Model aircraft construction 1:72

[Splitpin]

Love ya work Nick ...maybe I'll just send my Boeing to you

[chopper_nut]

Ha, not a chance. No way I'm painting white. That is literally the reason that I'm not building Royal Navy aeroplanes

[Splitpin]

It's going to be Yellow Nick But I'll do it mate ....three days back at work from tomorrow then 9 off.

[chopper_nut]

Looking forward to some pics mate

[chopper_nut]

For those that build, Airfix have just released their 2022 range. A bit like the Hornby 2022 release yesterday (same company now) lots of old kits done up in new boxes but a couple of nice surprises in there.

[chopper_nut]

Just finished the latest creation. Airfix's EE Lightning F2A, none of this F35 nonsense, this is a proper Lightning. Done up as Wing Commander Mitchell's aircraft of 92 Squadron around August 1972, this was almost the end of the colourful Lighnings and they shortly thereafter began adopting low visibility schemes in Germany and England. 92 Squadron was one of two Lightning units in RAFG, the other being 19 Squadron and both were based at RAF Gutersloh. Kit was almost built from the box with the only additions being detailing the inside of the canopy, lower ejection seat handle and the aircrew ladder on the side. Refuelling probe was omitted as RAFG Lightnings sometimes weren't fitted with them. Firestreak missiles are done up as live weapons but despite them being on active service, five minutes flying from East Germany, live missiles weren't carried all of the time.





The F2As were a batch of F2s brought up to F6 spec with the squared off fin, bigger fuel tank and bigger engines. Unlike the F6, the cannons remained in the nose and although it was often referred to as the 'poor mans F6' it turned out to be a better aeroplane as it remained lighter.

[Splitpin]

Great job Nick Has anyone ever done a T?

[chopper_nut]

Thanks mate. Matchbox did a T55 years ago that isn't bad for it's age but it can only be used to build a T55 unless you do A LOT of cutting. Sword have done a T4 and T5 in the same kit which is most definitely on the wishlist... twice.

[emfrat]

RAF Leuchars, Battle of Britain Day 1966...two orange circles, disappearing into the heavens VERY rapidly indeed. As EE put it, 'rate of climb in excess of 50000ft/min'. Unforgettable.

[chopper_nut]

I arrived in England eight years too late to see a Lightning fly and Thunder City closed before I could get there. I'm hoping that The Stennis Lightning continues to flight and I just saw the other day that ALL of the ex Thunder City jets have been bought by someone with DEEP pockets. Hopefully I'll get to see a Lightning go vertical one day.

[Splitpin]

Great job Nick Has anyone ever done a T?

Cheers Nick, I thought about doing a 2 seat Hunter a while ago, but the cost of the conversion parts where more than the kit.

[chopper_nut]

Xtrakit do a Hunter T7 but from my experience building their Swift, it will require a little bit of work although not impossible by any means. Matchbox also do a T7 but from what I've seen it's basic although it builds up to be a good representation. There are also, as you know, conversion kits for T7 and T8 which usually require a lot of work.

[chopper_nut]

Latest kit done. This time a Canadair Sabre F4 of 112 Squadron based at Bruggen in 1954. The RAF ended up with 430 Canadair Sabres which were famously ferried across the Atlantic in their natural metal finish before being painted and sent, mostly, to RAFG. The acquisition of Sabres was in response to the RAAF Meteor F8s having a less than stellar success rate against the Mig 15 in Korea and were only intended to fill the gap in NATOs defenses until the Hawker Hunter turned up. In the event, 112 Squadron retained their Sabres from 1954 to 1956 whereby they were replaced with Hunter F4s before the unit was disbanded after a year only to be reformed as a Bloodhound unit.



Airfix kit and to be honest, not one of their best. Cockpit pretty much has to be closed unless you want to detail the heck out of the 'deck' behind the cockpit. I had big problems with the canopy which got damaged when I cut it from the sprue as the plastic was inexplicably hard so I'll have to replace that at some stage. This was my first experiment with largely using acrylic paint from Hataka and it was a bit of a learning curve. Hopefully, I've learnt enough now that the next one doesn't present as many problems.

[Splitpin]

Looks great from here Nick ... well-done mate. Are you in NZ at the moment?

[chopper_nut]

Thanks Marty. I am here right now, not sure when I'll be back at work.

[Splitpin]

Nick, if your still in NZ check out trade me ...there are a couple of guys unloading heaps of 1:72 stuff at pretty reasonable prices.

[chopper_nut]

Yes, I do keep an eye on Trademe. There's so much stuff on there that I could buy but I'm not doing it. Got a big pile of stuff to build already and supposed to be back to work in a couple of weeks

[chopper_nut]

Latest project completed. This time a Special Hobby Vampire FB9. The FB9 was an FB5 optimized for use in the tropics by adding air conditioning. The aircraft depicted belonged to the O/C 213 Squadron based out of Deversoir in Egypt in 1954. In late 1954, 213 was disbanded to be reformed in 1956 operating the Canberra B(I)6.



First Special Hobby kit that I've built and it went OK for the most part. The kit is actually an FB5 kit with an extra sprue with the FB9 parts on it. The main difference between the FB5 and FB9 was the bulge forward of the starboard intake housing the AC. this provided the biggest challenge of the kit as it didn't fit at all. Plastic card and lots of filler later, it came out OK.

Also had some issues with the decals being very fragile so I had to get another sheet. Kit comes with an RNZAF option.

[Splitpin]

Another fine build Nick I was on trademe the other day and found one you may be interested in ...1/72 Sword models Gannet.
It has some good reviews , I've never heard of the brand....but you have mentioned it in a previous post.

https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace ... ing=gannet

[chopper_nut]

I did see the Gannet and I'd love to build RN aircraft as well but I'll stick to RAF for the time being. I did buy the two Sword single seat Lightnings that he had on there as they are the best kits of the early Lightnings.