[Thunder & Lightnings]
[Buccaneer] [Gannet] [Gnat] [Hunter] [Javelin] [Lightning] [Phantom]
[Scimitar] [Sea Hawk] [Sea Vixen] [Swift] [TSR2] [Valiant] [Victor] [Vulcan]
[Airfield Viewing Guide] [Help Wanted] [Links] [Forum]
| English Electric Lightning |
|---|
| Walkaround |
[History] [Memories] [Survivors & Leading Particulars] [Pictures] [Links, References & Credits]
This page last updated on 20th October 2008
This page will be revamped in due course; rather than remove all these images I have left them in place for the time being, though many are of poor quality these days.
There are several readily available model kits in 1/72 scale of the Lightning - an F.6 from Frog (reissued by Hasegawa and Revell) which has a misshaped nose, pathetic cockpit and undercarriage and is generally lacking in detail; an F.6 and T.55 from Matchbox, both of which have good overall shape but again lack detail (the overwing tanks are poorly shaped too); an F.3 from Airfix which is basically utterly awful (a retool of their ancient F.1 kit) and, most recently, an F.2A/F.6 from Trumpeter. The latter is clearly the best injection moulded Lightning kit available, though it needs the cable ducts on the side shortening for an F.2A and the shape of the rear fuselage and jet pipes is poorly captured. It's also very expensive, approaching resin kit prices. In that area, there are numerous resin kits around, most easily available is Heritage Aviation's F.6, which is pretty good all round though some of the (recessed) surface detail is a little soft and is more of a challenge to build well than any of the plastic kits.
In 1/48 scale the only kits really worth considering are the Airfix ones, which are simply magnificent, though currently not in their catalogue so can be hard to find (or expensive on places like eBay). In 1/32 scale the old Echelon vacform kit will reward careful building but is even harder to find and even more expensive, and Trumpeter are shortly to release an injection moulded one, which isn't going to be cheap and looks like it's going to have the same rear fuselage problem as their 1/72 offering.
| Cockpit - F.1(DB) & F.2A |
|---|
| Cockpit - F.3 |
|---|
Those shots were kindly supplied by Euan Withersby and 611 Squadon ATC, and are of an unidentified Lightning F.3 cockpit held by the Squadron. These images are copyright © 1997 Euan Withersby; personal use is unrestricted but if you want to use them commercially you must contact Euan (removing the .no.junk.mail text from the address first!) for his permission.
| Cockpit - T.5 |
|---|
| Cockpit - F.6 & F.53 |
|---|
| Nose |
|---|
| Missiles & Radar |
|---|
| Fuselage |
|---|
| Wings |
|---|
| Undercarriage |
|---|
| Tail |
|---|
| Visitor Comments |
|---|
8 people have commented on this page. This is comment section 1 of 1.
I. Ben-Ami from Isarel | Posted at 2:32pm on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010 |
Excellent ! Helps a lot with my Trumpeter 1/32 Lightning ! | |
yiftah marcus from Israel | Posted at 10:27pm on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 |
this site are very beautiful and remarkable, but pleas bring more aircraft's pictures especialy a cockpit's pictures. | |
A.RODRIGUES from LISBOA-PORTUGAL | Posted at 12:59am on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009 |
A VERY GOOD AIRPLANE AHEAD OF HIS TIME. KILLED BY POLITICS AND ECONOMICS. | |
Jim French from Bicester Oxon. | Posted at 6:18pm on Sunday, May 17th, 2009 |
I flew Tigers, Chipmunks, Austers and a few of the Piper range and even a Tipsy Nipper but I would have given anything to have a go in the Lightning. I remember reading about its development in the Junior Express. It was called the P1 then. Some nice photos. Thanks | |
Massimo U. from Italy | Posted at 12:26am on Thursday, April 16th, 2009 |
Beautiful and necessary pictures for my model in 1/72. | |
ian collis from Nottinghamshire | Posted at 1:25pm on Friday, February 6th, 2009 |
Very Valuable pictures indeed and this site keeps the Lightning alive, keep up the hard work guys. | |
nikolaj from Moscow | Posted at 5:08pm on Thursday, February 5th, 2009 |
Remarkable and very necessary photos. | |
Gerry Jarvis from Canada | Posted at 5:32pm on Saturday, November 1st, 2008 |
I have a book on Soviet airpower, featuring a photo of the classic intercept... a TU-95 Bear being chaperoned at altitude by a Lightning. Prominent on the vertical tail was a maple leaf, and a few smaller zappers appear near the cockpit. It's likely Lightnings participated in Maple Flag exercises in the Canadian North over the years, but the aircraft pictured seemed to be particularly enthusiastic about the Canadian connection. Pity I never got my ears knocked off by one in person; by all accounts, that w... read more » | |
All these pages and 'author' credited images copyright © 2010 Handmade by Machine Ltd.
