Shockwave Rider Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Sword's EE Lightning T4 and T5. Took me roughly 18 months to complete. I did simultaneously build the T4 and T5 along with Airfix's new F6. It took so long due to a lose of modelling mojo, work getting in the way, plus my painting and nature conservation work. I did not use the etch set, as I can't stand the things. Overall, the build went fairly well. The resin pieces weren't the best either in quality or fit. The three kits were almost turned into airgun fodder when, after a nifty bit of masking and spraying of the upper surfaces, I decided to use an ancient can of Halfords Chrome spray. Firstly it made a mottled mess, partly due to deteriorating in the can for 20 years. Secondly, yours truly didn't wait until the paint had cured. I masked off the chrome paint, sprayed silver, then pulled off the masking tape and most of the chrome paint as well. I persevered and finished the blighters - though I notice I haven't attached one inflight refuelling probe (either lost in the bomb site I call a modelling table or eaten by the carpet monster) or a couple of my scratch built aerials. Sigh. I did end up with a couple of 2 foot models of these stunning aircraft i.e. good when viewed from at least 2 feet away. They're one of the few aircraft I feel actually look good as a trainer version. I'll post photos of my 1/72 Airfix F6. Once I can wrestle the nose probe from the maws of the carpet monster. I notice that despite my best efforts, the two, rather prominent, white aerials on the T5 are not parallel or vertical. Angus 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickred Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Angus great job! I feel your pain I’ve had a sword T5 on the go with an Airfix F6 since November but you have spurred me on to get my finger pulled out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeR Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Regardless of the paint problems they've turned out rather nicely! Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmerboy Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Well worth the time and effort, looking good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Two beauties Angus there's something about the look of the twin seater's I really like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottyphbeta Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Great looking models, I've got both in the stash and will start at least one of them soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 Very nice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted May 20, 2019 Share Posted May 20, 2019 Niiiiiice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shockwave Rider Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 Hello all, Thanks for the nice replies. Glad you like the Lightnings. These are well worth building. In truth, once I rolled my sleeves up and actually sat down to build them (rather than leaving them untouched for weeks or months) they only took a couple of weeks effort to complete. Even masking the camo scheme didn't take much time. The tasks that took longest were making good my errors. Be aware, though, these are short run kits. They do need old fashioned modelling skills, lots of dry fitting and some hacking of parts. In stark contrast was the Airfix 1/72 Lightning F6 which I built at the same time. This more or less (with a couple of minor exceptions) fell together; it had the current great engineering of Airfix kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Very nicely done! I have both of these in the stash and I'm looking forward to getting them out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Filler Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Excellent work. As a 48th scale'r I wasn't aware that Sword did these in 72nd as well. It took me a while to realise that they aren't 1:48. Super stuff!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ad-4N Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Well done, I've wanted to buy those 1/72 versions from Sword. You did a bang up job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 Outstanding job on both!👍 👍 I think the two-seaters are even more handsome than the single-seaters. As good as the Sword kits appear to be, I think Airfix missed a great money-making opportunity by not doing T4/T5's in either or both scales.... and I'm on THIS side of the pond! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redstaff Posted May 22, 2019 Share Posted May 22, 2019 Great stuff, very nice work I'm near to finishing a Sword T5 in 48th scale and learning about painting NMF as I go along, I agree that the Sword kits being short run are lacking in location points for a lot of things and you need patience Think there's something that makes the T birds look right though Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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