XP744, No. 56 Squadron
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Kit didn’t include a figure so I used one from a Lindberg A-4. Nothing special but the plane will be in flight so it needs a pilot. Favorite thing about this was the ejection seat handles, black stripes were done using an artist pen.
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Moment of truth is coming soon
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Starboard side is not as nice
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Aside from the wing panel lines, decals have been a pleasant experience so far
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All finished
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Comments
42 26 April 2023, 02:28
![](/profiles/img/121979-911-s.jpg)
Haven't posted updates on this side project in awhile, been dabbling in painting NMF with Mission Models aluminum and Model Master chrome silver since they're what I have. Masked and painted the black around the canopy and now masking the spine and tail. Instead of using the kit decals, I thought it would be much easier to paint this part white and then mask off the checker pattern on the tail, since I would have to match the spine color with the tail.
8 September 2023, 03:27
![](/profiles/img/121979-911-s.jpg)
Tried applying these black line decals and the first one broke. If there's one takeaway I have from this build, it's always mask & paint instead of decals if you can, it's a million times easier.
16 September 2023, 19:09
![](/profiles/img/121979-911-s.jpg)
All done, did all the little stencil decals, installed weapons and pitot tube, and she's all ready to be hung up in my daughter's room. Not a serious build but was good practice and I'm proud of the masking I did on the tail.
19 September 2023, 03:17
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Agreed! Very nice work Rando! Super clean masking 👍 I used to love a Lightning at an airshow. It's all about the noise!! 😁
24 January, 18:19
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Thank you Neil and Robert! Yes this was all done on a whim when a friend I was visiting in Texas wanted to build models together, so I hastily picked this one. I love the Lightning too, want to build it in 1/48 someday, but this one was fun for gaining confidence with masking especially. Can't say I will be again using Mission Models for painting full exteriors of a plane though, too brittle even with the poly. Gunze Aq for the red and white was so much better.
24 January, 19:03