Lightning can strike twice - F.2A complete - F.6 Now also done.

[Andwil]

This is a place keeper for my entries in the group build.  I was going to build an EE Lightning, but having two in the stash and in the interests of stash reduction I though to myself “two at a time is not much more work than one”  so:

 

 

One NMF and one camouflaged.

 

some extras:

 

 

and sprue shots; F.2A:

 

F.6, essentially the same kit with an extra runner with the over wing tanks Redtops etc:

 

 

AW

Edited January 3, 2021 by Andwil

[Col.]

Welcome to the GB AW and with a Lightning double-build I'm sure you'll draw plenty interest  

[Aardvark]

28 minutes ago, Andwil said:

Ahhh, wrong (late fixed) Airfix box-art without tail!!!!

I specifically bought myself just this!  And the aftermarket decal from Modeldecal on shark teeth ... and Airfix then made a version with shark teeth ...

 

B.R.

Serge

 

[Andwil]

Well is the 14th down here so I’m away with two Lightnings, parts given a wash in warm soapy water then some cleaning up, not much required, very little flash, but:

 

 

wtf Airfix!  Must be the most inconvenient placement of ejector pins ever.  Cannot get a blade in there, cut them out as close as I could then attacked the remains with a small half round diamond file.

 

Various internal parts got a spray of primer:

 

 

 

 

and the cockpit tubs and IPs received a coat of medium sea grey.

 

Too hot for airbrushing here tomorrow (36C forecast) so the instrument decals will be applied and some detail painting on the seats.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Col.]

Nice start AW

[Andwil]

Instrument decals applied and some detail painting done.  I forgot to photograph the instrument panel, I’ll include one in the next update.

 

Laid some colour down on the ejector seats:

 

 

belts to follow.  I made up the Dark Admiralty Grey from a mix of a Neutral Grey with a drop or two of dark blue.  This may be a bit too blue, but I like it.  Barracuda include a very handy photo with their beautifully detailed and cast seats:

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Col.]

Those seats are looking great AW. Nice detail painting.

[Andwil]

As promised yesterday, here’s a shot of the IP with decal in place:

 

 

slight overlap that had to be trimmed.  The other one wasn’t as good, I blame my eyesight for not having it on straight.

 

Cockpit tubs got an umber wash to make them look it bit grubby, and a dry brush of aluminium around the edges:

 

 

 

these will get a matte coat to tone that shine off the decals.

 

Did a bit more on the seats:

 

 

 

these Barracuda seats really are a joy to paint (nice new brushes help too!).

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

Edited November 16, 2020 by Andwil
Typo

[Aardvark]

On 11/14/2020 at 10:46 AM, Andwil said:

Too hot for airbrushing here tomorrow (36C forecast) 

But the sky is not cloudless over the whole of Australia:

I just thought that if my -1C is added to your 36C, then the average temperature will be 17С, which is  comfortable for modeling?

 

B.R.

Serge

[Andwil]

1 hour ago, Aardvark said:

But the sky is not cloudless over the whole of Australia

Indeed it is not.  That night (the 12th) we had a terrific thunderstorm and the State of South Australia where I live recorded 100,000 lightning strikes!  Fortunately we were spared the monster hail though.  Climate change is increasing our extremes, it is now hotter, colder, drier and wetter.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Ejection handles painted up and added to the seats.  Here’s one of the cockpits completed (seat just dry fitted at this stage, I plan to glue them in later in the build):

 

 

 

I began assembling the intake trunking and jet pipes:

 

 

I seriously doubt whether the burner rings will be visible on the completed models.

 

 

A dry fit of the intake and cockpit assembly resulted in a wide gap in the nose, the reason being the presence of three massive ejector pins in each fuselage half which had to be ground down with the dremel.  The remaining pin behind the wing root slot shows just how big they were:

 

 

Oddly, they were only on one kit, the other had marks but no actual protrusions.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Col.]

Nice progress again AW.

[Andwil]

Cockpits attached to the intake assemblies:

 

 

Exhausts painted and assembled, I plan to attach these to the fuselage after main painting is done.  A fair amount of fettling was required to get a satisfactory dry fit.

 

 

Ready to close up.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Col.]

Is that you ready to begin main assembly on both now AW?

[Andwil]

2 hours ago, Col. said:

Is that you ready to begin main assembly on both now AW?

