Therapy Build

[dollar19]

I'm sure that this will be news to everyone here. But due to a work related accident I've had to have part of my left index finger amputated. I spare you the ugly details and photos of that just to keep this a family friendly site.

I'm still in the bandaging from the surgery so I have no idea how much of the finger is gone but I suspect it's gone to the first knuckle. I'll get to see it tomorrow at my first follow up exam.

Ok enough of that!

Anyway I've got the itch to do something simple with not too many small pieces. And this kit is calling my name. I'm going to attempt to build it if for no other reason than to try to occupy my mind and keep busy.

Trust me when I say it will not be a contest competitor.... I will be more than thrilled just to get it together and resembling an aircraft. So bear with me.

Here are some piccys of the box and sprues. I had considered a NMF but I wasn't sure if i could pull that off. Once I got the sprues out of the bags i noticed the surface texture was a bit rough. The engraving is very nice a subtle, but the fuselage is very grainy. The wings though smoother have some of the same grainyness. I really dont think I'll have the dexteriy to polish this out in the near future so i guess I'll be going for the green topside and NMF on the belly. Hopefully the texture won't be so noticeable.

[ShaunW]

Sorry to hear about your accident Dollar and I hope your recovery goes as well as it can do in the circumstances. On the face of it this looks to be a nice kit but that surface texture is odd and I agree that annoyingly it may well show up through a NMF. Not what one would expect from a modern kit.

[DavidWomby]

Very sorry to hear about your finger but a Lightning looks great in any colour so a green one will be a treat. Agreed, that texture looks odd in places but the detail looks really neat. Good luck with the build.

David

[iggie]

I've not seen the Trumpeter Lightning close up before; that does look a bit rough for a NMF start point! Anyway, the Dark Green topside was always the best scheme

[Gregers]

Sorry to hear about your accident. I hope your recovery is swift.
Not built a trumpy Lightning, or have one to be honest. I agree that the surface does look rough. Maybe a fine wet sand and polish will help.
Model making can be good therapy. It helped me when out of action after I fractured my spine as a teenager.

All the best.

Greg

[Eric Mc]

Yes - sorry to hear about your accident.

I hope you are not too disappointed with the Trumpeter Lightning. Even though it was much anticipated when first released, it turned out to have serious accuracy issues - not just in overall shape but also in some fundamental things like the location of the wings.

[Miggers]

Yes - sorry to hear about your accident.

I hope you are not too disappointed with the Trumpeter Lightning. Even though it was much anticipated when first released, it turned out to have serious accuracy issues - not just in overall shape but also in some fundamental things like the location of the wings.

I was going to say that from what I've heard of this kit,if it's a therapy build,you'll certainly need therapy after you've built it.
There are/was numerous correction parts out ther for it.

Airfix's new-ish offerings apparently consigned most Trumpy Lightining kits to the bin I'm afraid.

Good luck with the finger recovery.

[Softscience]

Yes - sorry to hear about your accident.

I hope you are not too disappointed with the Trumpeter Lightning. Even though it was much anticipated when first released, it turned out to have serious accuracy issues - not just in overall shape but also in some fundamental things like the location of the wings.

I was going to say that from what I've heard of this kit,if it's a therapy build,you'll certainly need therapy after you've built it.
There are/was numerous correction parts out ther for it.

Airfix's new-ish offerings apparently consigned most Trumpy Lightining kits to the bin I'm afraid.

Good luck with the finger recovery.

The Trumpy lightnings aren't too bad, just a bit pinched around the exhaust. There are more important things in life.


I'm sorry to hear about your finger, Dollar. I wish you a quick recovery and rehabilitation. And remember, both Django Reinhardt and Tony Iommi lost fingers, and still managed to be incredible guitarists. So don't let this deter you from doing incredible things and wonderful things. Good luck, sir!

[Dazzled]

That's bad news about your accident but I'm sure some styrene therapy will help. Hope the build goes well for you

[dollar19]

I'd like to take a moment to thank each one of you for the encouragement you've given me. I am truly touched.
I had a follow up with the surgeon today and saw it for the time..... not what I expected to say the least. But it could have been worse.

On to the model. I have finished the cockpit,not the best I've ever done but given the cicumstances I'm ok with the result. Everything being black was a bonus. I did give it a drybrush with Some RLM 66 just to break it up some. Once closed up in the fuselage it'll be fine

Believe it or not this is my first Trumpeter kit, and with all the accolades about Trumpy I've read I was expecting a little better effort on their part. Obviously the surface texture was a surprise but some of the sprue attachments caught me off guard too
This seems to be random at least on this kit. So if you have one give it a good looking over when you got to cleaning up the mating surfaces.

This afternoon just saw me filling in the open panels for the gun ports and speed brakes. Pictures to follow.

Greg

[Marek]

I think that trumpeter came a long way in their mouldings and Lightnings were their earlier work. That is why you are fighting random texture and strange engineering.

[dollar19]

Thanks Marek, that's good information to have. As I said earlier this is my first Trumpeter kit, so I have no comparative history with them.
Just a little update. The intake and splitter plate are assembled and painted. I drilled out the backing plate on the radome and CAed some lead shot from a shotgun shell that i opened up.


This will get covered up by the cone shaped cover that extends out from the intake.

Now the intake trunk with the radome were glued into place in the fuselage half. Next came the cockpit tub and here the fun started.The tub was a bit too wide. So out comes the sanding stick. I've read reviews on this kit that state the tub falls into place with no fit issues at all. This may just be a quirk with my kit or maybe something I did. But as always dry fitting is a good idea.
It didnt take a lot of sanding and now its a perfect fit, and the fuselage is ready to button up. You'll also notice i stuck a 1/4-20 hex nut to the back of the tub to be just to be sure i wont have a tail sitter.

Thats all for now, please feel free to comment. I've got plenty of time right now so keep me busy :yipee

[iggie]

I'm kinda worried about the number of my fellow modellers who have access to shotgun cartridges

Nice start!

[rob_van_riel]

I'm kinda worried about the number of my fellow modellers who have access to shotgun cartridges

That's only because we can't afford real fighter aircraft. Both produce lots of noise and smoke, both are weapons, but guns are a good deal cheaper to own and operate

[ShaunW]

Great progress, Dollar. I've never built a Trumpeter kit either and I can see that this does present the odd challenge or two! You won't see many British modellers using stuff like shotgun shells for weights or what have you as the government doesn't really like us owning anything that goes bang