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1/72 Airfix EE Lightning F.2A


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Hi all,

After some good feedback on my first build since a child I'm starting work on my second model and thought I'd post the progress here as I can see a few challenges ahead. Moved from a skill 1 to a skill 2 so expecting some new things will be learned along the way.

Already looking forward to starting more builds after this one :) Bitten by the bug once again :)

Anyhow .... on with the show.

Quick parts review and obligatory red wine

DSC_0067.jpg

Quite a few bits need cleaning up, so this will be a good excercise in preparation. I will be taking my time on these bits so I don't overdo it.

DSC_0071.jpg

I attempted to weather the cockpit floor and this is the result ... not bad for a first foray into the "weathered" look. The picture of the tidied up floor is blurred so this is the "almost" finished floor.

DSC_0075.jpg

And here's the cockpit / engine assemby ready to go into the fuselage :)

DSC_0079.jpg

So far it's been pretty smooth sailing ... if there's anything you chaps can see that's glaringly obviously wrong please let me know. I'm open to critisism / suggestions while I work on this second build.

Thanks for looking :)

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There are few little tricks to getting the fit of this kit right as I remember it. Firstly, cut off the locating ridges on the inside of the fuselage where the back end of the assembly in your photo is supposed to butt up against and you'll get the fit of the intake ring to fuselage joint much better. Same for the ridges at the back end for the exhaust assembly to locate better.

The airbrakes are a terrible fit so if you are building them closed you would be advised to put some sort of spacer on the back of the airbrake or in the bay to get the airbrake level with the outer skin level.

Duncan B

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Hello,

I have been working on one of these for a couple of weeks now, and the bear traps that I have encountered so far are wing fit and nose fit. The problem with the nose is that everything is so tight around the intake duct making it a strugle to get the fuselage halves together.

Other wise it is prety good. I have however replaced the cockpit with the Pavla set and replaced the jet exhausts with the Baracuda Studios ones. I also replaced the pitot tube with the Master item.

Matt.

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Hello,

I have been working on one of these for a couple of weeks now, and the bear traps that I have encountered so far are wing fit and nose fit. The problem with the nose is that everything is so tight around the intake duct making it a strugle to get the fuselage halves together.

Other wise it is prety good. I have however replaced the cockpit with the Pavla set and replaced the jet exhausts with the Baracuda Studios ones. I also replaced the pitot tube with the Master item.

Matt.

LOL my ex-girlfried was called Pavla .... I had a completely different picture in my head when I read that :)

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Wish I'd checked back sooner on this about the component fit .... here's where I am right now ....

Lot of tape used to hold fit together ....

DSC_0083.jpg

Underside fit not too bad all in all .... some minor filler needed but nothing too bad.

DSC_0084.jpg

The fit at the top wasn't quite so good. I will fill in the line between the cockpit and the nose cone tonight and the space on the left of the cockpit seat. Will tidy up the paintwork once I've filled in the gaps.

DSC_0085.jpg

I've come across a few sections in the moulding where it appears to either be sanded already or the panel lines aren't consistent in depth. In this photo you can see "scrubbing" around the wing fit and the panels not constent in depth. Also if you zoom in you can see a faint circle just in front of the wing mount. Slightly annoying but I'll sort these in a bit :)

DSC_0086.jpg

Oh dear .... you were right Duncan ... I hadn't seen your post before I assembled the body and yes ... the exhaust assembly sticks out a bit. I will fill this in tonight or tomorrow.

DSC_0087.jpg

Well tonight I get to let loose on filler. Now I've never used model filler before so any tips on application or usage would be appreciated at this point.

Also ... I'm not happy with the intake and exhaust colour. Looking at some photos online it appears that a lighter metalic colour is needed. I'm thinking Humbrol 11 - Silver Metallic instead of the recommended humbrol 56 - Aluminium Metalic. Thoughts ?

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Reducing the thickness of part B22 improves the fit of the intake ring to the fuselage substantially, and sanding down the thickness of the outside of the intake pipe in the nose area can improve the fit together of the nose halves too. Sand and dry fit, sand and dry fit...

Thinning B21 and sanding down the interface between B17 and C10/C11 a touch before glueing together makes the jetpipe assembly a better fit between C17 and the fuselage. (I am going to experiment on my next Lightning by reducing B21 to the size and shape of the jetpipes after glueing together to see if this makes the entire jetpipe assembly a slide-in fit to the fuselage)

I have discovered by trial and a lot of error that it is a fool's errand to insert the gun troughs/blanks in each fuselage half before glueing the halves together; use the available flexibility without them to get a decent fit to the nose ring and fettle the inserts into place afterwards. The instructions are good here!

