Keeping It Simple - Vickers 588

[kitbasher]

Almost there.  Final push tomorrow (a couple of serials and the upper with technical markings to add, plus painting the intake guard).  Pics of the finished item to follow asap when complete.

[NARSES2]

Looking good sir 

[kitbasher]

Thanks Chris - it's now complete.

BAC (Vickers) 588 - Farnborough Airshow 1964

You cannot view this attachment.

Investigations into variable-sweep wings began during World War 2; during the late 1940s/early 1950s Vickers pursued several 'swing-wing' concepts, including the Barnes Wallis-designed Swallow.  By 1960, NASA-led research had informed the Vickers 583 and 584 designs, and to increase confidence in the use of variable geometry wings in high-performance combat aircraft a research aircraft was suggested.

Vickers initially suggested adapting a Supermarine Swift, but the idea was not well-received.  Instead an adaptation of a supersonic aircraft was considered more appropriate – and the Lightning was the obvious candidate.

So the Vickers 588 was born, basically a Lightning with new wings.  These retained the Lightning planform when fully swept, but the outer section could be swept forward for low-speed flight.  1960 saw the government-pressured merger of English Electric Aviation, Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft), the Bristol Aeroplane Company and Hunting Aircraft into the British Aircraft Corporation (the 'BAC' acronym would not be applied to its products until 1963).  Later that year, former English Electric staff at Warton joined the 588 project team.

You cannot view this attachment. You cannot view this attachment. 

By the end of the year the Air Ministry contracted BAC to proceed with development of the 588.  A suitable airframe was identified in the form of English Electric P1B/Lightning pre-production airframe XG327.  This  first flew on 10 April 1959, being used at Warton for radar trials.  Following Cat 4 damage at Boscombe Down on 20 February 1960, it was to have been rebuilt to Lightning F.3; during the course of the rebuild work (the square-tip fin being evidence of the F.3 work) the aircraft was selected as the basis of the Vickers 588.

XG327 first flew as the Vickers 588 in early 1963, making its only public appearance (as the BAC 588) at the 1964 Farnborough Airshow.  It was used on trials work associated with BAC/Dassault AFVG concept development and, following cancellation of that project in 1967, development of the subsequent UKVG project and ultimately the Panavia MRCA (later  known as the Tornado).

You cannot view this attachment.

The aircraft was grounded in 1971, until moved to St Athan in mid-1972 for use as an instructional airframe where it was renumbered 8188M.  After several years XG327 was shipped to RAF Manston to be used for fire training (see final photo), being scrapped in 1991.
   
You cannot view this attachment.

So, the Airfix Lightning F.3 with cable ducts removed and Freightdog VG Lightning wings added.
Very hard to see but there's around 5 shades of aluminium and one Humbrol 11 in the build - can't be seen, really (Kit mentions a similar experience with his Italian Lightning build).
Decals courtesy of Modeldecal 34, 35, 36 and 47, plus Xtradecal 72041 and 72096.  The Xtradecal data sencils may seem a little over the top but they are really very will printed and add just the right amount of interest to the aircraft without - unlike some stencil decals - overwhelming it.  I'd toyed with adding a whiffed 'Vickers 588' logo to the fin but glad I didn't - that would definitely have been clutter.

[zenrat]

 

[Dizzyfugu]

Nice! 

[Old Wombat]

You cannot view this attachment.

[NARSES2]

Come out really well Dave 

Very hard to see but there's around 5 shades of aluminium and one Humbrol 11 in the build - can't be seen, really (Kit mentions a similar experience with his Italian Lightning build).

Had a similar experience with a P-47. I'd even applied a patch of each paint to a piece of card to try and get some idea of the differences before hand.

[Nick]

I really like that, it looks just right for the era.