DONE @ p.5 +++ 1:72 BAC Skyspark F.6, RAF 11 Squadron, Binbrook, late 70ies

[Gondor]

All this is giving me ideas, as if I need any more 

What I have running through my head is using Lightning parts in a non Lightning way, as Lee said, it's a think outside the Lightning Box so the fact that it will sort of look like a lightning but not be a lightning is taking some thought. Shoulder mounted wings will be one of the problem areas as will various others but I think I will look thought my scraps or "downgraded" kits box to come up with the parts. In fact I just remembered that I have a couple of old Airfix kits along with the front ends of two of the modern aircraft and some modern wings so that majority of the bits are there!

What to call it though 

Gondor

[Dizzyfugu]

I also have no idea how to call this thing yet. I am tempted to give it a non-Lightning name, but write a background story as if this had been the real design solution.

However, more progress from the PSR front - the stabilizers' attachment points were transplanted from the Lightning hull, so that they end up in a low(er) position on the rounded Su-15 tail, and everything disappears under layers and layers of putty.


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

As a side note: from certain angles the tail now looks VERY TSR.2-ish! Odd! 

BTW: earlier posts have been complemented with comments and WiP pics now. 

[perttime]

I noticed the WIP name "Flatning". That would imply that the vertically arranged Lightning existed before it, in this universe.
If it didnt, it could be just Lightning. Googling for lightning, one term I found was "Cloud Flash".

[Dizzyfugu]

I already used the outdated "Levin" for my mono-engine Lightning build. "Cloud Flash" appears rather clumsy to me, though. "Squall" is a current non-electrified favorite of mine.

[Old Wombat]

She might be half-buried in putty, right now, but she looks good!

[Dizzyfugu]

Thank you! 

[PR19_Kit]

I should have bought shares in Presto before you started this build. 

[Dizzyfugu]

Would not have been worthwhile, since I bought up anything on the market and ruined it... 

Nevertheless, I am also contemplating the next steps. Belly tank or not? The thing might work without it, but the profile would look rather un-Lightning-ish. On the other side, a conformal tank would probably look quite strange on the wide/flat ventral fuselage...? I think I'll add the stabilizers next, glue the leftover belly bulge parts from the Hasegawa kit together, and play round with it.

I am also still uncertain about the livery. No late low-viz scheme (the Levin already has one), and no NMF, either. I am torn between RAF Germany all-green over NMF undersides, or a standard RAF livery in DSG/DG over either Light Aircraft Grey or NMF undersides (current favorite), maybe with toned-down post-war roundels and fictional unit markings?

[Tophe]

surprising silhouette... belated congratulations!

[PR19_Kit]

Use TWO F6 belly tanks, side by side, and fill in the gap between them with styrene and LOTS more Presto.

Then it'll look as squashed as the whole aeroplane. 

[Old Wombat]

What about calling it a "Blyskavka"?  

[Dizzyfugu]

Use TWO F6 belly tanks, side by side, and fill in the gap between them with styrene and LOTS more Presto.

Then it'll look as squashed as the whole aeroplane. 

I have actually thought about a wider belly tank, but I think that this would look too ugly. The narrow F.6 tank might, however, be sold as a kind of retrofitted ventral "Küchemann Carrot" to compensate for the wide waist (inspired by the F-102's pair of "butt-cheeks")?

[Gondor]

That is looking rather nice, I had not thought of using an Su-15 fuselage as a basis, I plan to use Lightnings as much as possible. It has simmilar looks to what I was thinking of doing although I have a few differences to yours planed.
With regards to conformal tanks on the underside of a wide fuselage, may I point you in the direction of the Gloster Javelin which fitted all the above-mentioned criteria.

Looking forward to how you finish her off 

Gondor

[Dizzyfugu]

Led Zeppelin made that popular song "Whole lotta PSR", and it's playing all the time... Stabilzers were fitted, and while they blend well into the whole arrangement, seeing them on the wide butt is somehow disturbing? 


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

I also made a decision concerning the belly tank/bulge: it will go under the thing. I used the cut-off fuselage section from the Lightning, just reduced its depth by 2-3 mm with a slight slope towards the rear, and now try to integrate it into the hull. Looks a bit weird directly from below (as expected), but I think that the side view gains more Lightning-ism through this transplant?

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


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

I will also add the F.6's stabilizing ventral fins, even though they will rather land directly at the fuselage edges than on the belly tank - also as a measure to reduce ground clearance, as I think that the landing gear will become a little shorter than OOB, so that the model has not a stalky stance through the reduced fuselage depth.

[PR19_Kit]

That's looking better & better, and the changes in cross-section from the nose aft are AWESOME!