E.E. Lightning F6 - 1/48 Airfix

[Caledonia]

Oh dear the fun begins, photo B3 shows the air intake outer casing with part of the nose wheel bay which is part of the kit. In order to fit the Aires resin nose wheel bay the airfix part had to be cut out, see photo B7.

The real problem comes at the wing wheel wells. The Aires resin parts are very thick, and even after removing the casting block and shaving the base until you can begin to see light through the casting its still too thick. Have removed the wing moulding of the original wheel well as you would expect to have to do, and plan to shave some thickness off both halves of the wing to see if I can get the Aires wheel well in. Cheers Derek

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[Ian M]

Ian, what do you know ? Is it a re-release in a new box or are they producing a new kit ?Derek, shame about the PE, but it looks like you have loads of the stuff to choose from so I'm sure it will still have a noticable effect on your model. Hope it all goes well with your sister. Mind you, as she rests maybe should could get bending a bit of PE for you !

Regards

Colin M.......

Sorry Colin, missed this. I just saw it the other week in the "new for 2011" on the Airfix web site. I suspect that its just a re-release. Kits that are new tool are marked ** and there is no such marking by the Lightning. As I have mentioned elsewhere on the forum, there are also some Modern BRITISH Landrovers, A Merlin and a Lynx together with support crews, in 1/48 on the way too!

Sorry for the High-jack Derek.

I hope things are going well for you and you sister, and that she is making a good recovery.

Have you had the chance to do any thing since the last post? I was on DJparkins last night after some scuttle gutters for my corvette and I sort of ordered the detail set for the Lightning while I was there! So I either have enough for both LIghtnings or I can do as you are and using bits from both sets on just the one of them.....

Ian M

 

[Caledonia]

Hi Ian, was busy last week and this, arranging things for my sisters flat. She is due to come home at the end of the month, and with her reduced mobility some changes/additions were needed.

Anyway, have now reduced the resin wheel wells so that the base is almost paper thin and bevelled the edges; also reduced the area of the wings in way of the wheel wells to less than half their thickness, and everything is almost coming together wings wise. Will post some photo's next week when the wheel wells are installed.

Have you seen this posting, superb job. 1/48 English Electric Lightning F.6 - Britmodeller.com

Cheers Derek

 

[Caledonia]

Finally got the wheel wells thin enough to fit into the wings, the first photo below shows the wheel wells as Airfix intended, the second shows the thinning of the inside wing surfaces needed, and the final two shots show the Aires wheel bays super glued in position. Now that mammoth task is finished will crack on with the real work. Cheers Derek

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[Fenlander]

Looking very nice so far. A classic aircraft. Have you seen the build in this months (Issue 3) of the Airfix Mag? Done in Saudi camo, looks amazing.

 

[Bunkerbarge]

I'm glad you said that Graham. I'm a subscriber but I haven't got number three yet, time for a phone call.

 

[Fenlander]

Picked up at WH Smiths on Saturday Richard

 

[Caledonia]

Looking very nice so far. A classic aircraft. Have you seen the build in this months (Issue 3) of the Airfix Mag? Done in Saudi camo, looks amazing.

Hi Graham, thanks for the note re the Airfix Magazine, will be in town tomorrow so will have a look for it.

Had to pack-up the recess on the top wing half for the underside wing half outer tip as it was too low. Used white plasticard, see photo below. Am going to attempt to fit the 'Flightpath' photo etch metal frames for the windscreen and canopy, I'm not very good with photo etch especially on 3D curved surfaces, so might have to resort to the old way of just painting the plastic. Doing a test first with coating a scrap bit of clear plastic with 'Future' then applying spots of super glue to see if the 'Future' protects the plastic from the super glue vapours, I really need something that bonds instantly to have a chance of obtaining a snug fit. Cheers Derek

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[Ian M]

All seems to be going quite well Derek. That build on Britmodeler was a cracker, but then dean does tend to turn out some great stuff! Im sure that this one will be way up there as well.

Quite scary watching this I'm really looking forwards to doing my wheel wells now!!! NOT!

Keep up the good work Derek.

