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Westland Lysander Mk. III SD Matchbox-Revell 1/32


mc65

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thank you!

 

actually, I spent a couple of days out of home, and I took the opportunity to tidy up the photo archive in the smartphone. this led me to discover a number of mistakes I made, some of these not remediable, I fear... more on that later on.

for today just a couple of steps ahead: having to prepare the seat for the rear wheel, while I was there, I made it work with the help of a trivial lighter spring. useless, but nice, I think.

Schermata_2021-12-05_alle_00.57.57.png

 

also, I used a trick to position the wheels in the shoes at the height that seems most appropriate to me. in reality the main landing gear was made up of a single alloy crossbow (produced in Switzerland, moreover) whose function was to absorb the bulk of the weight and stresses related to the landing gear itself. the only aid to these was not in the usual oleopneumatic shock absorbers but in the Dowty wheels, which were cushioned inside the rim.

so I just made the circular hole on the back of the wheels oval, so that I can place these wherever I like. in reality this will lead me to cheat a bit, moving from the vertical axis where I will need it to best center them in the fairings.

here a photo with the two wheels at the maximum of their respective excursions.

IMG-0696.jpg

 

well, for today (tonight) it's all.

cheers, Paolo

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here I am again!

last time i talked about some mistakes... one was I forgot to paint the colored arcs on some instruments. so I took the chains off my pedantic me and rested my hand on them, retouching the instruments in color.

please forgive me, but with the cell phone, freehand and with the cat (one at random, they take turns) on my knees, I couldn't take a better photo.

IMG-0751.jpg

 


on the back I added sections of aluminum tube to emulate the connections. an easy little thing but I think it is effective. I colored the cables following a rough diagram and referring more or less to the American color codes. a thing of fantasy, in short.

IMG-0806.jpg

 

then I positioned the compass and its perch, which took me a lot of time, having to guess the horizontal and vertical distance, as well as the inclination with respect to the panel.

IMG-0808.jpg

 

also placing it definitively in position required a certain amount of apnea, in addition to the removal of some horizontal mounting rods that had come into conflict with the cables.

IMG-0811.jpg

 

while the gluing was taking hold, I coated the yoke with copper wire to make it a little more chubby and emulate the non-slip coating of the real one.

IMG-0833.jpg

 

and here we are again.

the cloche and seat have been temporarily positioned, the support rods for the instrument panel have been replaced and colored, the cowl flaps control has been redone, that strange knob to which the holster of the flare gun is attached.

IMG-0843.jpg

 

reverse shot showing the parking brake on the yoke stem. I threw some color on the seat, but I'm not at all convinced it's the right one. maybe I redo the upholstery in black, even if it risks having too much contrast with the seat belts, which are in sand color.

IMG-0841.jpg

 


and here it is time to deal with the black beast of this kit. the transparencies are thick, with badly engraved frames and as if that weren't enough, wrong in coupling with the fuselage.

IMG-0850.jpg

 

now the most serious thing would be to do in vacuform them all again, one piece at a time. but how much do I want? zero. What if I try to cheat a little bit instead? like inserting a thickness between the two half fuselage in the offending point? doh, look how much it distorts, that "transparent"...

IMG-0846.jpg

 


It might work... and it would also be convenient for me to have those two slits between the frame and the fuselage, in reality the two side windows slid vertically there.

IMG-0849.jpg

 

dunno. I'll sleep on it.

from the photos I also see that the upper trellis (the one with the collimator support) remains a bit short compared to the panel, it should be redone too... let's think about it. advice, criticism, ideas, everything is welcome, come on!

cheers, Paolo

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thank you all, I'm glad it arouses interest, it's such a crude model!:unsure:

 

well, let's see that I have done since the last session. as I said, the trellis that supports the collimator ring was short, compared to the photos of the real aircraft. so I took courage in both hands (actually i just took a new razor blade) and sliced it off, alea iacta est.

IMG-0859.jpg

 

then before redoing it from Evergreen rods, I thickened the front part of the fuselage with a plasticard wedge so that the windshield fits about almost well. with the rectified fuselage closed momentarily with adhesive tape, I had a template to redo the trellis.

IMG-0861.jpg

 

and, a few half hours later...

IMG-0865.jpg

 

done this, I finally closed the fuselage, it was time!

so I stayed in the cockpit area for the details that go there now. with cardboard templates I took the measurements of the top that closes the rear compartment, obtaining the measurements of the hole by observing the photos of the real kite and using a volunteer luftwaffe rear gunner to verify that it was humanly compatible with the entry and exit maneuvers. how two (in some cases three!) could stay back there remains a mystery to me... but I imagine that having the gestapo at your heels made an air passage to England very welcome, disregarding the airplane's discomfort!

IMG-0872.jpg

 

obtained the precise measurements, I transferred them on plasticard and, after cutting the plan into several sections for an easier installation, I glued everything in place. to bring the horizontal surfaces of the two compartments flat, I had to add a strip of plasticard on each side.

the wing support instead I unglued it, having decided that I should work on the dihedral of the wing separately.

IMG-0892.jpg

 

then I joined the corners with curves.

test in place of the wing with upper and rear clear parts. mh. maybe these may remain untouched. the front one instead I discovered is totally wrong either about the frames, I fear I have to plane to zero, polish and redo that part.

IMG-0896.jpg

 

and here we are after a first putty session.

I also repositioned the filler neck of the main tank, it is not visible, but now it is less in conflict with the seat.

IMG-0899.jpg

 

same on the back compartment.

IMG-0900.jpg

 

and that's all for today, I would say.

to the next step!

cheers, Paolo

 

 

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On 12/12/2021 at 4:28 PM, mc65 said:

                       thank you all, I'm glad it arouses interest, it's such a crude model!:unsure:

Many of us have ithis oldie in the back of the stach and want to see your progres.

Lookin' good so far Paolo   :thumbsup: 

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hi all, thank you for the attention and the encouragement, there is still a lot of work to do!

unfortunately little progress, I've been busy on other fronts these days.

 


essentially I carried on just some niceties, not having time to sit at the workbench for long sessions: added the last missing arm to the structure behind the IP, the one that supports the central panel, here still without color:

IMG-1058.jpg

 

and here painted but not yet weathered.

IMG-1109.jpg

 


then I thought about the windshield, and decided to make an attempt at vacuform before brutalizing the original piece. so I made a copy of the internal volume with Fimo, a  polymer clay, and here I understood why I had to make this damn kit... it was the dark side of modeling that called me!

IMG-1084.jpg

 

once the fimo was cooked I started working on it to give it the right shape, with the flat front panel. the road is long and uncertain, but let's try.

IMG-1105.jpg

 

another little thing I had in the lineup, the brake hoses for the main landing gear. the last segment will go in black color, and I will glue it after placing the wheels.

I really can't look at that tread, but I can't think of anything to improve it!

IMG-1098.jpg

 

last thing I managed to do, a coat of aluminum and then green at the cockpit and the fuselage junction points, to check where there was still to putty/sand.

while I was there I made a base for the chipping on the passage area of the rear compartment. here too, there is still work to be done.

 

IMG-1107.jpg

 

and that's all for today, I hope to manage to work on it in the next few days.

cheers, Paolo

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