RAF QRA through the years. Hurricane finished 24/06, page 9.

[DaveJL]

Made a start on the Lightning today. Cockpit built up and given a basic paint job:

 

 

Various panels added to the fuselage sides along with the exhausts which were built up and sprayed:

 

 

Front intake and cone. This area was a bit tricky to get to sit correctly:

 

 

Wings and tail:

 

 

I don't know if others have experienced this, but parts of the wings appeared to be a bit warped. A lot of tape and some clamping appears to have sorted it however. Finally for today, the Firestreak missiles:

 

 

I've added the clear parts at this stage as it is my intention to paint these red to act as seeker head covers as seen on the limited number of Lightning QRA photographs that I've been able to source.

 

More soon.

 

Dave

[DaveJL]

A bit more done on the Lightning. I'd left all the sub assemblies to cure overnight so I could close up the fuselage halves this morning. Was a bit tricky to get lined up; again there appears to be a bit of warping. I got there in the end thanks to a lot of tape and some rubber bands but a bit of sanding will be needed to clean up the join lines. I also added the nose ring, which has created a bit of a fit issue - see 3rd picture down.

 

 

There's a bit of a step at the sides, close to where the cannon ports are. This will need attention also. Despite these issues, I'm enjoying my first Lightning and first Airfix kit in many years.

 

Dave

[exdraken]

Great Lightning start!!

[DaveJL]

10 hours ago, exdraken said:

Great Lightning start!!

Thanks Werner.

[Lord Riot]

Looking good! I'm doing the 1/48 Airfix Lightning too. I was going to paint my cockpit light grey though, are some black inside too, does it depend on the version?

 

[DaveJL]

On 6/14/2019 at 12:43 PM, Lord Riot said:

Looking good! I'm doing the 1/48 Airfix Lightning too. I was going to paint my cockpit light grey though, are some black inside too, does it depend on the version?

 

Thanks mate. From what I can gather, the F1/1A had an all black cockpit. I'm no expert and happy to be corrected, but won't be able to fix my kit in any case  Airfix's instructions state it as black so I just went with that.

 

This also popped through the letterbox this morning:

 

 

Very nice set, but I'll probably only use the aircraft armed signs.

 

Dave

[Wez]

On 14/06/2019 at 16:05, DaveJL said:

From what I can gather, the F1/1A had an all black cockpit. I'm no expert and happy to be corrected, but won't be able to fix my kit in any case  Airfix's instructions state it as black so I just went with that.

Correct, F.1/1A/2 had black cockpits, the grey cockpit came in with the F.3.

 

If your plan is to do UK based QRA jets then you need to look for either 66 or 92 Sqn markings, 4 and 71 Sqn were RAFG based.

 

Good start with the Lightning, have you overcome the nose ring issue?

On 14/06/2019 at 12:43, Lord Riot said:

I was going to paint my cockpit light grey though, are some black inside too, does it depend on the version?

Yes it does see above, which mark are you doing?

[DaveJL]

10 hours ago, Wez said:

Correct, F.1/1A/2 had black cockpits, the grey cockpit came in with the F.3.

 

If your plan is to do UK based QRA jets then you need to look for either 66 or 92 Sqn markings, 4 and 71 Sqn were RAFG based.

 

Good start with the Lightning, have you overcome the nose ring issue?

Yes it does see above, which mark are you doing?

Cheers mate.

 

I haven't done much work on the Lightning this week, been focusing on another build. Some careful sanding should sort it out.

[DaveJL]

Got a couple of hours at the bench earlier. Firstly, I cleaned up the initial filler around then nose ring, spine etc. Cleaned up very well, only a small second application needed around the nose and exhaust area but there'll be no issues with lost panel lines or any details. I went ahead and added the tail fin and wings:

 

 

Starting to take shape. More soon.

 

Dave

[DaveJL]

Couple of hours on the Lightning today. Filler cleaned up quite easily and has been hit with gradually finer grades of sandpaper. A final wet and dry before priming will finish it nicely. Once that was done, I added some of the odds and sods across the airframe:

 

 

A few more small bits to add and that's pretty much the assembly done.

 

More soon.

 

Dave

[DaveJL]

More done over the last few days. The airframe is just about ready for initial primer. I sprayed the intake cone and exhausts before masking off. The Montex masks were added to the canopy and that has been sprayed black.

 

 

I'll give the model an overall base coat of Tamiya primer then add on a black primer coat before spraying the silver. The sub assemblies were worked on next. The FOD cover from QMT was very nice. I've painted the tips of the Firestreak missiles red to replicate sensor covers:

 

 

Close up of the seat. There's a lot of straps!

