Airfix 1/48 EE Lightning F.1

[DonH]

I have made a start on the drop dead gorgeous Airfix kit of the EE Lightning F.1. This is going to be a 74 Sqn bird based on how they looked at or near delivery, so no black fin. I will make a small concession to period accuracy in that the wheels will not have the teardrop holes, they will be round as supplied in the kit. This could change if I find some AM versions, but I have drawn a blank so far.

This build will use some Eduard PE where suitable, CMK nosecone and gear bay (gulp)and some minor scratching. Talking of which, I started with the bang seat:

Everything yellow is a Tamiya tape/foil sandwich. This works great for straps because you can bend them into position and they will hold. There is a bit of Eduard etch here and there, but not much. I have lost the pull handle at the front of the seat. Pinged off into another dimension. I won't replace it as I can't see it once the seat is in the coal pit.

I also added some details using 0.2mm lead wire. Not very visible, but I know they are there. I have a cunning plan for the pull handles, but I'm not going to tell you what it is yet in case I fail miserably. Plan B is the Eduard PE, Plan C is just use the kit part.

 

I've started looking at the engines and I bought the ResKit replacements. Not using them. They are lovely, but more hassle than I am prepared to put in. The kit engines will have to do.

 

The CMK nose cone assembly is giving me nightmares. I have cut plastic and am trying to ensure a good fit with the resin. Wish me luck!

 

More to come, but this is not going to be fast.

 

[Winded Penguin]

That's a very effective execution of added detail from where I'm sitting 👍

[tweeky]

the yellow back pad was dark green on the ones I had dealings with. The seat cushion was brown.

[DonH]

47 minutes ago, tweeky said:

the yellow back pad was dark green on the ones I had dealings with. The seat cushion was brown.

Thanks tweeky, that has answered a question I had about what colour to paint them. I think I need to buy some smaller brushes and some bigger glasses.

[tweeky]

this might help too

[DonH]

A little more progress on the might Lightning. I will probably say this many times, but this is a brilliant kit. The fit is really good and the rendition of the details are excellent.

 

First up, some primer on the bang seat. I am quite pleased with it. Looks at least as good as resin IMHO.

 

 

And now with the start of painting. Lots more to do...

 

The eagle-eyed amongst you may have spotted that the bang seat handles have disappeared. I have a cunning plan. May I introduce you to Kumihimo - an ancient form of Japanese weaving. Wha? you may grunt. Well, take a look at this...

 

 

This is an eight strand spiral weave which looks much better in the flesh when not magnified so much. The point is, unlike simply twisting thread together, this is woven and so does not unravel in strange and unusual ways. When you loop this round it looks quite good as bang seat handles and that is what I am going to try on this build. To be honest, it's a touch big for 1/48 scale but would be perfect at 1/32. You can stretch the braid to make it thinner and that brings it closer to scale. Anyhoo, it's good enough for this kit assembler and I will give it a try. 

 

In other news, I bought the ResKit engine nozzles. They are incredible. The quality of the 3D printing is amazing and the box was shipped from Kyiv, which felt strange but I am glad I could support them in some way. However, I am useless with resin and other aftermarket parts and I have decided to used the kit parts with one important difference.

 

Here are the kit exhaust tubes...

 

The rings at the top are the cut down kit exhaust nozzles that I have installed to maintain alignment with the end cap. I am going to use these for the nozzles...

The reskit versions. I sacrificed a few of the PE petals to the carpet monster but he/she/it has seen fit to bless me and return them. These nozzles are way better than the kit version and they are a push fit into the outer pipes which enables me to adjust them to the right position. IMHO the kit nozzles sit a tadge far back compared to reality. Here they are in situ...

 

A splash of paint and they will look great. It's a tight push fit, so they are not going anywhere. This part then fits perfectly onto the tubes and I have perfect alignment. SImples.

 

One question - I don't see the point of the big bulkhead at the end of the exhaust pipes. I am thinking of cutting it off and leaving the fans in place at the of the pipes. That way, I believe I can slide the whole assembly into place later. Has anyone tried this? Any reason why it wouldn't work?

