discussion Yaks 1/72 Airfix EE lightning f2a

[yak face]

Hi all heres what I am now doing for this GB , having decided that I havent got enough time left to do the 1/48 version .The kit is the excellent Airfix 1/72 F2A in the starter set boxing . I got this reduced at The Range as it was missing the naff brushes , tiny tube of glue and 2 of the awful paints (these would all have been binned anyway!!) so it only cost me £4.99 ! result! As I hope to get it done before the deadline I'm not going mad with any extras so the pilot is going to get used instead of buying pe belts , so its a total OOB build. Heres the box top and sprue shots , cheers tonyView attachment 289813 View attachment 289814 View attachment 289815

 

[Guest]

Good price that matey, looks like a nice nice too.

Have fun, John

 

[rickoshea52]

Remember that fit issue with the intake trunking clearance and the inside of the fuselage halves! Joe and I had this problem.

 

[yak face]

Remember that fit issue with the intake trunking clearance and the inside of the fuselage halves! Joe and I had this problem.

Yes i remembered that one cheers Rick , thats the beauty of doing a GB like this , sharing our experience , cheers tony

 

[papa 695]

Nice one Tony.

 

[colin m]

Yes i remembered that one cheers Rick , thats the beauty of doing a GB like this , sharing our experience , cheers tony

Same problem here, just keep sanding...................

 

[yak face]

Well i got started on this last night and the intake is one of the first things to assemble . Heeding the warnings from Rick , Joe ,Colin et al I tried the fuselage halves around this and exactly as with you guys there was an issue. Looking at it ,I reckon its a combination of the HUGE ejector pin mouldings and the actual intake being ever so slightly too wide .I used a motor tool to get rid of all six ejector pins and also took some off the intake sides. While I was at it dry fitting this assembly I also found I had to take some off the rear of the blanking plate so that the nose ring section would fit flush to the front of the fuselage . The cannon inserts are also going to need a bit of fettling to ensure a flush fit . This may make it sound like a poor kit but its nothing that anyone with more than a couple of kits under their belt couldnt handle and the rest of the detail and fit is looking excellent - after all we waited lots of years for a decent lightning in 1/72 so we should think ourselves lucky that we arent still wrestling with the old frog or matchbox kits! heres a pic of the offending pins!View attachment 289846

 

[yak face]

Well my good mate Ian (papa 695) has very kindly sent me the spare decals from his 1/72 lightning build . This means that I can now do mine in the natural metal scheme which i wanted to do with the shelved 1/48 kit. Another plus is that the decals Ian has sent have more stencils than the starter set and other things like the canopy seals too.View attachment 289857

 

[colin m]

Another plus is that the decals Ian has sent have more stencils than the starter set

Well that's lucky. Joe is looking for absolutely loads of extra small decals for his lightning - he can't get enough of them - at least I think he said so ?

 

[flyjoe180]

Tony, fantastic price for a lot of great Airfix plastic. Glad you can join me in the NMF finish for this one thanks to Ian.

Joe is looking for absolutely loads of extra small decals for his lightning - he can't get enough of them - at least I think he said so ?

Yes Colin, like I need more holes in my head.

 

[yak face]

Well the pilot is done in a fashion, figures arent my thing really, but he'll look ok under a closed canopy. Ive got the fuselage together but it was a battle , I had to glue the bottom seam first without getting any on the intake duct . Then glue the top seam and also the intake duct and nose ring . Its been like a limited run kit so far in terms of fit , another example being the cannon inserts , they stand way too proud of the surface so had to be thinned. I took the opportunity to start the wings while the fuselage was setting and found even more problems here .There were HUGE ejector pin marks on the inner surface which were stopping the wing halves going together. Even the instrument coaming has a big ejector pin on the underside which hinders assembly so thats got to be fettled too. Its fighting me all the way but i wont be beaten! View attachment 290945 View attachment 290946 View attachment 290947 View attachment 290948 View attachment 290949 View attachment 290950 View attachment 290951 View attachment 290952

 

[Guest]

See what you mean about fit problems on the intake now, but it looks like you is winning Tony.

Have fun, John

 

[colin m]

I've never seen pin marks like that. They almost look like they should be there. It does seem Airfix has taken it's eye off the ball recently with regards to quality. What a shame. Any way, at least Jeff came out alright, he looks quite at home in the cockpit.

 

[flyjoe180]

Its

One you get past the fuselage assembly it's pain sailing

Mine also had the pin marks and same issues.

Pilot looks good. Having just recently removed the canopy masks I can confirm you can't really see too much in the cockpit.

 

[Guest]

Coming along nicely! I had that problem with ejector pins when I built one of these for a mate, PIA getting in there, but, thankfully, once done, the fit is good. Have to say, i'm surprised they dont make reference to this in the instructions... it is, after all, called a "Starter Set"...

 

[yak face]

Coming along nicely! I had that problem with ejector pins when I built one of these for a mate, PIA getting in there, but, thankfully, once done, the fit is good. Have to say, i'm surprised they dont make reference to this in the instructions... it is, after all, called a "Starter Set"...

Bang on john , i thought the same - if its supposed to be an introduction to the hobby for younger/ less experienced modellers you would have thought ease of assembly would have been one of the most important features.

I

 

[yak face]

Progress has been very slow on this one ,so heres an update. Ive got the airframe together ,canopy masked ,fitted and its been primed and undercoated in gloss black. Ive also been spraying the dark blue on the spine and fin ,which will be masked off before the silver goes on. View attachment 292352View attachment 292353
Just after this pic was taken i caught the model and it fell over while still wet so Ive got some retouching of the black to do -DOH!!
Looking at the sprues I noticed some more horrendous ejector pin marks , this time on the missile rails , is it just this particular one or are all the airfix lightnings like this ? Its a shame as it looks great when done (see Joes /Ians) but if theyre all like this how has the tooling been signed off as production ready ? I mean they usually do a test shot and build which should have highlighted these niggles. Theyre not even consistent - one rail needs filling and the other one needs them sanding off ! View attachment 292354

 

[papa 695]

Nice work Tony, it is a pity about the ejector pin marks

 

[rickoshea52]

I think both of mine were like that. For the first I fitted the rails with the marks facing down and for the second they weren't fitted at all seeing as the jet was tits up on sticks in the shed for a double donk change.

 

[flyjoe180]

Looking great in black Tony. My kit had the same ejector marks. I sanded them down but lost some detail. Needn't have bothered as I didn't fit the missiles.