 

 

More soon.

 

Dave

[Getting Old]

That seat is absolutley amazing 

[DaveJL]

Cheers! I'm happy with how it turned out.

[DaveJL]

Not much progress but had to replace the Montex mask. I noticed that after it sitting for a few days, it began to peel off the clear parts. That wouldn't do so I ordered a New Ware set:

 

 

A very good set, great value for money and much better in adhesion than the Montex set.

 

 

Once that was sorted, I applied a coat of Tamiya primer and it looks like all the seam work has cleaned up very well:

 

 

Next stage will be to spray on a coat of Tamiya X-18 Semi Gloss black before masking up the spine and tail fin to allow the silver to be sprayed.

 

More soon.

 

Dave

[DaveJL]

More done over the last few days. Sprayed the entire model with a couple of light coats of Tamiya semi-gloss black and, once set, I masked off the spine and tail fin:

 

 

Chrome for the nose ring:

 

 

Then it was time to add the base coat of silver - Mr Paint 'Super Silver Metallic' to be precise. A few light coats, once set, I masked off various panels across the jet and sprayed some with gun metal, some with chrome and some with flat aluminium. Once dry, the masking, bar the nose area, was removed:

 

 

I'm not the best at NMF (I find silver and white the trickiest to spray for some reason) but I'm quite happy with how it turned out; has the patchy, slightly worn look I was hoping for. I will however need to respray the spine and tail fin as the masking tape has left some marks 😑 

Once that's sorted, I should be able to get the decals on. Looks like I might be able to add them without the need for a coat of gloss, but will test a few small ones first to see how that works out.

 

Dave

[DaveJL]

Decals on:

 

 

No issues with the Airfix decals, though I did add some Micro set to the roundels just to get them to conform to the panel lines they were covering. Still need sealed in with a semi- gloss top coat before the addition of a panel wash.  I've left the masking on the nose ring as  I want it to remain as chrome as possible until the end.

 

More soon.

 

Dave

[Wez]

Dave,

 

That's looking really lovely.

 

There's just one thing...   ...and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, XM143 is an F.1, your model has the long cable ducts running along the lower fuselage from the missile pylons aft, that makes it an F.1A.

 

You could remove the cable duct, remove the decals and do either a Tremblers (111 Sqn) or Firebirds (56 Sqn) jet, give it a sound ignoring, the choice is yours, it's your model.

 

I'm now going to skulk off back under my stone.

[Hook]

Luverly Lightning! 

 

1 hour ago, Wez said:

There's just one thing...   ...and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, XM143 is an F.1, your model has the long cable ducts running along the lower fuselage from the missile pylons aft, that makes it an F.1A.

 

In fact, since she has the small dorsal intake, that would make her an F.2. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Wez]

4 minutes ago, Hook said:

In fact, since she has the small dorsal intake, that would make her an F.2.

Correct, good spot!

Edited July 12, 2019 by Wez

[DaveJL]

Thanks chaps.

 

2 hours ago, Wez said:

Dave,

 

That's looking really lovely.

 

There's just one thing...   ...and I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but, XM143 is an F.1, your model has the long cable ducts running along the lower fuselage from the missile pylons aft, that makes it an F.1A.

 

You could remove the cable duct, remove the decals and do either a Tremblers (111 Sqn) or Firebirds (56 Sqn) jet, give it a sound ignoring, the choice is yours, it's your model.

 

I'm now going to skulk off back under my stone.

Ah bugger! I was going by the Airfix instructions! It’ll have to suffice.

[Wez]

7 minutes ago, DaveJL said:

Thanks chaps.

 

Ah bugger! I was going by the Airfix instructions! It’ll have to suffice.

I ain't seen nuffink right!

[Calum]

IS that Lightning seat the Quickboost one? If so everyone I've had doesn't fit in the kit cockpit tub.

 

If not, which seat is it, it looks nice

[DaveJL]

1 hour ago, Wez said:

I ain't seen nuffink right!

It’ll do

 

6 minutes ago, Calum said:

IS that Lightning seat the Quickboost one? If so everyone I've had doesn't fit in the kit cockpit tub.

 

If not, which seat is it, it looks nice

It is mate. I’ve dry fitted it and it seems to fit.

[Calum]

14 hours ago, DaveJL said:

It’ll do

 

It is mate. I’ve dry fitted it and it seems to fit.

Good news. Wonder why the 3 I had were to large

[DaveJL]

18 hours ago, Calum said:

Good news. Wonder why the 3 I had were to large

Just double-double checked and definitely fits!