Edited November 20, 2022 by DonH

[Flying Badger]

I assume, like the 1:72 version, which has the same approach, that it provides an internal structure to keep the fuselage in shape and relieve potential stress on the centre line seams along the fuselage to stop them moving slightly over time and creating a crack in the paint? But if glued well along the seams the fuselage should feel ok without it I guess?

[DonH]

39 minutes ago, Flying Badger said:

I assume, like the 1:72 version, which has the same approach, that it provides an internal structure to keep the fuselage in shape and relieve potential stress on the centre line seams along the fuselage to stop them moving slightly over time and creating a crack in the paint? But if glued well along the seams the fuselage should feel ok without it I guess?

Hmm, you make a good point. I hadn't really considered the need to keep the fuselage in shape, but that sounds very logical. 

[DonH]

Painting the seat proceeds at a Lightning glacial pace...

 

Nearly there. Still have to block in the main seat colours, final touch ups, decals, matt coat, dry brush and washes. Then fun with ejector seat handles.

Should be done by next year.

[Hook]

Sweet looking seat! I am so going to steal that tape over foil technique.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Dstream]

Great start, being one of my favorite cold war jet, I am going to follow your build with much interest. I read that you rate this kit very well and I am glad to hear that. I did not buy the kit so far because I wasn't sure of its quality.

Cheers,

Dan

[DonH]

14 hours ago, Dstream said:

Great start, being one of my favorite cold war jet, I am going to follow your build with much interest. I read that you rate this kit very well and I am glad to hear that. I did not buy the kit so far because I wasn't sure of its quality.

Cheers,

Dan

Hi Dan,

The Airfix Lightning kits are old but still some of their best IMO. The panel lines are good, refined surface detail (only rivets/latches in certain places) and build well OOB in my experience so far. They are not without their issues (nose wheel bay, for example) but I love them.

[Biggles87]

Great start indeed!

The seat is looking good, I am also a fan of twisted lines for the pull handles, I use painted fuse wire.

Looking forward to more.

 

John. 🇺🇦

[DonH]

2 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

Great start indeed!

The seat is looking good, I am also a fan of twisted lines for the pull handles, I use painted fuse wire.

Looking forward to more.

 

John. 🇺🇦

Thanks John,

Just started gluing the handles on, so we will see what they look like. I have a plan B, C and D on standby!

[Steve Coombs]

On 11/20/2022 at 7:14 AM, DonH said:

One question - I don't see the point of the big bulkhead at the end of the exhaust pipes. I am thinking of cutting it off and leaving the fans in place at the of the pipes. That way, I believe I can slide the whole assembly into place later. Has anyone tried this? Any reason why it wouldn't work?

I've done this several times with the 1/72nd brethren and it works a treat. It also cuts a smidgeon of weight from the back end, which helps with the limited space for weight up front to prevent a tail-sitter.

[tweeky]

On 11/20/2022 at 6:14 AM, DonH said:

I am thinking of cutting it off and leaving the fans in place at the of the pipes.

Those "fans" are the reheat gutters. You wouldn't  see the turbines only with a very good torch. 

[DonH]

In new news, Plan A for the bang seat handles has failed. I am now working on alternatives. No big deal, I will add the handles near the end of the build. Matt coat on the seat now, so I will post some pics later.

 

In other news, I am sorting out the various lumps, bumps and holes to ensure we have a moderately accurate early F1. I need to fill the hole on the port side of the spine which is an exhaust for something not fitted on the F1. I also need to move a couple of panels and add some small holes for the front FOD cover attachment points. More on this even later. I continue to be impressed by the accuracy of this kit when it comes to panels and ports. Well done Airfix!

 

The aerial fit is bugging me and I appeal to those who know about these things. I am certain there is a small IFF aerial (triangle shaped) on the top of the canopy. That's the easy bit. However, Airfix call out three more: one on the port side of the nose gear bay and two at the rear either side of the arrestor hook. I am sure the aerial at the NG bay is not fitted, but what about the ones at the rear? I am guessing not fitted, but can anyone confirm?

