Westland Lysander III/a Profipack

[Mike]

Westland Lysander III/a Profipack

1:48 Eduard

The Lysander was developed pre-war as an Army Co-operation aircraft after much research of what the pilots wanted from the new aircraft. Short field operation and a very low stall speed of 65mph was the result, but once WWII began, its flying characteristics made it easy prey to the Luftwaffe and heavy losses resulted.

After being moved to duties within Great Britain, it found its niche in aviation history by being of exceptional use as a Special Operations machine, ferrying spies, supplies and weapons to the occupied territories in the dead of night.

The kit is a re-boxing of the earlier Gavia kit, with Eduard's extras included to give a little additional detail. It arrives in a small box, with a great picture of a camouflaged Lysander banking over a cluster of German trucks into which it has just tossed a bomb to cause havoc. Inside are four sprues of sand coloured styrene, a clear sprue, a fret of Photo-Etched (PE) parts, a small bag of resin parts, some of Eduard's well known Kabuki tape masks, a decal sheet and instruction booklet.

The sprues are filled with a large number of delicate looking parts, due to the construction of the aircraft, and care will be needed in removing them from the sprues. The larger surfaces exhibit a slight sheen, with a very slight grain to the surface which should disappear under a coat of primer.

Construction begins with the cockpit, which is surrounded by the internal framework of the aircraft. This detail will be prominent even with the canopy closed, so care in assembly and painting will pay dividends. Here Eduard have added replacement faces for the radio and instrument panel, as well as a pair of PE rudder pedals and various other small parts. Additional details to the framework is also included, again using PE.

The rear gun platform gives you a choice of weapon mounts, with either a single barrelled lewis gun in resin, or a twin .50 cal mount with a pair of replacement cooling jackets. Your choice here is dictated by the marking options that you choose, so make sure you choose early!

Once the cockpit is completed, it is trapped inside the fuselage, which has very nice restrained rib detail on the inside, and will paint up nicely to give a little extra depth to the cockpit. The fuselage terminates behind the cowling, which is a separate assembly made up from three sections with a separate collector ring. Into this slots the 9 cylinder Bristol engine, which has separate cylinder parts, ancillary piping and exhaust outlets supplied, with the modeller left to find 9 pieces of 0.6mm diameter rod to finish the job. Two resin air intakes are provided to slot into the front of the engine as replacement for the crudely moulded plastic representations that are removed during build-up of the cowling.

The prop has a two-piece central boss into which the three blades mount, with the spinner sitting atop it. A scrap diagram gives a suggested angle to pose the prop blades, as they are not keyed on this kit. The cowling/engine is finished off by adding the exhaust, a small chin intake, and a PE slip indicator just behind the prop.

By necessity, the glazing must be installed at least in part before the wings can be attached, as the clear parts supply some of the structural strength. Clarity of the clear parts is good - especially the flat sections, and the kabuki tape masks should save you time masking each individual pane of glass here, and a diagram is provided to help you put them in the correct places.

The wings are traditional two part assemblies, one for each side, funnily enough. They are supported by a pair of V-struts that brace against the spatted landing gear legs, which are built up in anticipation of their important part in making the wings sturdy. The separate wheels are sandwiched within the spats, so it would be wise to paint them before affixing them inside. The prominent landing lights at the front of each spat are supplied as a rear reflector that must be painted chrome, and a clear lens for the front. The optional "bunny ears" winglets on the spats are also installed here, but check your references to see whether they were carried by the airframe you are modelling.

The main build is completed by adding some small PE parts around the airframe, and if you choose to model one of two airframes, a cylindrical baggage pod is attached between the gear legs.

As is usual with Profipack editions, a good choice of markings is included, and decals are up to Eduard's usual standards, crisp and clear with good registration. From the box you can portray one of the following options:

Mk.IIIA V9437, No.309 Squadron, RAF Dunino, Scotland, 1942 - dark earth/green over sky

Mk.IIIA V9374, No.613 Squadron, RAF 1941 - dark earth/green over sky

Mk.III T1429, No.26 Squadron, RAF Gatwick, 1940/41 - dark earth/green over sky

Mk.III V9287, No.161 (SD) Squadron, RAF Tempsford, - 1942 MSG/green over night black

Mk.III V9367, No.161 (SD) Squadron, RAF Tempsford, - 1944 night black

Conclusion

I missed this kit the first time around, so am very pleased to see it reboxed with additional detail parts by Eduard. It's an iconic aircraft that played an important part in WWII, overcoming its inadequacies to do so. I have an additional soft spot for this aircraft as my dad built me a balsa model of one when I was a boy. Fond memories...

Recommended

Review sample courtesy of

[Julien]

Very nice and the Big H are listing it as £25 which is very nice

Julien

[Shar2]

Looks a very nice kit. I do like the Lysander and the things it got used for. Seems rather a bargain at £25.