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

[LSP_Kevin]

47 minutes ago, mc65 said:

PS obviously I have overstepped the terms of this group building. I ask please to move this build to the work in progress section. TIA!

 

Done! Glad to see you'll be finishing this one off, Paolo.

 

Kev

[shark64]

One of the coolest plane of WW2 in my opinion...great modeling going on here

[mc65]

hi, thanks for moving here this wip, Kevin. I'm sorry I didn't complete it on the set date, I came so close!

thank you too, Shark! actually I think it's one of the most unfairly treated aircraft by model manufacturers.

 

so, tonight a rich update, with a lot of cute little things, I would say. ready?

in the euphoria of the wing in its place and of the color retouches (not documented in detail, sorry) that were successful without damage, I launched into the last thing that gave me a little to think about, the transparencies.

before these, however, I needed to place the last details below, the flaps interconnecting cables and instrument panel's spotlights.

 

then a slight weathering with oils, and while these it were drying, one of the most rewarding phases for me: off the mask! it took me a lifetime this time...

 

et voilà the only kit's original clear part in position, coupled with the redesigned side panels and the wing modified to the sound of steel and aluminum. all almost well, except that in a retouch I stripped -again- one of the damned aluminum strips. phew.

 

I've already retouched it a million times, I'll do it again, patience.

however, I still have to touch up all the lower surfaces. here the mooring eyelet on the wing pillar, and you can guess the shiny halo of the two-component that holds it in place (aided by a sturdy brass pin).

 

once the lateral transparencies were placed, I was able to definitively glue the flaps, and then the slats. in the enthusiasm of the moment I also positioned the upper sliding transparent, forgetting the two side ones... bravo, now it will be less simple, with the slats in the middle.

 

and oh well. if I didn't do nonsense it wouldn't be me, of course. also glued the exhaust and retouched the manifold.

 

and a couple of shots together to see if there is something to correct. ah, I have recovered some HGW decals for the "W / T" stencils, here waiting to be peeled, but we will talk about it tomorrow.

then another goofy, I waited to have the wing mounted to paint the indexes near the stabilizer. a real convenience... here also a test for the wheels, I was undecided whether to leave the rims clear or get them black. I opted for the latter hypothesis: semi-gloss black rims and matte tires.

 

and zenith view. here there are no flaps and slats actuators yet, position lights, and... the ladder! damn me, I should have done it without the wing glued, ofjzdfnif, now will be a calvary.

and I also see a section of slat, the central left, which has disheveled... let's see if I can correct it, but I already know it's too late.

 

well. net of the various messes that I combine, I must say that I am quite satisfied with how it is turning out in the end.

or maybe I'm not very objective?

 

cheers, Paolo.

 

[LSP_Kevin]

Looks great, Paolo!

 

Kev

[Dpgsbody55]

This is shaping up beautifully.  Definitely worth all the effort you've put in.

 

 

 

Cheers,

Michael

[MikeMaben]

Very nice Paolo, I've seen parked Lysanders with LE slats open at different positions so I would say it's not a critical issue. 

[LSP_Mike]

You have done a fine job with a very difficult kit.

[mc65]

thanks to everyone, in particular to Mike: I went to look for as many photos of the extended slats, and in fact in several you can see some asymmetry. ok so, then.

 

and now a small update for those who were worried (I was a lot) for the realization of the ladder after the wing was installed.

done!

after having sketched the parallel uprights and having oriented and fixed them with bicomponent, I prepared a template to position the steps.

 

here too everything is taken from various photos, no serious drawing available. as it is as it is not, here we are:

 

the best reference I had was this

 

I would say that I can be satisfied. now I have to paint it on site, but I have faith.

 

cheers, Paolo

 

[ipms4450]

WOW.  What else can I say but....WOW

This kit has been in my shelf of doom kits for years. Started, thrown up in the loft, re-started.  Several times.

You have brought it out of its place again with your incredible build. I am so grateful to have been able to read this accounting of a beautiful build.

Of course I sincerely wish that ICM would do this in 32nd scale to go along with the rest of the pre-war stuff that they have already done.

However, right now I realize that anything new is very far from their thinking. God Bless the Ukrainian nation in this time.

 

Thanks for sharing your build with us.