 

Finally, there is a UHF blade antenna to go on the starboard side of the nose gear bay and I am relatively sure that this should be there on an early F1. Am I right? Pictures I have ofund of aircraft in service kind of allude to this, but low res b&w photos are not always your friend.

[Flying Badger]

I came up with a good way to make the stripy ejection handles when I built a Folland Gnat a few years ago:

 

Using either lead wire, stretched sprue or the waste material from the 3D FDM printer at work (long consistent bits of thin round section plastic filament the printer chucks out when it cleans and clears the print head - essentially overly technical way to produce heat stretched sprue!).

Lead wire is easier to shape/position, sprue holds the paint better.

 

I took a long piece of the appropriate diameter and then gave it a coat of white primer (Tamiya fine surface primer in my case) then a coat of insignia yellow paint. 

Once that was dry I used a razorblade to cut a very thin strip of masking tape (the thickness I wanted the yellow stripes on the final handle) and spiral wound it around the wire/sprue.

After burnishing the tape down for a bond, I sprayed it with matt black paint (I had previously just used a black fine tipped marker pen for this in 1/72 which worked OK ish).

Then removing the masking tape should give you a long wire of yellow and black stripy ejection handle handle material. 

 

Now cut as much as you need and carefully shape it around whatever tool is the right diameter and glue to the seat with CA glue.

I make a bunch more than needed to allow me to screw-up a few inevitably.

Just try not to reposition or alter a handle once it is made as the paint can flake off if you mess with it too much.

I also finished mine off with a light brush of mat clear varnish (helps stabilise the paint and stop if flaking), then some dry brushing with dark colours to dirty them up a bit so they look more real.

 

[DonH]

The long, winding, torturous but often fascinating (for me) trail that I am about to drag you along, all started because Airfix supplied the wrong colour decal for the tail of XM143. This is the 74 squadron F1 with a black tail. It should have a yellow code letter (A) for the tail, but Airfix supplied it as white. However, all is not lost. I wanted to build a 74 sqn F1 shortly after they were delivered to squadron service (1960, I believe). In this guise, there was no black tail or spine and the code letter was black. As luck would have it, there is a black A on the decal sheet, so that is the route I chose to go.

 

But

 

The first 19 production Lightning F1s that 74 squadron received have some subtle but significant differences compared to the kit plastic and were modified during their service life. As I am doing a specific plane at a specific point in time, I have been spending many hours looking at period photos, reading articles and referencing my DACO book (which is excellent, but not perfect). Fortunately, all of the mods I have identified so far are very easy to do, which is why I am still doing it...

 

So here we go, just some of the minor mods needed to backdate the Airfix Lightning F1 to early 1960 standard:

 

1) No ram air intake on the spine, so the exhaust vent and outlet (D shape) need to be filled. This is true of all F1s, regardless of vintage. The ram air intake was added with the F2.

 

2) Holes and vents on the nose (port side):

The blue circle shows the attachment hole for the nose FOD cover. Airfix missed this and it is present on all Lightnings.

The green circle is a bursting disc access port which is not present on early F1s. The hole is filled, but worth noting that, when it is present, it should be lower by roughly the diameter of the circle. 

The red circle is the tricky one. Airfix got this gun exhaust vent exactly right for later in the 1960s, but the original vent has five angled slots instead of two slots and a hole. This has been filled with CA and talc and I need to scribe the vent louvres later.

 

3) More lumps and bumps to port

The red oval is another gun bay exhaust vent and is correct for the F1. However, there should be five angled louvres to vent the gases. Easy fix, assuming my scribing skills work.

The panel in the blue oval is correct for later time periods, but the prominent ridge was not there in 1960 and there was a small vent in the centre of the panel. I am going to wait until later to sand this off and add the vent.

 

4) Starboard nose details

 

As on the port side, the blue oval shows the gun vent. Fill and rescribe as per the port side.

