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Hi All, After a lot of googling, I cannot find the answer i’m looking for. I’m looking to replicate the Balderton Lightning using a tired Airfix 1/48 Lightning I have, complete with accurate graffiti. Obviously this aircraft has had a few expletives sprayed on it during its career as a motorway monument. So the question I’m asking is, would this be allowed on the forum, and further still, would I be able to display this at IPMS shows? As a Jewish person surrounded by swastikas at model shows, I see no problem with this but others may beg to differ. Help please!! ATB Ben

The various official documents ("Air Publications") that can be bought from avialogs.com, aircraft-reports.com and similar sites have some semi-decent drawings. But very few drawings contain actual locations and dimensions (in inches). Frame numbers are often indicated, as in the attached image. But I have not found any document with a table that would map frame numbers to longitudinal distances from what is called the "c.g. datum". (Except for frame 25, which is where the airframe can be divided into forward and aft parts for transportation.) Anybody have such information? It would make it possible to place at least some key points on a 3D (virtual) model of the aircraft very accurately. (The ideal would of course be to have drawings with actual numbers...) The drawings from the official documents are not very exact and often inconsistent.

For those of you who have seen my builds that I have shared on the forum probably know by now that I'm a fan of a diorama. I love to see an aircraft in an operational setting with work going on around it, but as of late I'm running out of space quicker than I'm building. What to do? Stop building? Sell my kits on eBay? Turn the dioramas into some sort of functional appliance? The first suggestion is out of the question, I love modelling and am not about to stop while I still have a few square feet of space free. The second suggestion is also a non-starter, I might not be 100% pleased with all of my builds, but I spend my precious time building them and want to enjoy them for as long as possible (*cough* and they're not good enough to sell *cough*). Erm, turn them into a functional appliance, let's give that a go... This idea may sound a bit mad, but I think if I can pull it off it might be quite special. I've been meaning to build a Lightning for a while and have been fostering a growing love for the aircraft with a particular interest for the quick response interceptor role they had thoughout the Cold War. I've also seen some of the Lightning RFI and WIPs as well as Bar side's HAS build and they've really inspired me. 'Tell us where the functional appliance bit come in, you fool!?' I hear you all shouting at your monitors. Well, this picture below of the Bruntingthorpe QRA shed (maintained by the Lightning Preservation Group) made me think: can I make something similar in 1/72 scale that not only acts as a cool diorama during the daylight hours but also acts as a super cool desk lamp when the sun goes down? My plan is to make a 12x12 inch diorama base which will sit in the corner of my office desk. It will include the front portion of the QRA shed and a portion of the crew quarters. Although not entirely accurate, I plan to include the Lightning just outside of the shed with some ground crew and equipment on and around it. I'm intending to really go to town on the detailing so I thought about including a mirrored section in the Tarmac so you can also see the underside. On top of the QRA, as per the image above, there will be one or two lights which will act as the 'useful' part of the diorama and illuminate my desk. I'm not sure how I'm going to wire up the lighting just yet, that will require some thought and planning, however, there are plenty of QRA reference photos on http://www.lightnings.org.uk including some really useful pictures of the internal structure which will help with the building. The Lightning itself will be the Airfix F6, Eduard PE set and masks, Xtradecals for the Binbrook aircraft (XR727) and any other bits that I like the look of. The QRA and ground equipment will be a mixture of Flightpath (Houchin power unit and RAF diorama accessories) and scratch building. So there we have it! I hope I can pull this off, although if I don't, I'll still have the Lightning that I can put...somewhere.