English Electric Lightning F6

[Butler]

Hi all! This is going to be my attempt at building a Lightning from a paper kit template. I can't justify spending £100 on an injection kit which would only take a couple of weeks to finish so i'm going down the more time consuming route!

 

I normally only build WW2 props but i happily make an exception for the Lightning. My home town, Rugby, is home to Brownsover Hall where Whittle invented the jet engine, and the British Thompson Houston works (recently demolished to make way for a housing estate) where the first British jet engine was built. English Electric also had a factory in town (now a Tesco)so I feel a tenuous local connection to what i feel was the ultimate British jet. Luckily i've got two reference Lightnings to look at a short 15 minute drive away at Coventry airport.

Edited October 15, 2011 by Butler

[Butler]

I've tried a couple of paper-plastic conversions and still intend to finish my Mosquito at some point. The trouble is with the skinning - to get the skin to wrap around the frame you need to use really thin plastic.

 

Trouble is, this plastic moulds around any framing or support and ends up with loads of bumps and ripples which have to be sanded out. It's very difficult to add filler on top because the structure isn't very stiff. Also, sand though the skin and it's game over - it's almost impossible to fill holes because the filler just drops into the model to create a permanent rattle!

 

Here i've tried a different approach - to build the kit in two halves a bit like a standard injection kit. Each half has it's own spine and the frame is built in a mirror image:

 

Edited October 15, 2011 by Butler

[Butler]

To add skin to the frame i first add 5mm strips of paper-thin plastic over the ribs. This gives the skin a wider surface to glue to and stops the glue from melting through as it can if glued to a thin frame. This also stops the tendency for the skin to bulge between the frames.

 

Edited October 15, 2011 by Butler

[Butler]

Check that both halves still match!

 

Edited October 15, 2011 by Butler

[Butler]

I'm using one of those old film canisters (remember them?) to form the air intake at the front...

 

[Butler]

...and the execllent Aires exhausts at the rear (designed for the Trumpeter kit)

 

[Butler]

Here's my attempt at forming the air intake structure. I didn't mess about trying to form the correct shape inside because you can't see the top half anyway, i just simulated the change in intake height with rings of plastic.

 

The front of the engine is built on to the lid of the film canister with an old bomb from the spares box stuck in the middle.

 

[Butler]

Here's how it looks if you peer inside from the front:

 

[Butler]

With both sides fully skinned I then cut sections out of the spine. I then stick more squares of the skinning plastic to the inside of the skin, two or three layers. Once this is dry i then mix up some Pound Shop two-part expoxy glue in each void. Ove this is dry the halves feel really stiff like an injecion kit.

 

Once the exoxy dried i cut out more on the interior frame to fit the intake and exhausts.

 

Edited October 15, 2011 by Butler

[Butler]

Next up the cockpit tub. I built up the interior structures of the cockpit tub ready to receive stick-on panels. I'm going to use an aftermarket seat!

 

[Butler]

The interior parts made from styrene and ready to paint:

 

[Butler]

Painted and installed in the tub. I've test fitted the Aires seat and it needs a little shaving off the bottom! I don't know if this is exactly the right seat but it's beautifully moulded and certainly looks the part

 

[Butler]

Hello Butlet,

 

Wow how lovelt to know that you come from a Historically sound place...wasnt the game Rugby played by the Brits also invented in Rugby.

 

Anyhoo your work is looking very neat and good and as this is one of my favorite aircrafts I am so gonna enjoy the Lightning being built.

Kepp up the good work Sir.

 

 

Thanks! I'm on a bit of a posting marathon at the moment so theres a few more to come.

 

Rugby is indeed the home of Rugby Football, weve got all the flags out for the world cup at the moment. Unfortunately i doubt that many residents know about the link with the jet engine. There is a monument to Whittle in town but the design is so obscure i didnt realise what it was for a few years!

[Butler]

With all the interior bits stuck to one side of the fuselage it's time to stick the halves together.

 

Any voids forward of the half-way mark are filled with white-tack to add some extra weight at the front to avoid any tail-sitting later. This is already a heavy model!

 

[Butler]

Tightly wrapped up with tape and elastic bands while the superglue-gel i spread over the inside dries.

 

Once this was set i slipped thin strips of styrene in any cracks down the join and filed them back smooth.