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A Very English Interceptor On Duty In the Far East


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Good afternoon, morning, evening wherever you are in the world! Allow me to present my take on XS927 an English Electric Lightning F.6:

 

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This is the now discontinued 1/72 kit from Airfix, built out of the box with the only customisation being some improvements to the cockpit, ejection seat and a stretched sprue pitot. Painted using AK Interactive Xtreme Metal Enamels, primarily polished aluminium. I learnt quite a bit on this one regarding NMF's and using metal repair tape for some even more shiny bits :coolio: Sealed using AK Interactive Intermediate Gauzy which is a satin/specular varnish designed to go over NMF and then treated to usual oil paint weathering.

 

The kit was quite challenging in places, needed a bit more patience than I anticipated and I think Airfix could have made some better design decisions, particularly when it came to the undercarriage, nose joins and belly seams which took an age to get right and even then, mine are not perfect by any shot. 

 

A mostly up to date WIP can be found here:

Hope you enjoy, as ever comments, questions always welcome :)

JB

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JB, 

As I'm in the process of building airfix's 1/48 Early lightning. An F.3 to be specific. I find any build on this plane informative. I will be painting in the near future. Most likely in 111 squadron markings. But i have markings for 23 & 29 as well. Ive used real aluminum foil on other builds namely a P-47, F-86D, & most recently an F-104. I will be using foil for the nose ring and afterburner cans on my build (i have burned foil). But will paint the rest of my plane. So its always good to see positive builds that show me what i can expect. 

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5 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

JB, 

As I'm in the process of building airfix's 1/48 Early lightning. An F.3 to be specific. I find any build on this plane informative. I will be painting in the near future. Most likely in 111 squadron markings. But i have markings for 23 & 29 as well. Ive used real aluminum foil on other builds namely a P-47, F-86D, & most recently an F-104. I will be using foil for the nose ring and afterburner cans on my build (i have burned foil). But will paint the rest of my plane. So its always good to see positive builds that show me what i can expect. 

Hi CorsairFFU, glad this has been of use to you and thank you for your kind comment - how far through are you with your build? Have you chosen your weapon of choice (paint) wise for the NMF? I got the idea of metal foil tape from a nice gent on here @rob Lyttle and after a couple of practice runs you can achieve some nice effects with it. I'll be using it more in the future that's for sure. Good luck with the build - any WIP? JB

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4 hours ago, Vultures1 said:

Very nice! Great metal finish

 

4 hours ago, WildeSau75 said:

Wow - I am impressed!

 

2 hours ago, russ c said:

Really nice Lightning, great job

 

2 hours ago, Michael Enright said:

A superb job. The NMF looks, well really NMF.

 

Michael

 

2 hours ago, Vinnie said:

Not usually a fan of modern pointy things, but that deserves a WOW. :clap:

 

2 hours ago, DAG058 said:

Nice Lightning! Great work. 

 

2 hours ago, Beard said:

That's really smart.

 

2 hours ago, F-32 said:

Absolutely gorgeous work

 

2 hours ago, Head in the clouds. said:

Cracking job on an old and awkward kit.

 

Thank you all for your kind words! very humbled indeed! :thanks:

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Jb i am ready for paint/foil now. I just havent decided on a paint yet. I May still go complete metal foil like my F-86d and others. My only real hold up is i cant see what the real aircraft looked like. Ive not found really good close up photo's of the skin on service aircraft. Only museum birds left to sit in the elements.  The question i have Were active aircraft kept highly polished ? Or did the aluminum skin oxidize and get dull over time? My only experience comes from comparing USAF Century series aircraft. Since there are multitudes of aircraft and walkarounds for them. 

   To represent the oxidized paint is the better choice. If i want a polished show plane that a squadron would use for airshow's or VIP visitors then i can go with foil or metalizer paints. As for the seperate squadron markings. I have a photo of a #29 squadron lightning in the green grey camouflage. So i may yet opt to go that route. 

 

Dennis

Edited by Corsairfoxfouruncle
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11 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Jb i am ready for paint/foil now. I just havent decided on a paint yet. I May still go complete metal foil like my F-86d and others. My only real hold up is i cant see what the real aircraft looked like. Ive not found really good close up photo's of the skin on service aircraft. Only museum birds left to sit in the elements.  The question i have Were active aircraft kept highly polished ? Or did the aluminum skin oxidize and get dull over time? My only experience comes from comparing USAF Century series aircraft. Since there are multitudes of aircraft and walkarounds for them. 