The panel highlighted in red is present, but it is too far forward and needs to be moved backwards to approximately where the yellow line is. This is true for all marks of Lightning with guns fitted on the top of the nose. Also, I will rescribe the louvres so that there are five not four. It;s a minor thing, but I I might as well do it while I have the scriber out!

 

5) Cable ducts. There are no cable ducts on the F1, so the holes on both fuselage halves need to be filled. I have used some white evergreen for this.

 

6) Aerials. There is no UHF aerial (blade type) fitted to the early F1s in my time period. There is a small triangular aerial (IFF) fitted on the top of the nose midway between the nose ring and the windscreen. This was deleted/moved near the nose gear bay later in time. There are two triangular aerials at the rear of the aircraft behind the fuel tank. The positions are as shown on the kit instructions. 

 

7) Arrestor hook. I don't believe that XM143 had an arrrestor hook fitted. I have a couple of video clips that seem to confirm this. Not sure yet, but I have sanded off the kit part and can reinstate it using thin card if necessary. I am 95.7% sure I am right.

 

That's all for now. There are a couple of air scoops that are different, but more on that as the build progresses.

 

Talking of which, I have Lightning in pieces:

 

The cockpit is done and the nose assembly is in place. The Reskit jet pipes have been filled with liquid gravity and put to good use to stop tail sitting. The kit jet pipes are a perfect fit and I continue to be impressed by the quality of this kit. As you can see, I am using the Eduard etch set in the wheel wells. I won't bother next time, I will never look at the wheel wells once the kit is up on it's feet.

 

The ban seat is finished. It looks good in the cockpit - adds some colour!! I am working on the top handles but they can be added at the end.

 

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed my rambling.

 

Cheers

Don

[gingerbob]

My goodness, you can ramble on as you like!  I don't have well-formed (ha, or half-baked, for that matter) plans yet for a Lightning, but I sincerely hope that I remember/re-find this thread when the time comes, not to mention the pleasure of watching and learning for its own sake in the immediate.

 

bob

[DonH]

4 hours ago, gingerbob said:

My goodness, you can ramble on as you like!  I don't have well-formed (ha, or half-baked, for that matter) plans yet for a Lightning, but I sincerely hope that I remember/re-find this thread when the time comes, not to mention the pleasure of watching and learning for its own sake in the immediate.

 

bob

Thanks Bob,

The Airfix kit is pretty accurate if you build OOB. My "problems" have all come from wanting to build one of the first 19 F1s to enter service. It's a fascinating subject the more I dig. I am sure I am going to miss things and get a few details wrong, but hey ho, it's only modelling.

[DonH]

In new news, the fuselage is glued together, including the addition of the nose ring. My new favourite filler is superglue and talc. Old school, but the easiest and best seam filler I have ever used. So, spending some quality time with my plastic, filling some blemishes and generally making everything nice and ready for the NMF finish.

 

Some pics in a day or so, but before then happy holidays to everyone and best wishes for a magnificent modelling year in 2023.

 

Cheers

Don

[Ryan Lumb]

On 23/12/2022 at 07:37, DonH said:

The long, winding, torturous but often fascinating (for me) trail that I am about to drag you along, all started because Airfix supplied the wrong colour decal for the tail of XM143. This is the 74 squadron F1 with a black tail. It should have a yellow code letter (A) for the tail, but Airfix supplied it as white. However, all is not lost. I wanted to build a 74 sqn F1 shortly after they were delivered to squadron service (1960, I believe). In this guise, there was no black tail or spine and the code letter was black. As luck would have it, there is a black A on the decal sheet, so that is the route I chose to go.

 

But

 

The first 19 production Lightning F1s that 74 squadron received have some subtle but significant differences compared to the kit plastic and were modified during their service life. As I am doing a specific plane at a specific point in time, I have been spending many hours looking at period photos, reading articles and referencing my DACO book (which is excellent, but not perfect). Fortunately, all of the mods I have identified so far are very easy to do, which is why I am still doing it...