 

Russ

[mc65]

Russ, what to say?

let's hope that things in Ukraine will normalize soon, to the point of being able to think about going back to designing and producing new kits. I must admit I find somewhat disturbing to model warplanes these days. 

 

nevertheless, I don't want to lose the headway, and I want to finish this model, so in the last two days I have unmarked almost all the items in the "last small jobs" checklist.

please forgive the photos taken during the works without any attempt to do a decent thing, the idea was only to document the progress, I hope in the short term to make better ones.

so, ready for a roundup of ugly photos of an ugly model of an ugly plane?

 

the ladder.

painted and moderately weathered. and the rear canopy in its place. in some recent photos you can see two internal handles near the tracks. in the vintage photos no, ergo, no handles. one thing that I have not solved is the white thread that indicates the thickness of the plasticard of the frames. the only thing that comes to my mind, to try in the next life, is to use black plastic, to be find a suitable one in terms of chemical composition and thickness.

 

Oh. in a book that arrived the other day (ordered in December, thanks a lot, Brexit) I found a lot of interesting information, mostly late. one that I had time to use is the one relating to a fixed external step instead of the classic springloaded footstep on the starboard side. a typically British object, which I reproduced with less effort than I feared.

 

wheels!

painted, dusty, placed in place. in the background the exhaust further weathered and a few exhaust fumes on the gear leg.

 

reverse shot.

to be improved scratches and weathering. also in the book above there is a practical page relating to service stencils, including the red lines that indicate the springloaded footsteps.

 

and inner side.

brake hoses to comb, but there we are. it should be noted that the wheel is not centered on the axis, allowing me to play on the height of the wheel giving the idea of a compressed Dowty shock absorber.

 

prop and spinner.

polished the blades, made a few more scratches, added a placard on the spinner.

 

pitot.

here there is still some work to be done, but at least I have a base from which to start. obviously the one from the box was awful, simply. in the background the excellent HGW red "W / T" stencils.

 

cockpit.

added side windows (open, so you can see only the upper profile with the handle to extract them) and two reinforcing triangles of the lateral transparent surfaces. an additional reinforcement on each side at half height would be missing, but I don't know if I want to damn my soul to put thse on.

 

and external tank in place, still to be touched up.

 

the rear wheel is missing, but it is under gluing, for the moment no photos, sorry.

 

and that's it. now I just have to wait for the decals of jiminy cricket and the serial number, and then I can make uniform everything with a possible round of oil effects. in short, it doesn't seem true to me, but it seems to have come near to an end!

cheers, Paolo.

 

[mc65]

hi all, 

waiting for the decals I unmarked the last items to add, and doing so I realized that the upper lateral cockpit walls lacked something. in this photo it's evident:

 

nothing complicated, in a quarter of an hour I solved it. fortunately the sliding hood was only propped up.

 

here after the touch-ups with the colors and having reinstalled the hood. also I added the reinforcements between the lateral clear walls and the fuselage's structure, visible here just aft the seat.

but in checking the alignment, I found that the wing has rotated a few degrees during gluing, and now there is nothing I can do, other than destroying what I have done so far.

 

 

here it is maybe better understood: by drawing an imaginary vertical line on the fuselage it is perceived that the wing is not at 90 °

 

no comment.

only now a comparison is a must. I would say that the Storch, both in the real and in the model, is a real engineering jewel.

 

cheers, Paolo

 

 

 

[LSP_Kevin]

I know it won't be much consolation, Paolo, but I can't really see the wing alignment issue in the photos, so perhaps it's not as noticeable as you think. We always know where the problem areas in our builds are, even when others don't notice them!

 

Kev

[LSP_Mike]

I must agree with Kev, I did not see the issue in your photos. I do see what I consider the go-to build for anyone that wants to bash their head on this kit.

Excellent work.

[MikeC]

The wing looks OK to me. The Lysander's wing shape is such that it can be very deceptive in terms of looks.

 

A fine model.

[Uncarina]

2 hours ago, LSP_Mike said:

I must agree with Kev, I did not see the issue in your photos. I do see what I consider the go-to build for anyone that wants to bash their head on this kit.

Excellent work.

I’m with Mike completely. I’m just catching up here and I consider your work to be THE definitive build of this kit. You have amazing skills and it’s a pleasure to see what you’ve done.

 

Cheers,  Tom