"EE Lightning" – Håkan Ekberg Music, tarot

29 August, 2021

Mirage IIIE and Lighting progress.

I’ve assembled all the weapons and tanks for the Mirage.

For some reason I can’t find anything on how to paint any of them in the instructions, and I also need to figure out the loadouts for the Argentinian AF during the Falklands conflict.

The instructions doesn’t say anything about weight or how much, so I just threw in as much as I could in the nose cone, and then glued it in place.

This kit is fighting quite a bit and there are things that could have been done better and in a slightly different way to avoid some issues. I have some steps on panels that needs to be taken care of.

On the Lightning I decided to go with an aluminium cover instead of chrome. Here the area is masked.

I think it turned out ok, but forgot to take a pic, so after a while I masked the entire bottom area, making it ready for the next step, black basing. So I painted black to cover all areas that should be painted with squiggles later.

As I never done black basing before, I needed something to practice on, and as the Harrier should have the same colours, I thought it would be a fitting subject.

I sure need some practice to get the squiggles right, and I will add a few other grey nuances before I start painting the camo colours.

26 August, 202126 August, 2021

Lightning paint progress.

I decided to try and paint different shades of metallic on the wings and the underside, as they vary quite a bit in reality.

Masking and painting in sections.

Right now it looks like this!

I might paint some smaller panels in different shades as well, otherwise I’m ready to start masking for the topside camo, now that I got the colours I need.

13 August, 2021

I want it painted black, and some figure painting.

I needed to check for seams that need more attention, and painted the entire Lightning black.

As can be seen in the pics, there are a few issues, at least on the underside. Everything else looks pretty good. One of the reasons to use black is that the underside should be in silver.
I’ll go over the seams with putty and carefully sand them down to look smooth and nice.
On the topside i think I’ll try some black basin.

The second part of this post will be about the russian soldiers for the M3A1 Scout car.

One thing I really did like about the figures in this kit is those tabs that help the parts to fit properly. Tamiya has done this very well I think.

Two more figures built.

Pretty soon all soldiers were built and some even got a little paint.

I started to paint their faces and hands with different skin tones. Some I painted and some I dry brushed. I think it turned out ok. I also started painting the uniform on one figure, but realized that I had to check if I used the right colour. It seems like I did. So now I only need to paint all the other figures except the driver who is dressed in black.

I also think I need to drill holes in the bottom of their boots and put them on sticks to make painting a bit easier.

9 August, 2021

Progress with the Lightning, Weekend build meeting, and my new purchases.

Earlier last week I was asked if I wanted to join a weekend gathering were we could sit and build and talk. After not being able to meet like this for quite some time, it was a no brainer, adn with my girlfriends permission, I was ready to go.

I managed to to do a little on the Lightning beflre it was time to pack everything for the little more than 1½ hour trip to the meeting.
I assembled the exhaust pipes, painted the chrome on the rear piece, added decals to the cockpit and started painting the pilot.

The seat was also painted.

I got some wash on the exhaust and intake parts, to enhance them a bit. Not that they are very visible inside, but anyway.

That was how far I got before the meeting. At the meeting I glued the intake to the fuselage and added some weights to that half.

For some reason the the pilot didn’t fit, at all, at least not without major surgery, so I decided to skip the pilot. So I added seat belts made of thin stripes of tape.

Seats with belts added — Seat with belts added

Landing gears assembled.

Wings assembled.

The cockpit fits nicely on top of the intake. More weights was added and secured with white glue.

Missiles and over wing tanks built.

Landing gears painted black.

I decided to switch object and started a new kit, a Swedish personal carrier, BV206S.

I forgot to take pics, but after some time I had gotten this far.

Talking about forgetting to take pics, which is easy to do when building and making conversations with my fellow model builder friends. So all of a sudden, I had gotten this far with the lightning.

After some more time I hade masked the canopy parts, painted the inside, glued them to the fuselage, and assembled a lot of small parts on the body.

One of the kits I picked up from a visiting vendor, was this M3A1 Scout car in russian service.

Same problem here, I forgot to take pics during a large part of the build process.

Another find was this lamborghini kit.

And this one.

On a table was a few kits that caught my attention, and especially one of the kits, I wasn’t sure who had brought them to the meeting, but when I asked it turned out they were for sale, so I snatched this beauty.

And it came with this book.

I came home sunday afternoon, and before putting all model stuff in place I cleaned up my workspace! Much needed, and now I only need a new cutting mat.

It was a great weekend, even if my girlfriend complained about spending too much money.