Decals on

I can't believe how well the decals have settled on this kit. I'm not going to weather this plane other than run a pencil through the flap area. I start my late shift today for a week, so the production has to slow down a bit.

Next up should be the A7 corsair.

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Saab Tunnan

This is the airfix/heller 1/72 tunnan. Just waiting for a coat of Johnsons klear then the Decals.

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I think it's time

I have no American jets in my collection. So this going to be my next project. I enjoy collecting the reference stuff together sometimes as much as putting the model together. I normally start of with a quick look on Wikipedia and airliners.net then It's time to trawl through my magazines.

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A few pics

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Feels like Christmas

Well at least it did last Thursday. I managed to acquire some 1/72 kits from a friend at work for a very reasonable sum. Nine kits in total.

1. Airfix Saab tunnan
2. Heller me108
3. Heller Vampire
4. Italeri A7 Corsair + photoetch
5. Italeri F8 crusader (2 kits in the same box)
6. Revell 2 seat me262
7. Academy P47 Razor back
8. Heller super Etendard

I've already started the Tunnan today, it will be finished in Austrian markings that are supplied in the box. All over silver with day-glo orange wing tips and tail surfaces, so it should stand out when completed. So far I've used half a tube of filler just to get the nose section to fit but it's starting to look good now.

The Lightning restoration is going OK, I've got the main markings on it, just got the stencils to do. The decals i was going to use all broke up when i removed them from the water so i had to use the decals from an F.6 of 5 SQN, I've even added the sharks mouth .

The Phantom has a few more bits to go on, but it's already on the shelf looking rather hansom next to a Lightning F2A and a Norwegian F-16.

Restoration Photos

The lightning being restored and the phantom still needing some tidying up and the sticky out bits put on.

Restoration project

I have had a lightning on top of my shelves for some time now, it's marked in 23 sqn colours with a white tail. It was the first model i made after a break of 16 years. There were a few wonky bits and the white spine and tail were almost see through.

I have a bit of a soft spot for all things lightning so i thought i would try and bring it up to date with my (hopefully) improved skills of the last few years. I was going to use the Mr muscle route to clean it up but i hadn't bothered to varnish it when it was made, so i just pulled the decals off with some sticky masking tape. Then i filled some big gaps all over the plane and then sanded it back. After a coat of grey Vallejo primer, i sprayed the bottom and under surface of the wings with some humbrol acrylic 56 aluminium and then masked it all up for a coat of 156 camouflage grey mixed with some 166 light aircraft grey to try and get the right colour for the photos i have. As i write this the painted model is in the airing cupboard drying.

I'm now going to paint the ejector seat and get new straps put on it. At the moment it's painted silver with black cushions ( where did i get my references from ).