Ian M

 

[colin m]

It's all looking very good Derek. I understand your wheel wells were a bit of a pain, but they do look great in place. Well worth the effort.

Regards

Colin M.......

 

[Caledonia]

Hi All, Re my last posting, a spare piece of canopy from my F16 was dipped in Klear and left for 48 Hrs to dry/cure, I then super glued a piece of scrap PE to it, and am pleased to report there was no damage to the surrounding area of the canopy from the super glue vapours, so this is the route I will take. Have cut out the PE for the canopy, still to shape it.

Have cut the Aires Resin parts for the exhaust and dry fitted them, and all seems to fit O.K. Am using the Airfix bulkhead for the airfix exhaust to reinforce the fuselage, the Aires exhaust still fits.

Problems when presenting up the air intake casing to the fuselage (see photo B20), if you line up the nose wheel bay with the fuselage there is a big misfit at the tail end of this casing at the 'bulkhead' I have chosen to leave it like this otherwise if you make the 'bulkhead fit, you have a large gap at the wheel bay and the cockpit tub sits too high. You need to trim off the bottom half of the 'bulkhead' as I have, if you take this route so that it fits inside the dorsal fuel tank. When fitting the cockpit tub, its a good idea to shim it up on a thin layer of blue tack before you super glue it in position, make sure the resin parts under the windscreen and behind the ejector seat are also a good fit before gluing, it takes quite a lot of dry fitting,

In order to make sure the model is not a tail sitter have packed some screws into blue tack and fitted it behind the ejector seat. Will have white metal undercarriages which will also help.

When glueing the fuselage halves, will be doing it in stages, travelling aft from the rear of the cockpit to the tail, then on the underside from the tail up to the yellow band, see photo B25, the last two photos show the miss match at the nose. Cheers Derek

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[Bunkerbarge]

Obviously quite a challenge to get the fuselage together but your thought, planning and preparation seems to be paying off.

Have you seen the article in the latest edition of the Airfix Magazine on a Lightning build? You would find it very interesting as it's an unusual camoflage scheme and a very nicely detailed paint finish.

 

[Ian M]

Looking great Derek. Good to hear that the Klear protects the canopy parts from CA vapour. Those frames look fun. If you have to shape them a lot, if you dont know (and I bat you do) it will help 1000% if you anneal them before you start to shape them up.

I just hold them in some old tweezers and use a lighter. They should just glow deep cherry red and not bright red. You might risk melting them if they get too hot! Let them cool naturally and they will be nice and soft.

Glueing the fuselage looks fun.

Ian M

 

[stona]

Nice work there. You're not joking about a mis-match at the nose,yikes.

Cheers

Steve

 

[Caledonia]

Thanks for your comments chaps; Richard I do have the magazine, I think they understate the amount of work involved in installing the Resin bits, also all the photos I took in the '60 shows the Flaps aligned with the wing, for all parked Lightnings and not lowered as the author implies, but so what if he likes the model that way, thats fine.

Finally got the nose section closed, the fuselage seams filled in and smoothed, and the lines re-scribed, also fitted the wings and tail. Some minor filling needed at the wing roots, but generally a good fit. Cheers Derek

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[yak face]

Looking good derek! its starting to look like the unforgettable silhouette that we all love and remember going vertically up at the airshows!! ( those of us old enough and lucky enough to have experienced the thunder of the' lightning climb' at the start of the display ) Keep it up matey , cheers tony

 

[spanner570]

Very nice Derek, coming together now.

I never did see one 'going for it'. Alas, I have to be content to seeing them dead in a museum.

Ron

 

[Dave W]

I remember an air show at RAF Coningsby in the late seventies.The F15 did a take off and vertical climb but rolled over and levelled out after a few thousand feet.The 'old' Lighting did it's party piece and just kept on going vertical until we couldn't see it.A totally awesome display of engine power.Our Phantoms didn't even try it!.

 

[Ian M]

If mine comes out half as good as your one Derek I will be well chuffed. Its looking very much like a Lightning now.

Ian M

 

[treyzx10r]

Derek thats looking great,just a heads up foam safe(aka odorless) ca glue wo'nt fog plastics.