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

[Grissom]

Hi Paolo,

This aircraft is one of my all-time favourites from WWII and your build is probably the best one I've ever seen of this particular kit (in all its releases).  Your modelling skills are clearly evident and you should be proud of your efforts.   I have this kit (Matchbox) in my stash and if mine ends up being half as good as yours, I will be happy.

 

Kind regards,

 

Wayne 

[mc65]

thank you all, I'm really glad you appreciate, as me, this definetly strange aircraft!

 

I won't be pretending to be modest: to finish this kit I sweated seven shirts, but I must say (only now that it is practically finished) that by addressing a single problem at a time it's possible to come out of it.

having third millennium's capabilities, it can be further improved by redesigning the fuselage structure, creating specific PE, and creating stencils for the signs to be painted.

 

if I had to do it again, I believe I would assemble the wing with the metal spars right away, reinforcing the whole structure inside the wing.

another thing I would do is build a sturdy template for the wing-fuselage gluing phase, the stands I used proved too optimistic to keep a decidedly too complex geometry at bay, by the standards of the 70s kit.

 

Russ, unfortunately I don't have any pic of the work in progress of the landing gear leg inside the spats. I just used a 3,5mm square brass element curved by the hard way (anvil and hammer) to match the spat curve. instead of doing a unique leg, as in the real, I divided it in two low semi-legs, just the lenght necessary to accomodate in the spats.

i realized some cuts in the upper end of the legs to match some plasticards strips and have a strong joint. once the legs were positioned correctly, I reinforced everything by filling the upper fairing with cyanacrylate and glass microspheres.

 

here some pics (posted for discussion purposes only) from a book still available, that I strongly reccomend to whom want to confront himself with the Lizzie.

first, the book itself:

 

then some specific images. the whole leg. 

 

here it is possible to appreciate the curvature in situ.

a thing that must be considered is the camber and the position of the leg under load. in the photo above it's evident that the leg is closed without load, and the wheels are not perpendicular to the ground.

I decided to represent an airplane not at its maximum weight, therefore with the wheels and the spats open but not at the maximum.

reading the reports of those who have piloted a restored kite in flight conditions, it is understood that during taxiing the landing gear moves even an inch in one direction or the other due to the compression of the elastic leg. it follows that the wing must also be affected by such excursions, in some way.

 

and here even better, the relationship with the outer fairing.

in particular it is important that the leg is positioned adjacent to the inner panel of the spat. otherwise the wheel will tend to come out of the volume of the spat on the opposite side.

 

here it is possible to appreciate the position of the leg in relation to the rest of the fuselage.

 

but, since it would have been difficult to manage the leg as a single piece during the assembly of the fuselage, and considering that you can see just a tiny part of it under the pilot's seat, I decided to insert the central part as a purely aesthetic piece.

you can see the central part in the first photos of page 2 of this wip.

 

I hope it could have been of some help!

 

cheers, Paolo

 

 

Edited April 18 by mc65

[MARU5137]

Paolo,

Excellent  workmanship Sir.

I looked ever which way at the wings and I didn't see anything out of alignment.. looks good to ME and I agree with others, you can't tell.

 

Exceptional  skilful and detailed work from you Paolo.

Very methodical and  meticulous. 

 

[spartacus2000]

Hi Paolo, great job on Lizzie, the Matchbox molds are really generous in the panels but I have seen that you have been able to optimally reduce the trenches. I had a lot of fun building Eduard's one in 1/48 and I didn't have to suffer as much as you, in 1/48 it is already big enough I don't want to think how much it is in 1/32. Congratulations again, Bravo.

Edited May 15 by spartacus2000

[Kaeone57]

Lovely Looking Lysander! Gorgeous work all around, Congratulations Paolo!

 

Alfonso