Blue Monday

I think this airframe might be the YOV-10D NOGS. I'd imagine the cockpit was generally the same with modified instrument panels. Always thought it was interesting ever since Airfix released their kit of it. Great work on your OV-10A. BM.

Very nice Cub. Your efforts show in the finished model. BM.

I think this is the first completed model I have seen of yours, Anthony. It looks just as expected. Flawless. I have been following the progress on your BK117 over the years and look forward to seeing that completed in the future. I hope all is well after your car accident. BM.

Thank you, sir. I appreciate the information. 👍 BM.

Does anyone have sprue shots of the CH-53D kit? I am curious to know if the kit might include the components for the RH-53D (mirrors, in-flight refueling probe and external fuel tanks). Thanks. BM.

Great build of a small and difficult kit to construct well. BM.

Thanks for sharing these pics. Any further helo photos will be gratefully received! BM.

Looks like a fascinating machine. Thanks for the photos. BM.

Moa did a lovely job on the Mach II kit a while ago. Needs work for sure but better than scratchbuilding one, I reckon. BM.

A recent family bereavement has meant little time or enthusiasm for modelling but I am slowly getting back to the Lynx. The cabin floor features a slot on either side of the rear cabin compartment. This is to accommodate Matchbox's effort at facilitating a rear sliding cabin door! If I do decide to fit the doors open on my model, they will be fixed open so I thought I had better get rid of the channel. Here is a previous photo with the channel still in place. Here is the channel filled in with plasticard and filler. I am still trying to get the basics right when it comes to filler and getting a reasonable finish with it. Thanks. BM.

Stunning diorama. BM.

I hope the high skids for the Kiowa are brass and not resin. I have a set of earlier resin skids from the previous incarnation of Airgraphics Models (at least I think it was them) and they were misshapen and useless, unfortunately. BM.

A stunning piece of modelling. BM.

It looks like it is a standard Hughes 500D version. They will also probably do a 500M-D Defender version, given that it appears to be coming from South Korea and they fly the scout and TOW-armed versions of the Defender. The Kitty Hawk kit was quite good but the AH-6J version that they released had too many features from the later AH-6M that it isn't possible to build an accurate early Little Bird or 500D from it. Hopefully they don't overdo the main rotor blade droop with this new kit like Kitty Hawk did. A very welcome kit nonetheless. BM.

As far as I know, the darker area that has a wet appearance is the portion of the fuselage that has been subjected to fluids leaking from the transmission and engines as well as hydraulic fluid. I don't think it is the case that that area has been freshly painted. Hope this is of assistance. BM.

Thanks, gentlemen. Any additional info on the instrument rack will be gratefully received. An important family event will keep me busy in the coming week but I'll be back after that with further updates, hopefully. BM.

Looking forward to the release of this kit. BM.

Very nice Sea King. BM.

Here is my attempt at the instrument panel with some dials dry-fitted, to see how everything fits. The long rectangular box shape is the warning lights bar and this has a single dial on the end too (possibly a clock). The layout of the panel is an approximation of the real thing as I can find no photo of the panel of XX153. There is a small bit of footage on youtube showing a portion of the panel so I have used that as a guide. The panel on the prototypes would have been more sparse than on the production versions and with this being an army aircraft, it would have had a simpler layout than the naval variant. I have modified the photo on Flickr in an attempt to make the dials more visible. Everything should look better when painted and dry-brushed. I hope to add one or two decals and a few other bits to the panel as well. BM.

Your crane is a work of art. BM.

That is a pity. I was really looking forward to seeing your Harrier. It was coming along nicely. BM.

All four brackets for the rack have now been fitted. Next job will be to make two shelves from plastic card and these will slot down between the four brackets. It should be fun trying to get the two shelves cut precisely from card! After the shelves are fitted, I'll have an idea of what space I will have for electronic boxes. I hope to get some work done on the instrument panel and also get the centre instrument console started. This build is slowly moving away from the spirit of this group build, I think, with my attempt to add some detail to the interior. Apologies for that. I should really be building this kit OOB. The interior is quite bare so it is crying out for some additional detail. I just can't resist attempting to add a little detail here and there. BM.

Progress is glacial due to work and St. Patrick's Day this week. I found some small Evergreen channel and this seems like the best option for support brackets for the shelves on my electronics rack. One is fitted with three to go. When they are fitted, I will make the two shelves from thin plastic card and then slot them in between the brackets. At least that is the plan. Time will tell if this will actually work. I have also cut out the instrument panel from plastic card and need to see how to add detail to it. Probably a mix of punched discs for dials and scrap decals from the spares folder. Thanks for looking. BM.

Does anyone have a photograph of the instrument panel of Lynx prototype XX153, or indeed a photo of the instrument panel of any of the standard Lynx prototypes (XW835 to XW839) or XX907? I am scratchbuilding an instrument panel for a model of XX153 and would love to see a panel so that I can attempt an approximation of it. Thanks. BM.

Here is my attempt at the electronics rack fitted in the rear compartment of XX153. This is the base of the rack. It isn't 100% accurate because I haven't been able to find any detailed photos of the rack and shelving unit. At the moment, I have no idea how I am going to build up the rest of the rack, particularly the supports in the four corners for the two shelves that will be needed! 🤔 I'll set this particular part of the model aside for a day or two and come back to it with a fresh set of eyes. I am reasonably happy with the pilots' seats so they can be painted this week. Next, I need to finish off detailing the pilot's side of the cockpit with tail rotor pedals and a collective lever. I also need to make an instrument panel and centre console. With all of that done, I can start to look at getting the fuselage halves together. Thanks for looking. BM.