Digity

I wondered if the Airfix kit had influenced the Trumpeter kit, especially when you look at the break-down of components, but when you look at the overall shape and the completely different panel line detail, I think maybe it's just coincidence. I guess nobody has heard of any plans for any "aftermarket" sets in the pipeline for the kit then? I'm still hoping somebody produces better clear parts and main wheels as they're the only parts which really would be better replaced. You mention the Echelon Lightning - maybe someone out there could copy the wheels and clear parts from that kit for re-

Judging by the lack of posts I assume nobody has built or bought the kit? Oh dear - not very encouraging is it?! All the fuss when the kit was first announced - funny how the price tag can kill-off your enthusiasm ain't it?!

Like everybody else is doing! I mean, why would you pay three times as much for an inferior kit. Hope it sells well in the Far East as it sure ain't gonna sell very well in Europe.

I can see where you're coming from Graham - the Trumpeter kit has no more detail than the Airfix 48th kit and it is undoubtedly way overpriced. Only reason I got one was because I like 32nd scale models - and I like Lightnings! The sad thing is that if the kit doesn't sell too well, it might convince Trumpeter that there isn't a market for British subjects, which of course would be a foolish assumption to be based upon a £100 kit. But then they've also released the Typhoon and of course everybody is waiting to buy the Revell kit which will probably be a third of the price, more accurate and

Haven't seen a great deal of comment about this kit apart from a few mentions here and there and a recent build/review in SAM which said virtually nothing about the kit's (in)accuracy. I bought the F1/3 kit when it was released and overall it seems pretty good despite the ridiculously high price (although I notice it's being sold at increasingly lower prices now, thank heavens). The general shape is pretty good, although the whole fuselage is a teensy bit too deep, but I think it's a fault that you can live with. The jet pipe area is a little mis-shaped (the exhaust area is "pinched-in" a li

Guess you're stuck with the Academy kit then! I agree with you that a new Airfix Hunter must be pretty unlikely but never say never! You're right that the Aeroclub set sorts-out most of the kit's problems but be aware that the tail fin and nose do look kinda odd, and it would probably be worth modifying them, particularly the nose which can be re-countured when compared to photographs of the real thing.

Even cheaper of late - local hobby store was selling loads of the 32nd F6 kit at just £10 recently - I bought five! Agreed, it is broken-down to make different versions but the fit is very good so it's not a problem. Sad thing is that it doesn't seem to have sold all that well, and they don't have any plans to re-issue the kit as a T7, hence the forthcoming Fisher kit. My guess is that's it as far as the Revell kit is going to go and a 48th version seems very unlikely now. Shame really, but I guess it's not the kind of subject which excites many people outside of the UK. Beautiful kit thoug

To be fair, even the Revell 72nd scale Hunters are way better than the Academy 48th scale kit, in fact when you consider their lovely 144th scale kit too, Revell have completely cleaned-up when it comes to good kits of the Hunter! Wonder why they never re-scaled the kit to 48th too - wierd!

I haven't looked at that kit in a long time (it's buried in my loft somewhere!) but I would guess it's probably the cockpit floor that is in the wrong place. To be honest I don't know why you call the Academy kit "magnificent" as it's a bit of a dog! The cockpit are is awful but then so are many other areas of the kit. When it was first released it got a lot of criticism for mis-placed main gear bays but in actual fact they're not that inaccurate and considering other parts of the kit, the wheel wells are fairly good! It's other aspects of the kit which are disappointing, such as the landing

You've done a great job with a less-than brilliant kit - well done! Only thing I could suggest is that maybe you could add the RWR mods to the fin bullet?

What we really need is someone to come-up with an easy way of replacing those house bricks on the wings which masquerade as vortex generators. Trouble is, I don't think there is an easy way of replacing them!

Might have gone the same way as the Aerofax TSR2 book which has been advertised for months and months. Unfortunately it never existed and it never will it seems!

Wow that's excellent, the additonal pieces would enable you to make any type of aircraft that you like! If you need any help with information just let me know - I've written three well-known commercial books covering Vulcans so if there's anything you need I could probably find it!

Operational Vulcans had Light Aircraft Grey undersides and the stencils would have been predominantly black, although some red and some yellow stencils are visible on some aircraft. I don't know why the aircraft MiG has linked to has blue stencilling as that does seem rather unusual for a LAG-painted aircraft. However it is a museum exhibit which has been repainted by the museum so it's not an operational finish and it may well have been based on manual specs which have been misinterpreted. Blue stencilling would be more appropriate for an all-white aircraft (all of which - bar one - had gone

Thanks guys great stuff! The HS is interesting although the author seems to have got his MR variant a bit wrong. He's put a single piece square window into the port side and he's forgotten about the flare launcher in the rear turret although I see that on RE164 above, that aircraft doesn't have one in any case - evidently every aircraft must have been different!