Search the Community

A new year . A new project. And you know what? As a first project of this year we do something simple... BWAHAHAHAHA... sure... For a "Flying Abominations"-GB on another forum I proudly present; The Westland P.12 Lysander Delanne (Wendover)! The whowhatsit!? Well, this... Short (Really short) History Almost everybody knows the Westland Lysander . Famous mainly for the risky missions that the Allies undertook during WW2. Because of his special flight characteristics of the Lysander was very suitable for landings on short improvised airfields to pick up and drop off agents and Resistance fighters in the middle of the night. With the expected invasion of England in mind the Ministry of Defence was looking for a way to defend the beaches. Thus was born the idea of Westlands’s chief designer, Arthur Davenport, for a "beach Strafer " . The Lysander as a basis (which was able to maintain a speed of just over 100 km/h in the air), but better armed to wipe clean the beach. Therefore it was decided to install the 4-gun Nash & Thomson rear turret of a Wellington. The design was made even stranger by adding an extra pair of wings. The Westland P.12 Delanne was equipped with the tandem wing akin to the design of airplane designer Maurice Henri Delanne . And contrary to what you might expect at first sight, the flying characteristics of this monstrosity were remarkably good . So much so that the pilot flying the first test-flight in July 1941 ended it with a loop! The Victim For this build the Matchbox 1/32 Lysander serves as a (willing) donor. Recently picked up on a forum for a pittance, without decals and box. Along with the Revell reboxing from the stash I'm going to see if I can do something with it. Matchbox kit. Trust me, everything is there... Revell kit Sprue shot! I'm not entirely sure if I even need parts of the Revell kit, but the decals are in any case already moved to the box of the original Matchbox kit that still lies waiting in the stash... Reference Material So pitifully little... On the Lysander itself there is material enough to find, but on the Wendover (as the British called him eventually ) there is not much. Some black-and-white pictures and a few three-way views of questionable quality, one more useful than the other. But do not worry; with a little common sense, a bit of calculation and tricks with a drawing program , we can work it out ( I think ...). Anything I can't figure out I will guestimate... More sooooon! Rob