1/48 Airfix Lightning F.3

by Si Tomlinson

--------------------

 

I started this kit sometime ago and it was one of those "I must get it finished one day" type of kits! Overall it's a pretty good kit with a few fit problems along the way. The kit was built stock with only the addition of an Airwaves resin ejection seat. The major problem I had was with the decals. They were old and most literally disintegrated when they came into contact with water! Thankfully ARC came to the rescue in the form of their forums. I put out an SOS and thankfully Spaced Marine came to my rescue; he had a spare set and sent me them.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

One glaring mistake I made during the build was to forget to put in the rear bulkhead of the cockpit! I only noticed once I started looking at fitting the canopy over the replacement seat. I must have overlooked this as I was struggling getting the slightly warped fuselage together. The wings were a little suspect as well, both being slightly warped and not joining too well. Hopefully the sit of the finished kit is ok and doesn't look warped.

Tamiya and Humbrol paints were used throughout and the bare metal finish was Alclad II Aluminium and Dark Aluminium. The new decals went down fine on top of the Alclad finish. Overall a fairly long project, albeit because of going away with work! 19 months in total! And once again I must thank Spaced Marine for helping me out with the decals, whom without his assistance I think this kit would have been resigned to the spares box or the loft!

Si 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

Photos and text © by Si Tomlinson