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Lightning F.2A; Airfix 1/72nd
Topic Started: Dec 18 2013, 12:04 PM (1,639 Views)
Drewe
Amused To Death
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So, after all the waiting, here she is!

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First thing was to add the forward tank sections to each fuselage half to get best fit. These are a tight fit and mine needed a little trimming - but it means they snug into place beautifully with nary a gap on the sides (The centreline seam I'll show later)
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I set about painting a lot of the interior parts that would be metal and the like - used Gaianotes silver thinned with lacquer thinner and some black added for the dark metal areas.
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Doing the airbrakes closed, so they need dealing with (always a fiddle I find) - they sit fractionally too low in place so I added a small blob of blu-tak so I'd have to push them level
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And then they were pushes in place and a drop of MEK run around to secure them
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I then masked of their perimeter and added a couple heavy coats of Mr Surfacer 500 to address any unevenness
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I took this opportunity to cut a piece from the tank rear - this will form a slot for the in-flight stand I have planned
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The interior is SFTB including decals, with a pilot and closed canopy it'll be more than sufficient for my needs
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And the airbrakes after sanding. The outline is still visible but they are flush - I'll highlight them with some action during the painting stage (I HATE open airbrakes, they are such a pain!)
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Wings went together superbly - look at that leading edge profile! Dead on, bravo Airfix!
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Fuselage went together without any real problems, just clipped and a bead of cement run around. The nose/nose ring piece was a little bit of a squeeze, but a drop of CA and accelerator held it all in place fine.
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That centreline seam on the forward tank part. Adjusting the fit of the tank parts to the fuselage sides transfers any problems to the centreline where they are really easy to deal with. You can see a consistent gap right down the length
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You could use plastic sheet or similar for this. Me? I just ran a bead of CA down it.
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Hit it with accelerator.
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And broke out the sanding sticks! A five minute job, literally.
More soon!
Edited by Drewe, Dec 18 2013, 12:07 PM.
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peebeep
Member Avatar
Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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Want, need. I meant to check the leading edge when the sprues where on display at Telford, but forgot. At last somebody has done a Lightning justice in 1/72.

peebeep
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PhilJ
Member Avatar
Advanced Member
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Nice start Drewe.
Good tip with the centreline seam.
Definitely want to get one of these but will most likely wait until the next show I'm at to get one.
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AndyT
Member Avatar
Sound the klaxon twice and dive the Submarine!
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PhilJ
Dec 18 2013, 01:19 PM
Good tip with the centreline seam.
Yes I thought so too ~ well done Drew
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desmojen
Member Avatar
Iwata Goddess
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I think I might have two :)

Jen.
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Drewe
Amused To Death
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Wings!
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Assembled beautifully, flaps also fit very nicely indeed (I was worried about this - like Spitfire flaps, Lightning flaps were rarely deployed from photos, which made them an odd choice - reflective of the 1/48th kit)
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But as you can see, with a little Mr Cement they go onto place fine.
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The inboard flap edges are a touch short, so some card was superglued there and tidied up. There is actually a small fairing on the fuselage the flap located onto but it's still a tiny bit short.
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Nose assembled, just a little bit of Surfacer 500 to clean up
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Funny how Airfix included flattened wheels but I needed them unflattened! So I had to glue some card onto the flat with CA . . .
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And sand it round after. Still some clean up and leg extension to do. I'm hoping just a little sanding and rotating the main wheel flats out of sight will do for them.
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Just a couple shots of the general idea for the display. You get the gist!
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Walrus
Member Avatar
A bristle short of a full brush
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Cracking on nicely Drewe

Saw the kit in the flesh the other day It looks very nice though it had a warped fin, and another friend has reported a warped wing. Guess it is the recurring QC problem that seems to afflict new Airfix releases

Have just walked past my neighbour Janco Toys and he has one in the window
Then I see your thread.
Do you think someone is trying to tell me something? :hypnotised:
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desmojen
Member Avatar
Iwata Goddess
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It looks like you are going to copy the model of a Lightning taking off that I did years ago.

