Monday, 14 April 2014

Lightning fast build - part 1

As my 'Little Cold Wars' project gathers pace I decided to avoid doing anything really useful (like painting infantry figures) by throwing together this Airfix 1/72 kit of a BAC/English Electric Lightning.  One of my favourite Cold War aircraft, you never so much heard a Lightning as felt the noise in your guts.  I gather they were popular with their pilots, less so with the maintenance crews as the stacked engine arrangement made access something of an issue.
And so back to the kit.  It was very much built down to a basic standard as it it destined - like all my toys - to be a wargames toy rather then a display piece.  I had originally intended to go with the grey and green camo scheme but was unable to resist the can of silver spray paint....
More when the decals are on.
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11 comments:

  1. Paul Foster14 April 2014 at 12:16

    Looks nice and simple. Shame about the missed opportunity for the scheme. I love the grey green.

    That missile looks huge!

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  2. The Dancing Cake Tin14 April 2014 at 13:54

    I was trained to c/o Operational Turn Rounds on Lightning. 2 ADEN cannons and 2 FireStreak or Red Top heat seeking missiles. Easy compared to Phantom OTRs. Interestingly the FireStreak had a pointed glass nose cone which made a delightful cover for growing plants. Also their heat seeker gear was cooled with ammonia. Bleach effectively.

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  3. Al14 April 2014 at 14:42

    Cool, must get one of those!

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  4. Stephen Thomas14 April 2014 at 21:58

    I remember building this one when I was a kid. I can recall being very impressed with the aesthetics of the aircraft. It has the same pleasing effect on the soul as does the Spitfire.

    Other come close but the Spitfire and the Lightening are league winners.

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  5. Nick Grant15 April 2014 at 07:34

    I have to applaud your colour choice. Lightnings look their best dressed in silver!

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  6. Tim Gow15 April 2014 at 10:15

    Paul Foster
    No pleasing some people! If I build another I'll give it the grey/green treatment, OK?

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  7. Tim Gow15 April 2014 at 10:16

    Dancing Cake Tin
    If you think I'll be adding transparent nosecones to missiles in that scale.....

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  8. Tim Gow15 April 2014 at 10:16

    Al
    Definitely!

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  9. Tim Gow15 April 2014 at 10:17

    Stephen Thomas
    And the Hunter. Which reminds me - I have one of those somewhere....

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  10. Tim Gow15 April 2014 at 10:17

    Nick Grant
    I am obliged sir.

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  11. The Dancing Cake Tin15 April 2014 at 21:42

    Go on, it'll be fun. For me.

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