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Back to the RAF stuff, and what better way to start than a brightly marked 'Firebirds' Lightning F.3 from the mid 60s. For some reason the F.3 is my favourite Lightning species. Again, I got this kit from eBay, and it looks like it'll need some prep. I filled in the hole in the mould of the ejector seat, and cut and filed the prong out of the backrest that fits into the pilot, as I always build my kits crewless. Can't be bothered painting pilots! On opening the box I actually really like the kit decals for the camo 5 Sqn jet, but I'd already ordered the modeldecals set as I think the chequerboard tails of 56 Sqn were outstanding. I may well get another F3 and build it with the kit decals though. So, this will be silver spray all over, another Cold War RAF warrior is underway ... Some of the parts look a bit chunky, but overall shape seems ok.

I have always had a soft spot for the Lightning, built my first from Frog-Hasegawa when I was a teenager. Not really a beautiful aircraft, but it transmits a sense of brute force... very much like a MiG-25 or an A-10. Then the Trumpeter kit came, and I decided to build it. Then the Airfix kit came, and being more accurate in shape, I decided to build it. Then the Sword trainer came, and... why not? So here they are. The Trumpeter F.6. With Aires cockpit, Aires corrected exhausts, Xtradecal decals and Master pitot. The Airfix F.6, OOP except Xtradecal decals, Master pitot and scratchbuilt cannon muzzle brakes. From a 1.25 mm steel tube with cuts made with a cutting wheel. The Sword T.5, OOB except the Master pitot, and the fin decal. The original was totally out of scale, so I used the one of the Airfix kit. The resin seats and colored photoetched parts are from the box. I couldn't get access to the forum for 1 day, so now finally I've been able to post pictures from Imgur.

In 1947, civil war looked imminent in Paraguay. President Higinio Morinigo sensed rebellion in the air and thus decided to bolster his air arm, as this consisted mostly of WW2 unarmed training aircraft. Open Civil War broke out on March 7th 1947, by this time a dozen surplus P-38J's with mercenary pilots and ground crew recruited in the US were on their way. Most of the former Paraguayan air force sided with the Communist rebels, but the hastily repainted P-38's served pro government forces well, shooting down most of the rebellions aircraft, while carrying out bombing and strafing runs on insurgent positions. By August 20th the rebellion had been violently put down. This kit is the old 1970's Revell mold. It's not a great model, I started it as just something to tinker on between projects and it had been sitting 95% complete for the last month. I did plan on doing a Cuban machine, but I decided against using a nice decal sheet on what is a pretty poor model. Thus, I made up this little story. The P-38 did not see action in the Paraguayan Civil War.

The quality of the Airfix 48 scale Lightnings is well known. I have a dream to build one of each Lightning mark in 1/48 - I have all the base kits, we'll see whether it happens. Anyway, made a start by obtaining a resin cockpit set to give the office a little more oomph. I'll model the canopy open on this one. Quite a nice bang seat: Cockpit fit seems OK at the dry fit stage: In the meantime I have been working on other sub assemblies. The wing tips need a little attention for sink marks: But that shouldn't be too hard to deal with.

A 1/48 scale Eduard's rendition of the Airfix E.E. Lightning. Both Airfix and the Eduard kit 1134 can also be made as a F.3. Since the Eduard kit has greyish PE for the cockpit you better build a F.3. Also the lack of good panels for any Aden gun tipped the scale towards a F.3. Together with Cutting Edge decals 48076, Dmold intake ring, Q-M-T wheels and a Master-in-Miniature pitot tube resulted in this. Some different Alclad2 and Mr. Color paints, which were a closer matched red with the decals than the Mr.Paint version. If you build this kit, beware of the cable ducts being in the wrong position. They should be some 1,5 cm more aft than instructed. I got it wrong and discovered it too late.