Hope this helps.

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Little bit more completed ....

From this angle the underside looks ok

DSC_0088.jpg

But there's a horrible lip on one side .... can I have some advice on the best way to tackle this please ? It doesn't align naturally :(

DSC_0091.jpg

Filler around the pilots seat and engine look a little messy. Is this normal ? I've not worked with filler before so this is a first crack at it :)

DSC_0089.jpg

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Added some maskol before repainting the areas damaged slightly during fit and filling. Will start on the touch-up later today all being well. Hoping the filler has done it's job but don't mind spending some time on this to create a smoother finish (time consuming but not something I want to regret not doing later).

DSC_0092.jpg

Thanks for the responses so far :) The pointers are all good and I'm learning :)

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Oh, that belly tank issue is annoying, isn't it?

I managed to minimise it previously by glueing the belly tank parts to their respective fuselage halves before joining those together in turn. A tab of plastic card in the fuselage inside the lip hinders the edge of the tank from turning in and creating a step.

With a bit of luck, you then only have a central, ventral, seam to clean up.

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There are few little tricks to getting the fit of this kit right as I remember it.

A few more:

- I also remove the ridges on the recesses for the gun port panels.

- not specifically for this kit, but for all airbrakes / panels / etc.: I open up a few holes with a pin vise in the recess, so I can adjust the level of the inserts from the inside.

Nice going so far!

Cheers,

Andre

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Wish I'd checked back sooner on this about the component fit .... here's where I am right now ....

Lot of tape used to hold fit together ....

DSC_0083.jpg

Underside fit not too bad all in all .... some minor filler needed but nothing too bad.

DSC_0084.jpg

The fit at the top wasn't quite so good. I will fill in the line between the cockpit and the nose cone tonight and the space on the left of the cockpit seat. Will tidy up the paintwork once I've filled in the gaps.

DSC_0085.jpg

I've come across a few sections in the moulding where it appears to either be sanded already or the panel lines aren't consistent in depth. In this photo you can see "scrubbing" around the wing fit and the panels not constent in depth. Also if you zoom in you can see a faint circle just in front of the wing mount. Slightly annoying but I'll sort these in a bit :)

DSC_0086.jpg

Oh dear .... you were right Duncan ... I hadn't seen your post before I assembled the body and yes ... the exhaust assembly sticks out a bit. I will fill this in tonight or tomorrow.

DSC_0087.jpg

Well tonight I get to let loose on filler. Now I've never used model filler before so any tips on application or usage would be appreciated at this point.

Also ... I'm not happy with the intake and exhaust colour. Looking at some photos online it appears that a lighter metalic colour is needed. I'm thinking Humbrol 11 - Silver Metallic instead of the recommended humbrol 56 - Aluminium Metalic. Thoughts ?

Jet pipe fits perfectly on mine. You dont need to fill the gap, just sand down the back of the jet exhausts where they join to the internal pipes to make them shorter.

Matt.

Oh, that belly tank issue is annoying, isn't it?

I managed to minimise it previously by glueing the belly tank parts to their respective fuselage halves before joining those together in turn. A tab of plastic card in the fuselage inside the lip hinders the edge of the tank from turning in and creating a step.

With a bit of luck, you then only have a central, ventral, seam to clean up.

I did exactly the same with mine.

Matt.

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Been a bit lazy in uploading the photos so here's a quick update on where I'm at in the last week and a bit :)

Rough start on using filler but got this smoothed down in the end

DSC_0090.jpg

This took a while to even out but I got the lip down eventually

DSC_0091.jpg

Nice look on the new paint on the intake ring which I'm pleased about :)

DSC_0093.jpg

Oh dear ... these didn't fit too well !!! Took some sanding down to get them to fit

DSC_0095.jpg

Found several conflicting photos about how the exhaust section should be painted. I'm working from a photo I've found of the original plane now :)

DSC_0097.jpg

Wingy bits being assembled before going on the fuselage. Will put them on near the end as it's easier to work with them off :) Going to apply a light rust wash into the landing gear section and see how that turns out :)

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Why oh why does the cockpit never allow a closed canopy ? There's next to nothing in it but the seat/ejector handles don't allow this to fully sit down meaning i'll have to have the cockpit open !!

DSC_0101.jpg

Making slow but steady progress all in all. This model is proving to be tricky in places due to poor mouldings and poor fit but the challenge is proving fun :)

I'm aiming to have this finished by xmas day so I can start on my xmas presents :D :D :D

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