Very early post, but I just got hands on a(nother) cheap Hasegawa Lightning (Revell re-boxing), with the plan to create a more modified model from it.

No news here - still waiting for hardware ingredients, and I have another project on the bench: one of my rare "zombie" projects that were started but never finished (until now), in this case with a hiatus of ~23 years...    Real world, though, but I might post pics, anyway.

Hooray,  the long-awaited parcel arrived, now I have to check if my bold idea works (theoretically) at all... 

Parts were inspected, and the engineering commission has decided that the planned hardware stunt - something like a Lightning with side-by-side engines in the tail - might be feasible. However, tackling one the final riddles of humanity and eternal challenges for modelers will not be an easy task, I can see LOTS of cutting and PSR ahead... And the result will probably not be pretty, either, but I think it's worth the effort, if only to say "No..." afterwards.

ADDENDUM:
This "Flatning" will be a kitbashing of a Hasegawa 1:72 BAC Lightning F.6 and the fuselage from a PM Model 1:72 Su-15 "Flagon" (marketed as Su-21) - the latter a rather crude and cheap kit, but it will be thoroughly slashed up for this project. It selling point is that the side-by-side engines have a similar size as the Lightning's Avons, and the pen-nib fairing between them is a nice OOB retro detail that should suit the Fifties Lightning well.

Massive modifications are necessary, though, and even more PSR ahead. In this pic the Flagon already "lost" its lower wing halves, which are an integral part of the lower fuselage half (already inserted into its ventral "gap"). The cockpit section will be cut away where the intake ducts begin. The Lightning has already left its belly tank (set aside as a potential later re-installation, not certain if this will make sense?), but dry-fitting and crude measures suggest that only the cockpit section from the Lightning, its spine and the separate fin will make it onto the "new" fuselage of this yet untitled thing.


1:72 "Flatning" (name tbd): a fictional BAC Lightning witrh side-by-side engines (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

RIght now, I'm trying to make this work in my head, and I'm failing miserably. Looking much forward to see you prove me dead wrong.

My Flatning build has stalled, won't be done by the end of the GB, I fear.

Mine got no further than being taped up, but I'll be doing some work on it this week.

Quote from: Pellson on September 07, 2022, 03:51:48 AMRIght now, I'm trying to make this work in my head, and I'm failing miserably.

Me too. I just think that this stunt is feasible, but at the moment I have no clear picture of the result.
Trying to modify the fuselage architecture by 90° and keeping a Lightning's typical appendages is mind-boggling (and scary).

Quote from: Pellson on September 07, 2022, 03:51:48 AMRIght now, I'm trying to make this work in my head, and I'm failing miserably. Looking much forward to see you prove me dead wrong.

Everyone seems to have the same issue, because they are thinking Lightning.  As soon as you change the engine geometry, it's not a Lightning, it just has Lightning wigs and tail.  You simply have to think outside the box marked Lightning.

...but it will (at least in my case) also use the Lightning's nose section with the air intake and the cockpit. Integrating this with the rest behind is tough!

ADDENDUM:
This problem caused the biggest headaches: how do you create a "smooth" fuselage from the Lightning's front end with a single nose intake that develops into a narrow, vertical hull, with the boxy Flagon fuselage with large Phantom-esque intakes?
My solution: taking out deep wedges from all (rather massive) hull parts along the intakes, bend the side walls inwards and glue them into place, so that the width becomes even with the Lightning's cockpit section. VERY crude and massive body work!


1:72 "Flatning" (name tbd): a fictional BAC Lightning witrh side-by-side engines (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Here you can see where this is supposed to lead:


1:72 "Flatning" (name tbd): a fictional BAC Lightning witrh side-by-side engines (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

Very slow progress here because this weekend is totally busy. However, I managed to combine the Lightning cockpit section with a modified rear fuselage, and at least this initial part of the whole stunt worked. I had, however, to cut away the whole belly section under the cockpit for an even depth of the fuselage, there's a lot of trouble (still) ahead. I am also torn whether I will add the belly tank or not? Without, the aircraft's profile will work but look rather un-Lightning-ish (en experience from my single-engine build), but with it the whole fuselage shape will look rather odd!? Well, I concentrate on the fuselage and the wings first, cosmetic details later... 

ADDENDUM:

1:72 "Flatning" (name tbd): a fictional BAC Lightning witrh side-by-side engines (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

As you might tell from the side view, the Lightning's cockpit section for the following hull with stacked engines is much deeper than the Flagon's side-by-side arrangement. Initial idea was to place the cockpit section higher, but I would have had to transplant a part of the Lightning's upper fuselage (with the spine on top, too!) onto the "flat" Flagon - this would have looked VERY weird, and I'd have had to bridge the round ventral shape of the Lightning into the boxy Flagon underside, too. So I decided to cut away the whole ventral cockpit section, about the height of the lower intake lip. Similar to my former Austrian Hasegawa Lightning, I also cut away the vertical wall directly behind the intake opening - even though I did not improve the cockpit with a different tub with side consoles. Other things are in focus on this one...  The Flagon's jet exhausts were also opened and received afterburner dummies inside (no pic).


1:72 "Flatning" (name tbd): a fictional BAC Lightning witrh side-by-side engines (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

However, the result of this stunt (so far) yields a rather peculiar fuselage shape - and now you can see why the Lightning received stacked engines to save frontal area!


1:72 "Flatning" (name tbd): a fictional BAC Lightning with side-by-side engines (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

PSR, PSR, PSR... No big additions, though, except for the fin to complete the transplanted original spine. The area under the cockpit has been filled: lead bead innards, plus an implanted landing gear well (IIRC, it's from an Xtrakit Swift), and the rest was/is massive putty, from which a "flat" ventral section behind the air OOB intake can be shaped. Looks good so far, even though a little odd. Wings were glued together and the locator holes for the overwing tanks filled. Plan is to mount the wings to the fuselage somehow next.

ADDENDUM:
With the donor front landing gear well, the kit has been upgraded from a shallow/flat pit that's just as deep as the covers are thick!


1:72 "Flatning" (name tbd): a fictional BAC Lightning with side-by-side engines (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

BTW: pictures are still missing, I know, but I have been busy the last days, and there's another finished project waiting for its shooting. But I might pre-draw the WiP pics from this build here and add them to previous posts.

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on September 12, 2022, 12:20:52 AMPlan is to mount the wings to the fuselage somehow next.

I like the 'somehow' bit.     

It's just like that! My creation has a rather odd fuselage shape and profile. It starts with the standard round intake, becomes almost square behind the cockpit and then the fuselage widens towards the rear for the two engines, where the hull becomes round/oval again. The wings will have to go at shoulder height onto the fuselage, where it starts to widen, so attaching the wings will be tricky and I might to take off some wedges at their roots to make them fit properly. Everything is quite experimental and develops on the way". With less depth for the fuselage, I guess that I might have to shorten the landing gear, too. I'd really call the "Flatning" concept a serious modeller challenge!

ADDENDUM:
More crude measurements suggest that wedges have to be cut away from the Lightning's wing roots to match the weird fuselage shape:


1:72 "Flatning" (name tbd): a fictional BAC Lightning with side-by-side engines (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr

..and after gluing them into place as high as possible on the flanks, my Flatning looks like this:


1:72 "Flatning" (name tbd): a fictional BAC Lightning witrh side-by-side engines (What-if/kitbashing) by Dizzyfugu, on Flickr