Airfix 1/48 EE Lightning F.1

[DonH]

19 hours ago, Hook said:

The DACO book is unrivalled detailwise.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

I agree, an excellent reference.

[DonH]

21 hours ago, Ryan Lumb said:

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. 

Yep, totally agree about the kit exhausts. They are OK but don’t look right if you stare at them for a short time. That’s why I used the Reskit exhaust parts, much better I believe. 
 

An F2 will be pretty accurate oob, depending how detailed you are with the cockpit. Good luck and I will pull up a chair and cheer you on!

[corsaircorp]

Hello Don !!

Impressive job on the frightning !!!

The only glitch I got when I commited one were the rapported panels...

They tend to sink in when glued in place....

That gave me a real staircase to be corrected...

On the next one, I'll use some patafix to let the panel right on level....

And avoid steps...

Have fun, and keep carry on !!

Sincerely.

CC

 

[Ryan Lumb]

33 minutes ago, DonH said:

Yep, totally agree about the kit exhausts. They are OK but don’t look right if you stare at them for a short time. That’s why I used the Reskit exhaust parts, much better I believe. 
 

An F2 will be pretty accurate oob, depending how detailed you are with the cockpit. Good luck and I will pull up a chair and cheer you on!

I plan on doing XN733 before she was converted to a F2A its the rounded tail and natural metal look I love about the lightnings. The superglue and talc how does that work for a filler is it quick to set? Also the Daco book would it happen to be Uncovering the English Electric / BAe Lightning  by Danny Coremans? Its only the past year that I have started to take modeling more seriously with trying to make as accurate models as I can but I have a long way to go. Any tips and tricks with this kit you are building I will greatly appreciate 😊 

[tweeky]

If you move on the the F3 F6 and T5 marks these  have some cracking Lightning pics in them. Ex F4 nav/Lightining/tornadoF3/Mirage and airbus pilot.

[mekon]

1 hour ago, tweeky said:

If you move on the the F3 F6 and T5 marks these  have some cracking Lightning pics in them. Ex F4 nav/Lightining/tornadoF3/Mirage and airbus pilot.

Think Ian Black was one of the last through the LTF.  The Lightning manual is the one Haynes never got to publish; excellent resource as well.

[tweeky]

12 hours ago, mekon said:

Think Ian Black was one of the last through the LTF.  The Lightning manual is the one Haynes never got to publish; excellent resource as well.

I Know Ian was on 11F Sqn. I was groundcrew on 5F  I've got all three of his Lightning plus a few of his other works too.

[DonH]

Some progress at last!

 

I have primed the fuselage and wings using AK Extreme Primer. First time using it and all I can say is WOW. It just works. It is now my go to primer (until something better comes along).

 

A couple of pics showing the primed nose area. I have marked up the changes I made that are general for an F.1 Airfix Lightning and specific for the early F.1 issued to 74 Squadron.

 

From left to right:

1) Nose ring and gun troughs. (General issue). I have made the line of the nose and the nose ring straight by adding filler and then sanding down to a straight line. The nose ring fits well on my kit and this easy mod makes the line of the nose from the windscreen forward look a lot better and more like the real thing. I deepened the gun troughs with a piece of metal tube used like a scraper. Good enough, in my eyes.

 

2) Small hole missing from the kit. Explained in an earlier post. 

 

3) Bursting disc. Again in a previous post, I explained that there are two scribed rings on the kit. Only one is required for the F1 as shown here.

 

4) Gun vent. On the early F1, this vent had five slotted vents which is different to the kit. The kit vent is correct for all later versions of the F1, I just made my life harder because of the version I have chosen. I lost count of the times I have filled and rescribed this area. At least it's done now!

 

5) I have scribed five diagonal louvres into the gun bay exhaust vent. This is required whenever guns are fitted and is missing from the kit.

 

6) I have removed the bumpy thingy sticking out of this panel. Not required on the early F.1, again my fault for doing this version. Easy mod with a sanding stick.

 

On the other side, same mods to gun trough and gun bay vents. The circled vent is too far forward on the kit and I have moved it back a bit.

 

That's all for now. Next time, there will be exciting news regarding wheel hubs and I might even have the wings attached.

[Ryan Lumb]

Its looking great and that primer as well looks much better than the hunbrol grey primer I use, I will have to pick some up. The detail you have put into this is brilliant I cannot wait to see this finished. 

