Aires

1/72 EE Lightning Corrected Exhausts For the Trumpeter EE Lightning

Stock Number: 7213

Reviewed By  Paul Bradley, IPMS# 35554

MSRP: € 8.5 (Approx. $12) Website: www.aires.cz If you've read my review of the Trumpeter 1/72 English Electric Lightning, you'll know that the kit has a serious accuracy issue. The Lightning is unique in that its two Avon engines were mounted one on top of the other, giving a deep but narrow cross-section. As the fuselage narrows towards the exhausts, there is a shallow tapering of the fuselage between the two jet pipes. On this kit, this area is too pronounced, starting too early and continuing too deep. The knock-on effect of this is that the exhausts are far too small in diameter. This new resin set corrects these issues and, as can be seen from the photos, this produces a much better look to the rear fuselage. The set is made up of 5 resin and two photo-etched parts. The resin is Aires' standard blemish-free grey, and all the parts are easily removed form the pour stubs. The exhaust inserts feature nice detail both around the nozzles and on the insides of the jetpipes. Also included are new fuselage sidewalls. To install these, you'll need to cut along existing panel lines on the kit parts. Finally, there are parts to represent the afterburner assemblies, in both resin and PE. IN place, these give a very good impression of the rear end of the Avon engines, and as the jetpipe parts are quite long, there is a realistic depth to this area of the model. All in all, this is a great help to this kit, correcting as it does the largest single error present on the Trumpeter kit. It is also quite reasonably priced, and will result in a much better-looking Lightning. As such, I highly recommend it. My thanks to Aires for the review samples. Aires products are available directly from their website, or from Hannants in the UK.