Shelliecool Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 (edited) In a change to my recent builds (which have mostly been WWII era or earlier), I am about to embark on an aircraft which represented a massive leap in the RAF's capabilities, namely the English Electric Lightning F.2A. The box contains set of detailed instructions, with one colour scheme, and a small decal sheet. There are 4 grey sprues all with little or no flash and a nice amount of detail. I plan to create an out of the box build, with landing gear down. It's been a while since I've built a jet so it's going to be odd not having props and radial engines to build. Fingers crossed it all goes smoothly. Edited July 18, 2018 by Shelliecool 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted July 17, 2018 Share Posted July 17, 2018 Nice! Looking forward to this build! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelliecool Posted July 17, 2018 Author Share Posted July 17, 2018 (edited) After giving the sprues a nice soapy wash, I set to work on the build. First step was the cockpit and pilot. I built the seat and using a peg to hold it together, concentrated on painting the cockpit interior and pilot. Putting this to one side I took a look at the next step, the Lightnings distinctive nose (it is on top of this that the cockpit eventually sits). The instructions suggest 4grams of weight need to be hidden in this section. Now looking online, other modellers have said it requires a lot of weight, which is hard to fit in such a small space. I asked my other half (Mr. ShellieCool) if we had anything that I could use as a weight and luckily he had some lead fishing weights, which I have superglue in place. I'm not convinced there is enough weight in there (I have visions of the build tail sitting!!) So I will attempt to add more Weight as the build goes on. With the nose section fixed together, I began building the cockpit (there isn't a great lot of detail in there, but I do like the ejector seat pulls). Now with the pilot in place, I have fixed the cockpit to the nose section, so far so good. Edited July 18, 2018 by Shelliecool 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 I'll be keeping an eye on this, I've several of these Airfix Lightnings in stock. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adey m Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) Hi Michelle, I have a tried and tested method of working out how much weight a nosewheel model needs. Tape together the fuselage halves and tape the wings, tailplanes and fin to it and then pivot the model in line with the main wheels, then add weights onto the nose or area the weight can go until the model sits firmly on its nose. regards, adey Edited July 18, 2018 by adey m 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 (edited) Look at you go! You've come a long way from your first builds here, Shellie and I've completed one to your five(?) in that time! Always liked the Lightning (particularly the F.6) and the green and grey scheme has particular appeal. My brother and I had one each in 1/72 when we were kids (one Frog, one Airfix) - they actually fly better than a paper aeroplane if you weight them right! I'll be watching with interest. Edited July 18, 2018 by Bell209 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigdave22014 Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 Blimey, she's off again! (pulls up chair, looks around for refreshments). I built one of these a few years back (in aluminium finish) and loved building it. I used some of that "liquid lead" (actually just very small balls of metal) to weight mine, and just packed in as much as I could squeeze in wherever i could. I seem to recall there is a problem fitting the cockpit/engine assembly into the fuselage - but cant remember what... Can anyone help? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 I worked around the nose weight problem by fixing a 5g tyre weight to the rear of the compressor plate with cyanoacrylate. BTW there's no E in Lightning 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelliecool Posted July 18, 2018 Author Share Posted July 18, 2018 7 hours ago, Ratch said: I worked around the nose weight problem by fixing a 5g tyre weight to the rear of the compressor plate with cyanoacrylate. BTW there's no E in Lightning Great tip there......on both counts! Thanks, Michelle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted July 18, 2018 Share Posted July 18, 2018 From experience you'll need to take a bit off the side of the intake tunnels and get rid of all of the ejection marks inside the fuselage if you want the halves to go together. Lovely kit though. I think I put about 10g of weight in it, but don't take my word! Here's mine. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 7 hours ago, Harry_the_Spider said: From experience you'll need to take a bit off the side of the intake tunnels and get rid of all of the ejection marks inside the fuselage if you want the halves to go together. I didn't have to go to those lengths My first one did take a bit of pressure to get the fuselage to marry up but the second went together easily 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted July 19, 2018 Share Posted July 19, 2018 Nice work so far! I hope you can get it balanced right! