gunpowder Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Back in the days before the internet , when we had to look at books for refferences , after market was virtually nil , an amazing man produced a quite limited kit of the Lightning in 1/32 scale. OK Yes it was Vacform , but it was superb. I was a teenager and was looking through scale aircraft modelling magazine and saw an ad for said kit. I had to have one. My Dad drove me from Essex to Maidenhead to get one from the Man himself , Frank Brown. He was a very friendly man. He showed me some built up ones and also the most gobsmackingly good solid resin fuselage with white metal inserts. I believe it was a master for the kit. No idea what resin it was but it was glass smooth and dark blue.Fantastic. The kit was built and displayed in my room before finally getting destroyed years later somehow. I have built a few over the years , i even started one using the Aires bits for the Trumpeter kit , but sold it on to a friend before finishing it. I now want to build another one. One came up on the web for a good price and it arrived today. All is good and the kit it as beautiful as the first time i saw it. Unfortunately the canopy is very yellow. Not to worry i will attempt to make a vac form machine and make a new one. I will post photos of the kit this evening. Rick Griewski, Uncarina, Lothar and 10 others 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick32 Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Oh this sounds interesting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro32 Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 I was a teenager and was looking through scale aircraft modelling magazine and saw an ad for said kit. I had to have one. I lusted for one of these. Couldn't afford one. Good luck with it! Should be a blast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobinsonh Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Lovely. I have 4 in my build pile all from Frank directly. Rick Griewski and gunpowder 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunpowder Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 Right then , here are some photos. First up the beautifully cast metal parts. And the vac parts. My yellow canopy filled with milliput to make a master for the new one.....hopefully... For those that are not familiar with the kit. Heres a photo of the surface detail. Uncarina, KiwiZac, sandokan and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunpowder Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 Heres the decals. Although they are old , i have removed one and tried it and its still OK. Proper plans.... Hubert Boillot, Shawn M, sandokan and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunpowder Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 Heres the canopy master. It needs a little cleaning up but the basics are there. I bought the wooden box from Hobbycraft craft shop. It will need a hole cutting for the vacuum cleaner and lots of holes in the top. Then i need to make a frame for the plastic to go on. Will it work? Dont know but it will be a learning experience. I have ordered some PETG and watched a few videos on youtube. Im going to start the kit tomorrow evening. sandokan, Starfighter, Uncarina and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomprobert Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 This really is a truly stunning kit. Head and shoulders above the Trumpeter offering. I've longed to get my hands on one but no luck so far. Will watch with interest... and envy! Tom Tony C 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 (edited) And another jealous guy here ... You have the only accurate Ligthning kit in this scale, sadly hard to find nowadays ... And it is also a proof that a good female-mold vacform can produce amazing surface detail. Will be following with interest Hubert PS: if you are willing to mold more than one canopy, and sell some, I'm a taker, and that would probably trigger me to move butchering my Trumpeter F3 higher on my list Edited March 14, 2018 by MostlyRacers Uncarina 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorbenD Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 Ooooh! Torben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunpowder Posted March 14, 2018 Author Share Posted March 14, 2018 PS: if you are willing to mold more than one canopy, and sell some, I'm a taker, and that would probably trigger me to move butchering my Trumpeter F3 higher on my list If i can get it to work of course Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony C Posted March 14, 2018 Share Posted March 14, 2018 This really is a truly stunning kit. Head and shoulders above the Trumpeter offering. I've longed to get my hands on one but no luck so far. Will watch with interest... and envy! Tom Same here, would love to get my hands on one, at a reasonable, none eBay, price Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Griewski Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Lovely. I have 4 in my build pile all from Frank directly. I have two kits. It is one IMHO of the best vac kits ever produced. I am looking forward to your build. Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gunpowder Posted March 15, 2018 Author Share Posted March 15, 2018 Thanks guys. It really is a thing of beauty. Luckily Frank Brown was a perfectionist and the plastic he used was excellent quality and its still really good even after all these years. Being a stay at home parent means i get chances throughout the day to do research or even a little building. That is until my little William stops having morning and afternoon naps! I managed to get the basic cockpit tub together this morning. Tamiya extra thin works great on this plastic. KiwiZac, Starfighter, Victor K2 and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starfighter Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Great start - looking forward to seeing more! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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