My stash just grew again 2025

[Pellson]

I'm not quite done with Airfix's early Lightning, and I have been contemplating what the Irish Air Corps would have flown, if they had been forced to actually employ an interceptor of their own in the face of Soviet bomber incursions during the Cold War. While something French maybe would have been quite logic given the small brother syndrome towards the UK, the availability of nearby support for a British design could have tipped the scales in Lightning favour. If so, however, I suspect they would have gone as cheap as possible, and then a first generation Lightning with the 200-series RR Avon makes sense. However, as the Firestreak IR missile soon became obsolete, the Red Top upgrade of the F.3/6 also makes sense, necessitating the larger fin. So this will likely be an F.2C or something like that..
Interestingly, theis issue comes with a much improved canopy whereas the awful stabilisers are kept from the original casting. Strange, but easily fixed.

The Hasegawa F.6 came from the same seller and dead cheap. I don't quite know what to do with it just yet, but it might get married to a Sukhoi fuselage to produce a single engine Lightning. It's been done before, but not by me

No, it was done by me, 1.5 times (i.e. one finished, one on the shelf of shame) 

Completed build: https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=34972.msg555660#msg555660
Never finished build: https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=42162.msg726002#msg726002

Let me know if you want me to upload un-Botophucked images.

From memory (Gods, this was 17 years ago!  ) you need a VEB Plasticart Su-7 because it's rather oversize which makes it fit perfectly. I used a Revellofrog Lightning. The Lightning wings & tailplanes go straight on. The Su's fin needs cutting off and the Lightning fin more-or less goes straight in it's place with a bit of filler/plasticard. The Lightning's spine needs transplanting too (to make the canopy work) and cutting that off the Lightning fuselage needs care & patience. I used a spares-box nozzle on the finished one. You also need to cut the Su's nose off at just the right point to make the much bigger Lightning intake fit (this may be different if you're using an Su-11 donor). The rest is just detail.

Re the IAC, France is not much further away than the UK for support: what occurs to me is them getting second-hand Super Mysteres as the AdlA goes over to the Mirage. The other thing that occurs to me is that they might take an "all neutrals together" approach and buy Swedish: Tunnan, Lansen, Draken. For a cheapo Lightning, they may well go for AIM-9Bs as an upgrade instead of the expensive Red Tops, and those MIGHT not need the fin extension.

@Dizzyfugu has also built one, >>HERE<<. Looking at yours, though, I now remember that i've seen those too. Awesome with even more inspiration!

As for the potentially Irish F.2C, going from Firestriak to AIM-9B wouldn't have been a particularly big improvement. The Red Top however, added significant all aspect capability plus having a much larger warhead, making it far more lethal also against Soviet Bears and Badgers.
Further, yes, France is nearby, but it's still about three times the distance to Toulouse when comparing to just popping over the Irish channel to Preston.

[PR19_Kit]

Re the IAC, France is not much further away than the UK for support: what occurs to me is them getting second-hand Super Mysteres as the AdlA goes over to the Mirage. The other thing that occurs to me is that they might take an "all neutrals together" approach and buy Swedish: Tunnan, Lansen, Draken. For a cheapo Lightning, they may well go for AIM-9Bs as an upgrade instead of the expensive Red Tops, and those MIGHT not need the fin extension.

Whaaaat? Dublin's less than 150 miles from Warton, and it's almost due east! They could almost shout if they wanted some spares.

The nearest bit of France is well over twice that distance.

[Dizzyfugu]

@Dizzyfugu has also built one, >>HERE<<. Looking at yours, though, I now remember that i've seen those too. Awesome with inspiration!

I was not the first one, though. Somebody before mated an 1:72 KP Su-7 with Lightning wings and other stuff, a mid-wing design, IIRC. Mine used a Su-17 body, and kept the shoulder wings. Messy job. 

[Weaver]

@Dizzyfugu has also built one, >>HERE<<. Looking at yours, though, I now remember that i've seen those too. Awesome with even more inspiration!

As for the potentially Irish F.2C, going from Firestriak to AIM-9B wouldn't have been a particularly big improvement. The Red Top however, added significant all aspect capability plus having a much larger warhead, making it far more lethal also against Soviet Bears and Badgers.
Further, yes, France is nearby, but it's still about three times the distance to Toulouse when comparing to just popping over the Irish channel to Preston.

Yes, Dizzy's was based on the real P.6 project with a high wing. Mine was just made up...

My point about Sidewinder wasn't that it was better, but that it was cheaper and more available. Irish procurement decisions tend to be STRONGLY governed by price since they spend a tiny amount of their GDP on defence.

France is indeed further away, but it's still "next door" in terms of supply chains, especially when you have to fly over water to get the parts to Ireland. Yes, the UK mainland is nearer, but in practical terms, it probably would't make enough of a difference to strongly affect the choice of aircraft, especially if the French one was cheaper in the first place (which a Mirage was).

[Weaver]

@Dizzyfugu has also built one, >>HERE<<. Looking at yours, though, I now remember that i've seen those too. Awesome with inspiration!

I was not the first one, though. Somebody before mated an 1:72 KP Su-7 with Lightning wings and other stuff, a mid-wing design, IIRC. Mine used a Su-17 body, and kept the shoulder wings. Messy job. 

That was me, as per my reply.

