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1/48 Airfix Lightning F6 - XS901


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Whilst juggling a number of project, both Airfix and 40k, I treated myself to an early birthday present, another 1/48 EE Lightning, in my eyes one of the best-looking planes ever built.

 

I originally bought one several years ago and it languished in my pile for years before I decided to strip it down and rebuild it from scratch. This didn't work out as well as I planned due to the temperamental nature of the Alclad paints and the unavailability of spare parts at the time. I saw this one however online for a decent price and snapped it up. 

 

Here's where it becomes a piddle-take; half of it is missing. The original ad stated it was buildable, but the kit is missing the entire cockpit and engine intake, as well as the exhausts. Basically if it goes inside the fuselage, it's missing. This has presented a massive headache due to the kit being long-OOP, meaning I'm going to have to spend a fair bit on aftermarket parts. 

 

This is the kit in question. As you can see it's the more advanced F6 variant, with the distinctive overwing pods as well as different colour schemes available, as by this time the RAF had moved on from the distinctive bare-metal finish.

 

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Going forward I decided to have a look at the overall kit. Overall condition isn't too bad on the remaining pieces. The fuselage halves have some sort of staining to them, likely due to the age of the kit. 

 

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Excuse the mess of the box in these photos, that's the box it came in.

 

The inside of the fuselage was coated in old green enamel. As to why someone would paint the inside I have no idea. Took this pic halfway through stripping it down with Biostrip, and it's coming off nicely with no issues. 

 

1123126_sm-.jpg

 

So here's where we get to replacing the missing parts. Airfix offered to send replacements, but the cost would soon add up; I suspect it'd cost around £50 to replace them all, so it's cheaper to go out with the aftermarkets. With that in mind I was able to get the engine intake and cockpit tub from CMK:

 

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Haven't used the film dials for the cockpit before, so any tips on that would be appreciated. 

 

As for the engine exhausts I was able to source a set of replacements. Stever219 has offered to send over a spare set which I'm very grateful for, in the meantime I'll start panting up the cockpit tub and getting some sub-assemblies put together.

 

That's all for now. If anyone has any colour scheme ideas at the moment feel free to comment. At the moment I'm tied between the late-era grey and the classic grey/green camo, both of which I've seen used on F6s. 

 

Edited by TeaWeasel
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One piece I forgot to mention that was also required was the engine intake housing. Overall it's not an important piece in terms of looks but is crucial to the build as it supports the entire cockpit, engine intake and front undercarriage assembly. Again, this wasn't included it the pack so Airfix was able to send out a replacement. 

 

Once again however it wasn't as easy as it looks. Using the CMK parts means I'll have to cut away the existing nosewheel assembly. This doesn't seem too difficult, but what I'm worried about it getting a flush finish. 

 

 

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In the meantime I've also been looking into the cockpit dials, and the film provided for the dials themselves appears to be of pretty poor quality. Perhaps my expectations are too high after using Eduard's photoetch versions, but most of the dials are just black circles at best, might just be easier to try painting it. 

 

Just waiting on the exhaust assembly and this thing should be ready to start. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

So apologies for the lack of updates. Been on holiday to Austria, luckily just before the major lockdowns and riots.

 

So I ballsed up a bit with the engine intakes. The cheap saw I had really messed up the intake casing while trying to remove the undercarriage bay, so it was back to square one. Managed to get another set of engine intakes, and I decided to just go for the whole intake set straight from Airfix. Yeah I've wasted a bit of money buying the aftermarket set but at least I can get it done.

 

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The intake case has been glued and the housing dry-fitted. Overall a nice fit, will give it a brief go-over in silver before assembly. I think Airfix may have neglected to include the rear bulkhead, which may be a hindrance in mounting it but I may be able to fix this.

 

In the meantime I applied a quick bit of primer to part of the fuselage to see if any quality's been lost due to age or previous damage.

 

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You know what? Looks pretty damn good. 

 

Next step will be to paint up the cockpit and get that fitted. The exhausts previously mentioned have completely failed to arrived so I've just gone for the ResKit version. Not sure when they'll arrive but gives me time to get the cockpit ready. Once that's done it should go much more smoothly. 

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

So the final piece arrived today. 

