 |
| Trumpeter |
| 1/72 BAC Lightning F.6/2A |
| Kit Number: 721654 |
| Reviewed by Paul Bradley, IPMS# 35554 |
![[kit boxart image]](javascript:Foto('trumpeter_72_ee-lightning_boxart.jpg'))
|
Surface detail is relatively restrained, being un-marred by Trumpeter’s trademark rivets. Interior detail is OK for the scale; although I would have liked to have seen a little more in the cockpit, it is far better than any previous 1/72 Lightning kit. The ejection seat is in three parts (but does not have any seat belts or harness detail) and bears a passing resemblance to the Martin-Baker Mk.4 used in the real thing. Many aftermarket companies offer resin or white metal seats that can be substituted. Trumpeter offers an instrument panel decal, though strangely it is printed in silver rather than grey! The kit features a full intake trunk for the lower engine, running all the way to a rudimentary, but near-invisible compressor face. Inside this fits a neat radar housing assembly that incorporates the nose wheel bay. There’s just enough space in this area to add some nose weight, as indicated on the instruction sheet. I like the design of this area. The fuselage fits together quite well, but I needed a bit of filler on the belly and to blend in the separate airbrakes which are slightly too small vertically. The wings have separate flaps and these parts all fit together well, but there is a small gap top and bottom when gluing the wings to the fuselage. Similarly, I needed a little filler to blend the front of the separate fin to the spine, the spine being slightly wider than the fin. Despite this, I had the main structure of the model together over the course of a weekend. This is a pretty simple aircraft and the model is a pretty simple build. The main undercarriage is nicely moulded with good detail and slot into the wings very well with the correct forward-slanting angle. The nose gear is a single-piece mold, but looks very nice once in place. The canopy is molded in two parts so it can be posed open if you want – with the pretty sparse cockpit and modest seat, I elected to have mine shut. The kit provides both types of missiles used by the Lightning – the Redtop and Firestreak. Interestingly, the Firestreaks are molded in clear plastic, presumably because the seeker head was clear on the real thing, and this eliminates what could be an ugly seam to clean up. I thought this was a good idea. Additionally, the kit provides the unique over wing drop tanks, but these were used for ferry flights only and were rarely seen on operational aircraft. The model was painted overall aluminium – I used ModelMaster Metalizer for this, buffing out a number of panels at different angles for a slightly patchwork effect. I elected to do the F.6, XR753, but I found a great photo of this machine on airliners.net that has slightly different markings to those provided in the box and represents the jet at a different, later point in its career. This photo shows the aircraft with a white fin and spine. I used Xtracrylix for this. The decals include a full set of stencilling as well as complete individual and national markings. These are not the best decals I’ve seen; the red is too bright and the blue is too dark, making the national markings useless. I used some correct substitutes from Xtradecal. Additionally, the red and blue are off-register. Finally, while the underwing serials are given in the correct typeface, those for the rear fuselage are not – they should be the same. I used as many of the kit decals as I could and these were generally very good, though the black wing walkway striping was not quite correct, causing some touching up with black paint. ![[review image]](javascript:Foto('trumpeter_72_ee-lightning_02.jpg'))
The kit has two serious accuracy issues, both towards the rear of the fuselage. The Lightning is unique in that its two Avon engines were mounted one on top of the other, giving a deep but narrow cross-section. As the fuselage narrows towards the exhausts, there is a shallow tapering of the fuselage between the two jet pipes. On this kit, this area is too pronounced, starting too early and continuing too deep. The knock-on effect of this is that the exhausts are far too small in diameter. This can be corrected using filler and reference photos of the area, making it possible to create new exhaust nozzles. Alternatively, there is a resin correction set now available from Britain for a price. For this review, I elected to leave the parts as is, and the results can be seen in the accompanying photo. It doesn’t look right at all. The second error is that the underbelly integral fuel tank is much too deep. Once again, it would be possible to correct this by cutting away the tank and reducing it in size. I am sure someone will come out with a correction set for this too, but with all the Lightnings on display in Britain, why are these elementary errors being made in the first place? I would refer you to the Thunder-and-Lightnings website, where good photos are available of the Lightning. So, is this kit the definitive Lightning kit we’ve been waiting all these years for? No. While it is true that it IS, currently, the best 1/72 Lightning kit available at this time, there are some elementary mistakes that cause me to only reservedly recommend it. While this is a simple and generally well-fitting kit, the mistakes in accuracy, the poor decals and the lack of detail for the substantial price means that I do not think this kit is good value for money. I don’t usually mention price in my reviews, preferring to leave it up to the individual to decide if the kit is in their price range; however, I do feel the need to comment on this one. In my opinion, almost $40 is high for a 1/72 kit that has average detail, a need for replacement decals and some accuracy errors. I am aware of the difference in exchange rates but with times tough, many modelers may well wait for another one to be released or the exchange rates to improve. My thanks to Stevens International for the review sample. |
![[review image]](javascript:Foto('trumpeter_72_ee-lightning_03.jpg')) |
| |