Echelon 1/32 Lightning

[billybookcase]

Bought this from a nice man in America.

To make life with a vac form easier I got resin  parts for the cockpit, wheel wells and exhausts.

The canopy was well yellowed, but once put in place its hardly noticeable, and the "deckles" were quite serviceable for something nearly 30 years old.

Half way through the build I took a long break and subsequently forgot which version I was making, so to the experts it will look wrong, but I think it looks like a lightning, so I'm happy with it.

OK some photos.

Hosted on FLICKR

Hosted on FLICKR

 

Hosted on FLICKR

 

A bit of a disaster on the belly when I left it resting on some of that non slip rubbery stuff and it got stuck on the Alclad. But its right side up in the display cabinet so you can't see it.

 

Hosted on FLICKR

Hosted on FLICKR

 

Alongside an Airfix 1/48 for comparison

Hosted on FLICKR

 

As an aside the man I bought it from included the original receipts and a hand written letter from Frank Brown dated 1992 which to anyone interested in the history of modelling and vac forms might find interesting.

Cheers

BB

[Ben Hartmann]

Now that is smart! Looks more like a Lightning than that Trumpeter abomination, Echelon is easily the best in this scale. Top marks.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Excellent Lightning and Im glad to see you finished it. 

[Dr. Quack]

Sure does look like a Lightning - an excellent one. Hats off!

Q

 

[propforward]

Superb job. I have an Echelon in the stash - had two but sold one to someone in the UK. Thought it might have been this one at first! But no, was someone else. Lovely job on a real artisan kit. Big thumbs up. 

[billybookcase]

On 10/12/2019 at 1:16 PM, propforward said:

Superb job. I have an Echelon in the stash - had two but sold one to someone in the UK. Thought it might have been this one at first! But no, was someone else. Lovely job on a real artisan kit. Big thumbs up. 

Thank you PF, I bought mine from a man in USA, not you then?

 

[propforward]

9 minutes ago, billybookcase said:

Thank you PF, I bought mine from a man in USA, not you then?

 

No, not me. I bought both of mine from model shows in the UK a long time back, so I never had any letters from Frank Brown with mine. I think I bought both of mine in 1996. Shame in a way - I always keep an eye out for the Echelon Lightning I sold.

 

Be that as it may - top job on yours! Really super, looks excellent.

[billybookcase]

2 hours ago, propforward said:

No, not me. I bought both of mine from model shows in the UK a long time back, so I never had any letters from Frank Brown with mine. I think I bought both of mine in 1996. Shame in a way - I always keep an eye out for the Echelon Lightning I sold.

 

Be that as it may - top job on yours! Really super, looks excellent.

Thank you, I have another in the stash, but I won't be starting it in the near future due to the amount of time and effort required for a vac form.

Depending on circumstances I may end up selling it on, but I would hope that it would go to someone who would definitely make it and not just put it in the stash, they deserve to be displayed.

I am still amazed by the ingenuity and skill of Frank Brown.

BB

[Amo Aero]

Beautiful model! So good to see vacuform kits getting built.

[Brian J]

Nice to see another 1/32 Lightning completed, Mr. 'bookcase'.  Well done.  I started mine over 10 years ago, have all of the major pieces taped together, got distracted and put it on the back burner until last week.  I too was moved to purchase all of the resin aftermarket sets but have yet to receive them.  Did you encounter any major issues adapting the resin to this vac form kit as I imagine these resin sets were made for the Trumpeter kits?

 

I have never heard any negative comments about the Echelon kit, especially how it compares to the Trumpeter kit.  Has anyone ever used any of the Trumpeter kit parts on their Echelon kit?

Edited October 17, 2019 by Brian J
spelling error

[billybookcase]

On 10/17/2019 at 3:26 PM, Brian J said:

Nice to see another 1/32 Lightning completed, Mr. 'bookcase'.  Well done.  I started mine over 10 years ago, have all of the major pieces taped together, got distracted and put it on the back burner until last week.  I too was moved to purchase all of the resin aftermarket sets but have yet to receive them.  Did you encounter any major issues adapting the resin to this vac form kit as I imagine these resin sets were made for the Trumpeter kits?

 

I have never heard any negative comments about the Echelon kit, especially how it compares to the Trumpeter kit.  Has anyone ever used any of the Trumpeter kit parts on their Echelon kit?

No major problems with the resin aftermarket sets Brian.

Just a bit of trimming here and there for the cockpit and front wheel well, but the cut outs for the main undercarriage on th echelon wings are slightly different to the resin parts so if you're using them then wait till you get them before making the cuts in the wing, or if you've already made the cuts then a few bits of plasticard to fill the gaps.

BB

[Brian J]

Thanks for taking the time to give me a heads-up as to what to expect.  I have already cleaned up the main wheel wells and will take your advice as to making the resin parts fit.  Having the attention span of a four year old I'm hoping to be able to stay focused on this time consuming build-up.  So many kits...so little time...such a short attention span!