P-38F Turbochargers & Air Intakes (648285 for Academy) 1:48 Eduard Brassin The Academy P-38 is about the best of the kits available of this attractive and capable aircraft in 1:48, but even they need a little help to reach modern standards, so here is some of that help. This set was released late last year, but fell victim to the back of one of my cupboards, and has only just come back to light. On the basis that it's better late than never, and due to the fact that they're still in stock at Eduard, here they are. As usual with Eduard's resin sets, they arrive in the familiar Brassin clamshell box, with the resin parts safely cocooned on dark grey foam inserts, and the instructions sandwiched between the two halves, doubling as the header card. Inside are twelve resin parts and a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) to add the fine details. Due to the way the turbochargers are semi-recessed in the top of the engine nacelles, they have a front and rear portion, plus two intakes each, one above and one below the wings. The kit intakes and a strake must be removed first, and the strake is replaced by a fine PE part, with a PE heat shield around the "banjo" end of the turbo. Pretty simple, all told! When handling resin, take the precaution of wearing a mask when cutting or sanding resin, as the tiny particles are harmful to your health if breathed in. Washing the parts in warm water will also improve the adhesion of paint, as there may still be some moulding release agent on the parts when you receive them. Review sample courtesy of

Well this really is my first RFI for ages, I've been battling with this mixed media kit for months and finally given in, definitely going to stick with injection kits now I've removed this from the loft lol! Ive had this kit for ages and finally decided to build it last Christmas to go with my Airfix F6 - to be fair the kit goes together ok, just my cack handed modelling that made it more difficult. The base kit was actually an F3 but I wanted to do an F1a as I had a spare Airfix F1 fin. So with that in mind its probably not 100% accurate, I shortened the ducting on the lower fuselage but theres probably more I should have done. The Eagle Eyes among you will probably notice the markings on the fin are not quite right for an F1 either, they are modified F3 decals kindly supplied by fellow Britmodeller Rob G (Cheers mate!). All OOB apart from the pitot tube. Paint used was Revell Aquacolour Aluminium & Silver and yellow and black for the spine and fin. Anyway, here is it, only managed to get a few passable photos :-)

As a side topic to the 'what should Airfix be making' and the inevitable 'why?' and 'why not' posts that follow can you list your personal wishlists in 3 categories: Near term - those you feel are likely to come to fruition in a year or two, even if you won't be buying it Medium term - within say 5 years, and can include those models You want to see that are a faintly realistic proposition. Long term - when you will be planning a release from your cryogenic chamber. (note: whilst the long term plans may include unlikely makes or marks, or even a corrected version of a current bestseller please try keep them fairly realistic - I doubt Airfix will be making a Tibetan homemade glider at any point despite the clamouring for one) .... Ok I'll start off (and I'll try to keep it as new kits only not rereleases) Near: Single seat Vamps P-47 (razor and bubble) D3A Val (extending the pacific WW2 niche) Buccaneer (a big UK seller and the old one is aged) Meteors (including at least 1 each T & NF) 2 seat Lightning (so many fighters, needs a matching trainer) Medium: Whirlwind (the forgotten WW2 fighter) DH106 Comet (4s please, RAF & Dan Air schemes) Victor (much demanded to replace the aging Matchbox) F-4 Phantoms (a European sized hole will persist unless FujiGawa get cheaper, or Revell add to their F) Panther/Cougar - (expanding the USN theme in to post war) Long: Vulcan (old mould is creaking) Wellesley (Forgotten type, fits with a WW2 desert theme) Gazelle (hard to find, simply needs updating to modern standards) Wasp/Scout (a missing link so long oop) Viggan (actually pretry much any Saab as the reborn Heller seen reluctant to mass market, and non-Gripens aren't commonplace) *I reserve the right to change my mind if I think of new options (and given time I could extend to top 100s!)

English Electric Lightning F.53 53-671. Aircraft was purchased back by BAe from Saudi Arabia. Now at Gatwick Aviation Museum. This aircraft is fully live and does engine runs. Pics mine.

