Arc's Lightning

[Arcwelder]

Apologies for late start, I was away over Christmas.
Santa brought me something way outside my usual comfort zone, the Sword Lightning in 1/72. It's a very nice looking kit, too. PE and resin parts and two great and striking decal schemes, it's a cracking package.

Thank you SS! I'll post photos tomorrow.

[iggie]

So Lightning does strike twice! Two in the SS GB
It'll be interesting to see the differences between the two manufacturers

[Mikeew]

So Lightning does strike twice! Two in the SS GB
It'll be interesting to see the differences between the two manufacturers

Indeed, my Airfix one is great so far. Will be good to compare and contrast.

[Arcwelder]

OK, pictures, finally




Going to do the Wattisham (top) scheme, I think



Resin and PE



Nice seat, no?







All in all, very excited about this project.. only jets I've made before are generally of the Luft 46 variety..

[iggie]

Looks like some nice moulding there; I've not yet aquired one of these but it's looking increasingly likely that I will!

[Arcwelder]

yeah, it's short-run but high-end short ru, if you know what I mean. The resin is very nice and the photoetch should bring the office to life (provided I don't completely destroy it!)

[Stuart]

Nice looking kit!

[Arcwelder]

It's utterly lovely and going to be a complete change from my usual "get the fuselage buttoned up and on to the hard work "action: the amount of PE involved in the office alone will keep me very busy for a while.

[Arcwelder]

Back from a weekend away and laying down the MSG on the relevant internal parts. Almost all the cockpit detail is pre-painted PE which I have very limited experience with, so this stage of the build is going to be slow and considered: there's no decal backups for the IP etc, so if I'm not to end up painting everything inside black, I'll have to go carefully about it.
Which is the great thing about out-of-comfort-zone builds, I guess: adding experience of new techniques and media.

Pics etc later.

[Arcwelder]

Starting to add PE to the cockpit but need to try to get a better colour match between the tub and the pre-painted PE.

Also finally glued some parts together and made with the Liquid Gravity and Roket Hot (which will always find a tiny gap to run out of and onto one's hands, bless it.




The Martin Baker is in progress, too. Boy am I glad they don't have these on biplanes..

[Mikeew]

Look forward to seeing more pics, especially of the PE.
How is the fit have you done a dry fit at all?

[Arcwelder]

The fuse fits well but it's short run so no locating pins at all. I'll likely add some plasticard tabs to aid with that. Lots of butt joins too. Nothing like a challenge!

[Arcwelder]

The photetch is going on slowly but surely.. some photos later..

A question: I have to bend the straps on the foot pedals into shape (never bent or folded etch before). does something that small need to be annealed and if so, how to go about it.. I assume using a naked flame on painted PE is a no-no

[iggie]

I've not yet had to anneal any small items of PE I've used. I think it's really for when rolling a curve into larger pieces when it becomes worth doing

[Arcwelder]

I've not yet had to anneal any small items of PE I've used. I think it's really for when rolling a curve into larger pieces when it becomes worth doing

Thanks, mate: thought that might be the case. Now, can someone lend me a new pair of eyes and some much steadier hands, plz?