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Trumpeter BAC Lightning F.1A/F.2 any one have one.comments?


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Was wondering if it is a good kit or to much rivets.

Thanks

Rick

Not sure thats its actually out yet! Their 1/72nd F6 is out - its a good kit , but with a woeful representation of the tail pipe area - and the belly tank's a little too deep... nice surface detail ...

Edited by Bill Clark
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No sign of the F1/3 kit yet but the F6 is a beauty. As Bill said the only glitch is the ghastly tail pipe area. Aeroclub have released a nifty replacement rear fuselage to take care of the problem but you can fix it yourself with a bit of work (there's another thread about this here somewhere from a couple of weeks back). The F6 belly tank is a bit deep but only because the bottom needs to be flattened out a teensy bit so it's no problem. Overall the kit's lovely; nice surface detail and no heavy rivets. Overwing tanks are the wrong shape though so you need to rob those from another kit. Presumably, the F1/3 kit will be much the same so I think it'll just be the rear fuselage that needs fixing, unless they screw-up on the proportions of the smaller belly tank (which is quite possible of course). No news on the Academy F6 yet other than it's on the "future releases" list as of yesterday. Hopefully it will be even better than the Trumpeter kit and not require any fixing at all (he said, optimistically...)

I see yesterday that the big 32nd scale beauty - when it finally arrives - is retailing for over £120 at Hannants - eeeek!

Edited by Chox
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Thanks guys.

The F6 was another I was thinking about.

Academy kits I have been disapointed in more the the Trump's.

I did a search on the BAC Lightning and didn't see that post,will lookfor it.

Rick

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This was when I started mine a couple of weeks back:-

001.jpg

I haven't had time to do a whole lot more to it recently but adding plastic card to the back and a little filler into the kink between the engine was a task that can be done in one evening so it's no big deal. I got hold of some plastic tubing of the right diameter for the engines from my local hobby shop so correcting the rear parts is no big deal really and personally I don't think it's even worth buying a correction part unless you're really lazy - the task of fitting the correction part would hardly be any more difficult than doing it all from scratch with plastic card and filler.

The rest of the kit is virtually perfect. The Belly tank needs a teensy bit shaving off the lower surface. The air brakes are a teensy bit too short, so the best plan is to leave them retracted and re-scribe the door a little longer - and in any case, Lightnings only parked with brakes open very, very rarely. The exhaust hole on the port side is slightly out of position and could be relocated if you're fussy. I've already filled it in on the above photo - haven't drilled out a new one yet.

Lovely surface detail (which I'm busy picking-out with a scribing tool at present) although some bits are slightly incorrect, but I doubt that even the most clued-up observer would ever notice. Cockpit interior is okay but as ever, a new seat and panels would certainly be an improvement if you want a perfect result.

Overall it's a very nice kit which is only let-down by the horrible tail area aft of the rudder. But it can be put right if necessary. However I'm definitely waiting to see what Academy produce and hopefully it will be even better. If not, I'll settle for the Trumpeter kits. But then if Academy only produce an F6 you'll still need the Trumpeter F1/3 one way or another (unless the other long-advertised kit finally appears - wasn't it MPM or someone like that?), so I hope they do a good job of the new parts... fingers firmly crossed!

Edited by Chox
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I also note that Eduard's re-release of the 48th Airfix Lightning (with added detail parts etc) is (according to them) going to be the F1 kit rather than the F6 kit as everyone seemed to think. If this is indeed true, it'll be interesting to see what happens to all the overpriced examples on Ebay!

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Aeroclub launched a 1/72 resin replacement at SMW08 for the last inch or so of the model, including jet pipes. Basically, you cut off the last inch or so, add a bit of filler to what is left of the "valley" and stick the resin replacement on the end and smooth in with a bit of putty. The instructions make it look easy.......... but then don't they always... :thumbsup: price £3.50 at SMW.

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I mentioned that further up the page if you read back. As I said previously, it's a nice addition but making the replacement part fit the existing fuselage would be no easier than simply modifying the actual kit with plastic card and filler.

As for overwing tanks Bafke, they were used quite frequently on the F6. They kinda went out of fashion in the 'eighties but they re-appeared towards the end of the Lightning's career and the last examples that were operated by British Aersopace usually carried them. Certainly, you could build a 5, 11, 23 and 56 Squadron machine with tanks fitted as they all used them at various times. No big deal though if you have an old Matchbox or Frog/Novo/Kit to rob them from.

Edited by Chox
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As for overwing tanks Bafke, they were used quite frequently on the F6. They kinda went out of fashion in the 'eighties but they re-appeared towards the end of the Lightning's career and the last examples that were operated by British Aersopace usually carried them. Certainly, you could build a 5, 11, 23 and 56 Squadron machine with tanks fitted as they all used them at various times. No big deal though if you have an old Matchbox or Frog/Novo/Kit to rob them from.

Aha, got smarter (again) today .

Thanks for that info . And to add, I found a slide of one with tanks ... taken in the early 80's ...

Now where's that old kit ?

Stef

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