Jump to content

Airfix 1/72 Lightning canopies


Duncan B

Recommended Posts

I don't know about the Hasegawa canopy fitting the Airfix kit but I can confirm the Trumpeter canopy does not (which is a blessing really as it is the wrong shape).

Duncan B

Too wide? Narrow? Long? Short? All of the above? :)

The Matchbox canopy is too narrow for the TrumpyBoss fuselage; I discovered that when working on my kitbash.

Cheers,

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Too wide? Narrow? Long? Short? All of the above? :)

The Matchbox canopy is too narrow for the TrumpyBoss fuselage; I discovered that when working on my kitbash.

Cheers,

Bill

It is too wide, the depiction of the central frame is the wrong shape so that throws out the shape of the windows and the profile looking from the side is too rounded, looks too humpbacked. Apart from those things there's nothing wrong with it, just like the rest of the kit!

I have only used the Firestreaks from the Trumpeter kit so far, I was going to use the nose cone as it was better moulded than the Airfix one but in the end I didn't, all the other parts are basically redundant.

Duncan B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Hi all,

Has anyone received any consistently 'perfect' replacement Lightning canopies from Airfix since the posts around July 20th - or even had any further communication from Airfix about them? Just wondering whether the fiasco with similar problems in the new Typhoon wonderkit has given them a convenient excuse to forget all about the Lightning?! I had decided after initially receiving the mixed bag of replacements to let it go & use what I had, but eventually changed my mind & e-mailed them at the end of July asking for two furher replacements. As yet I haven't received anything - no more canopies or a reply to the e-mail.

Keith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi all,

Has anyone received any consistently 'perfect' replacement Lightning canopies from Airfix since the posts around July 20th - or even had any further communication from Airfix about them? Just wondering whether the fiasco with similar problems in the new Typhoon wonderkit has given them a convenient excuse to forget all about the Lightning?! I had decided after initially receiving the mixed bag of replacements to let it go & use what I had, but eventually changed my mind & e-mailed them at the end of July asking for two furher replacements. As yet I haven't received anything - no more canopies or a reply to the e-mail.

Keith

Keith, I to am in a similar situation. I have contacted Airfix on several occasions because of poor clear parts. Before the Typhoon problem, I last contacted them in March about the flow lines in a large number of my kits, the Lightning included. They told me that it was sometimes part of the molding process and would see if they had any spares that were any better than the ones I already had. I did not hear from them again until recently when I complained about the Typhoon. After the second very poor Typhoon replacement, I sent another email to Hornby customer care explaining the Typhoon situation and to remind them about the other clear part problems. I had a reply to say that my comments were noted and they were doing everything to minimize the 'dimple' on the Tiffie canopy. Nothing specific about any of the other kits, just the Typhoon.

It would seem that all the other issues have been swept under the carpet. I am going to contact them again just to point out that it's not just the 'dimple' on the Tiffie's canopy, it's the overall poor finish. I even have a series of 'dots' down one side of the side window on the windscreen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It would seem that all the other issues have been swept under the carpet.

That's what I'm thinking too Andy! Good luck with your Typhoon & other canopies. I've given up with the Typhoon thread - if people are happy spending the best part of £100 on a kit with pretty awful clear parts, then good luck to them...

I'll have to drop them another e-mail to remind them it's not just the Tiffie they have problems with, & we haven't gone away...!!

Cheers

Keith

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My F6 kits arrived today and the first thing I did was check the canopies. One of them was fine, although it appears to be a bit thicker on the side that had the problem so I suspect they have opened the mould up a little.

The other kit had no clear parts at all so how I laughed. (is it possible that Airfix had this specially packed for me as a punishment for starting this thread :) ?)

Both kits have a short shot on the Red Tops but that's another thread for someone else to start.

Duncan B

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 years later...

Don't know the answer to the first question, and, personally, no to the second - some of the replacements they sent me were worse than the ones they were meant to replace...!! I gave up asking them for replacements after that!

 

Keith

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, keefr22 said:

Don't know the answer to the first question, and, personally, no to the second - some of the replacements they sent me were worse than the ones they were meant to replace...!! I gave up asking them for replacements after that!

 

Keith

Ditto Keith's comments. I never got a replacement for the missing parts in the kit I mentioned and eventually I gave up. I had stolen one from another box to complete an in build kit so somewhere in my stash is a Lightning without a canopy, 1 with a clear but thick canopy and others with the faulty parts. I completed one with a "tarp" over the canopy to get round the problem but don't want a whole shelf of them like that really.

It's possible that some enterprising after-market company has produced a replacement canopy but I haven't noticed any mention of one.

 

Duncan B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Duncan B said:

It's possible that some enterprising after-market company has produced a replacement canopy but I haven't noticed any mention of one.

 

Duncan B

 

Me neither, think they're missing a market here!

 

Keith

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe a 'suggestive' email to Falcon, theirs are always impressive

 

Add the little triangular cheese cutter later

 

(Am I embarrassing myself here? It is Lightning that has the little spikey thing on the roof isn't it?)

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, perdu said:

Maybe a 'suggestive' email to Falcon, theirs are always impressive

 

Add the little triangular cheese cutter later

 

(Am I embarrassing myself here? It is Lightning that has the little spikey thing on the roof isn't it?)

A fine suggestion and you are quite correct about the 'spikey thing on the roof', can't remember what it is now though.

 

anyone who is competent at vac forming would be able to do their own canopies as the faults were in the plastic so the actual outer shape is perfect (unless you had one of the really bad ones that had holes right through of course).

 

Duncan B

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 05/03/2017 at 11:06 PM, Creepy Pete said:

Did Airfix ever properly fix this issue, and did anyone get a replacement canopy that didn't have any problems?

 

#askingforafriend :lol:

 

No Airfix haven't really fixed the problem, but then if you have a read back at one of my earlier post, most manufactures have this problem to some extent.

 

After Airfix send me the really bad replacement for the Lightning, the next one the sent me was fine. Since then I've bought Hurricane, Spitfires and Meteors  from them with canopies that were fine but my P-40C kit came with a cold shut in one of the rear windows. The reply I got from Airfix for a replacement was just "we haven't got any replacements, sorry". 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...