stevehnz Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Coming along nicely, with a lot of good hints I should try & remember. Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 (edited) Had a few months away from the bench with shifting house and working overseas. Just cracked into it again a couple of days ago. Laying down the first couple of coats of Humbrol 2002. I think it's a reasonable approximation for the bare metal Lightnings. Inserting the provided PE into the inside of the canopy and scratchbuilding some of the canopy mechanism. Edited January 30, 2023 by MD530F 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted January 30, 2023 Share Posted January 30, 2023 (edited) @MD530F, it is good to see you back on this one. That Metalcote looks to be brush-painted. It looks really good from this side of the screen. If so, can you please tell me you secret for brush-painting it as I have abjectly failed for years except on very small parts! Cheers, Ray Edited January 30, 2023 by Ray S added magic word 'please' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted January 30, 2023 Author Share Posted January 30, 2023 1 hour ago, Ray S said: @MD530F, it is good to see you back on this one. That Metalcote looks to be brush-painted. It looks really good from this side of the screen. If so, can you please tell me you secret for brush-painting it as I have abjectly failed for years except on very small parts! Cheers, Ray yes, hand painted all around. I don't know if I'll ever get an airbrush. It looks good enough for me but there are always a few irregularities that I tend to run the sandpaper over and do again. I use big square tipped artists brushes which I think is probably the key to a relatively consistant finish. Although the metalcote is probably a good approximation, it's a little tricky in that it doesn’t like sticking to the plastic. I've tried primer but it doesn't seem to make a difference. As a result, you have to be careful handling the kit once it's painted. The flat aluminum, 2001 I think it is, doesn't seem to have this problem. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray S Posted February 1, 2023 Share Posted February 1, 2023 @MD530F, Thank you very much for taking the time to give that advice, it will be very helpful. I will try it out on a small kit soon. I do tend to use the square-ended brushes already for normal enamels and acrylics with fairly good results. I know what you mean about the paint not staying on the kit, it is one of the things about it that I remember most! Thanks again, and apologies for the lateness of the reply, Ray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 1, 2023 Author Share Posted February 1, 2023 It's 27002 actually. Polished Aluminum. On the previous Lightning and I'll do the same on this one, I used 27001 which is flat Aluminum on some panels and the tank. 27001 doesn't seem to have any issues sticking to the kit so I'm not sure what that's about. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 2, 2023 Author Share Posted February 2, 2023 Just been doing lots of painting over the last couple of days. Managed to acquire a chrome paint marker which seems to have done a reasonable job of the intake ring. This is where I discovered that I did a lousy job of filling in the gun ports... (yes I know I got paint on the combing, it'll be easy to sort out) I'd be kind of buggered without masking tape... Hard to capture in a photo but the chrome paint pen is so much easier than trying to achieve this effect with a paintbrush 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted February 2, 2023 Share Posted February 2, 2023 Most Sword kits have a very smooth surface which won't help any type of paint to stick well. Great job on this build so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 On 03/02/2023 at 01:21, Peter Lloyd said: Most Sword kits have a very smooth surface which won't help any type of paint to stick well. Great job on this build so far. I had issues with the same paint on the Airfix F2A too... it's probably something that I'm doing or not doing 🙃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 (edited) A bit more progress today Glareshield done, not exactly as tidy as I was aiming for but it's not terrible. Exhausts painted with around a 2:1 mix of Humbrol 56 and 54 A wash of Vellejo black weathering liquid. The ring around the exhausts was then done with the chrome pen. First coat of Tamiya black. Just freehand painting as I found on the last Lightning, the angle to too accute to get a decent edge to paint up to. A bit of tidying up to do but pretty happy with the initial results. Edited February 5, 2023 by MD530F 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 (edited) A couple of days worth of tidying up. It's starting to look like what its supposed to now. I did a bit of work on the canopy earlier that has made it fit rather better. As you can see, a little work to do on the paint still. Hand painted wheels using Humbrol 56 (I think a good approximation of postwar RAF aircraft up to the Harrier) and Hataka's 'jet black' Building one of the controls on the roof of the canopy. The PVA will shrink to a more spherical shape. Spot the English mistake in the decals 😂 Not sure if I'll go to the spares box or use them as a joke. All of the Sword Lightnings have this error. Edited February 6, 2023 by MD530F 3 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Coombs Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 11 hours ago, MD530F said: Spot the English mistake