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Echelon 1/32 Lightning........back to basics!


gunpowder

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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.

 

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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.

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Right then , here are some photos. First up the beautifully cast metal parts.

 

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And the vac parts.

 

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My yellow canopy filled with milliput  to make a master for the new one.....hopefully...

 

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For those that are not familiar with the kit. Heres a photo of the surface detail.

 

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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.

 

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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 :popcorn:

 

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 by MostlyRacers
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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

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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 :)

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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.

 

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