It's fast! It's British! It's a Lightning!

[Terry1954]

Watching very closely with my own T4/5 in mind. Also picked up Sword F3 and some nice decal sets at yesterday's show.

 

I feel a lightning in my not too distant future!

 

Terry

[Spookytooth]

Holy smoke G., some gaps to deal with there sir.

But I am sure that you will tackles with aplomb.

 

Simon.

 

[giemme]

On 17/02/2020 at 13:53, Terry1954 said:

Watching very closely with my own T4/5 in mind. Also picked up Sword F3 and some nice decal sets at yesterday's show.

 

I feel a lightning in my not too distant future!

 

Terry

More than one, it would appear ....    

On 17/02/2020 at 13:53, Spookytooth said:

Holy smoke G., some gaps to deal with there sir.

But I am sure that you will tackles with aplomb.

 

Simon.

 

Cheers Simon, thanks for the vote of confidence ...    

 

Not really a progress to report, but I've finally made up my mind: upon thorough scrutiny of T4 and T5 IP pics and diagrams kindly provided by James @71chally and Ramon @Sting67, and comparing them to the PE IP provided by Sword, I determined that a T4 IP can be arranged, thus

 

 

removing the panel in the red dotted circle and erasing the details pre-printed in the two green dotted circles, replacing them with suitable bezels (drilling out holes in the top PE panel and placing suitable decals on the bottom one)

And obviously, painting the whole thing black.

 

So the model will definitely represent a Lightning T4 of 111 Squadron, the first scheme from the top in next pic

 

 

Better get going ... 

 

Ciao

[Spookytooth]

2 minutes ago, giemme said:

Better get going ... 

About time G. LOL.

 

Simon.

[71chally]

Well, it looks like you're going for the T.4 option,

 

In my thread I highlighted the scoops and vents that need removing or adding,

Sword 1:72 Lightning T.4 by James Thomas, on Flickr

The red circles show the raised scoops to be removed, the orange circle a vent to be filled in.

There is a circular vent where the removed upper aft scoop was, that will be drilled open.

 

It was a while ago so double check though!

[Biggles87]

Still looking ( occasionally )for my 111 Sqdn 2-seater picture, which I think was a T4. I have three picture books by ex-Lightning pilots, Chris Allan and Ian Black, and it’s not in the one I thought it was and I can’t find the other two! It was very shiny, with almost a mirror finish.

 

John.

PS. Ian Black is the son of George Black who led the 111 Sqdn aerobatic team.

[The Spadgent]

Looking solid Giorgio.  Gap shmap. You’ll sort that out in no time. 🤩🥳

 

Johnny.

[giemme]

On 20/02/2020 at 10:55, Spookytooth said:

About time G. LOL.

 

Simon.

 Yeah, I know, ....     

On 20/02/2020 at 12:40, 71chally said:

There is a circular vent where the removed upper aft scoop was, that will be drilled open.

 

It was a while ago so double check though!

Thanks James, I will.  Just to make sure I understood correctly: is the vent to be drilled open the one indicated by the arrow? (I hope you don't mind me editing your pic)

 

On 20/02/2020 at 14:30, Biggles87 said:

Still looking ( occasionally )for my 111 Sqdn 2-seater picture, which I think was a T4. I have three picture books by ex-Lightning pilots, Chris Allan and Ian Black, and it’s not in the one I thought it was and I can’t find the other two! It was very shiny, with almost a mirror finish.

 

John.

PS. Ian Black is the son of George Black who led the 111 Sqdn aerobatic team.

Thanks John - I'm not rushing this   so whenever you find those pics, they're gonna be very useful  

On 20/02/2020 at 14:47, The Spadgent said:

Looking solid Giorgio.  Gap shmap. You’ll sort that out in no time. 🤩🥳

 

Johnny.

Thanks for the vote of confidence, Johnny    

 

I'll post an update tonight; later guys  

 

Ciao

[71chally]

1 hour ago, giemme said:

Just to make sure I understood correctly: is the vent to be drilled open the one indicated by the arrow? (I hope you don't mind me editing your pic)

 

Ciao

been a while since I was all over this, but I believe so, 

have a look at this,

https://www.airliners.net/photo/UK-Air-Force/English-Electric-Lightning-T4/1762858/L

[giemme]

6 hours ago, 71chally said:

been a while since I was all over this, but I believe so, 

have a look at this,

https://www.airliners.net/photo/UK-Air-Force/English-Electric-Lightning-T4/1762858/L

Great pic James, thanks!

