Bobby No Mac Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 This build stalled about a year ago. I was unhappy with how the painting was going. A combination of a flaky black base coat from a rattle can and brushing painting the natural metal finish resulted in a very textured finish. Not pretty I’ve since started to use an airbrush and will be using AK Extreme Metals paint for the first time. To get things rolling I’ve lightly sanded down the rough surface texture and given it a polish. Hopefully I can avoid stripping it back to the plastic. Next step will be a few coats of gloss black. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adm Lord De Univers Posted November 20, 2022 Share Posted November 20, 2022 Gawgeous, I actually quite like it stripped back, but good luck on the repainting. David 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted November 20, 2022 Author Share Posted November 20, 2022 19 minutes ago, Adm Lord De Univers said: Gawgeous, I actually quite like it stripped back, but good luck on the repainting. David I was thinking the same thing. Something to bear in mind for the Entropy GB next year 🧐 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted November 28, 2022 Author Share Posted November 28, 2022 Right, she’s back in black. Unfortunately, this has further highlighted more surface imperfections, overzealous sanding and amateur re-scribing. As these cumulative cock-ups are a result of starting this kit a year and a half ago when I was just coming back to the hobby after 20 years, I’m going to push on and treat it as a learning experience. There’s plenty of things I’ve done on this build that I’d do differently now... Which is just as well because I might have another boxing of this kit and the F6 Looking forward to trying Xtreme Metals for the first time 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 If my memory serves, the new Airfix Lightnings had a rather pebbly surface, which I thought was a bit of a cruel trick to play on people who'd likely be building NMF aircraft at least half the time. Rest assured, however, that your gross negligence is utterly invisible to my eye on the primed aircraft, and you've duped me, credulous buffoon that I am, in to thinking it actually looks like a quite excellent starting point to apply the silver from! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 17 minutes ago, Procopius said: If my memory serves, the new Airfix Lightnings had a rather pebbly surface, which I thought was a bit of a cruel trick to play on people who'd likely be building NMF aircraft at least half the time. Rest assured, however, that your gross negligence is utterly invisible to my eye on the primed aircraft, and you've duped me, credulous buffoon that I am, in to thinking it actually looks like a quite excellent starting point to apply the silver from! Bear in mind that Lightnings normally operated in a less-than-pristine state, generally only being bulled up for airshows and AOC’s inspections so perhaps a mirror-smooth surface is not entirely necessary for a workaday jet. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procopius Posted November 28, 2022 Share Posted November 28, 2022 2 minutes ago, stever219 said: Bear in mind that Lightnings normally operated in a less-than-pristine state, generally only being bulled up for airshows and AOC’s inspections so perhaps a mirror-smooth surface is not entirely necessary for a workaday jet. Yes, I've been looking through Ian Black's Lightning - The Manual, and it's astonishing how filthy they got, even in the early 1960s when there were still tons of National Service personnel around to polish all and sundry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted November 29, 2022 Share Posted November 29, 2022 That black finish looks good to me - my F3 is weeks away from anything like that so I'm a little jealous. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted November 29, 2022 Author Share Posted November 29, 2022 23 hours ago, Procopius said: If my memory serves, the new Airfix Lightnings had a rather pebbly surface I couldn't remember how this one looked, but I pulled my F6 out of the stash and you're absolutely right. Smooth it ain't! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted November 29, 2022 Author Share Posted November 29, 2022 23 hours ago, stever219 said: Bear in mind that Lightnings normally operated in a less-than-pristine state, generally only being bulled up for airshows and AOC’s inspections so perhaps a mirror-smooth surface is not entirely necessary for a workaday jet. Yes, I'm looking forward to getting the Abteilungs out for this later on. Lightnings practically oozed grease and fluids 😄 23 hours ago, Procopius said: Yes, I've been looking through Ian Black's Lightning - The Manual, and it's astonishing how filthy they got, even in the early 1960s when there were still tons of National Service personnel around to polish all and sundry. I've not got that book, but there's some fantastic pics in this one: See also Chris Allen's Fast Jets and Fast Jets 2. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adm Lord De Univers Posted December 2, 2022 Share Posted December 2, 2022 On 28/11/2022 at 19:25, Bobby No Mac said: Right, she’s back in black. I also like her in just black... I think I might just like her full stop. David 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted December 4, 2022 Author Share Posted December 4, 2022 She’s now a silver machine with two coats of Dark Aluminium. It went down really nicely and would be much nicer on a smoother surface, but never mind. Next job will be to mask off some panels to spray in the lighter Aluminium for some variation. If that goes to plan, I might get cocky and try mixing the two paints for a third intermediate shade. I didn’t mention earlier that the plan is to finish this model in flight with a rod up the trumpet. To help with the masking process I had the forethought not to glue in the gear doors at this stage. Wish the same could be said for the air brakes... At least they're straight edges. