BAC F3 Lightning plastic model jet aircraft pictures and information

Finishing touches to the model include painting various bits and applying the waterslide transfers. The transfers that come with the kit are thin, matt and generaly quite good. The bars on the front fuselage side roundels are a bit out otherwise they do the job well. Application of these decals is straightforward, the ones in this kit were strong and stick down securely without the requirement for decal adhesive.

The decal sheet for the Lightning includes some lines for the wings and underside, I decided to mark these on with a pen instead.

The nose cone is painted Humbrol 26 Khaki, this surprised me, but after looking at some real Lightning pictures the colour looks about right. The nosecone ring is polished metal on the fullsize Lightning, on the model silver metalic paint does the job reasonably well. A better more elaborate option would be to use metal foil for this part.

'Tanker to Lightning, you're still too low, increase altitude'.
'F3 Lightning to tanker, do you like my shiny missiles?'

Louder voice from nowhere,
'Stop playing with yer toys yer big kid'.
'Lightning to loud voice, roger wilco, where's my tea?'

The Lightning had an anti glare black finish in front of the canopy, this is reproduced in good old Humbrol 33. Some yellow is called for on the canopy but as yet I haven't applied this. I'm waiting for a good picture of the fullsize canopy before painting this on as the plans are not very informative regarding this. Looks good in matt black anyhow.

The F3 Lighting was a missile interceptor, the model kit thus includes two firestreaks which are mounted onto the front fuselage of the aircraft. I've seen pictures of these in black and white paint. I decided to go with white which looks the business when mounted on the model.

Airfix have done a great job with their 1/72 scale F3 Lighting kit. The aircraft is generally accurate with a good fit of parts. The build is easy, transfers good, and the finished aircraft looks the part.

To the serious aircraft model maker this kit would be a good choice. There are plenty of additional aftermarket parts including the correct ejector seat and markings from various squadrons. The pro plastic model maker could really go to town on this Lightning kit.
The average aviation enthusiast who just wants a decent looking F3 Lighting for the shelf without serious complication would also do well to get this kit as it gives a good model out of the box.

The parts picture again. Yeah, I've run out of pictures.
Doesn't look like the same piece of plastic, does it?

Good points
Mostly accurate dimensions and shape.
Good fit of parts with very little distortion or sink.
Good canopy moulding, although quite thick.
Easy to build.
Robust big model for the scale.
Plenty of optional extras available to buy for Inspector Meticulous.
Cheap to buy and great value.

Not so good points
Where's the cockpit interior?
Simple seat and a crude pilot.
Nose cone too long but no big deal.
Not sure about the tailplane position.

In conclusion I recommend this kit to anyone, though if you buy it for the kids it's probably advisable to pinch the nose probe even though it is only plastic. Wouldn't last five minutes on the model anyhow.

The Lightning was British and the best in the world when in service. It could push mach 2.3 and zoom climb to nearly 90,000ft, awesome performance for a fifties developed aircraft. Think what could have been if former governments had not cancelled such spectacular aircraft as the TSR2. British industry could still have been top of the pile at least in aero-engineering. BAC Lightning=AWESOME PLANE

Items I used in construction of this model kit;

Humbrol tinlets, colours: 26 matt khaki, 30 matt dark green (plan 163 dark green), 33 matt black, 56 aluminium, 27 matt sea grey (plan 164 dark sea grey), 135 satin varnish.
Humbrol liquid poly and the tube polystyrene cement.
Humbrol Maskol liquid masking stuff and some old masking tape I had kicking around.
Humbrol plastic model filler.
Scalpel blade, fine wet n' dry paper, fine wire wool.
Ink type drawing pen for the aircraft's lines (instead of the line decals).
The plastic kit itself, Airfix F3 Lightning, 1/72 scale. Bought in 2005.
Garden shed, brushes, water, electric light bulb, electricity, erm... hands, eyes, sentences of two short words, etc. etc.

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