1:72 English Electric Lightning F.2A
A long time ago in a galaxy far away, I had the idea of building the 1:72 Trumpeter Lightning F.2A kit. It looked great in the box, so it should be a nice quick little build, eh? Those of you who are familiar with that kit and its foils know that isn't quite that simple.
By the time I was done, I had used portions of the Trumpy kit, part of the old Matchbox kit (belly tank and refueling probe), an Aires resin cockpit and bang seat, the Eduard photoetch cockpit and exterior detail sets, Quickboost rear fuselage and exhaust nozzles, Quickboost resin intake ring, Xtradecal markings for 92 Squadron, Xtradecal stencils, inspiration, perspiration, and a whole lot of very bad words. I had to move the wings back a few millimeters to get them in their correct location, plus I had to add 6 degrees of wing anhedral that Trumpy forgot. And, of course, soon after my completion of this kitbash, Airfix announced a new 1:72 scale kit in 2013 of the Lightning F.2A/F.6 (presumably scaled down from their excellent 1:48 scale kit). You can thank me for causing this wondrous event to happen.
Thanks to the encouragement and expertise of my fellow modellers, I think I've managed to make a reasonably nice model. Despite all the little extra work required, this was a FUN project, and that's what's important. We can handle the other stuff because we're modellers! We love this stuff!
Paint is mostly Alclad (aluminum, dark aluminum, magnesium, steel, dull aluminum, chrome, and white aluminum), Gunze acrylic (primarily H322 masquerading as Roundel Blue), and some Testors Model Master enamels. The final coat over the Alclad is their new Aqua Clear Gloss which I like quite a bit.
So here it is! Enjoy!
Cheers,
Bill
Well...you did an outstanding job on a build in that scale - I've seen 48th examples of the Lightning that weren't done as well (mine leaps to mind).
The finish and attention to detail is superb. I give it a 10 (because that's as many as there are). And your photography is as good as your modeling talents. A job well done all around, in my opinion. Beautiful work.
...and, " are you trying to tell me that coconuts migrate...?!"
Bill... the aftermarket suppliers owe you a debt of gratitude as does Trumpeter, for making their kit look so darn good.
I thought it was the Airfix 1/48 kit when I first looked at it. Outstanding job! Glad you had fun. At end end all I wanted out of my D.520 AMS relief project was to be done, And the tail wheel tire is painted, so it's done, done.
It's always "simple quick builds" that bite ya right in thr hand..lol
Once again a beautiful build
If I give you ten points, will you let me put this nice jacket with the long arms on you, and will you come along to this nice padded rubber room without any difficulty? 🙂
Nice to see another example of the word "obsession."
Very nice finishing, especially for 1/72 scale.
Your model is inspiring to re-continue to my 1/48 Lightning.
Beautiful, stunning finish, well worth all your hard work.
Terrific job out of a not-so-terrific kit. I think I'll be waiting for the Airfix kit to arrive, thank you so much for making it happen 🙂
Chicken poop to chicken soup. Methinks thou may be an alchemist...Marvelous example of determination and skill.
Very nice! A masterful job seamlessly integrating all your corrections.
Thanks for all the nice comments, everyone! I appreciate them all, even the one about the straightjacket! Sometimes I feel like I need one of those!
If anyone is interested in the 10 page, 192 comment build thread, you can find all of the nasty details here:
http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234909248
Cheers,
Bill
Craig: An African swallow maybe, but not a European swallow...
Beautiful model! AND thanks for your magnificent work offer to the plastic gods-that-be! 😉
Beautiful work.