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted December 5, 2022 Share Posted December 5, 2022 We love a Lightning with the gears up - looking forward to seeing how the different shades turn out on the NMF as well. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted January 2, 2023 Author Share Posted January 2, 2023 So the initial momentum dissolved during the usual December palava, plus I got somewhat distracted with lighthouses , but I’ve managed to do a bit over the past couple of days. I masked off a few panels on the wings and fuselage and sprayed with Aluminium. I was quite happy with the effect, though some specks of dust have crept in and there's a hint of orange peeling in places. I then masked off a few more panels to spray with a Dark Aluminium/Aluminium mix for a third tone. Not the best of pics, but you can see some variation here: As this is just a learning curve build to experiment with new techniques, I’m going to pass on repeating the process on the underside so I can get on to the next stage – more masking(!) for the blue tail and spine. I may also get around to remembering to paint the gun ports as well 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted January 18, 2023 Author Share Posted January 18, 2023 I finally got around to painting some blue at the weekend. Using what I had to hand – Humbrol acrylic 25 and AK 3G thinner – I had a little hiccup a first when it splattered quite a bit, which required sanding the worst of it away. It went down better on the second attempt. I then gave the tail a gloss coat and hopefully I'll snatch a few minutes this week to add the decals and get them sealed in with a satin coat while it's still masked up. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted January 21, 2023 Author Share Posted January 21, 2023 Tail decals on. The carrier film around the black bit on the top will need trimming. Time to remove the masking tape. Not too bad. Only a few issues to resolve. Some clumsy masking and some spray leaked onto the wings: Time to break out the Xtreme Metals again, then paint the exhausts and the nose ring. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted January 22, 2023 Share Posted January 22, 2023 Looking good, your progress is helping me sustain mojo for the F.3. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted March 10, 2023 Author Share Posted March 10, 2023 Cripes, I better get a move on with this before the shutters come down. OK, the blue overspray was touched up, the nose ring and the bit at the back were sprayed in Humbrol enamel chrome (didn't turn out great), the anti-glare panel done and canopy painted. Decal process has continued. Naturally, I've started with all the juicy bits and left all the stencils for this weekend. The lining on the wings was my least favourite part. Also, this was my first time applying decals to a metallic surface - they slid around a lot more than I'm used to. Also, the missile pylons were fitted, though I'm not going to use the Firestreaks. Remaining jobs: Stencils, stick in the bang seat handle, fit the canopy, finish painting the cans, touch up the black bit on the top of the tail, pitot tube and bit of weathering. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinxman Posted March 10, 2023 Share Posted March 10, 2023 Lovely, the F.3 won't be joining it in the gallery, but there's always the next KUTA of course. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 Looks like you have a Blitzbuild on your hands now... Looking forward to seeing it in the gallery.🤞 Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted March 12, 2023 Author Share Posted March 12, 2023 On 10/03/2023 at 18:55, Jinxman said: Lovely, the F.3 won't be joining it in the gallery, but there's always the next KUTA of course. Thanks, hope the F3 makes it through next year! 6 hours ago, AdrianMF said: Looks like you have a Blitzbuild on your hands now... oh yes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bobby No Mac Posted March 12, 2023 Author Share Posted March 12, 2023 (edited) Here we go... Here's a stand I made earlier... It's a cheap Wilkos photo frame sprayed silver with a rattle can with a hole drilled for a piece of doweling and the 92 Squadron chequer pattern knocked together in Photoshop (it seems quite ludicrous to have fired up the power of Photoshop to just draw three squares, I'm sure it could have easily been done in Paint). All the decals on: The yellow lining around the canopy gave me the biggest grief, they're still not sitting right so don't look too closely. It was given a Flory grime wash and a pitot tube (it's a sewing needle). And there we have it: My first completed model on Britmodeller and only the third I've managed since returning to the hobby in 2020, so I'm very grateful for the kicking I've received to get this one over the line. More pics will be winging their way over to the gallery. I'm pleased with how it's turned out considering the lengthy gestation. Plenty of room for improvement and many lessons learned, though I doubt I'll remember which way round the belly tank banding decals are meant to go on when I build the F6... Thanks for stopping by and leaving words of encouragement. See you all next year! Edited March 12, 2023 by Bobby No Mac To add link to gallery 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted March 12, 2023 Share Posted March 12, 2023 Bags of time... Nice work and a novel stand (although Cosford has a rather bigger one ) Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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