Again, breaking own rules regards 2 models on the bench with time constraints (2 builds in the F16 STGB!) I am in with another Lightning.....I know there are a few around, in different scales and NMF, but I will build out of the box, depicting the 92Sqn DG over Aluminium finish. In my view you can never have too many cold war lightnings, its in my stash, so, im gonna build it! I have tended to build 1/48 since I returned to the hobby (I built a lovely Airfix 1/48 F6 in the Lightning STBG) but have started on some projects that need 1/72, so have started playing with fiddly bits again and re-engaged the carpet monster in that ongoing war over small parts! The Airfix starter kit is quite big and complex for a starter kit, with acrylic paints (never used may try!?) etc. Bit of a hiccup! Looks to me as if the ground crew are in the older style NBC suits. Any experts tell me if the missiles are live?

Hello All. I've had a few laidback months modelling wise and have been slowly chipping away at Airfix's HE 111 which has suffered a series of setbacks, namely a warped canopy straight from the box, which means I cannot continue until hopefully Airfix kindly send me a replacement... Nevermind! After seeing @The Spadgent getting stuck into his P-38 I thought I'd shelve the Heinkel and start a WIP with an MPM P-38 in 1/72, which has been in the drawer for months: When I bought this, I grabbed a set of War Birds decals which contained Col. Olds Scat II: Col. Olds is a legend and started his combat career in WW2 where he flew P-38's and P-51's and I've always wanted to pay homage to this incredible man. A particular story which has always stuck with me was where Olds shot down an enemy fighter whilst in a glide. This excerpt from Wikipedia details the story: "On an escort mission to Wismar on August 25 1944, his flight was on the far left of the group's line abreast formation and encountered 40-50 Messerschmitt Bf 109s near Wittenberge, flying north at the same 28,000 ft (8,500 m) altitude in a loose formation of three large vees. Olds turned his flight left and began a ten-minute pursuit in which they climbed to altitude above and behind the Germans. Over Bützow, undetected by the Germans, Olds and his wingman jettisoned their fuel drop tanks and attacked, although the second element of the flight had been unable to keep up during the climb. Just as Olds began firing, both engines of his P-38 quit from fuel exhaustion; in the excitement of the attack he had neglected to switch to his internal fuel tanks. He continued attacking in "dead-stick mode", hitting his target in the fuselage and shooting off part of its engine cowling. After fatally damaging the Bf 109 he dived away and restarted his engines. Despite battle damage to his own plane, including loss of a side window of its canopy, Olds shot down two during the dogfight and another on the way home to become the first ace of the 479th FG." Anyway, let's get stuck in! I started with the office, cleaning the parts and preparing them for my own mix of US interior green, Tamiya XF-71 and FX-4 at a 2:1 ratio: I then painted the radio sets and various controls with a matt black: Dry-brushed grey and silver then picked out the various knobs and pipes: Assembling begins with the seat onto the cockpit floor and I made some harnesses with Tamiya masking tape and sandwich bag ties stripped and bent to make buckles and harness fittings: These were then painted: Fitting the cockpit walls and test fitting into the main fuselage completed the work for today: Sadly that'll probably it until next weekend as the working week beckons. Hope you've enjoyed! JB

English Electric Lightning F.2A Starter Set Airfix 1:72 The Cold War era created some iconic aircraft that have remained in the hearts of aviation enthusiasts ever since. None more so than the functional but beautiful looking Lightning which was designed with the ability to get to its intercept point as fast as possible. It's design does little to hide this purpose, with two powerful Avon turbojets in an unconventional stacked arrangement at the rear and a highly swept thin wing configuration leaving little room for the array of additional equipment, cockpit, landing gear and fuel. The aircraft developed a charismatic lump underneath to address the lack of internal fuel, but it was never to become an aircraft famed for its endurance capability. Despite a career spanning nearly 30 years, the Lightning was only ever operated by three nations, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and of course Britain, but if you want to see one flying now, a trip to Capetown to see Thunder City's T.5 will be necessary although there is plans to restore a T.5 to airworthy condition in the USA in the near future. The F.2A kit was reviewed in May of this year by Paul HERE, so I won't do a review of the kit to avoid replication. That kit had decals for XN793 in the high visibility scheme as it wore in '72, however whilst this starter kit also includes decals for the same aircraft, they are the low visibility colours that it wore in 1974. Paint scheme for this aircraft was dark green over natural metal. Conclusion Whilst there has been some quality issues with the canopies provided in some of the Lightning kits, it has excellent detail and has been well received in the community with great results coming off fellow Britmodeller production lines. Whilst this set is obviously aimed at novice builders by providing the basic paints, glue and brushes to build it, it also provides a choice for more experienced builders if you want this decal option. Review sample courtesy of

