Bolts out of the blue (Collection)

[TL Blade]

About a month ago I boght myself a modeling book to help me with a 1/48 model.

Instead of starting the 1/48 eduard lightning I have wanted to start a collection of English Electric Lightnings.

Lightning F.1 XM182/M of 56 Squadron (Display Team) from March 1963 In Natural Silver.

Lightning F.3 XP749/DA of Lightning Traning Flight (10th Anniversary LTF) from October 1985 in Medium Sea Grey Upper Surface, Barley Grey on lower Fuselage and Light Aircarft Grey on lower wing surfaces.

Lightning F.6 XR771/BF of 11 Squadron from 1988 in Grey Green Camo with lower surface of natural silver. (This Aircraft is now at the Midland Air Museum)

The F.1 and F.3 are4 both Trumputer Kits while the F.6 is Hasegawa Kits

Finally just image of a print of a lightning painting I bought recently I hope no body minds.

 

[otftch]

Lookin good. On the f.6 ,why are the wing tanks streaked pinkish ? Is it just the photo ? I know very little of post-war Britsh aircraft so pardon my ignorance.

Ed

 

[TL Blade]

It is the right colour which is medium sea grey for the fuel tanks as fare as can find out mat have look into it a bit more. However it might be that paint I used because it was a humbrol satin colour which becaome very sticky as dries and can pick up stuff and it hard to get it our plus I had to put a mat finish on the colour to get ride of the shines surface that satin paints can leave behined.

 

[Gnomey]

Good work!

 

[Migrant]

Cool collection, are these the Airfix Lightnings? In your post above it sounds like you're brush-painting the models. Nothing wrong with that, but with silver aircraft particularly where brush streaks tend to be prominent, have you thought of using a spray-can? Tamiya do a couple of lovely silvers in spray-cans, they go on beautifully and dry rock hard so you can mask over them without worry. Just a thought if you don't own an airbrush.

 

[Airframes]

Nice work! I've got the 1/48thAirfix Lightning F1A waiting to be done as part of my 56 Squadron History build, which is the same kit as the Eduard release, without the over-priced additions - £25 incl shipping IIRC, instead of £50+ without shipping!
BTW, if you are brush-painting metallic finishes, have a look at the Bare Metal Guide I posted some time ago, page 6 of the 'Painting etc' section I believe. It shows a way of achieving a very good NMF using a brush, and airbrush.

 

[Wayne Little]

My..you have been busy TL.....

 

[Catch22]

Nice work on those. Used to dislike that plane, but it's been growing on me!

 

[mandoman]

Nice!!! Where does one get one of those books?

 

[Matt308]

I would love to see a video of those upper wing tanks being dropped. That must have been a "pucker moment" for the original flight test pilot.

Well done TL.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Pretty nice, always loved that bird.

 

[A4K]

Great work mate!

 

[Vic Balshaw]

A man after my own heart, Lightning's forever and who else to start with but 56 Sqn. Good on ya mate, keep them coming.

 

[razor1uk]

Nice looking models of one of the quickest fighters (in acceleration) of its era; it would still be pretty quick now IMHO. Yeah some think it an ugly duckling in the 60's uglness version of the Warthog, but I reckon, that just because beauty is secondary to ability. Mmmm if only there was a late model Lightning in a combat simulator... let alone an unlimited jet air race

 

[Lucky13]

Nice ones!

 

[Loiner]

Ah, Lightnings. I grew up with them living near RAF Binbrook as a youngster and spending many summer days at Crash Gate 3 watching them come and go. I rememeber the F3, F6 and T5s of 5 and 11 Sqn, most were in the grey/green camoflage with natural metal undersides, as your third model photgraphed, but towards the end of their careers they started to appear in two tone and three tone grey schemes. Out of the hundreds of times I saw them, I never once saw one with the overwing tanks on though, although they regularly appear on model depictions.

Excellant work by the way, I should consider adding one to my collection some time.

For anyone who never saw them in real life, they were truly awesome machines, with both engines on full afterburner for take off the air sounded like it was ripped in two and your stomach fealt like it was being continually pounded; the flame out the back was metres long; a beautiful site in the evening nearing sunset. Often two would take of side by side which was doubly awesome. When landing they came down fast and hit the deck fairly hard and stayed up on their main gear with noses in the air for quite a long roll before coming down on three wheels, and they always deployed a braking 'chute which was dropped near the end of the run. The scene between activities was just like on the movie Memphis Belle (which was filmed at RAF Binbrook), with silence broken only by the wild birds (mostly skylarks) and fellow enthusiasts s.w. radios listening in to the tower and surroundinig air traffic. Anyway, enough reminiscing.
Rob.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

For anyone who never saw them in real life, they were truly awesome machines, with both engines on full afterburner for take off the air sounded like it was ripped in two and your stomach fealt like it was being continually pounded; the flame out the back was metres long; a beautiful site in the evening nearing sunset. Often two would take of side by side which was doubly awesome. When landing they came down fast and hit the deck fairly hard and stayed up on their main gear with noses in the air for quite a long roll before coming down on three wheels, and they always deployed a braking 'chute which was dropped near the end of the run. The scene between activities was just like on the movie Memphis Belle (which was filmed at RAF Binbrook), with silence broken only by the wild birds (mostly skylarks) and fellow enthusiasts s.w. radios listening in to the tower and surroundinig air traffic. Anyway, enough reminiscing.
Rob.

My first RAF posting was to Wattisham with 56 Sqn (Firebirds) F-1A Lightning's, they then took up the display team role for the 1963 season and I was there to watch every day as the practiced. It was a truly awesome sight and very noisy as all 9 birds took to the air in a line down the runway and stood on their tails as soon as the wheels were up.

 

[dirkpitt289]

Nice collection of Lightnings you got there. Not the nicest looking aircraft but pretty cool none the less. However I can't get use to the drop tanks on the top of the wing. Just looks odd.

 

[Airframes]

The overwing tanks were very, very rarely used, and then mainly on long transit flights, for example to gunnery camp in Cyprus.Once suitable tankers were available, air-to-air re-fuelling probes were fitted, and the tanks were history.