Global Scale Modeller

Fresh from the Man Cave is Airfix's 1/48 Lightning. This is my first post on ISM so hopefully it all goes to plan.

I want to begin by commenting on the kit itself. Frankly it is very good indeed, not many parts for an aircraft this size but it fits like an absolute dream and in my opinion there is just enough detail to be able to build a very good replica straight from the box. The decals sheet is very comprehensive with a full compliment of stencils and options for three aircraft, one F.2A and two F.6's. The only additions from me were the harness which I made from thin plasticard and a couple of antenna.

I started this build as a bit of an experiment. I wanted to build XN793 92 sqdn Gutersloh 1972. I don't know about the rest of you but every time I try to use Alclad to cover an entire airframe I end up ageing ten years and the kit ends up in the bin. With these painful memories but a desire to do a bare metal airframe I decided on a different approach.

So this Lightning has been primed with Tamiya primer, had a few panels painted in different shades of aluminium from Tamiya, GW and some others. These panels were then masked and I shot the whole thing in Tamiya TS 30 Silver Leaf straight from the can. The spine and tail were then airbrushed in a few different shades of blue.

To try and get a less toy like finish I loaded the airbrush with Tamiya smoke and started picking out panel lines and shadows. A Paynes Grey oil wash followed along with the oil dotting technique for some of the staining. A few washes from MIG for streaks and more concentrated leaks and that was that.

To my eye it looks fairly convincing, maybe a bit too dirty looking but apparently these things took a pounding in Germany. I'd love to know what you think.

















Thanks for looking.

Jason

Love it! fantastic looking Lightning, great work buddy!

Very nice work, lovely paintwork

great work

looks better than OK to me

rgds
John(shortCummins)

If you put that into a runway backdrop, I would have a hard time saying it isn't the real thing!
Superbly crisp work with detail and subtle weathering
Really impressed

Congratulations on a stunning and beautiful Lightning. Nice clean build.

Impressive, Nicely done weathering.Good job.Although I think the Lightning F.2A is one of the ugliest planes on earth.Dont get me wrong, you did a superb job on the kit

Thanks for the comment guys, really appreciated.

Sturm wrote:I think the Lightning F.2A is one of the ugliest planes on earth.

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder". That said, I have got a bit of a thing for a Gannet.

Jason

That is a real cracker Jason .

Brilliant work mate.

Fantastic Lightning Jason congratulations mate, oh yeah

Fantastic job. Weathering is spot on, the way you have caught the 'dull but not dull' look of the NMF is uncanny.

I absolutely love it.

I was lucky enough to have lightnings from RAF Leuchars flying over my garden on a regular basis when I was a kid. Ever since, I have had a life-long affection for this aircraft.

Whilst it was limited in terms of ordinance, range and role, as a point-to-point interceptor it was second to none during the 60's & 70's.

I wiil build this kit at some point. Probably in the livery of 23 Sqdn at Leuchars.

Anyway, your build is a fitting tribute to this iconic jet. Well done sir.

Great build!!! The weathering is spot on. Subtle but effective. I've heard that getting alclads to work can be a nightmare. But, I use Mr. Color buffable paints. They seem to be pretty forgiving. I haven't seen alclads in Japan and I don't like the steps involved with them. Anyway, this is an awesome plane.

Very very nice