 

20211210_122921

 

Originally the plan was another user on here had a spare set they'd provide for free (albeit I made a charity donation on his behalf) but haven't received anything and the user seems to be ghosting me, so picked up a set of the resin intakes. 

 

I've never had a set packaged so nicely like this. Full instructions provided, looks challenging at first but it's broken down into much easier steps. There's a fair bit of resin to remove which I'll be taking my time on to avoid repeating the cockup with the intake nozzle. 

 

As far as I'm aware I now have all the parts to start this thing, next steps will be to just paint up the cockpit dials and glue them in, then we can get the fuselage together. 

 

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49 minutes ago, The west wing said:

Can't remember who made it but is this film better than what you have?

 

It was left over from by build, send me a PM if you want it (free)

 

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Judging by the part number I'd say it was made by PP Aeroparts, I do know that DJ Parkins took over a few of PPA,s sets and kits and they do still sell a EE Lightning detail set in their Flightpath range that includes a "laser plotted instrument dial film".

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On 11/12/2021 at 16:07, AntPhillips said:

 

Judging by the part number I'd say it was made by PP Aeroparts, I do know that DJ Parkins took over a few of PPA,s sets and kits and they do still sell a EE Lightning detail set in their Flightpath range that includes a "laser plotted instrument dial film".

 

Nothing to do with us. But hey, everyone else knows our kits better than we do!

 

DJP/Flightpath

www.djparkins.com

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42 minutes ago, DJPFlightpath said:

 

Nothing to do with us. But hey, everyone else knows our kits better than we do!

 

DJP/Flightpath

www.djparkins.com

 

Hi David,

 

As a previous very happy customer of your's there was no offence intended, I purely thought it might be connected to you, after all you did take on and improve the PPA Firefly kits 😉

 

Happy modelling

Ant

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22 hours ago, AntPhillips said:

 

Hi David,

 

As a previous very happy customer of your's there was no offence intended, I purely thought it might be connected to you, after all you did take on and improve the PPA Firefly kits 😉

 

Happy modelling

Ant

 

None taken Ant! It was a attempt at wry humour.

 

More generally, PP never did a Lightning Set [only an access ladder & I think some missile handling trollewys in 72nd]. Certainly we never got any tooling for any Lightning set in any scale as part of the purchase. Our own set was later, as the Airfix 48th kit did not come out until after we bought the PP range.

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  • 2 months later...

So the cockpit tub, intake and exhausts are now attached. Some sanding of the ResKit exhausts was needed to get a flush fit but overall I'm really happy with the product. I do wonder about wherever a kit of this detail is really needed; the detail right at the end of the exhausts will be almost completely covered by the collars when completed, and the photoetch/resin interior detail will barely be visible without a camera flash. 

 

20220302_204457 20220302_204528

 

Generally I'm really happy with how it's turned out so far; despite missing half the kit I've managed to salvage it pretty well. Currently in the process of painting up the cockpit tub. I'm basing the colours on my previous Lightning F2, as I deviated a little from it on that to make it a bit more eyecatching. 

 

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The seatbelts themselves are rather poorly cast, so will try to paint them in the best I can. Once the canopy is on I don't think it'll be too noticeable anyway. 

 

And to finish off I glued together the lower fuselage halves, containing the 20mm gun pods for the F6 variant. I used a bit of scrap 40k sprue as a brace to secure the join as it was very flimsy as is. Excuse the bit of blood, sliced my thumb rather badly cooking earlier tonight and I guess it's still bleeding a tiny bit.

 

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Next steps will be to finish off the cockpit and then get the fuselage halves glued. I've looked at the wings and there appears to be a noticeable bit of twist in the parts. I've tried reshaping them with water from the kettle but it's not as effective as I've had in the past. If anyone has any tips that'd be appreciated.

 

Thanks all, any comments welcome.

Joe

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21 hours ago, TeaWeasel said:

And to finish off I glued together the lower fuselage halves, containing the 20mm gun pods for the F6 variant. I used a bit of scrap 40k sprue as a brace to secure the join as it was very flimsy as is.

Good thinking. Are you also going to put tabs on the fuselage sides so the edges of the gun pod don't turn in when you attach it?