 

So here we go, just some of the minor mods needed to backdate the Airfix Lightning F1 to early 1960 standard:

 

1) No ram air intake on the spine, so the exhaust vent and outlet (D shape) need to be filled. This is true of all F1s, regardless of vintage. The ram air intake was added with the F2.

 

2) Holes and vents on the nose (port side):

The blue circle shows the attachment hole for the nose FOD cover. Airfix missed this and it is present on all Lightnings.

The green circle is a bursting disc access port which is not present on early F1s. The hole is filled, but worth noting that, when it is present, it should be lower by roughly the diameter of the circle. 

The red circle is the tricky one. Airfix got this gun exhaust vent exactly right for later in the 1960s, but the original vent has five angled slots instead of two slots and a hole. This has been filled with CA and talc and I need to scribe the vent louvres later.

 

3) More lumps and bumps to port

The red oval is another gun bay exhaust vent and is correct for the F1. However, there should be five angled louvres to vent the gases. Easy fix, assuming my scribing skills work.

The panel in the blue oval is correct for later time periods, but the prominent ridge was not there in 1960 and there was a small vent in the centre of the panel. I am going to wait until later to sand this off and add the vent.

 

4) Starboard nose details

 

As on the port side, the blue oval shows the gun vent. Fill and rescribe as per the port side.

The panel highlighted in red is present, but it is too far forward and needs to be moved backwards to approximately where the yellow line is. This is true for all marks of Lightning with guns fitted on the top of the nose. Also, I will rescribe the louvres so that there are five not four. It;s a minor thing, but I I might as well do it while I have the scriber out!

 

5) Cable ducts. There are no cable ducts on the F1, so the holes on both fuselage halves need to be filled. I have used some white evergreen for this.

 

6) Aerials. There is no UHF aerial (blade type) fitted to the early F1s in my time period. There is a small triangular aerial (IFF) fitted on the top of the nose midway between the nose ring and the windscreen. This was deleted/moved near the nose gear bay later in time. There are two triangular aerials at the rear of the aircraft behind the fuel tank. The positions are as shown on the kit instructions. 

 

7) Arrestor hook. I don't believe that XM143 had an arrrestor hook fitted. I have a couple of video clips that seem to confirm this. Not sure yet, but I have sanded off the kit part and can reinstate it using thin card if necessary. I am 95.7% sure I am right.

 

That's all for now. There are a couple of air scoops that are different, but more on that as the build progresses.

 

Talking of which, I have Lightning in pieces:

 

The cockpit is done and the nose assembly is in place. The Reskit jet pipes have been filled with liquid gravity and put to good use to stop tail sitting. The kit jet pipes are a perfect fit and I continue to be impressed by the quality of this kit. As you can see, I am using the Eduard etch set in the wheel wells. I won't bother next time, I will never look at the wheel wells once the kit is up on it's feet.

 

The ban seat is finished. It looks good in the cockpit - adds some colour!! I am working on the top handles but they can be added at the end.

 

That's all for now. I hope you enjoyed my rambling.

 

Cheers

Don

Brilliant progress I will definitely be eagerly awaiting more progress photos. I have the same kit you also have but I shall be doing a f2. The one thing I didn't like about this airfix kit is the exhausts, I personally think they are lacking in detail not by much. So i purchased some Aries f2 exhaust nozzles just for some extra added details. Have you got the books wings of fame the journal of classic combat aircraft volume 7 and warpaint series no.14 Lightning, they may have some photos inside of the Lightning you are wanting to depict with maybe some surprise photos. I look forward to seeing this progress and to possibly pick up some tips and tricks from you. 

[Hook]

1 hour ago, Ryan Lumb said:

Have you got the books

The DACO book is unrivalled detailwise.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Ryan Lumb]

2 minutes ago, Hook said:

The DACO book is unrivalled detailwise.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

Oh I have never heard of that book I shall have to get it. I currently have 8 lightnings ready to be started a f1 which I will be doing as XG331 so I will take any information to try my best to make them as accurate as I possibly can. I am a amateur model maker but recently got back into building kits again after a 16 year break.