1/72nd scale English Electric P1A, Whirlykits resin, Finished

[Mr T]

This is my first entry for this group build. The English Electric P1A was designed as a transonic research aircraft, with possible development into a fighter. It first flew in 1954 powered by Sapphire engines and was the first British aircraft to exceed the speed of sound in level flight. The wings and tail married to a largely new fuselage with Avon engines formed the basis of the Lightning. Not the most elegant looking aeroplane, but one of the most distinctive. I was eight when I first saw a Lightning, on holiday in Norfolk in 1961 when one went supersonic over the sea off Caistor.

The kit is the Whirlykits resin model from 2015. It is all resin with a little bit of PE and vacform canopy. It comes with decals and parts for both WG760 and WG763. New wings and a belly tank being applicable for 763 at a later stage in its life. Grey resin is used for most parts, with a  hard black resin for the undercarriage legs. The fuselage comes in two halves like an injection moulded kit, which will make the whole thing a bit lighter.

The two books above will be primary references. The Datafile has quite a few photos of both P1As. First job will ve to remove the parts from the casting blocks and webs.

[Col.]

This GB is only in its second day and already keeps on giving excellent subjects that I never anticipated 

[JOCKNEY]

Excellent choice @Mr Tyou can certainly see the Lightning DNA in the design. 

 

Best of luck mate 

 

cheers Pat

[woody37]

Nice kit, I wasn't aware of this, so looking forwards to your build

 

[Shorty84]

Very nice, the P.1 is really something special. Never seen this kit built, so I will definitely follow your endeavours.

 

Cheers

Markus

[Redstaff]

Great choice, I've always been a huge lightning fan as I love stuff that was built for a purpose like the lightning was. Never seen one of these built, so popcorn at the ready 😋 

[CliffB]

As you probably know @Mr T, WG760's on display at the Cosford Museum. 

Happy to get some detailed photos if you need any (any excuse for a visit )

 

Cheers

[Mr T]

Thanks for the comments. Progress on the P1A will depend on how quickly the F15 in another GB gets finished. It is at the decalling stage and has a lot of 'no step' etc stencils that are quite visible on the real thing. 

The P1 looks to be a nice kit and messing around with it has not revealed any major surprises, but some filling will be needed, but that is what Miliput is for. 

Thanks Cliff for the offer, I have some shots of the P1A from my own visits to Cosford, but feel free to use me as an excuse. 

[PeterB]

13 hours ago, Mr T said:

Thanks for the comments. Progress on the P1A will depend on how quickly the F15 in another GB gets finished. It is at the decalling stage and has a lot of 'no step' etc stencils that are quite visible on the real thing. 

The P1 looks to be a nice kit and messing around with it has not revealed any major surprises, but some filling will be needed, but that is what Miliput is for. 

Thanks Cliff for the offer, I have some shots of the P1A from my own visits to Cosford, but feel free to use me as an excuse. 

I seem to remember seeing it hanging from the roof at Hendon many years back but may be mistaken. Good to see you supporting local industry!

 

Pete

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

My apologies I did write a welcome post yesterday but for some reason it did not take. So please accept my welcome to the build. 

[Mr T]

I know Roger Evans from occasional visits to Sheffield IPMS after I moved to Leeds, before Whirlybirds started and also had a chat whenever I saw  him. I was not surprised when he retired at the beginning of the year. Barnsley is fairly local to me, as I live nearly half way to Wakefield from Leeds. 

[Mr T]

Some work on the P1A as a break from decalling the F15C. All the major parts have been removed from their resin blocks or webs and sanded down. A quick check of the main parts indicates a reasonable fit on most parts, although the wings may need to work to produce a good fit. Fairly rarely in a resin kit, there are locating pins on the fuselage. The tailplanes are a butt joint to the fuselage. They would not last five minutes in that state, and so brass rod has been used to create a better joint.

The cockpit comes as an all resin affair apart from PE rudder pedals, and a PE ejection seat firing handle. Two different types are provided. The original 'D' shaped type, often red painted, and the more familiar type with twin handles. I am using the early type, as am I building WG760 as it first appeared. Not bad detail on the parts and should be alright with a closed canopy. The weight of the cockpit and intake sections might be enough  not to need any addition nose weight.

