Chris' Model Kits

More Provost Progress:

I put some lead weights in the nose, however I was a bit over-enthusiastic with the putty filler, which caused the nose to buckle on top. Now, as everyone knows, two wrongs make a right, and you should always fight fire with fire! 😜 So I applied more filler over the buckles, sanded it down, and now it looks acceptable again. In future, I shall have to be more patient and apply the filler in layers, waiting for each to set before applying the next.

After several failed attempts to close the gap in the belly, including inserting a plastic shim, I determined the halves of the model were just too thin to hold a secure join. To solve this once and for all, I glued a thin strip of plastic over the join, and put filler around the edges to get a smooth transition. At the same time, I closed the hole in the nose with yet more plasticard and filler. All the discoloration looks awful, but after sanding with increasingly fine grades of sandpaper, and a final polish with a low-cost microfibre cloth (kitchen roll 😜) it feels as smooth as the proverbial infant's posterior. So once it's got a coat of primer on it, it should look quite smart.

Finally, I decided to attack the starboard aileron. I'm not sure if it was past-me's over-aggressive sanding, or whether it was like that to begin with, but the inside edge of the aileron was noticeably too rounded compared to the port wing (at least, to my eye, anyway). So, I cut the offending corner off, replaced it with plasticard, then filled and sanded to my satisfaction.

Don't worry, I'm not in danger of finishing it any time soon, but by Jove, with the wings dry-fitted it really is starting to look like a Lightning!

One step forwards, two steps back

I found a pen that was the perfect diameter to create new tailpipes...

Wip Airfix Lightning F.3