Building the Trumpeter 1/72 BAC Lightning F1A/F2 with the Aires Resin Cockpit Set

By  Chris Smith, IPMS# 39182

Trumpeter 1/72 BAC Lightning F 1A - F2 Item# 01634, MSRP $36.95 Kit Supplied by Stevens International: www.stevenshobby.com Aires Resin Cockpit Set for Trumpeter Lightning F2/6 Item# 7206, MSRP $17.45 Resin set supplied by Aires: www.aires.cz Having recently joined the review team I was surprised to have my first pick granted. The English Electric Lightning is one of the iconic aircraft of its era. In my minds eye I see the black and white footage of the near vertical takeoffs that we now take for granted. This twin engine beast exemplified brute force. The Kit The top opening box has average quality artwork, a brief history, and side views of the three marking options: · F2 XN779 19 Squadron 1973 · F1A XM181 RAF 1971 · F1A XM182 56 Squadron (Firebirds) Inside you'll find 5 sprues with 72 parts molded to current standards. An instruction sheet, color marking diagram and decals complete the package. Some of the distinguishing features of the F1/A, F2, and all later marks were the cable ducts along the fuselage sides and a refueling probe capability. The ducts are there, the refueling probe is not. Resin Cockpit Set This beauty consists of four resin parts: the cockpit tub, instrument panel face and shroud, a Martin Baker ejection seat and a strip holding the side panels, control column and a very tiny compass and cockpit light for the windscreen frame. Also included is a nice PE fret with instrument panel, seat harnesses, rudder pedals and pull rings for the ejection seat. Lastly are the instruments and reflector glass for the HUD on film. You'll need some references for colors as none are provided.

Building Starting with the cockpit I decided to build the kit version along with the Aires set (see photo) so you can see the difference. Resin cockpits are a love / hate thing for me. I love the detail but hate making them fit. I'm glad to report this was not an issue with this set. I had it fitted in 20 minutes. The best parts are the instrument panel and the ejection seat. My only glich was the side panel fit. I glued mine all the way around and had a gap at the top I had to leave because I feared breaking the part to fix it. Your best bet would be gluing the bottom and pushing them tight after the tub is installed. Sadly most of this detail can't be seen once in place. The airframe fits together well. A little filler was needed on the bottom and at the fin joint. Trumpeter must have studied the Airfix version since the parts breakdown is very similar. The alignment of the intake parts is very good and the nose gear well detail is better the larger Lightning kits. Don't forget to add weight before closing the fuselage. Painting I decided to duplicate an F1/A of the RAF Firebirds demonstration squadron circa the 1963-64 season. The color diagram included in the kit is missing the red leading edges on the wings and stabilizers. Fortunately there is no shortage of Lightning references both in print and online. I also have the 1/48 Airfix kit in process and the instructions and box top depict a 56 Squadron aircraft. I decided to make the NMF as bright as possible as these aircraft were relatively new in service and the photos show mirror like finishes. I painted the red areas first using spray can Tamiya Italian Red then masked the red and undercoated with spray can Tamiya gloss black. I really like the Tamiya sprays as they dry fast and lay down very smooth. The finish coat is Alclad polished aluminum, with the intake ring masked and shot with Alclad chrome.

Decals and Finishing Touches I used the decals provided in the kit in spite of the off-color national insignias and mismatched fonts of the registration codes. Register is good and most of the stencils are readable. They react well to both setting solution and solvent. The only issues here are the lack of a white border on the fin flash and aircraft code "M" on the tail. Also the code letter "M" is repeated on the nose gear door in photos. I used one of the Ms from the extra decals on the sheet for that. There are a lot of stencils on this model so give your self a couple sessions for them. Next was the landing gear which I cleaned up, painted with Alclad aluminum and a black wash. The Clear parts are nice with pronounced frame work that's easy to mask. I added the tiny resin compass to the windscreen frame but lost the light to the carpet gremlins. The film HUD glass finished the cockpit. The gun ports should be covered but I painted before I realized it. Dummy firestreak missiles were fitted to the Firebirds aircraft and were finished according internet photos. Conclusions

Wish my other Lightning project went together this fast! The cockpit set really adds a lot to this kit. As was noted in Paul Bradley's review of the F2/F6 version from this company, the tail end and burner cans have some shape/scale issues. A detail set is now available (Aires Item # AHM7213 MSRP $22.95) to correct it. Be warned that set is for F6 /F2A which has slight variations from this version. When you combine the kit MSRP with cockpit set and tail correction set you've got a pricey combination. For the die hard Lightning fan it's the only accurate choice available in this scale. There must be a lot of Lightning fans because the websites I checked for the Aires sets were sold out. My local hobby shop had the kit in stock. If you don't want spend that kind of money, just buy the kit and enjoy an easy build that looks every bit a Lightning when you're done. Either way, have references close at hand.

Thanks to Trumpeter and Aires for the samples and to IPMS for allowing me to review these kits. References · WarBird Tech Series Volume 28 English Electric Lightning By: Kev Darling · Scale Aircraft Modeling Volume 20, Number 6, August 1998 Page 292 · Aerobaticteams.net/images/Firebirds · You-Tube videos BAC Lightning · Airfix 1/48 scale E.E. Lightning F1/F1a/F2/F3 instructions and marking guide