Ray S Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Hello all. In a fit of nostalgia a couple of weeks ago, I ordered from KingKit a couple of Airfix Lightnings. Not the excellent F.6 and F.2A, but the rather old F.1A and F.3. I have built these many time in the past, when the world was different and my view of it more so. I have recently built a Sword Lightning F.1 with markings by Model Alliance. I had found the markings pretty good, except they silvered and were highly translucent. I wanted a cheap model which was not too important in my great scheme of things, and I wanted to try an alternative way of adding the transfers. This fitted the bill! This is what I ended up with, and I accept it is not to the high standards usually associated with Lightning (or anything else) builds on here, but is was a good learning curve! I tried a few new things on this, but the first thing was to remember that this was a 'snap-fit' kit! Well named - the location aids were all too big, and if I had used enough force, it would have been a definite snap! I tried to represent the various metal panel tones, I painted matt black and dark grey on various panels, then brush-painted Revell 90 Silver acrylic overall. It was just translucent enough to show the panels in the right light - not too 'in your face'. I also had some fun masking for the red spine and tail, the triangles forward were interesting to say the least, but I had some Sword markings for 111 Squadron which acted as a photo-copied template for the masking and that helped. The unit markings were Model Alliance, and this time, rather than using Micro Set and Sol, I used the new Pledge/Klear stuff, and that settled them down much better than the previous attempt. You can see how thin and see-through they are though with the St George cross badge on the tail. I know I got quite a few things wrong with this - the rake of the main undercarriage looks too severe forward to me, and the fin flashes should not have a yellow surround, but I was quite happy with the final result. Thanks for looking, all the best. Ray 29 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Juliet Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Lovely model - well done! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bugle07 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Nicely done Ray! Good work on the decals and the masking. I remember building this kit back in the late 80's. I lost the nose cone/surround, completely disappeared. Ended up with a blue tac nose spray painted green, didn't look the same after that... Good stuff! Geoff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binbrook87 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 You've made a cracking job of that old bird. Really nice paint job 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Very nice build and the markings are awesome! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Great job Ray nice to see the oldie's still being built! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qn30jEkPz7 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Very nice, had almost forgotten I had the same boxing till rooting around in the stash earlier. Hope I end up with it finished even half as good 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mackem01 Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Hi Ray, lovely job. There's nothing wrong with that Lightning, you produced a fine representation of the beast. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brigbeale Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Great aircraft and a fantastic model. Well done!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 One of my favourite Airfix kits and I too have a few of them in the stash. It's basically accurate and can be used as a canvas for various interesting colour schemes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adey m Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 That is beautiful Ray, Airfix captured the lines of the Lightning so well all those years ago, something that modern kits seem to struggle with. Does the St George Cross have something to do with when the Lightning Conversion Unit was based at RAF Middleton St George which then became Teeside Airport ? Must have been a thrill to see those flying over the North Yorkshire moors. A very attractive colour scheme on my favourite Mark of Lightning, and beautifully presented too my friend. happy memories Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 34 minutes ago, adey m said: That is beautiful Ray, Airfix captured the lines of the Lightning so well all those years ago, something that modern kits seem to struggle with. Does the St George Cross have something to do with when the Lightning Conversion Unit was based at RAF Middleton St George which then became Teeside Airport ? Must have been a thrill to see those flying over the North Yorkshire moors. A very attractive colour scheme on my favourite Mark of Lightning, and beautifully presented too my friend. happy memories Adrian Thanks @adey m, my friend! I built my first Lightning (the Airfix f.1a 111 Sqn 'K') at Alderton in 1970 or '71, and after my experiences at RAF Tengah sitting in a Lightning cockpit on a Scouting weekend camp, that set me up as a Lightning addict! It is only recently that I had felt confident enough to go for the metal finishes though, I was never happy with my results once I started looking through adult eyes rather than a child's ones. 226 OCU were based at Middleton St George, but moved to Coltishall in about 1964, the transfers that this has were said to be based in 1965, so this one would have been Coltishall. I had not reaslised the significance of the St George cross untill you raised this question! Thanks to to everyone else who has 'liked' and commented on this, it is all very much appreciated. I am now doing the Airfix F.3, this time in shades of grey as the blue-tailed plane of the LTF. It is surprising how different the fit was to this one, despite it being only the tail fin and missiles being re-tooled. The fit is so much better, and I even got the air brakes to fit reasonably well on the F.3! Take care all, and thanks everyone again, Ray 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Love it, that's great, I remember building this one as a kid and zooming it around the house - pure nostalgia 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplasticsurgeon Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Nice one Ray, she scrubs up just fine. I had a Lightning binge in 2003 - building this kit amongst 7 Lightnings that year. I was really put off by those cannon ports, and found an example with then skinned over. I've never had much success with acrylic silver metalics, but your brushed Revell silver acrylic looks superb. This model is kitchen foiled. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Jumbo Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Looks very well done to me! Only ever built the F3 from this vintage of airfix - latest was their new F2a. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfman Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Great job on the old kit, love the Mk.1 ! Wulfman 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Work In Progress Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 I've got a early release (red stripe box) example of this kit as well as the newer Airfix ones, and I agree it's still well worth building. While it has a certain simplicity about it, it does built up a lot better than many people might think. I'm looking forward to building mine and this excellent example will likely accelerate me 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Great results Ray!!!!! Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adey m Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 22 hours ago, Ray S said: I had not reaslised the significance of the St George cross untill you raised this question! Hi Ray, I have found out that the cross on the tail refers to the Lightning Conversion Unit's shadow Squadron No 145 who's coat of arms is the cross and sword. I look forward to seeing more of your beautifully presented classic kits in the future my friend. best wishes Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invidia Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Looks good. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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