   To represent the oxidized paint is the better choice. If i want a polished show plane that a squadron would use for airshow's or VIP visitors then i can go with foil or metalizer paints. As for the seperate squadron markings. I have a photo of a #29 squadron lightning in the green grey camouflage. So i may yet opt to go that route. 

 

Dennis

Hi Dennis, I found an in-flight picture of the squadron I depicted on active duty and their planes were gleaming. There are some ground shots where they appear more 'dirty' so I should imagine you can choose between polished NMF and a more oxidised look and not be criticised! Whatever the case the chrome is always shiny from what I have seen. I'm no expert of course, I just did my own limited research. JB

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Nice job. I use bare metal foil for shiny bits.

Regarding NMF - I'm not at all sure what is the best way to represent it on a model. In photos of real a/c it can vary considerably as it can reflect the colour of the sky and give too much contrast. Also the slight flexing of the skin panels gives it 'texture' which is impossible (for me) to replicate. The lighting has has quite an effect.

Below is my P1a using Alclad polished aluminium over gloss black enamel which looks fantastic but as for realism....

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I went for Alclad Airframe Aluminium over gloss enamel on my Attacker prototype which made it less shiny. This photo was taken outside in daylight which shows the effect of different lighting.

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John

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11 hours ago, John R said:

Nice job. I use bare metal foil for shiny bits.

Regarding NMF - I'm not at all sure what is the best way to represent it on a model. In photos of real a/c it can vary considerably as it can reflect the colour of the sky and give too much contrast. Also the slight flexing of the skin panels gives it 'texture' which is impossible (for me) to replicate. The lighting has has quite an effect.

Below is my P1a using Alclad polished aluminium over gloss black enamel which looks fantastic but as for realism....

 

I went for Alclad Airframe Aluminium over gloss enamel on my Attacker prototype which made it less shiny. This photo was taken outside in daylight which shows the effect of different lighting.

 

John

Hi John, thanks for the thumbs up. You look like you have achieved quite a finish on both models using Alclad. Aren't they a bit of a pig to work with - as in you touch it it blemishes etc. What did you seal them with as they do look immaculate yet still very shiny! JB

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Neither are sealed. I find it gives a treacly look to the gloss. Sometimes I get a finish that stands up to handling and sometimes not. I'm confused as to why.

I am not an Alclad expert or authority on the stuff. I did the P1a years ago and thought that I had cracked it - but I hadn't. I do not get on with Alclad Basic Black. It seems to bleed through and make the aluminium darker. The instructions on the Gloss Aluminium bottle say use gloss black acrylic but I find that has a tendency to peel when masked. Currently I use gloss black enamel as an undercoat but you have to be extremely careful putting Alclad on top of it as lacquer on top of enamel can cause to to 'curdle' unless it is put on sufficiently thinly to dry immediately. You also have to make sure that the enamel undercoat is thoroughly dry first.

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19 hours ago, Phone Phixer said:

What a beauty. Love the shading & weathering on the NMF.

Thanks Phone Phixer! I must admit that was my favourite part on the model... I like the arty imprecise bits :)

4 hours ago, John R said:

Neither are sealed. I find it gives a treacly look to the gloss. Sometimes I get a finish that stands up to handling and sometimes not. I'm confused as to why.

I am not an Alclad expert or authority on the stuff. I did the P1a years ago and thought that I had cracked it - but I hadn't. I do not get on with Alclad Basic Black. It seems to bleed through and make the aluminium darker. The instructions on the Gloss Aluminium bottle say use gloss black acrylic but I find that has a tendency to peel when masked. Currently I use gloss black enamel as an undercoat but you have to be extremely careful putting Alclad on top of it as lacquer on top of enamel can cause to to 'curdle' unless it is put on sufficiently thinly to dry immediately. You also have to make sure that the enamel undercoat is thoroughly dry first.

Good advice from someone who's not an expert ;)

I'm still sceptical about the AK black undercoat and Gauzy. I found that masking without protecting lifted the metal coat off or left a mark despite the manufacturer saying it wouldn't and even de-tacking the Tamiya masking tape beforehand. I also found that it too peeled the Gauzy top coat off as well! You just have to be careful as you have said. Still, live and learn.

 

3 hours ago, BIG X said:

...That is Beautiful... :clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2::clap2: That's a five star clap - very well done. 

thanks for the five star clap - i'm honoured :) 

3 hours ago, Hamiltonian said:

Yes, that's a lovely thing. Beautiful metal finish.

Cheers - again, thank you all for your generous comments.

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