in the decals 😂 Not sure if I'll go to the spares box or use them as a joke. All of the Sword Lightnings have this error. Xtradecal X72096 to the rescue? I got an early release of this sheet, I think back when the Trumpeter Lightnings were released (shock, horror!). The numbering of the decals on the sheet didn't always match the numbers in the instructions, belly tank stripes being an example. This made life interesting, though admittedly it wasn't too difficult to work out what really should have gone where. I would hope the errors have been eradicated in later print runs. Can anyone confirm or refute this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 6, 2023 Author Share Posted February 6, 2023 49 minutes ago, Steve Coombs said: Yes, I have that Xtradecal sheet. Not 100% sure if I'll use it yet. I may have to though as the size of some of the warning placards appear a bit large. I have the T4, T4/T5 and F3 kit and the error is present on all of them apart from the F3 which I don't think has these warning placards at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 10, 2023 Author Share Posted February 10, 2023 Lots of little job done over the last few days. All of the major painting done now. Ready for the first coat of clear. Canopy decals are on now. Sword's stencil diagram is pretty rubbish and so I had to turn to Ian Black's fabulous photos. The decals themselves are OK, although I needed to cut them up for proper placement. Lots of carrier film though. Not real happy with the kit pitot tubes so I got a bunch in from Australia. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 12, 2023 Author Share Posted February 12, 2023 Again, lots of small jobs over the last few days. Found out that the PE IFF aerials are too big so I've cut one down for placement on the canopy. Interior of the canopy finished. I was unable to fold the mirror the correct way as it felt like it was going to break. Firestreaks coming along. Painted with Hataka blue line signal white. Kit decals going on. The Sword decals are OK, a little thick maybe but perfectly fine. I then turned to the Xtradecal sheet and discovered that the markings on the actual aircraft differ quite a bit from what the both the kit and Xtradecal instructions say. Xtradecal sheet bears little resemblance to reality but I'm making it work the best I can. Xtradecal decals are a bit flimsy when you start having to manipulate them a lot but, like the sword ones, they're fine. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 13, 2023 Author Share Posted February 13, 2023 Decals mostly done. Just got to do the small ones on the gear doors. The Xtradecal wing walk stencils are wrong for the small wing Lightnings, I possibly should've just used the Sword decals. No matter. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted February 13, 2023 Share Posted February 13, 2023 How did the wing walks go down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 14, 2023 Author Share Posted February 14, 2023 2 hours ago, k5054nz said: How did the wing walks go down? Not great. They literally came off the paper within 5 seconds of being in the water and are very fragile. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 Lots more small jobs over thelast few days mean the Lightning is edging closer to being finished. All the bits to put on. The seat was finished with Kitsworld 3d seat belt decals. Avoid these if you can. I found them terrible and they all have this white border around each piece. The difference between the kit supplied pitot tube and the brass aftermarket one. I think it's worth the work... Hanging the main gear. Not an easy task as they don't really want to sit at the right angle. Superglue was used in the end. Gear hung and waiting on gear doors and a few other bits and pieces. Weathering was done with Vallejo weathering wash. I've since tidied it up a little. Completed Firestreak missiles ready to be mounted to the rails. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 The further along you get, the more impressed I get, that is shaping up superbly well. 👍 Steve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ptmvarsityfan Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Looking very nice and a useful guide to building the Sword Lightning, of which I have one in the stash! Cheers, Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 Well, it's finished. Battled the ladder today. Submerged the ladder in hot water and put weight on it to try to get it to be the right shape. It was partially successful. I won't be buying any more of these. Anybody want to print some accurate ones? 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k5054nz Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 Lovely job Nick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD530F Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 I'm aware of the traps now, the next one will be easier 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 It's not hyperbole when I say this is one of the most interesting WIP threads I have read in a very long time. I usually just skim aircraft WIP, but I actually read through all of your post. I'm always super impressed to see a short run kit get hammered into shape. I also love the EE Lightning, so you had my attention immediately. Still, seeing your progress has been very informative, entertaining, and inspiring! Excellent build and excellent thread. Keep going!!!! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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