chrislowe Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 (edited) This is probably @Martians fault. The vacform tutorial build got me thinking about challenging myself to do something other than an injection moulded kit. I stick to 1:48 and almost always the end-of-the-cold-war through to modern era aircraft that I've seen at shows since my childhood. So there really isn't tons of choice in vacform, as soon as I saw the Lightning I knew it was the right one for me. I don't normal go for the un-boxing type shots, but a lot of you might be as new as me to this form of modelling. the box Unfortunately no longer with the etch or the redtops that have been redacted from the front The fuselage Wings Spine stiffener, belly stiffener and an over wing tank Another tank White metal parts for the undercarriage, cockpit, exhausts and nose. injection moulded parts canopy Decals and sticks attached to the bottom of the box First job, as it says in the instructions is to read the instructions. I might have done this in excess of 30 times before I was brave enough to do anything. But eventually the time came. I bought a new cutting mat Outlined the fuselage halves with a fine pen and with my new #11, cut the fuselage out of the backing. Sanding and more sanding until they fit together and also the nose and the exhausts fit snugly at opposite ends. I have no idea how that ended up working so well. Until next time. Edited March 10, 2021 by chrislowe 28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sturmovik Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 2 minutes ago, chrislowe said: have no idea how that ended up working so well We've all been there once. Especially when moving out of our modelling comfort zone. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Looks good so far! (without meaning to jinx it) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 1 minute ago, Sturmovik said: comfort zone. I would remind you of the opportunity to enrol in the “Not my comfort zone” GB... 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 This is going to be great 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JagRigger Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 (edited) I built the F1 before Airfix released their injection moulded one. It'll either be in the Coltishall or City of Norwich museum now - was a part of the RAF Coltishall history collection before we closed and things got dispersed. From recollection it went pretty well, but I'd cut my teeth on a few Dynavector kits by then. Edited March 10, 2021 by JagRigger 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MADMUSKY Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Good work so far just take your time and test fit, test fit, test fit, before you glue. It builds into a nice kit. Airfix my have the nice recessed panel lines but lacks the correct width, its just too skinny. And there's no angles in the leading edge of the wings. Darren 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jonners Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 On 3/10/2021 at 12:31 AM, chrislowe said: I have no idea how that ended up working so well. I have. Time, patience, care and general modelling skill. Very nicely done so far. That’s a very nice looking kit; I haven’t seen one out of the box before. Those injection parts should help enormously when it comes to building the wings. Jon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulaero Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 (edited) Wow, Blast from the past !! You are over the worse bit, the wings are designed to need very little thinning of the edges they 'drop' into the injection parts. Keep at it nothing to fear in vac forms they're only plastic !! Must dig out a finished one to keep you going Edited March 11, 2021 by Paulaero Duplicate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulaero Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 Keep at it mate, this was the very first built one to test fit the parts. Been rebuilt about three times. As some have said I think it captures better the look of a lightning..... Sorry the image is a bit blurred the model is packed away in the loft and hasn't seen the light of day for ten years but retirement is looming 🙂 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislowe Posted August 6, 2021 Author Share Posted August 6, 2021 On 3/10/2021 at 12:35 AM, Sturmovik said: We've all been there once. Especially when moving out of our modelling comfort zone. Fingers crossed I've managed to keep that energy going... On 3/10/2021 at 12:36 AM, AdrianMF said: Looks good so far! (without meaning to jinx it) Thanks Adrian. Fingers crossed! On 3/10/2021 at 1:42 AM, billn53 said: This is going to be great Thanks! Hopefully I won't disappoint. On 3/11/2021 at 9:40 AM, MADMUSKY said: Good work so far just take your time and test fit, test fit, test fit, before you glue. It builds into a nice kit. Airfix my have the nice recessed panel lines but lacks the correct width, its just too skinny. And there's no angles in the leading edge of the wings. Darren Thanks Darren. It certainly looks very well engineered. On 3/11/2021 at 10:19 AM, Jonners said: I have. Time, patience, care and general modelling skill. Very nicely done so far. You're too kind On 3/11/2021 at 2:09 PM, Paulaero said: Keep at it mate, this was the very first built one to test fit the parts. Been rebuilt about three times. As some have said I think it captures better the look of a lightning..... Sorry the image is a bit blurred the model is packed away in the loft and hasn't seen the light of day for ten years but retirement is looming 🙂 That looks fantastic Paul, thanks for digging that our of the loft! I'm on the lookout for some appropriate missiles. Definitely inspirational. It's been some considerable time since my last post, work, life and other kits have been taking my attention, but I haven't been idle. The last post was a test fit of the two halves, so next came the bulkheads. More test fitting The wheel well And the intake I wanted to see if I could get a better shape in the front wheel bay. It started quite elliptical so I used a micro chisel to improve the shape. Just enough here to play with, but no extra Intake parts painted with MIG metallics and a Flory wash applied. Probably won't see