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2 hours ago, Steve Coombs said:

Good thinking. Are you also going to put tabs on the fuselage sides so the edges of the gun pod don't turn in when you attach it?

 

Good point. I've done some dryfitting with the pod and it seems to be pretty snug against the fuselage, but I should add some tabs to avoid any headaches later on. Thanks for the tip.

 

I've begun the process of gluing the fuselage together. There's a little bit of warping around the nose so I've decided to start at the rear and work my way forward. In the meantime I was a little unsure that the spare bolts glued in the nose would be sufficient to prevent a tailsitter, so I've added some extra weight in the form of some spare foreign change I had lying about, glued just behind the cockpit. It's not like we'll be travelling anytime soon (had a trip to Ukraine planned for a couple of years, cancelled for obvious reasons). 

 

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I'll add a bit of extra glue just to be super sure that it won't dislodge. While the fuselage is drying I've also had a better look at the wings and saw an immediate issue; part of the underwing panel has snapped. Wherever it was from me or the previous owner I have no idea, 

 

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20 mins with the putty and a sharp blade to replicate the panel lines and it's actually turned out well. Despite the tones of the putty it's almost mirror-smooth.

 

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Thanks all, any comments and feedback appreciated.

Joe

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So in typical me fashion I had the fuselage glued...then dropped it. Spent today regluing it and was able to add additional parts including the tail and intake ring. 

 

20220304_172135

 

The fit isn't perfect. There's a ridge of around 1mm on the lower half of the fuselage and some filling required pretty much everywhere. I've gone over with Vallejo putty and will be getting some wet/dry paper tomorrow to help smooth it out.

 

In the meantime I had a look at one of the overwing tanks which was a nice little subassembly of just two halves. Went together nicely and painted up in a generic grey with a black preshade. I also wanted to see if the decals had degraded at all, but surprisingly they went ok nicely.

 

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Despite going on over a gloss coat there's some silvering still present. I'm not too sure if this is due to the decals' age or if the coat wasn't glossy enough. Anyone else had this issue with an older kit?

 

Off to a show at Kettering tomorrow so planning on picking up more supplies for both this and the TSR-2 in my signature. Comments and feedback on both would be really appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Joe

 

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Been a little quiet today but have had a chance to add a few more bits and pieces here and there. One area I completely overlooked were the pair of ventral fins behind the gun/fuel tank. Seems they weren't present on most F2s so I almost missed it when putting the F6 together, 

 

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Speaking of the F2, I had a bit of inspiration to get out the older kit and try to finish that off. 

 

Bit of backstory; I bought the F1/F2 kit probably around 7-8 years ago, without realising how rare they'd become. I painted it up and it sat half-completed in a cupboard for years and when I got back into scale modelling, I decided to give it a complete strip down and redo it from the ground up.

 

It turned out to be an absolute nightmare. I was able to replace the cockpit and engines, although areas such as the tail were pretty damaged meaning I had to replace them with the F2 alternatives provided in the kit. Airfix were able to provide a set of new decals as the technical details such as the winglines were lost when it was stripped. 

 

I had hoped to use Alclads to get the trademark mirror finish, but several attempts forced my hand to use Vallejo instead (at one point the Alclads started to melt through the primed plastic). My momentum stalled a bit and it's been back in the cupboard for a couple of years now half finished. Still, got it out today and started applying more decals.

 

20220308_172208 20220308_172217

 

 

I've had to deviate somewhat from the original in areas such as the squadron markings. Am I happy with it? Ehh somewhat, I feel it's a bit of a crappy finish overall but it has provided me with experience in tools and techniques for future projects. If I can keep the momentum up I do hope to get this one finished finally after so much time spent gathering dust.

 

Thanks again, please do leave comments below

Joe

 

 

 

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Hi Joe,

 

Nice progress there.  I like the earlier mark model as well. 

 

Regarding the twin strakes, they were a feature of the F.2A and the F.6.  The F.2 would have had the shorter belly tank with the single strake and the tailfin with narrower chord at the tip.  Your model of XM186 is of a F.3 in one of my favourite schemes, for 111 Sqn.  I'm rather partial to the F.3 with red and white chequers of 56 Sqn as well.

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On 09/03/2022 at 11:04, Biggles87 said:

Considering what a pain they are to fit, you’ve done really well with the walkway decals. 
I think I will try masking and a marker pen on my next Lightning.