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelliecool Posted July 21, 2018 Author Share Posted July 21, 2018 Having crammed in a little extra weight, I began the arduous task of joining the fuselage halves together. As several of you have already commented, this is a little tricky. With a lot of brute force I managed to get them together, and secured them with some tape to dry overnight. A small amount of filler and Sanding will be required I think. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted July 21, 2018 Share Posted July 21, 2018 Nice work joining the fuselage! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelliecool Posted July 23, 2018 Author Share Posted July 23, 2018 Over the weekend I began the ground hog day task that is sanding and filling, and once moderately happy I began fitting the wings, tail sections and various small parts. This task went well, the wings (which I have read can be difficult to fit) slotted into place nicely and look equal from side to side. Then disaster reared its ugly head!🙈 I began work fitting the canopy, firstly it was a very snug fit........too snug (I even pondered having it open to resolve my issues). Then when I had sanded a little of the fuselage (only minor) got the top half into place, I got my finger covered in glue and stuck the thing to the lower half of canopy 🤪🤯. Making the best of a bad lot, and with a heavy heart I held them there with tape and waited.......if I'm honest hell would freeze over before this canopy would be clear!!!! Sure enough there it was a cloudy front screen. I have read that neat acetone removes superglue from clear plastic (I don't have it neat, but I have nail polish remover so I gave that a try). The varnish remover cleaned it up a bit, but I'm still very unhappy.....a rooky mistake, and I should know better. 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 Sorry to see your problem, perhaps micro meshing and a coat of future would bring back the clarity Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry_the_Spider Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 By the time you've painted the canopy frame it will look better. There's a lot of frame and not much glass. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelliecool Posted July 24, 2018 Author Share Posted July 24, 2018 To weather or not to weather.......that is the question?🤔 I would be interested in all your opinions. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Subtle weathering on a green Lightning I think . Too much and it will look awful. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelliecool Posted July 26, 2018 Author Share Posted July 26, 2018 After a quick sand with a micro mesh stick, I decided to mask the canopy blast the build with primer and turn my attention to adding some colour to the build. I masked the aircraft up ready to paint the aluminium underside and mixed up a little Revell aluminium. This sprayed evenly (leaving a metallic vapour cloud around my spray booth), and I then left it to dry. Now, at the weekend I ordered some Vallejo silver acrylic, ideally to used on the Lightning (and other builds). So today I mixed it up 10:2 with Vallejo thinner and sprayed away.......I do love using Vallejo acrylics. Here's the result...... I'm quite happy with the results. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelliecool Posted July 27, 2018 Author Share Posted July 27, 2018 So not completely satisfied with my sanding along the seam lines (silver picks out all the imperfections), I decided I needed to give the top half of the fuselage a better sand. I decided to make my own jig to hold a sanding belt. A wire coat hanger, strip of sandpaper and some superglue later and........ voilà 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamden Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 Great idea for the sander, never thought of doing that...............filed away for future use Roger 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 Nice work and nice sander, Shellie! A light weathering would look nice, I think! Håkan 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 27, 2018 Share Posted July 27, 2018 Its shaping up nicely Michelle. The tyre weight tip is a good one and is a system I use myself. Strips of new weights can be bought for pence on Evil Bay. Martian 👽 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelliecool Posted July 28, 2018 Author Share Posted July 28, 2018 With the silver looking, well shiny, I turned my attention to the dark green on the rest of the fuselage and wings. I have decided to stick with Vallejo model air acrylics, and mixed up some dark green with a little thinner (10:2). This sprayed evenly and smoothly, and having left it to dry overnight I today have it another blast. There are a couple of little over sprays, but nothing major. All in all I'm pretty happy so far, and tomorrow aim to airbrush the black canopy and nose, before doing the other shiny bits. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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