I've done a wee tribute build and video for the Airfix 1/48 Lightning. Here it is, warts and all. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y110jORz_LI&feature=youtu.be

Hi all, I'm currently in the latter stages of building a 1/48 Aeroclub EE Lightning F1 and made a hash of the squadron markings on the fin and had to remove them Does anybody know of any 111 Squadron decal sheets in 48th apart from the Modellers Alliance sheet as I canst stretch to 15 quid to finish the model, or has anybody got any 111 Squadron bits in the spares box?? Thanks in advance Simon

Found this pic on twitter the other day, don't know much about it but it looks awesome and projects the size of the Vulcan well;

Please see the link to the progress page. http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234995376-english-electric-lighting-f3-xp753-74-tigers-squadron-148-airfix/ Built out of the box with only Humbrol products and in tribute to all those who lost their lives in this exciting aircraft, XP753 crashed in the 1980's but here she is with 74 Squadron in the 1960's at Leuchars.

Afternoon folks - my first 1:32 jet and it was an enjoyable build. This represents Sqd Ldr Black from 1965 - XR711 of 111 Sqd Wattisham. It is OOB except I got some Xtradecals to supplant some of the kit decals as they were incorrect in size. I also need to mention 'Keith in the UK' and 'DHDove' who kindly stepped in with some spare kit decals after I made a hash of the fin! Cheers guys - much appreciated. I decided early on to have this hanging from my ceiling in my office at home so built it wheels up and sourced a pilot from PJ Productions. I have put it up this afternoon and it looks great! Also the good news is I reckon I could get another 4 up there so happy days! Etched in my mind is the Lightning displays at RAF St Athan in the 70's & 80's and the excitement of them coming in low and fast - left to right along the crowd line. I've always wanted to recreate this and hence the reason it is hanging up! Hope you like it Chris

Evening all. The lightning is done. For me a fairly quick build but mostly a really enjoyable one. The kit is one of the best I have ever built. So obviously I ballsed it up several times. I had a few problems with the Klear amongst other things, but any issues are mine, not the kit's. The instructions could be better - I often ended up referring to pictures of the real thing, but that's no hardship with a laptop next to the desk. This makes 3 builds now for this year, since around ..err. July. I had forgotten how relaxing and theraputic modelling can be: It's helping a lot with the mentals. Paints were mostly Tamiya Acrylics, which I love for airbrushing, with some Vallejo acrylics for some of the brushed stuff - every time I try and brush Tamiya it all goes horribly wrong and behaves like paint stripper. I have no idea either, but there you go. There is some Humbrol enamel here too - an old favourite but a lot of the new tins don't seem to be anywhere near as nice to work with as my old ones. Clear coat is Johnson's Klear mixed with a little Tamiya flatting agent, and this is one area when everything went all horrible. The stuff bubbled like there is no tomorrow. I've not had this happen before - I brush paint the stuff as it's self levelling ( and you need to clean airbrushes with ammonia if you spray it ) and normally get a flawless finish: I went over a paint mule with it and it worked fine so I must assume the brush I used for the lightning was contaminated with dust or something. The model is nowhere near perfect, but it's good enough for me and it really is a beautiful kit. I think of it as a two footer: it looks great from a couple of feet away :-) I know lightnings weren't generally parked with flaps down and brakes out, but I like the way it looks. Right here you go:

