As I'm about to embark on another Lightning - this time a two-seat - I thought I'd look at the options before embarking on the build of Sword's most recent issue. The most common Lighting two-seater kit in 1/72 was/is by Matchbox but unfortunately it was a T.55 export version with the large belly tank and later pattern wings (derived from Matchbox’s Lightning F.6 kit). According to all who build them, Matchbox’s kits are pretty good and probably the best overall injected kits until Airfix’s recent F.2A and F.6 releases. The Matchbox kit had a generally good shape, but suffered from rather heavy raised surface treatment and simplified details and if memory serves, has also been re-boxed by Revell.
Several vac-form conversions have been produced and Neomega makes a nice resin T.4 conversion matched to Trumpeter’s F.1A kit, and presumably, it can be made into a T.5 if used with Trumpeter’s F.3 kit. This was undoubtedly the best route to a modern nicely detailed RAF two-seat Lightning in 1/72 scale, until the appearance of the Sword kit(s).
Sword's Lightnings come in a typically Czech 'end-opening box' with digital artwork on the front. The plastic parts and decals come in a zip-lock bag, with the clear and coloured PE parts further enclosed in small bags of their own. A little surprisingly, the three resin pieces are loose in the outer bag with the main sprues.
The control columns and rear cockpit bulkhead are styrene, as is the cockpit coaming. There are no rudder pedals provided, but I doubt that they could be seen anyway if they were. The cockpit should look very good when finished.
The fuselage halves enclose a number of sub-assemblies in addition to the cockpit. These include the combined radome/inlet shock-cone and nose-wheel well, which the instructions advise you to fill with ballast; lower engine compressor face; and very nice resin exhaust nozzles with deep jet pipes, the ends of which are capped with styrene pieces incorporating flame-holder detail. The two-piece canopy can be modelled closed or open, with a telescopic ram included for the latter position. The fuselage’s main structure is completed by the addition of the tail fin applicable to the version being modelled.
The wings are split between upper and lower halves, as would be expected; and unlike some limited run kits, the trailing edges are fortunately included with the upper halves, thus ensuring a sharp finish. The flaps are separate parts, and can be positioned in accordance with the builder’s choice. The main-wheel wells are boxed in and include some basic interior detail. The undercarriage is nicely moulded with good levels of detail. The nose-wheel is a separate item, rather than the more common approach of moulding this part with the nose-leg. The tailplanes are single pieces, and the instructions helpfully provide a head-on view with angular measurements indicating the correct relationship for these and the wings to the fuselage.
Parts for a pair of both Firestreak and Red Top missiles are provided, along with their respective launch rails on a sprue (not photographed) common to all versions. Both have nicely moulded thin wings and guidance fins. The instructions show the Firestreaks as being for the T.4 and the Red Tops for the T.5 but I think any Red Top capable Lightning version could also carry the older Firestreak missile. Of course, the aircraft can also be depicted with 'dummy' missiles or no missile armament.
Not much remains to mention here. The long nose pitot, a number of PE blade antennae to add to the fuselage, and the ventral fin to add to the belly tank. There is also an optional refuelling probe that fits under the port wing root of the T.5, which is applicable to two of the three decal options supplied with the kit.
Overall, I should think that this kit should be a simple and enjoyable one to build and I'm looking forward to it.. A quick check with plans and photos lead to me to believe this kit is mostly accurate...
