The Little World

Yet another orphan of the storm – a tattered, neglected box at the back of a shelf. An old decal sheet. An outdated model.

Just my meat. The inner plastic bag was sealed and every part was there. And I have never built a Lightning before.

This is a one of the classic early series Hasegawa kits – well within the era of raised panel lines. There is a colour call-out but it is basic monochrome diagrams and charts. The box art is somewhat lurid ( and we love it all the more for that ) but fortunately my hobby club has a good profile book on the aircraft in the library and finer points can be cross-checked.

Being modern, it has clean finish, and the better metallic lacquers will be perfect for a shiny aluminium. Also, fortunately, the RAF of the 60’s used some traditional checquered patterns to jazz it up.

It is a large aircraft – as befits the huge engines in it. There are two over-wing fuel tanks that will be unique in my collection. Ugly, but authentic.

It will probably pave the way for a series of other British jets of the cold war; the V-bombers, the Canberra, and the Hunter. More shelf space desperately needed.