This is my forst foray back into modelling, after about an 18 year absence. Technincally I started this in 1999, but since all I did was paint the ejector seat black I don't think that counts a lot. There are a few things "wrong" with this, but overall I'm quite happy. It nearly went in the bin after I applied the alclad finishes, because I really messed them up, and if you were to see the model in the flesh you would see a great deal of nasty imperfections. However, after I made some effort to recover the model, I ended up with some rough metal finishes, which in the end (from a distance and through the camera eye) have given the model a bit of a patina look, which is not entirely unpleasant. So anyway - here it is, a 92 squadron F2 straight from the box - not a single aftermarket add on except paint. I painted it using alclad metal finishes, and Vallejo acrylics. Some weathering was applied using flory washes, their "grime" and "black" washes in this case. Decals are from the Airfix kit - and certainly not nearly as crisp as the cartograph decals found in a lot of kits now, but they went on alright with liberal application of micro set and micro sol.

Having built the 72 scale one last year, when the 48 version was released, it was a no brainer to get one! It is typical short run quality in respect that there are no location pins and plenty of dry fitting and fettling is needed, but the detail is very nice and includes resin exhausts and ejection seats. To overcome the lack of location pins, I added some plasticard on both halves to act as tabs making assembly easier and the joins stronger... The intake assembly is complete. This was quite fiddly as you have to ensure that when everything goes together, it all aligns centrally or else it's going to look a little drunk on completion! The cockpit rear bulkhead has been busied up a bit using brass rod although not much will be seen once the bang seats are in place. As people have mentioned before, the wing to fuselage profile doesn't quite align near the front of the wing, so some fettling has been done to improve the joins. TonyOT also gave me some advice to reinforce the fuselage between the wings to enable pressure to be applied when fitting the wings, so I'll use some large diameter plastic rod to beef the interior up. Quite enjoying working in the larger scale, the old eyes are particularly pleased with the decision!!! Cheers Neil

Got this finished last night. Not massively happy with my pictures, not up to the usual standard, white was prob not the best colour to use as a background. Unfortunately Shes off to her new home tomorrow (commission for a Christmas present) so wont be able to get any better pics. Quite pleased considering its my first metal finish, I dont think ill be rushing to do another though! You seriously need a perfect black gloss finish and had to rub down the whole model a few times! Still, an enjoyable build and nice to learn something new! Scale: 1/48 Manufacturer: Airfix Paint: Tamiya and Alclad Extras: None Weathering: Flory Black wash Decals: OOB

As a change from things with propellers on and 72 scale, I've just completed this in 48. It's been an enjoyable build (HERE) which apart from a bit of extra plumbing in the cockpit and some additional surface riveting, it's OOB including the decals. Painted mainly with Citadel Chainmail silver and Tamiya rubber black for the anti-glare areas. XS452 entered service in 1965 in the scheme it is modelled in here. It's career followed on with 11, 111 & 56Sqn before ending the first chapter in its life doing fast taxi runs having been delivered to and restored at Cranfield. 452 lived a charmed life compared to many as it was then purchased by Mike Beacheyhead and flown in Capetown with several other classic jets along side its sister XS451 which was tragically lost in 2009 resulting in the grounding of the fleet. XS452 took to the air again in 2014, although from what I can gather is currently up for sale again. Thanks for looking, Neil

P-38J Turbochargers & Air Intakes (648283 for Academy) 1:48 Eduard Brassin The P-38 was an innovative and agile fighter with a speed and grace that defied its large size, making it a formidable foe in late WWII combat. Engine power delivery via the two counter-rotating props was significantly improved by the addition of a large turbocharger unit that was mounted on the top of each engine boom, which makes it quite a focus of attention on any finished Lightning model. This new set from Eduard's Brassin range arrives in the familiar Brassin clamshell box, with the resin parts safely cocooned on dark grey foam inserts, and the instructions sandwiched between the two halves, doubling as the header card. Inside are the two main bodies of the turbochargers, two large intake fairings, four smaller ones, and a sheet of Photo-Etch (PE) brass for the surrounding heat shield. The only modification needed to the kit is to remove the two small intakes on the top of the engine booms. The other parts are just drop-in replacements, even the PE parts. Cutting the parts from the casting blocks will require some patience, as the block for the main turbocharger part is quite large, and lends itself to removal by either a razor saw, or for expediency, a motor tool. As usual, take the precaution of wearing a mask when cutting or sanding resin, as the tiny particles are harmful to your health if breathed in. Washing the parts in warm water will also improve the adhesion of paint, as there may still be some moulding release agent on the parts when you receive them. Review sample courtesy of

