Airfix 1/72 BAC Lightning F.3

AIRFIX 1:72 B.A.C. LIGHTNING F.3

Reviewer: Mark B (SMAKR Webmaster) (smakr1@optusnet.com.au)
Kit Built + Review Submitted: 5 February 2006

Kit Details:

Airfix 02080 - BAC Lightning F3 (1/72) - Series 1

Aircraft History:

(from Mark Green's review)Unusual in many ways, the Lightning was the first all British supersonic military aircraft to go into production. Beginning as the P.1 research aircraft it evolved from the F.Mk1 through the F.Mk 1A, F.Mk 2, F.Mk 2A, F.Mk 3 and F.Mk 6 single seaters, along with the T.Mk 4 and 5 dual-seat trainers. The aircraft was also exported to Kuwait under the designation F.Mk 53 and 55. The early models had restricted armament and range because of limited fuel supplies, but this was increased by the addition of an enlarged belly tank and, eventually, overwing drop tanks.

First flown in 1960 it was Britain's front line aircraft throughout the cold war, armed with 2 Red Top infra-red anti-aircraft missiles and, in the later versions, two 30mm Aden cannons. With a maximum speed of Mach 2.25 and a rate of climb of 50,000 feet/min, I am sure many Russian Bear crews found out rather quickly exactly what a lightning looked like.

The Kit:

Typically the parts and sprues are loose in the small box and total about 35 including a single piece canopy which has some gouges and scratches. The parts are a typical soft plastic, molded in a Ghost grey colour and contain the usual seam lines (ie: very very minor amounts of flash) that a hobby knife will easily rid of. Surface detail is okay although the kit is now well and truly aged with raised panel lines and etched control surfaces. As usual the side of the box is handy to provide a quick handy reference of the size of model; part total, versions snapshot and Humbrol paint numbers needed for the respective versions.

Instructions:

An A3 sheet, double sided and folded into an A4 booklet provides a brief overview of the aircraft history on the front and the back page contains some other modelling info, both pages in a dozen languages. The centre spread contains 7 easy to follow steps which with the aid of locating pins are quite easy to follow. There are a few dangers to be wary of especially if you model gears up as I do as it is not always possible to tell the exact orientation of a part. Step 8 features four-view colours and marking diagrams for the two versions the kit covers. All painting information is provided from the Humbrol range - of course you would only know this from the side of the box as the instructions provide just numbers, not even telling you they are Humbrol paints. While I do use Humbrol I acknowledge this can be a real source of frustration for modellers who don't so you might need a reference chart handy (remember there is one on SMAKR!).

Construction:

It is clear at the outset that is far from being a detailed model and why it is marketed as a series 1 kit because it lacks any real detail. The cockpit features a makeshift seat and a pilot figure, nothing else, so scratchbuild your own consoles, instrument panel, stick and floor! Whilst also marketed at presumably the novice end of the scale, to get anything to fit you need to test fit and in most case trim off the seam lines or small bits of flash. Combined with a few gaps left over afterwards, it is not the best kit going around!

The fuselage halves will trap noseweight, pilot (and his seat) and the tail fin. The instructions call for a black cockpit and I used various shades of dark grey with black to give it some depth. I added in some small bits and pieces near the rim of the cockpit, such as a makeshift HUD, just so there was something there to give it a bit more of a busy look. There is a duct outlet for the intake in the upper fuselage just above the main wings, which are simply cut outs in the fuselage halves. I added some plastic behind this because you will be able to look through the fuselage from one side and out the other if you leave it the way it is. I am not used to the tail fin being trapped between fuselage halves, so not paying attention I left it off! Of course it only fits before the halves are together, but I shaved off the base of the alignment tab and glued it on later.

