DONE @p.3 +++ 1:72 BAC Lightning F.56; Austrian Air Force, 1999

[Dizzyfugu]

Early placeholder for a whiffy export Lightning that almost came to be in real life. 

[The Wooksta!]

Germany - F1
India - F1A
Australia - F6, possibly T55 and other proposals.
Italy - F6
Libya - F6, T55 (deal signed but revolution stopped sale)
Nigeria  - ex -Saudi aircraft
Austria - see above

Those are all of the export proposals I know of.

[Gondor]

Early placeholder for a whiffy export Lightning that almost came to be in real life. 

As long as it's not Italian as I have glued a couple of parts together for one of theirs

Gondor

[Martin H]

Germany - F1
India - F1A
Australia - F6, possibly T55 and other proposals.
Italy - F6
Libya - F6, T55 (deal signed but revolution stopped sale)
Nigeria  - ex -Saudi aircraft
Austria - see above

Those are all of the export proposals I know of.

I read that Brazil was in the running for the F6 and T55 as well. They were looking at Nimrods at the same time...     i will look up the refrence when i get off shift.

[Dizzyfugu]

Things started moving yesterday, after having finished the photo sessions of another completed build.

The kits is the Hasegawa F.6 (original boxing), and it's horrible. The only thing I am actually "missing" is that there are simulated hardware roundels among the raised panel lines, this thing is really vintage and I think that the Matchbox F.6 is a better kit. Flash galore, fit is hazardous, and it's so primitive: the air intake: a flat wall. The exhausts: no pipe inside, just emptiness, and another flat wall that is well visible from behind. The cockpit just consists of a floor, a crappy seat, a (bare) dashboard and a blobby pilot figure.

I just cannot accept this "as is", even if scratched improvements will hardly be seen later.

[Pellson]

Thanks, Thomas. That was a pretty good run-down of a kit I've often contemplated but never seen IRL. I think I'll keep it that way..

Re Lightnings, in the dawn of time when I wasn't aware of the internet sourcing options, hence had to make do with local shop supplies, the only game in town were the Airfix F.1A and the Matchbox F.6. Of those, the Matchbox offering was preferred due to it's more modern version, but as you're aware, while looking reasonably like a Lightning, it's still far from perfect. But having two plus a pair of T55's, I'm likely to stick to them as long as I can find them, for common display issues.

[Dizzyfugu]

The (new) Airfix F.6/F.2A kit is by far the best one around - and I actually have an F.2A at hand that I wanted to build first. But my background story calls for an export Lightning, which is rather F.6ish, and the Airfix F.2A unfortunately lacks the proper parts to build an F.5 from it (unless you scratch things, of course). I initially wanted to get an Airfix F.6 for this project, but this kit appears elusive and highly overpriced at the moment - so that I was lucky that I had that Hasegawa F.6 in store without any plan yet (bought it long ago as a donor bank because it was cheap, righteously). Now it finds a good use.

The Matchbox Lightning might appear crude at frist sight, with its raised and prominent panel lines - but it goes together well and its orifices do not end in a (visible!) wall after a few milimeters. Detail-wise it might be a dead race with the Hasegawa kit, but after seeing the Japanese offering in detail now I'd prefer the Matchbox kit. There's also a Frog F.6 around (like the Hasegawa kit re-boxed by Revell! Very confusing!), which is also on eye level with the Matchbox and Hasegawa kits.

Personal improvements to my Hasegawa F.6 build include internally extended exhaust pipes (I implant parts from a Matchbox Meteor), a simulated splitter plate inside of the air intake and a cockpit tub, IIRC from a Heller Me 262, plus a better ejection seat. Very basic and not "realistic", but I want to get rid of the worst flaws.

[PR19_Kit]

The FROG Lightning is the same kit as the Hasegawa one, they licenced it from Hase back in the 60s. Then Novo bought FROG and Revell got the Novo moulds eventually, which is why they all look similar. They are. 

[The Wooksta!]

Apparently, for some of the Frog/Hasegawa kits there were two moulds, one for each company.  The Lightning was one of them.  It represents one of the early F6s without the belly guns.  Hasegawa slightly retooled theirs, with the belly guns and an upgrade in the cockpit, from nothing to may as well not have bothered, with a floor, stick and flat instrument panel.

For a cheap F6, I'll always go for that kit - it's an ideal donor for P6/P8 builds, even if I always end up with a dead fuselage.  I built the Matchbox one years back and frankly hated it.  The T55 is based on the same mould but it's a trainer so I can live with it. Besides which, it's ideal for my purposes - T5A.

[kitbasher]

The FROG Lightning is the same kit as the Hasegawa one, they licenced it from Hase back in the 60s. Then Novo bought FROG and Revell got the Novo moulds eventually, which is why they all look similar. They are. 

The Revell 1/72 Lightning F6 appears to be a repop of the Hasegawa version with the belly tank guns, rather than the FROG version.

[PR19_Kit]

The FROG Lightning is the same kit as the Hasegawa one, they licenced it from Hase back in the 60s. Then Novo bought FROG and Revell got the Novo moulds eventually, which is why they all look similar. They are. 

The Revell 1/72 Lightning F6 appears to be a repop of the Hasegawa version with the belly tank guns, rather than the FROG version.

It is now, but their first attempt was with the ex-Novo moulds, but there was more flash than model bits and they got seriously slammed for allowing it to get through QC in the reviews.

[Freightdog862]

Yes Revell have reboxed both toolings. I think Frog made a copy of the Hasegawa kit after the bagged kits deal expired, it was tooled in Hong Kong and is very similar (unlike the Phantom F.4K/M which Frog also cloned but with very different surface detail), the only part that was different was the Frog pilot, and that the Frog detail is a bit softer all over with thicker trailing edges etc. I do like the Hasegawa kit, having attempted to built it a few times but never finished one. It has a much better canopy that the Matchbox F.6, although Hasegawa belly tank is undersized and the wing leading edge camber is missing. That's why I did an F.3 conversion for the Hasegawa kit which gets rid of these two issues. That said it was one of my poorest selling sets, lucky I have a few kits to use them up on!

Colin
         

[kitbasher]

Thanks for the clarification Kit/Colin.

BTW I've one of your F.3 sets and aim to fettle it into an Airfix F.2A (one day!).

[Dizzyfugu]

The FROG Lightning is the same kit as the Hasegawa one, they licenced it from Hase back in the 60s. Then Novo bought FROG and Revell got the Novo moulds eventually, which is why they all look similar. They are. 

The Revell 1/72 Lightning F6 appears to be a repop of the Hasegawa version with the belly tank guns, rather than the FROG version.

Yup, you have to check which boxing you buy. The F.6 with the red trim on the box art is the Hasegawa revenant, while another boxing with the DG/DSG livery has the Frog/NOVO zombie inside.

It is now, but their first attempt was with the ex-Novo moulds, but there was more flash than model bits and they got seriously slammed for allowing it to get through QC in the reviews.

[Snowtrooper]

Surprised that Revell didn't muddy the waters even more by rereleasing also the Mbox F.6 under the Revell name... (they only ever rereleased it in a "black Mbox" boxing)