[Dizzyfugu]

Spontaneous ev!lbay purchase, a whiffy/fantasy walking tank - a Modelcollect 1/72 IJA Tank Mech I-GA 4-Leg Type (Fist Of War), which is an E-50/75 hull and turret on four clumsy legs in Japanese disguise. Was cheap, though, only EUR 9,-, hardly something to be wrong withz (at least I hope so...  ).

[Dizzyfugu]

@Dizzyfugu has also built one, >>HERE<<. Looking at yours, though, I now remember that i've seen those too. Awesome with inspiration!

I was not the first one, though. Somebody before mated an 1:72 KP Su-7 with Lightning wings and other stuff, a mid-wing design, IIRC. Mine used a Su-17 body, and kept the shoulder wings. Messy job. 

That was me, as per my reply.

Ah! Did not read the posts above, but remembered that silver "tube bird" well. 

[Weaver]

Re the IAC, France is not much further away than the UK for support: what occurs to me is them getting second-hand Super Mysteres as the AdlA goes over to the Mirage. The other thing that occurs to me is that they might take an "all neutrals together" approach and buy Swedish: Tunnan, Lansen, Draken. For a cheapo Lightning, they may well go for AIM-9Bs as an upgrade instead of the expensive Red Tops, and those MIGHT not need the fin extension.

Whaaaat? Dublin's less than 150 miles from Warton, and it's almost due east! They could almost shout if they wanted some spares.

The nearest bit of France is well over twice that distance.

Literally yes, but in terms of practical logistics, France is still "next door", especially since you have to cross water to get to Ireland from either France or the UK. Of course the UK is nearer/cheaper/quicker, but it probably wouldn't make enough of a difference to affect an Irish procurement decision, which would be MUCH more influenced by the initial purchase price of the aircraft than the support costs (and the Mirage was cheaper than the Lightning). Don't forget, they bought Magisters instead of Jet Provosts, and all the same arguments could apply to that choice.

[chrisonord]

Just s arrived 5 minutes ago, 2 decal sheets for in service F-35 with the FAA and RAF. I want the FAA ones for the naval Typhoons, as I already have one of. The same sheets for. The Osprey FGR 1. Also arrived, the Revell single seater with the proper choice of weapons. Both this and the Osprey will be carrying anti ship variants of storm shadow, whilst on "exercise" aboard HMS Collosus. The exercise will be with both Japan and Canada with a late addition of the Australian Navy.

[PR19_Kit]

Don't forget, they bought Magisters instead of Jet Provosts, and all the same arguments could apply to that choice.

Decades ago, in the 1990s, and the year that the IAC Silver Swallows won the best foreign aerobatic team trophy at IAT, I chatted to their Crew Chief about the display magister they had there. He reckoned that the fact the Magister had two engines was a factor in their choice but he also allowed that '......politics came into too, for sure.......) 

[Weaver]

From Ebay:

Imai 1/350th scale Thunderbird 2 TB-2 Special

This is the "proper" Thunderbird 2, not the redesigned one from Japanese Anime. Even in 1/350th it's still around 215mm long!

The kit is seni toy-like, more simplified than toyified really. It has rollers on the bottom of the pod (but then so does the "real" thing), but no working features that would make it less authentic.My main gripe with this is that there's no glazing for the open flight deck windows, and the lower "cheek" windows are moulded in with the body.

A surprising number of parts are moulded or pre-assembled in one piece, including a one-piece booms-uppers+rear fuselage+wings+fins+cockpit-bulkhead+cockpit-floor+cockpit-interior piece. Some of this looks like it was moulded as separate items and then glued together at the factory, since the instructions treat it as one piece.

Some of the kit I got has already been glued together by a previous owner (which is why it was affordable), but they've done a decent job of it so it isn't a problem.

[Pellson]

Re the IAC, France is not much further away than the UK for support: what occurs to me is them getting second-hand Super Mysteres as the AdlA goes over to the Mirage. The other thing that occurs to me is that they might take an "all neutrals together" approach and buy Swedish: Tunnan, Lansen, Draken. For a cheapo Lightning, they may well go for AIM-9Bs as an upgrade instead of the expensive Red Tops, and those MIGHT not need the fin extension.

Whaaaat? Dublin's less than 150 miles from Warton, and it's almost due east! They could almost shout if they wanted some spares.

The nearest bit of France is well over twice that distance.

Literally yes, but in terms of practical logistics, France is still "next door", especially since you have to cross water to get to Ireland from either France or the UK. Of course the UK is nearer/cheaper/quicker, but it probably wouldn't make enough of a difference to affect an Irish procurement decision, which would be MUCH more influenced by the initial purchase price of the aircraft than the support costs (and the Mirage was cheaper than the Lightning). Don't forget, they bought Magisters instead of Jet Provosts, and all the same arguments could apply to that choice.

Right. If the republic can't be arsed to a cheap(ish) Lightning, then who can? European air force only, and Scandinavia are out (They're all getting Drakens.. ) (also, I would have needed a set of minuscule Irish roundels which I don't have..)

[NARSES2]

Right. If the republic can't be arsed to a cheap(ish) Lightning, then who can? European air force only, and Scandinavia are out (They're all getting Drakens.. ) (also, I would have needed a set of minuscule Irish roundels which I don't have..)

Portugal ? On the basis of the oldest alliance ? Or maybe Greece to defend the northern frontier ?

[zenrat]

Switzerland.

[PR19_Kit]

Luxembourg? At least they wouldn't need tankers to reach the country's borders.