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

[mc65]

thanks everyone!

unfortunately I don't have much free time these days, so I danced very little around the kit, just the minimum to not miss the mojo.

I tried to putty the frames where it was absolutely necessary, it is easier to walk on the eggs than to retouch 'this stuff. then I gave it some color to better understand the situation, and it doesn't seem too bad, I must say.

 

then I brought forward the air intakes on the nose using the foil from a mayo tube, and the longitudinal strip visible in several photos in adhesive aluminum, together with the lower windscreen frames.

 

in parallel I added some details to the interior: landing lamp switch, master fuel cock, computer stowage case.

 

and on the opposite side the navigation/pressure head heating switch box, the morsing key and the rear occupants attention pushbutton.

 

since I was embellishing I made the switches to activate the conversation with the pilot from the rear cockpit. a bizarre thing, given that very often passengers from France did not have the minimum specific training, so they did not know how to use the equipment on board, as well as parachutes.

 

obviously these little things have fallen into the fuselage n-thousand times ... but since I'm smart just enough, and in any case the circular base of the IFF antenna had to be made, I opened a passage to recover them. 

 

and for today that's all.

the good news is that the colors have finally arrived, the bad thing is that compared to the wing and the engine I'm still groping in the dark.

 

cheers, Paolo

 

 

[mc65]

hi all, 

having less time to devote to the workbench, I decided to face up the engine and find solutions for the various issues of that kit's part. the first one was the general aspect of the cylinders on the front face, solved by using the rear one to form a mould and do a copy in resin. the second one is the carters that cover the tappet rods: these have a peculiar shape, that I tried to emulate at first with a master to be vacuformed, and after with some evergreen profiles glued and filed.

to accomodate these I had before to carve the proper channel in the upper cylinders.

weel, green parts: vacuformed items; white ones: evergreen; and at 5 and 11 o'clock the channel exposed.

 

finally I elected the evergreen ones. then I put these aside and inserted a brass central axle to accomodate within the prop axle and have a solid core to build around all the parts.

the rear end of the external axle will be also the part that will guarantee a firm root to glue the complete engine and cowl to the fuselage.

 

I'm still fighting with the front anular exaust ring and its 18 (!) stumps that must connect it to the cylinder row. 

 

assumed that this solution is acceptable, i have now to calibrate the exact* lenght of the stumps: from that depends the right position of the engine within the cowl, and the right distance of the full cowl from the fuselage.

 

it's still a long long way...

consideration 1: having on the stash at least another three kits that would benefit from an accurate bristol Mercury engine, it would make sense to explore the possibility to have a 3D print of it.

consideration 2: this project is too far ahead in the "old school way" to benefit from any third millennium shortcut.

consideration 3: at least i could use this one as a test bed to realize a semidecent master to be cloned fot future projects.

consideration 4: I'm too fu**y lazy to even think at these possibilities.

so, I think I'll do the minimum necessary to have just the front end of the engine in an acceptable general shape, and carry on.

 

cheers, Paolo

 

*well, more or less

Edited January 19, 2022 by mc65

[RLWP]

I'm sending you a jumbo sized box of encouragement, Paolo - just in case

 

I've had projects stall at around this point due to 'just one more thing' to fix. I'm sensing this might be close. So, if it helps, just grab a handful of encouragement from the box.

 

You are doing great and I'm looking forward to seeing this one over the line

 

Richard

[fab]

Still tremendous 

 

Fai un lavoro eccezionale!

 

Fab

[mc65]

hi all, 

thank you all, this time I must say that it was not easy at all, to get me out of this chapter (which is not finished yet, of course).

after defining and gluing the sleeves into the front ring as per the last session, I coated back them with their rubber sheath and with a segment of heat shrink tubing to increase the sense of depth and detail. then I began to worry about further details, like the support arms that go from the engine block to the ring, at the same time marking the position of the countless bolts that characterize the visible part of the engine.

 

studying the photos to reproduce the air intakes of the oil radiators, I realized an error, visible in the photo below: the sleeves are the same for 7 of the 9 cylinders, but 2 of these, straddling the exhaust, have a sleeve for one that insists on the manifold itself.

 

darn. moreover, they have a completely different shape from the others, and are also set back from the ring.

 

so? Could I pretende to ignore that issue? Yes of course. I did it? obviously not. luckily I had printed two rings, so that I put aside the first one, in which I had set 18 pieces of iron with two components glue, and I started from scratch with the second one.

