Trumpeter Lightning - any thoughts?

[Digity]

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 little too much) but compared to the ghastly rear end of their 72nd scale kit, it's not too bad. The actual exhaust cans are very nice so it doesn't require a lot of work to just widen the pinched area out a little. The nose intake ring demarcation line is too deep and there's a bizarre gap on the inside, but again this is something that can be fixed - just annoying that you have to do this in a kit that costs a fortune!

The wind shield and canopy are not so great - the canopy isn't really deep enough and the outline of the clear/solid areas is wrong. Likewise the windscreen centre panel is too wide and the side panels ought to be deeper. Worse still, both items on my kit have suffered from stress markings which has ruined them in any case. Cockpit interior is very basic and needs to be virtually re-built from scratch.

Perhaps the strangest items are the main wheels which justlook wierd! The basic detail on the wheel hubs is okay-ish but when the tyres are added, the whole unit looks totally wrong, possibly a little too big and certainly too narrow. Compared to the smaller Airfix 48th item the wheel is pretty awful - too much so to be ignored.

The ventral tank isn't too bad - it's too fat (needs to be sanded down along the sides) , too rounded where it meets the fuselage at the rear, and it's possibly not quite deep enough but not too shallow to worry about deepening it unless you're really fussy. It's not as convincing as the Airfix tank but to be fair the Airfix tank is also a little under-nourished. The various little intakes and exhausts on the fuselage are of mixed standards, and some careful research is needed on these depending which variant you want to build. But then the differences of these items between the F1 and F3 is something that even Airfix overlooked! Likewise the cable ducts need to be the appropriate length depending which variant you want to build.

No sign of a refuelling probe (truly bizarre when virtually all Lightnings carried a probe as standard) and the air brakes aren't quite long enough. However the easy option here is to fix them closed and re-scribe them. Unfortunately this means that you'll probably want to reposition the adjacent auxiliary drive exhaust hole accordingly. It's worth noting that there's a myth going around enthusiast sites that Lightnings were never seen parked with the airbrakes extended - it's not true, it's just that it didn't happen very often.

Anyway, that's the way I see things. I'd be interested to know if anyone else has any other thoughts on the subject. I'm pretty disappointed that SAM's feature on the kit was so uninformative (and I thought the author's "lecture" on fault finding was vaguely offensive) but so far that's all that has appeared on the subject. Overall it seems like a fairly decent kit and typical of Trumpeter's standards - good but not great. It's just disappointing that it's so expensive and requires a lot of fiddling to put everything right.

I haven't heard of any plans for after-market products to correct the kit so perhaps the various manufacturers have concluded that the subject isn't worth tackling, given that few people will be buying the kit at such a high price? It would be nice if someone produces replacement clear parts and new wheels (and maybe a refuelling probe) but in all other respects I think most things can be put right with a bit of filler, sanding and patience!

Oh well - shouldn't complain really - at least we've got a decent Lightning in 32nd scale, even if it's not to Tamiya standards.

Edited April 14, 2009 by Digity

[Graham T]

I build in 1/48, mainly because kits in that scale tend to offer better detail than 1/72. I have however strayed into 1/32 where the subject is interesting or offers better detail/quality than the same subject in 1/48. I looked in the box of the 1/32 Trumpeter Lightining & decided that it offered no improvement in detail over the Airfix 1/48 kit, ergo, I will not buy one. This is besides the fact that I didn't really LIKE what I saw in the box for nearly 100 nicker - it simply didn't look worth it!

[Digity]

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 more detailed. So I fear they might take this as another sign that there's only a market for the usual mainstream choices that get "kitted" again and again. Hope not, as although I'm delighted to see big scale kits of things like the Tomcat, Su-27, P-51 and so on, the really encouraging trend was the way that Trumpeter have looked at other equally significant aircraft which might not otherwise have been considered "commercial" enough to produce in a big scale. Can't help feeling that even though a big scale kit of the magnificent Lightning was a fantastic idea, selling it for £100 a time almost guarantees that most people will leave it on the stockist shelves, especially when it's no better (and in many respects worse) and certainly no more detailed than Airfix's smaller counterpart.

Edited April 14, 2009 by Digity

[Digity]

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?!

[Scotsman]

Bough the kit , and built it , and i'd endorse almost all of Digity's comments , pantographed 48th scale kit , with very little additional detail, it builds very quickly out of the box, and in that terrible weasle phrase , "looks like a Lightning", I frilled out some of the vents, added a FOD guard, and added belts to the seats , and Lo I had a 32nd Lightning ..

If it were £25-£30 less then I'd be buying multiples of it , but at £100 or so , I could justify one as a birthday present , having built the Trump F-8 immediatly before , it really dosen't compare as regards bang for buck ...

I'll will buy the F-6 Lightning when it turns up , but not until the price drops .

Overall I was pretty disappointed , but hey its not a Vacform , and I didn't have to scour e-bay for a 20 years kit and pay £250 for it ,(I've got a 1991 SAM with an ad for the Echlon 32 Lightning for sale for the mighty price of £29.95.. if only....!)

[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-sale? Must be a good few tucked-away in lofts!

Edited April 16, 2009 by Digity

[tony.t]

Oh dear. So the 1/32 F.6 variant is going to be fairly disappointing as well, given some of the common features and therefore inevitable faults?

Like others, I'm waiting for the Revell Typhoon II and will skip on the Trumpy altogether.

A shame really.

[avro683]

Oh dear, what a negative thread. I bought one of these kits in January having had a brief look in the box. Granted it isn't festooned with all of the usual gimmicks normally associated with Trumpeter kits but we have in essence been presented with a very buildable 1/32 kit of a truly iconic British Cold War fighter. Admittedly the lack of refuelling probe and dorsal air vent are surprising errors as is the size of the 111 sqadron option lightning flash and roundels on the transfer sheet (an error that could have been corrected when they corrected the fin flah colours on the original sheet if it had been noticed). I for one am really glad I've got one and will be very proud to display it once built, errors or not. Out of interest, I have found a photograph of a flight of 111 squadron Lightnings (a T4 and 5 F3's) without in-flight refuelling probes.

Tony

[UKPonchoMan]

Perhaps the point being made here is that for nearly £100 (i.e. the price of a comparable Tamiya kit) one would NOT expect these errors!

If the canopy and wheels are unusable and the rear end is wrong, you've not got much chance of fixing it unless someone comes up with resin replacements...