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Trumpeter English Electric Lighting F1/3


TimHepplestone

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I'm sure others will detail the good and points of the kit  and  there are pleny of downsides - the main one being the simplistic feel of the kit, rather like a 1/48th scale kit pantographed upto 1/32 , and the simplistic engines/Wheels/cockpit  and the incorrect fusalage length 

 

But I'm more intrested in the fact that you found one in the first case, I've got a T5 conversion sitting on the shelf waiting for find an F1/F3 kit for less than a king's ransom! - they seem to be rarer than hen's teeth these days

 

colinR

 

 

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this kit kit is a lesson in not believing reviews - search and Brett Green’s preview will no doubt come up, in which he eulogises about it...and then people who know what they are talking about had a look at it

 

anyway...

 

lots of stuff on LSP about this kit

bottom line is if you are a stickler for accuracy, you’ll either put it straight on eBay, have a huge bunch of scratchbuilding to do, or wait for a comprehensive correction set to come out (from LSP member) which has been many years in the making and - no disrespect intended - may never make it to market.

 

if you are happy building warts and all, just go ahead and build it and you’ll have an impressive looking beast

 

me, I am somewhere in the middle...I will just build it (albeit with resin cockpit, wheel wells, burner cans...), but I am fully aware of what exactly is wrong with it

from what I understand, the aires stuff will add detail to areas where the kit is very simplistic, but there is nothing out there which addresses the critical shape issues

they can also be a bit tasty to get to fit (burner cans)

 

I’ll let the SMEs take it from here...

 

re finding them, they appear on eBay every now and then

i got the F6 with a bunch of aftermarket for less than £100

you just need to be willing to pull the trigger and have a kit sit in your stash

 

 

Edited by nmayhew
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36 minutes ago, nmayhew said:

this kit kit is a lesson in not believing reviews - search and Brett Green’s preview will no doubt come up, in which he eulogises about it...and then people who know what they are talking about had a look at it

 

 

In the defence of all reviewers all over the internet, they cannot be "experts" in everything. Reviewers are like competition judges. Mostly, they can only judge "quality of execution". They can just tell you about quality of finish, quality of detail and how convincing it is.  If they happened to know the subject inside-out, then they might be able to point out eventual issues. But, honestly, how do you expect the reviewer of a website like Hyperscale (or LSP, for that matter) who has to review a bewildering variety of a multitude of models to know everything about everything? 

Radu 

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Some things really do just glare as wrong though. The canopy and windscreen is way too high, way too fat,  and a quick look at a couple of photos will show how off it its. But it can be corrected if you want to, and there have been several projects here on LSP that show what can be done, as well as some impressive builds straight from the box. It is undeniably a Lightning!!  And they seem to hold their value too, so even if you do decide to sell it, you shouldn't loose out. In fact, I'd give it good, smoke free, loving home, if you ever want it rehousing!!

 

TimDM2A6167-.jpg?w=1496&h=998&ssl=1

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I started this a long time ago but it hits many of the problems to build a more accurate Lightning. I have seen some very nice OOB renditions but if you are a fan of the aircraft you will see many of these issues. No model is perfect it is just a shame that this one is less perfect than most :-(

 

 

 

 

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7 hours ago, Scotsman said:

I'm sure others will detail the good and points of the kit  and  there are pleny of downsides - the main one being the simplistic feel of the kit, rather like a 1/48th scale kit pantographed upto 1/32 , and the simplistic engines/Wheels/cockpit  and the incorrect fusalage length 

 

But I'm more intrested in the fact that you found one in the first case, I've got a T5 conversion sitting on the shelf waiting for find an F1/F3 kit for less than a king's ransom! - they seem to be rarer than hen's teeth these days

 

colinR

 

 

 

I would have been very happy if all they did was pantograph up the excellent 1/48 Airfix kit.  It would have been a much better result!

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A lot of the problems can be tweaked away to the satisfaction of most. It's the windshield quarter panels that let it down for me — they're level, but look slightly angled up, instead of angled slightly down. Hmm, judicious use of filler, masking tape and painting might fix it.

 

F.1A/3 problem is the chunky wings with camber that shouldn't be there, but again fixable to pass the "will it bother me looking at five years after I finish it?" test. 

 

Have an F.1A/3, F.6 and an already chopped F.6 to convert into a T.53/55 trainer using Whirlybird parts. The Aires resin jetpipes are super but you almost have to destroy the rear fuselage — down to waffer-thin or gaps — to make it fit, then fill the gaps. 

 

The E E Lightning is the kind of subject Revell should have done for fifty quid a pop back in the old days, along with its alleged Hunter T.7 which never quite made it. But the Trumpeter kits look impressive built-up even just OOB.

 

Tony 

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The canopy/windshield and afterburners are the most glaring of the faults of the kit.

Build it with open canopy and add resin in the cockpit, and you're halfway there.

Afterburners? Aires are good, but you have to spend the rest of your life filing and sanding to get them in place!

Ian (32nd Group) worked on replacements, but they never showed up in the marketplace.

 

Stein M 

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My friend and I was just talking about this model a couple of days ago and the lack of general availability everywhere it seems.

Every other kit in the range seems to be in stock except this one! 

We speculated that as the manufacturer must be well aware that it's 'not right' or up to their modern standards they'd do today, perhaps, just perhaps, they could be thinking of retooling it?

It does seem a mystery to us?

Why this one? Well, why not?

Yes, man might land on Mars before they do! :rolleyes:

 

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I had the Trumpeter Lightning a couple of years ago but regrettably sold it. I’d be willing to fork out a bob or two for an Echelon Lightning though...... I keep looking but haven’t seen one yet. :huh:

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