 

I was not very happy with the unscheduled. it's okay that modeling is suffering, but here it is striving for martyrdom!

anyway, let's say that now it is more or less good, so with a new exhaust manifold in magic sculpt and 18 new sleeves in place, I get back to the front details. the alu air intakes of the radiators seemed too small to me, so I replaced them with copper ones. here the external part of the collector looks gigantic, but it still needs to be corrected with files.

 

what I needed was a solid rear end to match the original muffler, all the way to something like this:

 

there is still a lot to do, but at least now I have a base to build on.

 

once the gluing of the iron wire sleeves in the ring was dry, I coated them as for the first ring, and I added a finite but still high number of photo-etched bolts to the crankcase. to give as much shape as possible to the originals, I added copper wires to the air intakes of the radiators, using them as a structure for further grouting and definition of the volumes.

 

as I am writing, phase 2 is drying up: collector-cylinder gluing. once this is complete, I will be able to start with the colors, barring complications.

cheers, Paolo.

[KiwiZac]

That's looking superb Paolo, tremendous skill at work!

[mc65]

hi,

today some steps ahead in the finishing of the engine: after a coat of black primer that should have highlighted some defects that I have not seen, and which are quite visible here, if only I had uploaded the photos to the pc before...

 

I gave way to Alclad2. working with the star of the cylinders glued to the ring was a half curse, but I was more afraid of having to glue these parts after having colored them.

 

for the first time I used AK extreme metallic colors, in this case bronze. excellent results, I must say. then I have further enriched it with shades of burnt iron Alclad, and I plan to insist further with smoke Tamiya, later on.

 

then I placed the further details previously prepared: pushrod covers; engine block-exaust ring support arms; oil radiators air intakes.

with an old, stripped brush I scratched off the primer from the brass bolts, and with ecoline I accentuated the shadows of the cooling blades of the cylinders.

 

I then added the carters between the cylinders visible in some photos. if on the one hand they make the engine area less deep, on the other they guarantee that nothing can be seen in the rear, where there is indeed nothing.

 

oh well, I have placed a little something, just in case... spark plugs with relative wiring, injection manifolds, tappets and relative carters. all recycled stuff: the collectors are welding wire with flanges of heat-shrink sheath advanced by the exhaust sleeves, the ring that supports them (which I need as a thickness to obtain the right longitudinal distance of the engine-canopy assembly with respect to the fuselage) is a section of conduit for exposed electrical systems. all painted without particular care, so - in fact - will remain buried in the back room.

 

and in the end the big question: does it still accommodates within the hood, after all these changes, additions and tortures? so it seems...

 

...and the whole speaks decently with the fuselage? here too, it seems ok.

 

to tell the truth there are some imperfections, but I plan to solve these as I advance.

I have to say that even though it was challenging and far from perfect, completing this phase has enjoyed me a lot.

and, since I had the airbrush in hand, I did a test of the two colors of the upper camo: Tamiya XF 81 and 83.

 

in the next steps I have to solve the wing's ribs problem, then on it should be a downhill trip.

cheers, Paolo.

[mc65]

well, 

since I really don't want to confront the ribs of the wings, I wasted some time with the propeller.

on its own it is not hideous, but the hub is nothing short of basic, being a mere connection of styrene for the blades. in addition, the spinner is not the right one for the Mk.III, but no problem here, just slice it. however, before doing irreparable damage, I thermoformed a spare one, just to be on the safe side.

 

then I replaced the axis with a section of brass tube compatible with the one inserted in the engine, and with the magic sculpt I built the central part from scratch, totally lacking in the box. I then added the coupling flanges and the propeller pitch counterweight system. all very much as it comes, because the spinner will cover everything.

 

the only partially visible part will be the rear, where I put the bolt heads on the flanges.

 

then on I tried an alu coat with spray can. I don't know how is stable and resistant at the next passages, but it cut drastically the paint session time!

 

well, time to go to work on the wing.

but why don't have a little talk about the camo instead?

 

the only two photos available of the model I plan to make, MA * J serial V9673, show only the port side. from which few things are evident: the short spinner, the closed cowl flaps, the extended flaps and slats, the white-colored ladder rungs on the tread, the camo pattern, the mascot and the mission symbols on the fuselage. also the squadron letters, MA, are not evident, altough the J and the serial are well visible.

from the pilot of this machine, as well as squadron commander and author of the book "we landed by moonlight", present in the group photo (the second from left) we learn that the machines, which were delivered to the squadron modified for specific tasks completely painted in black, were repainted in the upper part with the colors used by mosquitoes employed in the intruder role, that is dark green and medium sea gray.