P-38F Cockpit (648277 for Academy) 1:48 Eduard Brassin Academy's Lightning kits are about your best bet in 1:48, even though the original tooling dates back to the 90s, which probably helps explain the relatively sparse detail in the kit cockpit. Here comes Eduard with a new cockpit set to put that right, as under the large blister canopy, a lot of the detail will be visible if you managed to keep the glazing clear. The set arrives in the familiar Brassin rectangular box, with the resin parts safely cocooned on dark grey foam inserts, and the instructions sandwiched between, doubling additional protection. Inside the box are three bags of resin parts, plus a bag of pre-painted nickel-plated Photo-Etch (PE) and a small decal sheet containing a few cockpit stencils. There are twenty grey resin parts, plus two in clear resin, all of which appear to have been mastered using 3D processes, resulting in incredible detail that is far more crisp than even the best traditional masters. Casting is first rate too, with no bubbles, and some tubular parts that are so thin you wonder how the resin would find its way through them. Construction begins with a complete set of pre-painted PE seatbelts, which attach to the resin chair, fixed to the cockpit floor with fine tubular frames and a portion of the main spar at the rear. The rear deck and its finely detailed radio gear is separated from the pilot by head armour and a small circular cushion, with each section locking together using keyed tabs to ensure a concise fit. A set of rudder pedals, laminated pre-printed PE instrument panel, control yoke, and detailed sidewalls go together to create the finished tub, which drops into the fuselage "pod" after the coaming is removed from the kit part. Additional detail is added to the sidewalls before installation, providing throttle quadrants, plus a few other knobs & bobs. The canopy is detailed with a gunsight as well as a section of the roll-over hoop in PE, which will require a little care with the glue. Review sample courtesy of

Good morning! I picked up this kit from Bruntingthorpe on Sunday along with a 1:48 Airfix Lightning. I will be quite honest- this kit is a mixed blessing: Pros: -Great surface detail -Resin exhaust cans and seats -An Eduard photoetch fret included (this contains the instrument panel, belts and various aerials -A large decal sheet (which was barely used, decals sourced from the spares box for my alternative scheme) -Relatively straightforward to build and paint -Positionable flaps Cons: -Almost nothing in the way of guides to tell you where you should place the various parts (cockpit tub, intake cone and nose gear bay) -Nothing in the way of guide pins for the rudder and elevators -Main wheels with no hole through them (a hole had to be drilled to fit the axle through) -A myriad of ejection pins inside the fuselage, specifically of concern were those in the intake area -Wing-fuselage locating pins did not fit at all and these were subsequently filed down -No option to have open airbrakes!!! What I've done: Well, with a bit of fiddling around I apparently managed to get the intake cone, etc and the cockpit to line up correctly in the fuselage- once that was done I closed it up, added the various surfaces and painted her in Alclad. It's my first time with Alclad! I put down a coat of black Vallejo paint followed by a coat of Alclad gloss coat. I then sprayed on the Alclad, building it up to what it currently is. I didn't need to re-paint the black rudder because that was masked over before I sprayed the Alclad. I then masked and painted the yellow stripes on the wings and rear fuselage, added the IFR probe, small intakes and attached the PE aerials. Kit: Sword Lightning t5 1:72 Paints used: Vallejo model air: black, gold yellow. Alclad II Aluminium Note: Decals used and colour schemes are based off reference pictures but are to some extent fictional Thanks for having a look! Many thanks, Sam