert background (actually my photo of the Dead Sea with Jordan in the distance)

lIGHTNING%20DEAD%20SEA_zpsqrcgwqcm.jpg

Hope you like it :). I am in two minds. It looks very very usual imho with stores stuck all over the place but it would have been pretty cool if it was ever used in this role. The desert camo for sure looks cool on any jet!

Thank you for any comments or advice :)

Any thank you for the group build mods (Col and Enzo I think? :D) for hosting this one, been fun! :)

David.

Edited by mirageiv
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