It's wise to test the fit of the fuselage halves to determine which locating pins need trimming or shaving off and which holes need to be widened. Once you work this out, the halves go together quite well. While I left this to dry I moved onto the main wing assembly which comprises of upper and lower halves. Again test fitting revealed that some interior ejector pin stubs needed sanding and some minor trimming to get the lower half to fit into the top half. Holes in the upper wing could be drilled out for overwing pylons but they are not needed for this version, so obviously the same mold is used for the F.6. The main and nose gear doors are all multiple parts and need to be essentially carved to fit into their respective areas but it is possible to do this without too much hassle. Some filler will be needed to blend the doors for gears up modellers like myself. There is no detail whatsoever in the wheel bays and the thickness of the doors (far too thick) will mean that wheels down modelers might wish to scratchbuild their own plasticard.

The tail fin was added next, as mentioned above a little later than it should have been. Regardless of that, there is a gaping gorge between the spine and the front of the tailfin which needs filling as well as a nasty step between spine and fin, so more sanding needed here. The tailplanes will only fit if you enlarge the holes a little and carve around the edge of the alignment tabs. But they fit well once you do this. The main wings were added to the fuselage and also the usual test fitting helps iron out any small issues.

I then added the airbrakes on - these are really best displayed open because they are not the best fit closed (and yes I swapped them around to see if that would help - it didn't help). So creative filling and sanding was called upon to blend the closed airbrakes into the lines of the fuselage. The canopy was added, yet again test fitting revealed some trimming was required around the base and the alignment tabs to enable a flush fit to be achieved.

The nose ring and exhaust sections, along with the missile and pylons were left off right until the end, but painted in the meantime as the instructions called for. One point to note is that the exhaust can easily be affixed upside down so make sure you put it on the correct way. Unfortunately the exhaust part also just gets glued onto the back of the fuselage which means it is very shallow and absolutely devoid of any internal detail. The nosecone fits only with the hole enlarged for the locating pin, and is also not quite a flush fit with the top forward section of the fuselage, needing that section sanded down carefully to blend it in (obviously this was checked prior to painting) which also means removal of panel lines. The final thing to add on was the nose probe, it also needing the holes enlarged to accept the locating pins.

To summarise, fall together kit this is definitely not but a reasonable and usually good fit of all the parts can be achieved providing a thorough test fit and trimming is carried out prior to gluing. I used Humbrol tube poly cement which worked really well as it always does with Airfix kits.

Colour Schemes:

Two versions are covered in the kit being both based at RAF Binbrook, a 5th Sqn in upper Dark Green H163 and Dark Sea Grey H164 over aluminium H56 circa 1983 and a three tone grey over aluminium (often referred to the Barley scheme) as featured on the boxart circa 1984, respectively. I chose the latter and used the colours quoted by Humbrol (H129; H128; H127 and H56). As shown in the photo of the real aircraft in Mark Green's review, you may want to check your references because the instructions regarding the demarcation lines may not be correct.

Decals:

The decal sheet is pretty much standard Airfix, thin and in generally good colour register. The red dots for the RAF roundels are separate which prevents them being printed off centre as they usually are. The lightish blue of the red/blue roundel is not printed very well with a bit of bleed through from the red underneath, but needs a keen eye to spot. Printing is much better than you often find with Airfix decals, although there are some minor issues such as the unit bands and badges being off centre with each other. The decals presented no problems going onto the model, they stuck a bit on touching the model surface would be the only cricticism.

Accuracy:

I built this kit up pretty quickly for a youngster so I didn't do the usual amount of research that I generally take out on models when I build them for myself. Suffice to say it looks and smells like a Lightning F3. There will be a few small gripes such as the upper fuselage intake ducts but it measures up quite well with references. It's basic but looks the part I guess is the best way to summarise it.

Overall Recommendation:

It was surprisingly more work to put together than first thought because of the need for continual test fitting and doing adjustments here and there to get a flush fit, so on that basis it is not recommended for novices. Those who are adept at overcoming these types of challenges however will find the kit still a breeze to go through, it builds up pretty quickly but it lacks any significant detail and can be seen as the type of kit you build up for nothing more than a bit of fun. Extra work will be needed to get it up to competition standard. It still looks the part and I am quite happy with the end result, and I certainly enjoyed building it so on that basis it is recommended!

web hosting • domain names • video sharing
free online games • photo sharing
free blog • short URLs