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I don't know whether to feel flattered or violated....

Jen.
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peebeep
Member Avatar
Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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The Lightning pilot's notes recommend flap for take off and I've seen photos of aircraft climbing out with the flaps still deployed whilst the gear is being retracted. So you could legitimately show flaps deployed for a model depicted taking off.

peebeep
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Drewe
Amused To Death
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Thing is all the pictures and videos indicate no flaps for take off. I'd have thought that the lightning was so twitchy in these regimes that it would have been a set condition, not variable, but looks like I was wrong!

There's going to be a little artistic licence. . . The nose gear didn't begin to cycle until the main gear was up, but I'm going to have the main gear almost away and the nose gear just starting to cycle. Sue me!

Jen, my intent is to have a flatter attitude like the accelerate before the pull vertical type thing. Low and flat tucking away looks so good to my eyes.
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peebeep
Member Avatar
Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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It seems implausible, but here's some evidence:

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I guess the drag induced by having a barn door hanging off each wing is overcome by sheer brute force. The flap limit is 200 kts, so retracting the flaps would be something of a priority.

peebeep
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The Hooded Claw
Member Avatar
Advanced Member
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Paul,

IIRC the flaps down at roll out is something to do with V1 speed. Below V2 and above V1 if it went motors down with flaps up it would glide a little more like a brick than with flaps down.

I shall enquire of a mate who is more clued up on these things.

THC
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peebeep
Member Avatar
Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
[ *  *  * ]
I would imagine it gliding like a brick in both instances! With flaps down and engine out it would be the equivalent of throwing out an anchor! I would guess use of flap in the take off would be in order to reduce the amount of runway used, but as Drewe points out, pictures/vids often record flaps retracted. We have an ex Lightning jock visit ATC occasionally, if I get the chance I'll ask him.

peebeep
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Drewe
Amused To Death
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All assembled and a coat of Tamiya fine primer polished up with 8000 grit micromesh

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Underside where you can see the stand slot. Undercarriage doors pressed in place for painting.

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Canopy and windscreen glued in place, with little man in cockpit and everything! Canopy fit was excellent, windscreen needed a dash of Perfect Plastic Putty at the front and a bead of Gaianotes black evo-surfacer along the sides and some light sanding (micromesh again)

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Masked with Bare Metal Foil. It's had another primer coat around the sanded areas, which will be polished back later and then I can look at a wipe over and start to spray the metal.
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peebeep
Member Avatar
Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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Does the decal sheet have chop marks and lining for the canopy?

peebeep
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Drewe
Amused To Death
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peebeep
Dec 22 2013, 02:56 PM
Does the decal sheet have chop marks and lining for the canopy?

peebeep
It's by Jon, what do you think? ;)
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Drewe
Amused To Death
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First coat of metal. I used Gaia EX-07 silver thinned with Gaia Metal Master thinner. Good deep initial coat, I'll let it dry for a few hours and then hit it with micromesh to deal with those areas ONLY metal shows up!

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Got my second one started this afternoon as well, lessons learned from the first (not that there's much to learn) are meaning it's fairly humming along!
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Drewe
Amused To Death
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And then after a couple hours a polish up with some 6000 grit micromesh and a few more coats of the heavily thinned silver. Leave that to dry and then I can look at photos and start some panel toning.

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peebeep
Member Avatar
Lots Of Trouble Usually Serious
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I found the chop marks in a review thread elsewhere. ;)

peebeep
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Drewe
Amused To Death
[ *  *  * ]
Almost done with the metal. And one immutable truth of NMF. . . . .no matter how many methods and things are invented to make it "easy" or "failsafe", nothing beats time, patience and masking tape. Lots of masking tape. One or two areas still to go and then the blue spine.

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Edited by Drewe, Dec 24 2013, 04:25 PM.
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