Airfix 48th Lightning F.1

[Col.]

Anyone remember this one from the Lightning GB?

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234968483-early-airfix-48th-lightnings/

Poor thing has been lingering at one corner of the bench while other projects were completed but a determination to finish off various stalled models this year seen her get some attention lately. Been working on the seat that comes with the Cutting Edge cockpit set.

Some base coats of Humbrol enamels got it to here;

Then plenty dry brushing and detail painting, along with the addition of fuse wire handles got this;

Once this is installed it'll be time to sort out the undercarriage legs.

[Duncan B]

Jings, return of the Lightning!

DB

[Col.]

Jings, return of the Lightning!

DB

Might even finish it this time. Unlike certain others in AMS Nah, who am I kidding, finish a model? Crazy talk!

[Col.]

Got the seat glued in;

Oh, by the way, the airframe got painted with Alclad a while back;

Used a coat of Alclad grey primer then a few shades of their silver. Alas even after de-tacking the masking tape it still pulled off some of the silver from the primer and a ghost seam showed through on the belly tank

With the seat in place I was able to move on to the undercarriage legs. The nose wheel leg is now done with only the third door and stays to add. Added some small details with 5 amp fusewire, cuttings of plastic, a punched disc of 5thou plastic, then various holes drilled out;

[Duncan B]

I think the Alclad carrier is so hot it melts filler as I've had seams reappear after painting too.

DB

[Col.]

I think the Alclad carrier is so hot it melts filler as I've had seams reappear after painting too.

DB

That would explain it. I'm guessing it's cellulose-based as well?

Got the main legs detailed with some fuse wire for the brake lines and a tiny bit of stretched sprue for the wheel valve then added the doors. The valves took longer to measure, cut, loose, find, copy, loose again, remake, then fit than the brake lines. Once done, however, the assemblies were added the airframe;

I then tried adding the actuating mechanism in the bays but the kit instructions aren't clear as to exactly where everything fits. A mix of old fashioned (get the books out) and newfangled (God bless Britmodeller's Walkaround section) research showed not only where everything packs in but also a few more bits that need scratch-built to make it look right. There I was thinking this was at the straight-forward final assembly stages Ah well, I do this for fun; so more time spent poking little bits of plastic into submission (or outer space in some cases) equals greater value for money from a kit, right?

Edited December 8, 2015 by Col.

[AnonymousAA72]

A KUTA build.....and a Lightning too......excellent!

[Col.]

A bit more progress for the undercarriage: added the rear door and stays to the nose leg,

then got the retraction mechanism into the main gear bays after much tinkering and modification (anyone who knows this kit or had one in the stash will recognise the changes. For those of you who don't have this kit, why not!?!)

At some point soon i need to add a lot of plumbing to the main gear bays and legs. Oh what fun that will be.

[Duncan B]

Good to see it's still on the table and making progress. I will have a go at one of mine in 2016 so expect completion some time in 2022!

DB

[Col.]

There's no promising I'll be finished before then either Duncan

[Col.]

Well gang it's been a while since the last update but progress has been made.

The undercarriage has been plumbed up and the main doors added;

Then the nose ring got a coat of Alclad Chrome;

At the moment I'm adding detail inside the canopy. A little plastic sheet and fuse wire in there so far with plenty still to do but getting there;

I've tried searching the 'net for AFDS Lightnings with little return to confirm how these machines looked as the only photos I'd seen showed the early F.1s with the badge on the tail but no bars flanking the forward fuselage roundel and this was starting to concern me. In fact I was thinking the bars didn't arrive until the F.2s did and doubted the decal sheet illustration. Then I typed XM137 into Google and the 9th image to appear confirmed it did indeed carry both the nose bars and tail badge during 1961. Result! The story, however, doesn't end there.

I was clearing space in the garage last night and happened upon some old books. In the pile was Aircraft Illustrated Annual 1980 with a rather fetching photo on the front cover of a green and grey Lightning. Anyone old enough to remember those books? Anyway, enough of the nostalgia trip, there inside was an article by Robert Lindsay titled '25 Years of Lightnings'. "Ooh", thought I, "interesting." Sure enough, a few pages into said article, was a photo of XM137 on not just one page but spread across two! Oooh the detail! Oooh it confirms again the badge and bars! All good It even shows her to be rather clean and tidy so no weathering on this model. Great. Except not all good. There, in clear detail, we can see the early type slotted wheel hubs. I'll wait for you all to have a quick scroll up to that photo of the undercarriage.... Done? Yup, wrong style of hubs on Col's model. Bugger So what to do? Well the first photo in my Google Images results shows out subject during her time with 74 squadron equipped with the later style round hole hubs, as indeed do the fourth and fifth photos where she has been stripped of any unit markings. Those three images, however, also show her with the later style fin cap black marking and aerial fit. At some point parts had been changed over and perhaps not all at once but I liked the idea of modelling XM137 as she was early in her career for she was after all only the third full production Lightning to be built.

I therefore have two options at this point; leave it alone with the 8 hole hubs as fitted knowing it is most probably incorrect or make a new set of hubs with the 16 slots and somehow fit them without wreaking the whole model. Hmm. Think I'll do some decalling and consider my options at greater length.