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LTF Lightning T.5


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I've decided to pull this one off the shelf and blow the dust off it. Its a Resin Protojets 1/72 Lightning T.4 which i picked up on ebay last year. Quite a nice kit actually even if the surface detail is a bit heavy in places. I did'nt really like the T.4's rounded tail so I'm going to convert it to a T.5, I've pinched the tail from a old Airfix F.3 kit which looks about right .

LightningBuild002.jpg

The only other thing to do for the conversion is to extend the cable ducting thats runs along the sides of the lower fuselage.

Shes definetly going to be a LTF bird just not sure which one yet :hmmm:

xs457twltf.jpg

0773297.jpg

Right, best get my razor saw & CA out...

Cheers

Rich

Edited by Rich F
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Looks like quite a nice kit. If it was me, I'd pick the grey/green one from those 2 that you've got there...

Look forward to seeing this one take shape. Good luck on the first resin kit, not been brave enough myself yet!

Karl.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just a quick update, not much progress really, works been a bit manic lately. Anyway after having a good look at the fuselage i decided that the panel lines looked a bit, well crap, sorta like trenches (Matchbox springs to mind), so I've filled em with Mr Surfacer 500 and Mr Disolved Putty.

This will then be sanded flat and rescribed. I'll also add a few access hatches to make it look more like the real thing.

LightningBuild043.jpg

I left the wings alone as they didn't look to bad, here I've added some hatches, filler caps etc.

LightningBuild049.jpg

The tail that i nicked from a Airfix F.3 has been rescribed & rivetted, the plastic was really soft so had to go carefully with this.

LightningBuild051.jpg

Right off to sand the fuselage back to the Resin, deep joy. :banghead:

Cheers

Rich :viking:

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  • 2 months later...

After a long break from modelling (must be over a month now! :bristow: ) i've finally got some motivation to move on with this baby again. :hobbyhorse:

I've got the the 2 fuselage halves together, filled, rescribed and sanded, a few air scoops added.

Because this kit was a T.4 and mines a T.5 I have had to add the cable ducting running along the lower fuselage, this was done with a bit of plastic rod sanded to a semi-circle. Obviously the tail has also been replaced aswell. I then moved onto the cockpit and detailed the behind the seats, not too acurate as you probably wont be able to see that much anyway.

LightningBuild061.jpg

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I've got the ejector seats painted and weathered, this is one my favourite bits and always seems to get going with the rest of the kit :)

LightningBuild052.jpg

Finally did a bit of detailing in the undercarriage bays, these were totally devoid of any detail so i added some mesh and a few bits of styrene to liven it up a bit.

LightningBuild066.jpg

Hopefully i can get this finished soon...

Anybody got any tips on attaching vac-formed canopies to resin?

Cheers

Rich

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Anybody got any tips on attaching vac-formed canopies to resin?

Yeah - Gator Glue, or G-S Hypo Cement - it's a watchmaker's glue, and dries clear, but doesn't attack plastic or resin. It's also removable with a little bit of scratching at it, so mistakes can be corrected.

I think Ali @ AtoZee sells the Gator Glue. Not yet tried mine for attaching canopies ;)

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Yeah - Gator Glue, or G-S Hypo Cement - it's a watchmaker's glue, and dries clear, but doesn't attack plastic or resin. It's also removable with a little bit of scratching at it, so mistakes can be corrected.

I think Ali @ AtoZee sells the Gator Glue. Not yet tried mine for attaching canopies ;)

Thanks Mike, I'll give it a try! :winkgrin:

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  • 2 years later...

I thought I'd revisit this one after finishing my F-4G for the Gulf war GB and before starting the Bucc GB.

I've got the undercarriage complete all bar the main wheels, as these need some help from the Flightpath P.E set which I'll add once the tyres are painted.

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Next up was the construction of the boarding ladder, this was a little difficult to say the least, all in all 37 separate parts to this baby, it took me about 8 hours and a lot of effing and blinding! I had to stray from the suggested build process, for my sanity if nothing else. Still, top marks to David Parkins for a great little P.E set.

Lightningbuild093.jpg

Lightningbuild091.jpg

I've got as far as adding the forward canopy, I used aeroclubs vacform rendition as i thought the kit one was a little too 'clunky' , this took a little chopping and whittling to get the correct shape to fair into the resin of the kit. I then dipped it in Klear to protect it and give it that trademark shine. Once dry i tacked it in place with a couple of spots of CA then filled in the offending gaps with Vallejo's plastic putty. I then sanded this back as much as i dared.

Anyway this is how she looks now, I've wiped some black oil paint into the panel lines so you can see them more clearly.

Lightningbuild070.jpg

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Just got a few more little bits like the pylon adaptors to fill and sand, missles and a few vents and intakes to finish off and shes ready for some paint.

Cheers

Rich

Edited by Rich F
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I like this build.

I served on LTF in the early days (when it formed up basically)

We had some mix of finishes on T'birds.

XS417 all over NMF

XS452 Green upper NMF lower (ex RAF Akrotiri stn hack! Pink Flamingo)

XS457 as per your posted pic

XS458 Grey upper NMF lower

Adrian

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Just noticed that you have the upper fuselage letter boxes open!

For a Static a/c no engines running these would be closed/flush.

A bit like the mistake Airfix made with their 48th scale Jaguar intakes.

Adrian

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Thanks guys for the kind comments.

Just noticed that you have the upper fuselage letter boxes open!

For a Static a/c no engines running these would be closed/flush.

A bit like the mistake Airfix made with their 48th scale Jaguar intakes.

Adrian

Hi Adrian, thanks for pointing that out, I'll get em closed up right away! ;)

Rich

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  • 1 month later...

Managed to get a bit more done on this although my mojo did disappear for a while.

All the painting done now, first coat on was humbrol primer then humbrol satin black was applied to the NMF areas. Then on to the Dark Sea Grey and Dark Green which were Xtracolor, at this point i added a couple of drops of black and did a spot of post shading. The NMF were various shades of Alclad, all applied with my trusty Badger 150.

On to the pics...

Lightningbuild105.jpg

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Lightningbuild110.jpg

Lightningbuild117.jpg

Next up decalling. :D

Rich

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