Trumpeter English Electric Lighting F1/3

[PhilB]

39 minutes ago, Tony T said:

 And the fact it's from that generation of metal fighters that smelled of oil and leather, like a big old motorbike. 

A very, very fast old motorbike that would still see off many of today's "superbikes".

It was the purety of the design.

Unlike today where aircraft are multi-role, it was a pure interceptor, designed to get a man and his guns and missiles to high altitude in the shortest possible time.

 Considering it went into service in 1959, the performance was staggering.

 

 

 

[Royboy]

4 hours ago, thierry laurent said:

 

Well, I guess this depends essentially on the relationship you have with a specific plane type. I cut and transformed the Matchbox Spitfire everywhere to get an acceptable Final Seafire as this is one of my favourite planes of all times. And, believe me, that kit is far worse than the Trumpeter Lightning!

 

On the other hand, I know this is an heresy but I do not really like the Lightning. To me, it is just a very ugly beast! So, I would never touch the Trumpy Lighning dogs, even with a 3 feet pole!

 

However, this is a major cold war topic that had an important role in the development of the British aerospace industry. Accordingly, if a state of the art kit of the type was released, I would probably get it...

 

So, I think this is very variable for most if not all of us.

 

Thierry

 

The E.E Lightning was of course born of it's time, a dangerous time in the Cold War when new high performance machines were an immediate need and needed sooner rather than later.

Up until the Sandys Report the fast fighter jet was seen as an imperative to combat nuclear bomb laden bombers which would have decimated Europe if anything went wrong in a misunderstanding of stance or readiness.

If anyone thinks the Lightning 'ugly' you should see some of the other projects under consideration at the time!

I remember it with great affection! Standing on it's tail leaping into the air straight after takeoff tends to stay in the memory.

I would relish a new tool 1/32 or 1/24 Lightning from someone but I doubt I will be on the earth's surface long enough to see it!!

Shame. 

  

 

[thierry laurent]

Nostalgia was typically what I meant when I was refering to the relationship we can have with a plane type. This has nothing to do with logics or aesthetics! As we know beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. This also explains why I hate the Attacker whereas I really love the Seahawk! I don't know why but this is a fact!

 

I fully agree with Tony when he mentioned that the Lightning could only be made by the Brits or the Soviets! It is really a pity there is no better kit of such an important plane. However, at least there is a kit (actually more than one) whereas we are still praying for many other British, US, Soviet, Swedish or French cold war icons...

[Tony T]

 

We were really quite lucky to get two big scale E E Lightnings from Trumpeter.  I might still get 1/48 Airfix (F.6) and Sword (T.5) examples to "assist" with tweaking the Trumpeter kits to hand. The titchy 1/72 offerings from Airfix and Sword are quite nice stocking fillers. 

 

It's a pity the 1/32 Trumpeter E E Lightnings are getting progressively more difficult to find. A bit like the MiG-19 "Farmers" which haven't been available for a decade. Wonder if we'll ever see the F-100F, that has appeared as "new for 20xx" alongside the mythical Devastator ?

 

Agree with Thierry about the dearth of Cold War jet icons. At least Kitty Hawk have got the Republic Streak and Flash lining up for take-off. Those will sit so nicely next to the Hobby Boss F-84G Thunderjet. And Italeri have kindly given us single and two seat Zippers, and the exquisite Mirage IIIC/E.  

 

Tony

[Kagemusha]

As it happens there's one on ebay, not mine I should add, T.4 conversion too.