There might be a little break in proceedings as I want to finish the F15. The decalling needs to be sorted, but all the other bits are ready to be added, so it may be fairly easy to sort out. We are also away from tomorrow for the weekend. Mrs T is meeting up with some of the people she did her nursing degree with and their other halves. It is their 40th anniversary of starting, and I have realised it is the 50th anniversary of me starting at Sheffield Uni. We are staying in Hathersage and so a quick bit of nostalgia on the way there.

[Mr T]

After our long weekend, I have managed to do some work on the P1A, (in between adding lots of tiny decals to the F15 in another GB). The fuselage is together, and there were some fit problems. The nose and cockpit inserts prevented a good fit at the nose, despite some fettling, and there was a bit of a gap. The resin is fairly thin and flexible, but I did not want to push my luck.

The wings are not a brilliant fit either, although I think some of that may be down to me not preparing the wing edges carefully enough. It is a good job I have some Miliput handy. Anyway they are on and the coat of primer added post photograph has shown some areas need more work, but not as much as

I feared. I have cut out the vacformed canopy. It is thin and floppy, and I have some sort of fit, but not a good as I would like. Still, it is coming together.

[woody37]

Nice start

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Agreed very nice start. 

[Mr T]

Getting to grips with the P1A now. The canopy has been added, not the easiest to fit, but it has gone on, but requires some filling to get a reasonable fit. There is probably a little bit more filler to sand down. I have used Perfect Plastic Padding and removed the excess with a damp cotton bud and then when dry, if any extra needs removing, I use a dry fine grade sanding stick. The fin has been added and all in all looking more like a P1A. To avoid damage, the tailplanes are being left until the paint goes on. They are all moving surfaces and so join lines are less of an issue. Work has started on the undercarriage and hopefully will feature in the next update

.

[Col.]

Despite the fit issues it looks to be taking shape nicely.

[Mr T]

The F15 is out of the way now, and so more work on the P1A. Tailplanes added, and the nose probes made out of some Albion Alloys slide fit tubing. More filling and priming, but I am now at the stage where painting beckons. Looking at photos, the anti glare panel seems to change size and some of the windscreen framing goes from black to natural metal  (or vice versa).

The canopy looks a bit messy as there are some prominent joint lines around it.

[Mr T]

At last paint on and most of the touching up done ready for decalling. This should not take too long as there are only national markings and serials and a handful of stencils to go on. The kit sheet looks nicely printed, but I do not know how robust the decals are.

[bigbadbadge]

Looking very nice indeed,  great fettling work. 

Chris

[Col.]

Is there a spare sacrificial decal on the sheet you can test and replace if required?

[Mr T]

Yes Col, you get serials for both airframes and so I plan on trying out one of the serials. The decal paper looks as if they were printed by Fantasy Printshop, and I have used their decals before with no trouble. 

Thanks Chris, although the photo may have flattered my fettling skills. Still, a coat of varnish might reduce any imperfections, by reducing reflections. Overall, I am fairly pleased with the kit, it does look like the P1 and is good March for the plans I have. 

[Wings unlevel]

14 minutes ago, Mr T said:

it does look like the P1

It sure does! Great subject, which is looking really good. Between F-15 decals and a resin kit, you’re putting in the hard yards!

[Mr T]

Thanks, the Meteor I am building is a bit of light relief. My next build for this GB is going to be the Pavla Supermarine S6B, a short run kit with absolutely no aids to assembly in terms location points apart from some very faint lines to suggest strut locations. 

Note to self: next lot of GBs, go for easier kits. 

[Col.]

On 10/29/2022 at 9:15 AM, Mr T said:

My next build for this GB is going to be the Pavla Supermarine S6B

Ooh yes!

 

On 10/29/2022 at 9:15 AM, Mr T said:

Note to self: next lot of GBs, go for easier kits. 

Sadly the most interesting subjects never get covered by the mainstream manufacturers.