much of this when the whole thing is assembled but I'm happy enough with that result. Back to the wheel bay. Still some tidying to do but hopefully you can see what I'm going for. Engines with a wash Offered up to the bulkhead so I can test fit the white metal exhausts Now the instructions say that you can crack on with the wings before you need them so I made the jig pieces and started gluing the leading and trailing edges to the vacform skin. And test fit the composite spar Still not able to glue the two halves together, I started on the cockpit. A touch of black in the right places with a light cost of grey to start. Followed by a wash and picking out the knobs, levers and buttons. I don't have any pictures of the IP in progress, but hopefully you can see from this pic that I cut out dials from spare decal sheets to make the most of the nicely derailed white metal piece. With the cockpit done, the intake glued and the wheel bay ready it's almost glue time 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrislowe Posted August 6, 2021 Author Share Posted August 6, 2021 I don't have any pictures of the gluing stage, but here's a picture of the two halves glued and the tail in place. Having already checked that I could fit it later, I made the ejection seat. Here it is with the coaming fitted too Next up I spent some time on the many vents and ducts on both sides. Thanks to everyone who contributed to the walk around section. The variety of photos really helped with this bit. Wings and canopy on and a cost of primer before lots of filling, sanding, priming, filling, sanding, priming etc. And that brings us up to date. Next up is some preshading, masking and the camo scheme. 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 Looking very nice indeed. The vac/resin combo seems to be working well. Camouflage - something about “Lightning” says “shiny” to me - I built the Airfix F1A in 196x in glorious silver plastic so I’m afraid that’s ruined me for life! Looking forward to some greens and greys… Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano353 Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 I'm curious to try a vac form kit myself as I'm seeing them on here was this easy enough to come by? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LorenSharp Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 Looking good o far,especially for a first attempt at vacs. I'll just add, as others have said,test fit, sand, test fit. Wash rinse, repeat. Don't get in a rush,When you get done you'll have something that will rival an injection kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LorenSharp Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 9 minutes ago, Deano353 said: I'm curious to try a vac form kit myself as I'm seeing them on here was this easy enough to come by? Aero club is no longer in operation, but you should be able to find a decent kit at a local hobby show, yard sale or Ebay. Heres one site I found doing a quick search online. https://www.kingkit.co.uk/products/vacform-model-kits/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deano353 Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 Thanks for the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephLalor Posted August 7, 2021 Share Posted August 7, 2021 Deano, further to LorenSharp's post, the Aeroclub F1 and F6 are out of stock at Kingkit, but the F3's available. https://www.kingkit.co.uk/product/aeroclub-aircraft-1-48-bac-lightning-f3 You can set up an alert for when a kit comes back into stock. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IvanP Posted August 7, 2021 Share Posted August 7, 2021 (edited) Fantastic build! It has been a while that I haven´t build a vacformed kit mysef. The finished model should look great. Knowing Aeroclub's reputation for producing accurate models, I wonder how this kit compares with the Airfix injection molded version of the Lightning. Cheers, Ivan Edited August 7, 2021 by IvanP 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maginot Posted August 7, 2021 Share Posted August 7, 2021 Looking superb. May have the courage to have a crack at one of these myself one day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted August 7, 2021 Share Posted August 7, 2021 Excellent progress. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stcaamekid Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 Its wonderful to see your Aeroclub Lightning build steps here Chris, thanks for sharing, you're providing me heaps of inspiration. Where and how did you locate the spine and belly fairing inner stiffeners ? I've not come across this concept in my injection moulded kit experience, and have been head scratching over this. With their shape, do they essentially form an inner second skin once attached and the fuse halves joined ? Keep up the good work - you're lighting a path that this mortal has feared to tread until now. Mine are calling "build me", like little gremlins - the force is strengthening ! Have you selected a final camo scheme yet ? All power to your progress, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Quack Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 Never having attempted a vacform kit, I've been following this at a distance - watching the work has been highly educational & inspirational - I might even give one a go sometime. Fine work! Q 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr T Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 Nice work on the Lightning. John has always been very careful about how he engineers stuff and it shows here. I am glad you are getting on well with a vacform and proving that they are not as scary as people think (Although there are exceptions, see worse kit ever thread in Chat) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redstaff Posted August 14, 2021 Share Posted August 14, 2021 Nice to see one of these actually being built. I've had an F6 in the stash for years and years but never had the courage to make a start. The Airfix injection kits came out, then the Sword trainers all in injection. Made all of those so I could never see the point of the vac kits. Cant see me ever getting round to it, but good to see someone has 😁 Ian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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