Eduard Westland Lysander 1/48

I’ve stuck with an RAF subject after my failure to complete the Gloster Gladiator. So I chose another aircraft with a fixed wing above the cockpit, but only one, this being the Westland Lysander. Interesting aircraft that was used, among other ways, to infiltrate / extricate spies into occupied France. It was also featured in the recent movie Allied (which starred Brad Pitt).

A quick review of the kit. This is a rebox of a Gavia kit, a manufacturer that I am not familiar with. The kit was not terrible, and it was not great. Parts fit was mostly decent, although the canopy pieces and the parts constituting the cowling panels were terrible. I had to insert shims between a few of the canopy pieces to eliminate huge gaps, and I had to do some plastisurgery to get the cowling parts to fit reasonably well. This is one of Eduard’s “Profipack” kits, meaning it includes a fret of PE, some resin parts, and painting masks. The PE enhances the average detail the base kit came with, including a bunch of tiny details as well as harnesses and gun detail. The resin parts were a couple of intakes in the engine (that’s my assumption as to what those are, the small circular openings you can see when looking straight on at the radial engine, just poking through on either side of the cowling) and the rear gun, which is further enhanced with some of the PE. The masks fit to the parts well, but my experience with them differed greatly from my experience with the Montex Masks I’ve been using on many of my recent builds. When I got to lifting them away, they tended to take chunks of paint from the frame with them. I tried doing some light cutting between frame and mask but that didn’t resolve the problem. So I had to do some frame painting by hand.

I did have a little difficulty getting the wings and those braces to set properly. In the end I believe I managed a “close enough” approximation, but the wings are not set as far onto the upper mount as they could be. The engine was too large for the cowling, which is what I believe caused the poor fit of the cowling panels. I ended up chopping off the ends of most of the cylinders (which cannot be seen in any event) to be able to get the cowling panels into place, but even with that, there remains a small gap.

Paints were Tamiya, Vallejo, Model Master, and AK Interactive Real Colors. The last was my first use of these paints (the top side camo colors, dark green and dark Earth), and I must say that they spray very well, brush well, and look great. Very little weathering other than a bit of exhaust staining, which is barely visible, and wear on the paint where the pilot mounts into the aircraft along the port wheel shroud.

Not a bad kit that results in a small 1/48 warbird.

Next up, Airfix’s 1/48 Bristol Blenheim Mk. IF

That turned our nice. I’ve always liked the lines of that plane. I’ve only recently learned about the eduard kits and some reboxing. I’ll be sure to research before buying another. You handled the kit problems well!

Sounds like it was a battle, Stephen. Looks nice.

Nicely done! The Lysander is a favourite of mine, although I don’t have any immediate plans to build a model of it. So far, I’ve stuck with models of planes, a helicopter, and a ship with which I have had personal experiences or fantasies — I’m building an F-86F Sabre because my 8-year-old self was convinced he wanted to be a jet fighter pilot. Foolish child!

Question: What material did you use for aerials for your Lysander. My Hampden needs aerials! (I first learned about Hampden bombers through researching the death of a Canadian observer who died in 1942 when his Hampden crashed in Denmark following a area bombing raid on Rostock, Germany. See my award-winning article at Sgt. Joe Hicks and the Battle for Europe.)

Bob

Thank you John.

I’ve built several Eduard kits in the past, so I knew that they typically rebox other manufacturer’s releases, but had never thought to research them prior to buying. For the Lysander, I had always liked this one, and when I saw this boxing, I snapped it up since I didn’t have one in the stash.

Thanks John. It was a bit of a battle, but unlike the Gladiator, I “won”.

Bob, thanks for your kind words.

I once had a desire to get into the US Air Force to fly fighters as well, but then in 6th grade I found out my vision needed correcting via glasses, and that was the end of that.

The aerials are EZ Line.

https://www.amazon.com/EZLine-Simulating-Wires-Charcoal-Black/dp/B07KSDVF4V/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=ez+line&qid=1595082608&sr=8-2

@Aggieman: Thanks for the link. I have ordered a spool of the EZ Line “wire”.

Bob

Awesome! This is probably my favorite liaison aircraft!

You’re welcome. My tip to you for using this stuff is to not attempt to use it with any kind of fans blowing anywhere near it, otherwise it can be incredibly difficult to get a hold of. And I use fine-tipped tweezers to grab the end as I have never been able to “feel” it between my fingers which seems to prevent me from being able to work with it.

Thank you, Chad! I might be a bit torn on the favorite liaison aircraft, between the Lysander and the Luftwaffe’s Storch.