Fatcawthorne Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Well as a mojo-sapping trial this kit was scoring very high on the whydon'tIjustchuckyouinthebinO'Meter, I had originally planned it as a nice shiny NMF Tengah example. Unfortunately my lack of experience and ham-fistedness with Vallejo and AK metallics caused such a mess that I needed a complete re-strip. Unfortunately the paint-stripper as well as removing the errant paintwork also ate the home-brewed resin cockpit, wheel wells and most of the nose cone in the process. The paint-stripper also made the plastic very brittle, and left a few breaks and cracks on the wings and forward fuselage, especially where the Dali-esque old wheelwells were removed and new ones slotted in through those cracks. Now why did I carry on you may ask? Stubboness and stupidity is all I can offer!! Anyways, the cockpit, wheel wells and nosecone were all inserted into an otherwise complete airframe (it's so much easier if you insert them when the wings and fuselages are in at least 2 pieces I can tell you!), the cracks and breaks were healed as well as I could with gloop and PPP filler, but like even the best of surgeons we did leave a few scars for us to tell tall tales of our war wounds at parties! Now there was no way that I could get the airframe pristine enough for a re-run of the NMF, so I chose to fight another day by going with a final air superiority grey scheme, and chose a 5 Sqn F.6, XS933 from an Xtradecal sheet. Having looked at many many photos of this airframe online, I could see that the finish was looking a little tired without needing to be over-weathered, and there was a variation in panel colours of the supposed same colour, the cockpit canopy was from a previous scheme and there we replacement panels in both NMF and black primer to add visual interest. These photos taken from public images shared on Flikr, to show what I mean. I have attached the links as well as they are not my photos so credit to Phil Bradshaw! https://flic.kr/p/nBm5LN https://flic.kr/p/nG17iV Anyways as I've said, this kit has been through the mill good and proper, and I am just happy to see it out of the other side looking as much like a lightning as it does! Now bearing in mind that this kit was a real save, and it doesn't come up too high on my top 10 list, it does however serve to highlight the improvement in skills that I have gained since discovering first Brett Green and the Brit Modeller. I'm sure like so many good folk of this Parish, many moons ago I made my kits with solid colours, no pre-or post shading, no washes, no AM parts or decals and less technique and products to deal with seam joins, so as a compare and contrast, here is my previous 5 Sqn F.6 from pre-BM days. It's still good enough to sit on the shelf, but I'm pleased with the progress I have made over the intervening years! Anyways stay safe out there! 35 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmerboy Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Great save, and a marked improvement on your old lightning, BM is a great place to learn new techniques so good job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyW Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 There's something really satisfying about rescuing an old kit. Nice save. Tony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binbrook87 Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 Oh wow. Those are very nice Lightnings indeed. I do like that camo scheme on the first one... dark sea grey over barley? 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 To my old eyes they're both fine looking models. I do like the ejection seat in XS933. Splendid work there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bell209 Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Very nice save - I do know that feeling... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 I think they both look awesome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted September 2, 2020 Share Posted September 2, 2020 Awsome Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 From what I can see that is one heck of a save sir ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Both Lightnings look superb! I honestly can't see any difference, so clearly you've always had the skill. I can't tell that there were ever any issues with the first one, it's immaculate. You should see the state of the ones I haven't had issues with! I think my whole collection would be shelf of doomed by most modellers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
At Sea Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 Lovely job! Snap! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MickE Posted September 3, 2020 Share Posted September 3, 2020 (edited) I think both are very good. Edited September 3, 2020 by MickE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now