Trumpeter E.E Lightning F Mk 1. Finished.

[Piprm]

Eric,

…..this definitely proves, that you can make a Silk Purse - from a Sows Ear!

Phil

Edited April 27, 2015 by Piprm

[crackerjazz]

Wow!!! You're masking work is really impressive!     

[Shoggz]

That looks fantastic.

[ericg]

Well I have all the markings on and just a few more stencils to go. With all the momentum that I gained behind this build, I was surprised that I felt the need to put it away for a while just to give it a bit of space. These big Trumpeter jets are very demanding and the challenges just keep on coming all the way to completion so a bit of time away from the build will ensure a strong finish.

 

Here is where its at....... See the finish line? yes, its THAT close!

 

Edited May 6, 2015 by ericg

[LSP_Kevin]

That looks fantastic, mate! Don't leave it too long...

 

Kev

[ericg]

Thanks Kev, Yeah I figure I have a month to finish it before Expo. so I may be able to slip in a couple more before then.

 

Eric.

[Adam]

Gob-smacked (as usual!) am I with this build Capt. Eric! Can't wait to see it at Expo. You've done great justice to the "Frightning" with this build sir!

 

See you at Expo!

 

Cheers

 

Adam

[David Hansen]

Ooh i am giddy with anticipation.

 

david

[Guest]

Me too!....Harv

[ericg]

I have picked up this build again. After spending a couple of days after I finished my Rumpler in a modelling wilderness, picking up each of my unfinished/partially started kits and fiddling with them I felt that I really should finish this one off. Usually what happens is that I get sick of moving an almost finished kit around my studio and I bite the bullet and get it done. It also avoids the chance of having a model avalanche come down on top of me (I have seen an avalanche of unfinished kits at another modellers house and it wasn't pretty!) due to stacked up builds that don't fit into boxes.

 

The good thing about restarting an unfinished kit is that you get to hopefully finish a project that at one time motivated you and you liked the look of. The bad thing is that you re-visit all the bad parts that you kept on putting off and ended up in the stashing of the kit in the first place.

 

First up was the woeful canopy that Trumpeter really messed up with the ultra skinny framing. I should have taken a photo before I modified it, just for something to compare the finished product to. There was only one way to fix this and that was the hard way.

 

First up, Sand off the offending frames. (A very drastic move with only one go to get it right but stick with me.....)

 

 

Using a combo of Flory sanding sticks and buffers, followed by a cloth polishing wheel in a Dremel and Tamiya polishing compound I restored the Canopy back to its clear state.

 

 

Mask off the new, thicker frame.

 

 

Using this product:

 

 

Spray a new frame. I might go just a little bit thicker.

 

 

 

I also decided to add the internal frame and start the detailing of the inside of the canopy as well.

 

 

 

Loving the look of this one now that I am back into it!

 

[Lothar]

Superb paintjob, she'll be a showstopper when finished   :thumbsup:

 

Lothar

[ericg]

I have spent quite a bit of time over the last few days on this model without much to show for it. A lot of touch ups to the paint work followed by a coat of Tamiya clear in preparation for weathering.

 

I have also spent a bit of time ensuring the 'sit' of the model is correct now that I have glued the undercarriage in. There was 2mm height difference between the left and right wing tips so I leveled it up by sanding the higher side wheel bottom and lowering it so that it was level. I have started highlighting panel lines using AK enamel wash.

 

A photo of how this brute looks now. Very similar to past photos but I reckon it is starting to come alive now.

 

[Harrison90]

Awesome! How could anyone not like this brute. Excellent, clean build.

 

Cheers

[Wolf Buddee]

That looks freakin' awesome Eric! Brilliant in more ways than one.

 

Cheers,

Wolf

[Zero77]

Wow, what an amazing paint job !

 

Looking at your WIP, it seems that everything went smoothly without any problem. I think i never had any build that went this way.

 

Didn't you encounter any issue while masking over the alclad polished aluminium? I always found that the alclad standard paint are very tough and easy to mask, but the high shine finishes always seemed very fragile to me, and i never succeed to mask them correctly without any issue. Even handling with bare hands was problematic. But it doesn't seem to have happen to you.

 

Your Alclad gloss black finish is perfect. This little spraygun looks a very good tool for large wet coats. I am also looking for something like that, and i am going to have a closer look at it.

Edited July 15, 2015 by Zero77