[DonH]

On 3/18/2023 at 6:49 PM, Ryan Lumb said:

Its looking great and that primer as well looks much better than the hunbrol grey primer I use, I will have to pick some up. The detail you have put into this is brilliant I cannot wait to see this finished. 

Thanks Ryan,

First time using this primer. Heads up, it seems to take a long time to dry. I think it will need at least 24 hours before robust handling. I will check it later (48 hours) but earlier in the weekend I could feel that the primer was still faintly sticky.

[Ryan Lumb]

Thats pretty good still, I will use this on the Canberra and the victor. Those two are currently on the work bench at different stages but once they are complete I can then get back to not modifying a kit like the lightnings I have waiting. Is it expensive that primer and will it last more than two kits? The humbrol grey primer I use one can did a 1/72 lightning and a 1/144 victor before it ran out. I did have to redo the victor because of a accident with the paint cracking when I put a gloss varnish on top of the paint and decals. 

[DonH]

6 hours ago, Ryan Lumb said:

Thats pretty good still, I will use this on the Canberra and the victor. Those two are currently on the work bench at different stages but once they are complete I can then get back to not modifying a kit like the lightnings I have waiting. Is it expensive that primer and will it last more than two kits? The humbrol grey primer I use one can did a 1/72 lightning and a 1/144 victor before it ran out. I did have to redo the victor because of a accident with the paint cracking when I put a gloss varnish on top of the paint and decals. 

Hi, I can't comment on the expense as I am in Singapore and all supplies are expensive. I got mine direct from AK in Spain. I have primed the Lightning and have loads left. This stuff covers very well, so you don't need a lot in my limited experience. 

[DonH]

Seems like the primer is dry now (72 hours). I have put a metal coat on the tailplanes. Pics when it has dried and the daylight is back.

[DonH]

The primer never quite dried. I micromeshed it and that seemed to solve the issue. So, now I have a shiny black Lightning...

 

A shiny black Lightning with a grey tail tip...

 

This gloss black coat has had a month to cure while I was away on business. Now to turn it into a shiny metal Lightning....

 

[DonH]

And now, shiny lightning...

Quick snap on my iPhone.

 

Next job is to mask random panels and paint in different shades, not looking forward to that.

 

Talking of which, I intend to leave this paint (AK Extreme Metals) to harden for at least a week. I hear that even so, you can get tape residue when masking. What is your experience and any recommendations?

I was thinking of gloss coating before masking any other panels. I really need some advice.

 

[AliGauld]

I have found that leaving Xtreme Metals for a couple of days and detacking your masking tape allows you to work on the different panels.

I usually stick and rip to my palm at least three times.

It doesn't leave any residue after that for me.

 

 

Hope that helps,

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[TeaWeasel]

Looks a lot better than my attempt with Alclads. Great finish, can't wait to see more. 👍

[gingerbob]

It does look shiny, but almost a shame to cover that sexy black version!

 

Can't advise on masking "shiny" without frustrations.  I'm actually beginning to try to talk myself into attempting a "bare metal" subject, though I'm not at all convinced I'll succeed in convincing myself.  I'm either that stubborn (or fearful) or else that bad at salesmanship.

 

bob

 

p.s. Glad to see this one in action again, too.

[The west wing]

That bare metal finish is looking great.

 

I was also worried when I masked the Alclad metal finish on my Lightning but when I used Tamyia masking tape I had no problems. I did however spray a sheet of plasticard while constructing the model and used that to check the metallic shades worked and the masking tape did not caused problems. 

 

[DonH]

22 hours ago, gingerbob said:

It does look shiny, but almost a shame to cover that sexy black version!

 

Can't advise on masking "shiny" without frustrations.  I'm actually beginning to try to talk myself into attempting a "bare metal" subject, though I'm not at all convinced I'll succeed in convincing myself.  I'm either that stubborn (or fearful) or else that bad at salesmanship.

 

bob

 

p.s. Glad to see this one in action again, too.

Hi Bob,

This is my first attempt at metal. I am using AK Extreme Metals and I like them a lot. They seem to cope well with my airbrushing technique. My only concern is with masking afterward. 

[DonH]

5 hours ago, The west wing said:

That bare metal finish is looking great.

 

I was also worried when I masked the Alclad metal finish on my Lightning but when I used Tamyia masking tape I had no problems. I did however spray a sheet of plasticard while constructing the model and used that to check the metallic shades worked and the masking tape did not caused problems. 

 

Thanks, good advice. I have a paint mule I can use for that. My experience of AK Extreme Metals is that they are very close in shade and I will need to do lots of testing before I commit to it.