 

Hi everybody, here's a propre update. I modified the IP to somewhat resemble the T4 version, so I drilled some additional holes in the top PE part

 

and used it as a template to mark where to put gauge decals on the bottom PE part

 

Then I realized I forgot to modify the top part of the IP, so I went back to it and  added two more holes

 

Then I posed the decals, raided from the spares box

 

And here's the final outcome, glued to the backing plastic plate and suitably painted (it also received a dark grey drybrush and a W&N matt coat by brush - BTW @CedB I'm sold on this stuff, it's just great!! Thanks for pointing me there  

 

 

 

Time for some prepping on the tub: first off, using a razor blade I removed the instructor's throttle panel, because the kit shows the T5 configuration

 

then I re-located it in the middle of the tub, in between the two control sticks

 

To set it at the right-ish height, I placed it over a 4 layers 0.5mm styrene sheet support

 

I then added the back plate

 

and once cured, I added some solder and copper wire to make it look busy - I had no actual ref pic to go along, so it's kind of an artistic license here ...  

 

 

Time for some black paint: Tamiya Flat Black, thinned with cellulose and airbrushed at around 1 bar

 

same for the seats

 

and the inner side of the fuselage halves

 

BTW: does anybody know what the color of the intake inside should be?

 

Speaking of intake, I also started working on the pointy thing protruding from it, actually the back part which also contains the front wheel well: there should have been a locating support for the front wheel strut, according to the instructions, but there actually was none. Here is my attempt at rebuilding it, plus some ribbing re-instating after clean up

 

Once the two halves were glued, I added a 0.5mm small styrene plate, with a suitable hole drilled in it

 

I think you can spot some blue tack holding it in place while the glue is setting. The radar cone also received some attention: it didn't look pointy enough to me, so I added some CA+flour to the tip and filed to shape

 

Better, but I think it still needs a bit of TLC.

 

Last thing for the day, I glued the wing halves

 

The fit wasn't bad, but there's gonna be some work to tidy up the seams - oh well, it's all good fun  

 

All comments welcome

 

Ciao

 

[Spookytooth]

Well G, looks like a good start made there.

Lets hope that the front U/C gives you no grief.

 

Simon.

[Terry1954]

Brilliant work on the I/P Giorgio and a great start on the cockpit tub.

 

Terry

[Mattlow]

I probably won't describe this well, but I have one of these half built and I was concerned that with no internal support, the fuselage halves may pop open seams when trying to fix the wings. The wings are a tight fit and some pressure seemed necessary to get a good fit.

 

I pondered fitting the wings before joining the fuselage halves, but decided to fit a strengthening post between the halves to absorb the pressure needed to get a good wing fit.

 

Here's the post, it is trimmed so it fits into a hole in each fuselage half.

 

 

View from outside showing post snuggled into its locating hole.

 

 

This adds strength and will  stop me 'poping the fuselage seams when I apply pressure to get the wings on.

 

Maybe overthinking it...?

 

Matt

[stevehnz]

Giorgio, this is coming along beautifully, a master class in T-bird Lightnings, just what I was after.  

14 minutes ago, Mattlow said:

Maybe overthinking it...?

I don't think so, it makes sense to me, I'll likely try something similar come the day.

Steve.

[keefr22]

1 hour ago, giemme said:

 

See Giorgio, I told you that you'd have no problem making a T4 IP - that looks excellent!!

 

The rest of the progress looks good too! I do slightly wonder if you have the instructors throttle pedestal tall enough? Generally throttle levers are around the same height as the stick top?

 

46 minutes ago, stevehnz said:

I don't think so, it makes sense to me, I'll likely try something similar come the day.

 

Me too, and like Steve I'll be doing much the same - good tip!

 

Keith

[giemme]

10 hours ago, Spookytooth said:

Well G, looks like a good start made there.

Lets hope that the front U/C gives you no grief.

 

Simon.

Cheers Simon, thanks   I'm doing a lot of dryfitting for the front leg, this should hopefully lead to no surprises in the end...

10 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Brilliant work on the I/P Giorgio and a great start on the cockpit tub.

 

Terry

Thank you Terry!  

9 hours ago, Mattlow said:

 

 

This adds strength and will  stop me 'poping the fuselage seams when I apply pressure to get the wings on.

 

Maybe overthinking it...?

 

Matt

Thank you Matt, that sounds like a brilliant idea  I haven't test fitted the wings yet, and I hope to remember your hint when I come to that point ....    Not a memory problem, really, it's just that I'm slow....    

9 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Giorgio, this is coming along beautifully, a master class in T-bird Lightnings, just what I was after.  

 

Steve.

Thanks Steve, very kind of you  

8 hours ago, keefr22 said:

 

See Giorgio, I told you that you'd have no problem making a T4 IP - that looks excellent!!

 

The rest of the progress looks good too! I do slightly wonder if you have the instructors throttle pedestal tall enough? Generally throttle levers are around the same height as the stick top?

Thanks Keith   As for the pedestal, I don't have my references at hand right now, but what I tried to do was eyeballing it with the bottom of the IP; pics then show long throttle levers, which probably bring all up level with the control sticks. I'll double check tonight, but anyway I'm not adding those levers at this point: too many chances of knocking them off  

 

Ciao

[Mattlow]

Giorgio

 

I forgot to say how much I'm looking forward to seeing you work on this. Mine's an F-3 but I'm sure there'll be useful stuff to pick up (steal) from your build.