 

slightly better

 

on these few evidences, I hypothesized a camo with this pattern, forgive the paucity of the graphic rendering

 

 

 

Beyond the lack of desire to work on the wing, I think it is necessary to establish how to paint the model before proceeding with the final assembly, which will take place in steps: first I want to have the landing gear well glued, and only then will I proceed to connect the wing to its place.

maybe I'll take some time to calmly evaluate the camouflage pattern, I'm not in hurry.

meanwhile, any idea, information, suggestion will be welcome!

cheers, Paolo.

[themongoose]

Great work all around Paolo! I’m enjoying your comments and all the “options” you have lol

[LSP_Kevin]

Just brilliant, Paolo!

 

Kev

[mc65]

thank you all...
I'm actually wasting time waiting for the courage to work on the wing!

also, thanks to a friend that closely observed the MA*J pictures, now I'm aware that also the letters "MA" wew on the fuselage. so I had to rethink all the paint workflow.

let's start from the known fact that these planes arrived at the squadron all black painted, and that only later were these camouflaged in the lateral and upper areas. from the only two available photos I understand that the codes in the fuselage were left surrounded by black, rather than going to paint around them with camouflage colors. ergo, the first thing to do is to understand exactly where these are located in the fuselage, in order to trace with certainty the black border beyond the areas of their relevance. and so far it was an easy task.

 

having understood this, I would proceed like this: I'll give a black base coat to the whole affected area, and then I paint letters, numbers and roundel with masks. having done this, I protect the insignia and proceed with the colors of the camouflage. this should give me the opportunity to work peacefully on the signs without fear of damaging the completed camo, and above all avoid to place the signs in the wrong spot as too often happens to me. 

sounds reasonable?

 

talking about painting, as I advance I give the - few - metal parts of the plane an aluminum color, in order to leave my hands free for any subsequent scratches.

meanwhile I was doing all these great arguments, and at the same time spasmodically trying not to face the wing, I made a series of side cuties that I had in the menu, stuff pilfered from historical photos, just to keep my hands busy... I go to illustrate: the shortened spinner equipped with an ugly reinforcement ring. to finish or trash, I haven't decided yet.

 

little frame. usually in these there are removable cards with the correction values of the magnetic compass, but given the position I do not exclude they were codes relating to the morse identifier, which changed from mission to mission.

 

holder for...thermos?? you guess. but from the photos of some SD, and of MA * J in particular, you can see these artifacts. moreover, in the aforementioned book, the author speaks specifically of comfort items in the rear passenger compartment, particularly hot drinks. oh, I made it equal to the photos. for me these are handcrafted clusters designed to house cylindrical objects. i.e. tea and coffee. sooo British.

that ugly file mark on the struct has already been eliminated.

 

ditto for the steps on the spats. some aircrafts had these, others didn't. it seems to me that there were in mine, so here these are.

 

cowling. here multiple interventions. in some photos you can see some nice dents, and a mysterious tube that comes out in that position. I honestly do not understand its use, it would seem an oil breather, but usually these have a diameter of a few mm, in the order of 5, while this from the photos I would say is something that goes for 25. oh well, I made dents and big tube, whatever it is.

 

still in the cowling area, from a technical drawing and a couple of photos of the cowl removed, it seems that there were two other closures in this position. to be refined, hoping to have got it right.

 

and finally (hopefully!) this area, what I imagine was the prop pitch command. also this to be finished and painted.

 

the tailwheel has won a series of PE bolt heads, and once painted I will have to finish the outer part of the shaft, now held in place by cladding sections of electrical cable, but which will have to have another final shape.

 

the tail planes received further details at the ends and some tweaks to the riveting. I also used them for color tests, as you can see.

 

and nothing, in the end I had to surrender to the evidence that the wing alone is not made...

so I traced the position of the ribs, then the intervals thanks to Rosie the riveter, and I left to lay a zillion of drops of black attak, which will then be covered with strips of adhesive aluminum, as already done for the movable surfaces of the tailplanes.

 

now I just have to wait for my eyes to stop bleeding to move on to the upper surfaces.

cheers, Paolo

[Dpgsbody55]

Brilliant work on this, Paolo.  It's going to be a jewel of a model when it's done.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[themongoose]

Just some great work going on here! A couple of those pictures are double for the real thing

[LSP_Kevin]

This is the way.

 

Kev

[Out2gtcha]

7 hours ago, LSP_Kevin said:

This is the way.

 

 

Indeed, the tribe approves