 

John. 🇺🇦

 

Thanks for that. They're not the best markings as they don't meet fully flush but little bit of black paint sorts that out. Definitely don't have the stomach to use a marker pen.

 

Lots of progress made since the last update. The final large pieces have gone on, namely the rear fins. There are a few tiny extra parts like various pitots and such, I've deliberately left them off for now. 

 

The whole thing was primed with Army Painter grey then preshade added with black. I then went over the whole thing with Vallejo Neutral Gray to serve as the basecoat. 

 

2022-03-14_05-41-54

 

It's not the exact shade recommended but I tried something a bit closer with my Meteor and it looks too dark otherwise. The silver was just Tamiya X-11 on the underside. Masking this off was a bit of a hassle and required a bit of correction on the grey areas. So far, a lot easier than my previous Lightning. 

 

With the camo pattern I was going to go down the lines of blu-tack and masking tape, then found these on sale at Hannants.

 

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Bought these and a set for the Meteor, and they've gone on well. Very thin vinyl masks, and can be reapplied if you mess it up. My only critique was that in some areas around the fuselage they could have made it clearer how it lines up, and the underside masks labelled a-l should really be bigger. I decided to add extra Tamiya tape to avoid any spillage onto the silver.

 

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Here we have the result, just Tamiya XF-81 applied with a few thin coats. The masks have worked beautifully with the exception of a couple of areas.

 

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The weird spot of green in the red circle shouldn't be there, will go back over it with the grey. Looking at real examples there should also be a green area next to the exhausts. There are also a couple of sharp edges I'll smooth out with a brush but overall a lot easier than marking it out yourself.

 

While that was drying I also finished off one of the Red Tops. I used the decals from the newer set Airfix sent over for the old Lightning, and will probably do the same for the rest of the kit, meaning this one will be XS901, which unfortunately doesn't exist anymore according to my research.

 

2022-03-14_06-59-09

 

 

Cheers,

Joe

 

 

 

Edited by TeaWeasel
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  • TeaWeasel changed the title to 1/48 Airfix Lightning F6 - XS901

Spent a few hours yesterday clearing up the odd bits of camo. Part of the wing needed a touchup with a brush but for some reason the Tamiya paint started to just take off the existing layer of green rather than applying more green? Anyone else encountered this?

 

With the camo done I sealed it with a couple of coats of Vallejo gloss varnish, but not before giving it a light coat of Vallejo Model Wash. I was hoping this would fill in the panel lines but it started to just pool around them. Tidied it up and realised I'd have to do it all by hand. All-in-all it wasn't as bad as I thought, and I actually found it a bit theraputic.

 

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The lines were done with Citadel Nuln Oil. I'm very on the fence about a lot of Citadel products but their washes and Contrast paints are absolutely excellent, the latter moreso for wargaming purposes. Once it had dried I went over with a cotton bud damp with thinner to remove the excess and tried to blend in any bits with a more prominent stain. 

 

Personally I think I've done well for a first attempt. It's a little patchy in places where the lines were too shallow for the wash but I think that adds to the effect somewhat.

 

I also applied a few decals while I had time, but also to see if the older decals were still usable. Turns out they are:

 

2022-03-16_06-34-46

 

The shorter black line did break so will touch that up with a brush, but yeah, no complaints there. 

 

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Making good progress with the decals. I realised I made a slight error with the stencil lines on the wing in that the foremost line is extending right to the fuselage, when in fact it should stop about 5mm short. It would cause some damage to the finish to try to remove it so I've had to just trim that part away and do the same on the other side. 

 

Around 75% of the technical details on one side are now finished, but I also added the squadron-specifics now to add a bit of flair. No problems applying them except for the fluorescent orange ones. They don't meet nearly when applied to the edges, and the ones on the horizontal stabilisers are incorrectly designed, meaning you have to cut them diagonally to get them to fit.

 

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I've also attached the first Red Top, which went on no problem. The canopy's been given a coat of black but I'm going to hold off on attaching it until I get some Johnson's Klear. Not sure what it does or why it's so popular but everyone seems to swear by it.

 

Thanks all, comments would be appreciated. 

 

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