 

Cheers

 

Matt

[Terry1954]

11 hours ago, Mattlow said:

This adds strength and will  stop me 'poping the fuselage seams when I apply pressure to get the wings on.

 

Maybe overthinking it...?

I agree with @stevehnz, certainly not overdoing it, but wisely cautious I would say. I shall use that idea in the future, especially on my two Sword Lightnings.

 

Terry

[keefr22]

1 hour ago, giemme said:

pics then show long throttle levers, which probably bring all up level with the control sticks.

 

👍

[71chally]

I must admit I stick the wings on while the fuselage is in two halves, both with the Sword and Airfix kits, but it suits my foil finish approach to making these kits.

You have to be very careful that the wings are correctly aligned though.

 

lovely progress there Giorgio.

[CedB]

Excellent i/p Giorgio, great work 

Pleased you like the varnish too 👍

[Cookenbacher]

Giorgio, adding impossible levels of detail? That's weird.

Oh wait, it's what you ALWAYS do. Fantastic cockpit Giorgio.

[giemme]

On 24/02/2020 at 09:46, Mattlow said:

Giorgio

 

I forgot to say how much I'm looking forward to seeing you work on this. Mine's an F-3 but I'm sure there'll be useful stuff to pick up (steal) from your build.

 

Cheers

 

Matt

Cheers Matt, thank you  Feel free to steal/pick up anything from my build, I'd be glad if it turns out useful  

On 24/02/2020 at 11:18, 71chally said:

I must admit I stick the wings on while the fuselage is in two halves, both with the Sword and Airfix kits, but it suits my foil finish approach to making these kits.

You have to be very careful that the wings are correctly aligned though.

 

lovely progress there Giorgio.

Thank you James   About the wings, see below what I did

On 25/02/2020 at 17:14, CedB said:

Excellent i/p Giorgio, great work 

Pleased you like the varnish too 👍

Thanks Ced   And the varnish is definitely great stuff!

On 25/02/2020 at 18:09, Cookenbacher said:

Giorgio, adding impossible levels of detail? That's weird.

Oh wait, it's what you ALWAYS do. Fantastic cockpit Giorgio.

  Thanks Cookie, way too kind

 

Here's a quick update, since I manged a couple of hours at the bench tonight:

 

the tub received some detail painting and some dry brush, first with Lifecolor Dark Grey, then with Lifecolor Dark Gull Grey

 

 

It doesn't look particularly fancy, but with the IP and seats in place should definitely improve. I might add some detail painting on the side consoles and maybe some more detail, but I'll wait to position the IP before that.

 

The seats received some base coats too:

 

Brush painted with Lifecolor Tan, Sand Yellow and Dark Olive, then clear coated with Aqua Gloss. After they cure, I'll add some highlights and glue in the PE belts and harnesses.

 

Wings: here's a dryfit

 

 

To get to that point, though, I had to work on both the aligning tab and the receiving slot, both sides

 

Basically I had to shorten and reduce the thickness of the tabs, but also enlarge the slots (height and width) in the fuselage halves. This way the fit is pretty smooth, but I'm not ruling out @Mattlow's idea of an internal reinforcement yet.

 

As I mentioned in a previous post, there are seams to be taken care of 

 

 

Nothing really dramatic, as you can see.

 

The additional dent you see on port wing isn't a feature of this model, just me being overzealous in removing the part from the sprue runner....  

 

CA+flour will take care of that

 

That's it for this update, all comments welcome

 

Ciao

 

[CedB]

8 hours ago, giemme said:

It doesn't look particularly fancy…

Not from where I'm looking! Very realistic Giorgio - I might try that on the Skeeter.

I agree with Cookie - I'm always impressed by your detailed work  

[giemme]

On 27/02/2020 at 08:19, CedB said:

Not from where I'm looking! Very realistic Giorgio - I might try that on the Skeeter.

I agree with Cookie - I'm always impressed by your detailed work  

Thanks Ced, glad you like it  

 

More done on the seats: highlights

 

 

then all the PE parts to tart them up

 

 

They then received a black tempera wash and a W&N flat coat, airbrushed

 

I did spray that on the tub, too

 

Amazing stuff, so easy to use and gives a wonderful flat finish; I don't know how I got along without this so far!

 

The IP got glued in place too

 

Then I started working on the fuselage halves, removing the vents according to James @71chally's diagram and shortening the cable ducts - next pic is an in progress, not completed yet

 

 

I also put together the radome assembly, filling it with as much fishing leads as I could

 

Time for a dryfit, with cockpit and radome in place

 

unless you point alight straight into the intake, not much is visible from outside. Using the flash

 

So I decided to paint the intake interior off-white, mixing Tamiya Flat White with Sky Grey

 

Same for the radome

 

and the front bay

 

This is now curing, before the final paint job for the front bay and the radome.

I did spray the same color on the "visible" part of the tub

 

Lots of scratches there, I might need to go over it with one more coat.

 

That's it for this WE progress report, all comments welcome

 

Ciao