SeaVenom

I can't really find any decent real life pics but here's Trumpeter's 1/32 Lightning. It takes ages for the page to fully load but scroll down to the front undercarriage pics (the one with the peg is very good) and you'll see the prominent 2 swing arms. http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/lofive...t175426-50.html

I might well be obsessed! To be honest though the main reason for some of my postings on here and other sites is in the vain hope that (in this case) Airfix might see them. They're not the clearest pics but have a look at the link I provided on the previous page and this one - http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=h...%3D180%26um%3D1. I'm not saying the Lightning undercarriage is grossly innacurate, just lacking a few parts that I think would make a big difference.

Well if you're not a Lightning fan then obviously you wouldn't be bothered about it but if you are then surely it's best to get the basics right first? What's the point in getting more stores for another aircraft if one of the main parts of the Lightning isn't very good?

True, but that could apply to any number of kits people point out innacuracies on. I've seen quite a few people saying the Airfix Lightning undercarriage is lacking and it's no less of a valid case for an upgrade than any other kit. In fact I'd say it's more of a valid case because Airfix just need to do a few extra parts and the kit would be much improved.

Good point about the Hornby management but the very last thing manufacturers like Airfix should be doing is pandering to the aftermarket industry. Plastic kit manufacturers should be concentrating on making their kits be as good as possible straight from the box. Not everyone has the time, money or inclination to be chasing aftermarket parts - especially if making multiple variants of the same aircraft.

I hope we get 2 plastic pilots as well.

These kits look great and I'm not surprsised seeing as Peter Jackson is involved. I'm a fan of his films like LOTR and King Kong too plus other less known ones and it seems most things he does are of high quality and are often a labour of love. I've been stung by UK customs a few times. I never forget the shock of the first time I ordered something overseas a few years ago (from the US) on Ebay. I got up one morning and my mother informed me that I owed her £30 as the lovable postie said he couldn't give us the parcel without paying it. I was going to make a complaint about it but I could soon see that would most probably be pointless.

That would be cool if we get flattened tyres. I was expecting the usual rubber tyres seeing as it's an Airfix 1/24 kit but plastic flattened tyres would be much better (in my opinion anyway).

I'm talking mainly about the front. There's 2 prominent swing arms missing plus the rear part of the door doesn't have a good attaching point to the fuselage.

Well here's a photo of the front but I'll see if I can find a better one (under undercarriage first photo). http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/li.../walkaround.php

But are you saying kits should never be ugraded? I doubt making a few new parts for the Lightning would stop Airfix making new projects and I'm not for one minute saying they aren't good kits, just that they'd be improved with a better undercarriage.

Well, the undercarriage is lacking isn't it. There's prominent detail missing on it (the rest of the kit is nice) but I think it would be nice for Airfix to upgrade it with a few new parts that's all. I also think that if they do new parts the people who've already bought them will be more likely to buy them again and I've seen quite a few people saying the undercarriage is lacking. Other companies reissue old kits with new upgraded parts and there's absolutely no reason why Airfix can't. Seeing as it would only be a few new parts I can't see that costing them the Earth even if injection moulding isn't exactly cheap.

But not everyone likes resin and etch. Call me unadventurous but I'd much rather have a kit that goes together easily without the hassle of fiddly etch or brittle resin. I like having a complete plastic kit in one box and the only real thing the Airfix Lightnings lack is more parts for the undercarriage.

I think we've had a similar discussion on here before but who knows. Surely if Trumpeter can sell it's Lightning's then Airfix can sell some more of theirs. It will be reissued at some point, so why not now?

Me too! There's been a lot of publicity for the last airworthy Vulcan recently and I'm surprised Airfix hasn't fast tracked this popular jet bomber into production. I might be wrong but I think there'd be more people who would buy a 1/48 Vulcan than the TSR2 or Valiant.

I'm baffled why Airfix hasn't reissued these themselves seeing as Lightnings are quite big at the moment with the Trumpeter releases. All they'd have to do is do a few small injection pieces for the undercarriage and the kit would be vastly improved.

I'd prefer it anyway if Airfix reissued the Lightnings themselves with newly tooled injection plastic parts for the undercarriage instead of the resin or etched pieces that Eduard would do.

Same here really. Apart from a few boring aircraft (like the Dewoitine) ] I pretty much love them all.

I know and the Zero's one of my favourite fighters!

Yeah, what is it with these manufacturers? It takes them years to release a simple variant and it's not as if they have to tool up many new parts. I have actually cut the tailplanes back but thanks for the offers.

It's a Lightning.....that's what's so special! What's your special aircraft b.t.w?

Well I've got my Airfix 1/48 Lightning in front of me which appears to have quite an accurate canopy (even if it does have some annoying bits missing from the undercarriage) and yes comparing it to that photo the Trumpeter one does look a slightly odd shape. Whilst I'm grateful for a 1/32 Lightning in styrene and it still looks like a good kit, it I'm surprised Trumpeter can't get the overall shape of certain main things right. Maybe it's because they just work from photo's and innacurate blueprints for some of their kits seeing as some manufacturers actually measure the aircraft in person?

I don't have a problem with people pointing out a few innacuracies especially if they're really bad, it's when some people just write a kit off because of a few small innacuracies that I don't like, as we all know no kit is ever perfect. Looking at that Lightning photo I agree that the canopy looks a bit too rounded and the undercarriage looks a bit spindly but it appears to look good overall. Has anyone who's got the kit compared the canopy to that photo?

Anyone else surprised that Tamiya have never released this variant in 1/48th? The Beaufighter kits have been out for years now and it's not even like Tamiya has to tool up loads of new parts, as if you look in the boxes of the variants they've already released - most of the parts are already tooled up, except perhaps for a new canopy.

I think you guys are right, I am obsessed! Anyone know if Airfix look at these forums?