Yes, main assembly on both can start, hopefully later today.  I will have to keep track of which is which.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Intake/cockpit and jet pipe assemblies installed:

 

and Fuselages closed up:

 

 

the fit at the nose is not the best, the instrument panel fouling the sides and forcing them apart.  A fair bit of sanding was done to improve the fit but I fear there will still be a nasty gap.

 

Four wings assembled, remembering to drill out the location holes in one of them for the inflight refuelling probe:

 

 

I’ll add the flaps after these have set.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Col.]

You've marked the F.2A well to avoid confusion later AW  Hope the canopy parts still fit with that gap along the nose.

[Andwil]

14 hours ago, Col. said:

You've marked the F.2A well to avoid confusion later AW  Hope the canopy parts still fit with that gap along the nose.

I think the gap is ahead of the canopy, but you’ve got me worried  

 

AW

 

edit:  just looked at @Back in the Saddle’s 1/48 build and I think I see the problem.  The 1/48 kit has as a slightly different cockpit tub and the IP sits lower and is angled forwards, I might see if I am still able to adjust mine accordingly.

Edited November 22, 2020 by Andwil

[Andwil]

The good news is the gaps are not as wide as I feared and a dry fit shows that the canopies will still fit.  Today I went about the belly tanks and gun ports etc and the flaps.  The belly tank parts were a very tight fit, I don’t know why Airfix chose to do these in two haves rather than one piece that fitted up under the fuselage, this would have been much easier.  Before attaching the tank parts a weight was glued to the rear of the bulkhead:

 

 

a little more will added to the nose bullet later.

 

Fit not the best:

 

  

And the gun ports/blanking plates in the nose.  I have to say I am not a great fan of the plastic used by Airfix.  It is well known that the tolerances are very tight and paint must be kept off mating surfaces (snurf) and all traces of attachment points sanded off, but the plastic is so soft that this is not easy.  It is too easy if trimming with a knife to dig into the plastic and making a divot, sanding also produces a sort of fraying of the edges.  It’s a bit like the plastic the 1/72 soldier figures are moulded from.  And then there is this, snipping the gun port blanking plate for the F.6 resulted in:

 

 

the part breaking in two under stress.  A bit like the infamous Airfix P-51 control column.  Gluing the two parts in place resulted in this mess:

 

 

If it can’t be cleaned up by sanding I will probably remove it and make a plastic card replacement, which in hindsight I should have done anyway.

 

Wings with flaps attached:

 

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

These are building up very nice, Ive built one of the 1/48 kits as an F.3 but I really do want an F.2 and an F.6 in my collection as well. 

[Back in the Saddle]

Great builds! I hadn’t realised the 1/72 and 1/48 kits were so similar - the construction looks almost identical, just in different scales.

 

Very nice work on the seats. I might have to improve mine a bit, it’s very basic at the moment...

[Andwil]

Work continues on the fuselages.  Firstly the air brakes.  On each kit the same part was broken on the runner

 

 

These were added to the fuselages and the holes filled with CA and flour, were some of the other gaps.  The cable duct extensions were glued on, along with the pitots.  The pitots were then snipped off, the attachment points will be drilled to accept the a Master brass replacements.

 

 

These will now be sanded and cleaned up.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Col.]

Taking shape nicely AW regardless of the needless challenges Airfix are throwing in your way  

[Andwil]

More time has been spent sanding down seams and trying to get them to a condition I am happy with.  I think it must be my poor technique, but it seems that every joint needs fettling and filling.  Anyhow, I have got the wings and tail planes on the F.6:

 

 

and a more natural pose for a Lightning:

 

 

those poor wing joints got a smear of filler:

 

 

more sanding to look forward to.  I intend to attach the wings and tail planes to the F.2A after painting to make the masking easier, so I am working on those joints a little more.

 

I started to look at other parts of the airframes and found that the missile pylons had ejector pins on them that required filler, and in one case filing down.  Why Airfix chose to put them there is anyone’s guess.  Then I dry fitted the instrument coaming in the front of the cockpit.  One fits fine, the other would not fit at all, sitting about 2mm proud of the cockpit top.  The reason became evident when I turned the coaming over:

 

 

this is what you get with short run kits!  Several times now in these builds I have checked the the box says Airfix and not Sword.  I filed this monster ejector pin off and called stumps on today’s session.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[Col.]

Seems this particular Airfix kit has a bad reputation for being difficult due to poor parts fit so don't blame yourself AW.