Lynx7

Hi Oliver. I too have been tempted to get the Accurate Armour 1/35 Lynx but it just doesnt seem 'right' in some areas. As opposed to some minor stuff that would need changing, it seems to be things like windscreen shape are plain wrong. The other thing that turned me off it is the apparent huge and deep amount of riveting and panel lining. It looks like a battleship in that respect! Could be a challenge though. If you did one to the same extent as your UH1, I would be mightily interested in watching that one!!!

Further update. Finished both intakes and have made a start on the nose wheels and main undercarriage. Best purchase has to be a Rolson magnifying visor! Construction of the axle base with thin rod that will go inside the alloy oleo Scissor links constructed and pinned in place Components Assembled. Shown in the compressed position Extended. I found the easiest way to construct the undercarriage is to make it just like the real thing which means it can be positioned in any position when fitted. The oleos compress in the correct sense which means I wont have to worry too much setting the landing gear precisely as it can be adjusted in situ. Main wheel (1/48 Revell Spit wheel). Because the main wheels are fairly simple in design, I elected not to put the spitfire inserts in. I have however made the rims from 1mm sliced brass tubing. Requires cleaning up. The nuts and screws are 12 and 14 BA jobbies....tiny!! I shall recess the top part of the nose wheel leg in to the underside and fit the nose locking pin (the thinner vertical tube on the forward of the leg you can see on the real thing below) Dry fit of the main oleos. The Mk9s have a strengthening doubler plate riveted on to the bulkhead where the oleos attach the fuselage (white vertical strip of plasicard). Mine will require fine sanding to thin it down a bit. Inserted the tie down lashing shackle and mount. You can see the stub axle end with a 14BA threaded stud. I will attach the brake disc and calipers to this a bit later. Thanks for looking

I am tempted because I intent to convert my next Lynx to a Wildcat (exactly the same upper deck area) so would save me a lot of work (and thinking ahead for when the Airfix Lynx finally comes out, it could be a useful conversion for those that may want to convert to 9A or Wildcat). Only problem is I have no idea how create it for vacform?!

Excellent mate! I've layed off the sim models for a while now. You know how it is with hobbies.....hence me picking scale modelling up again after 15 odd years. Just had a search through my hard drive and I found XZ244! I'll chuck them all on a disc and send them to you. Current count of Lynx I've done so far is a staggering 24 different versions.....

Justin, hello to you too. I think we have spoken at great lengths before....Alphasim Lynx? Thats me :-D Did I send you the repaint for the Ardent HAS2 in the end? If not, let me know! (PS, I'm about to start at Yeovs in Sept doing OE on the Wildcat so see you about)

Wow, great job there mate! :-D

I've seen both your Mk7 and 8 and I have to say, they are immaculate! Yours were always models I looked at and thought 'wish mine turns out half as nice'. I think I may well get in touch with Belcher and see if they can replace the head. What I dont want is for my blades to droop in any sense whatsoever. The real aircraft has rigid straight flat blades and the lack of this sometimes spoils a Lynx model. We called the Mk9 the 'Reliant robin' for obvious reasons. It also got nicknamed 'soup dragon' too.... As for the re-engined Mk9As, we now call them 'Mildcats' In my opinion, the best iteration you'll ever see for a battlefield Lynx.

Many thanks Shep More work on the u/c legs. Just dry fit for now Main rotor head. You can see the poor finish on the left and top pitch change sleeves. I think I may well take them all off and make new ones.

Intakes formed. Blob of milliput shaped in to position. I initially tried to bore the intake hole whilst the milliput was soft because I was concerned of its brittleness of try to work it when hard. Didn't work out so left it until it was hard and carefully drilled a pilot hole then work it out slowly with progressively larger drill bits then filed and sanded. Underestimated the robustness of milliput because it was fine when hard. I will need to stick the vane that covers the reduction gearbox on the innerside of the intake. I think something like the end of a smoothed cocktail stick melded in to the intake should do the trick. I've bored out an are behind the intake on the main engine housing. I'll stick the first couple of stages of the T800 compressor blades here. Port intake shaped and hardening. Start on the main u/c oleos. Because the model has a ton of milliput and extras on it, it'll be HEAVY! Hence why I've elected to go for the engineering solution for the u/c....

I have to say, having read this forum for a while, it prompted me to raise my game. The work on here is simply stunning.

Initial layer of Mr Hobby primer and a first try at the main u/c (all blu-tacked on for now!). Couple of areas will need a bit of filler on prior to resanding then dressing the decking with lumps, humps and holes. 1/48 Spit main wheels seem to work well but may need to widen the tyre area a bit. Any tips? You can see how much wider the T800 engine bay is (just in front of the grey milliputed area, the old intakes still remain) and there is a more pronounced overhang along the length of the engine bay area where it joins the fuselage. Real things; (Mk7 has IRCM bins fitted on exhausts)

Ah ha, my apologies. I had the injection one years ago too but on reflection, actually prefer the vacform one due to the thinness of the fuselage and the ease at being able to work it (and also the price!!). My memory on doing the injection version is it was like scooping out a solid tree to make a canoe for the interior..... If you're scared to build yours, you can always just give it to me

Rare as rocking horse s***e! I chanced upon the vacform one whilst looking for the resin version. Cost a tenner. There is currently the resin one on EBay at £50+...ouch. Heritage are bringing a 1/48 out soon though (may well get that one too).

Oliver, you're really a 1/35th scale human aren't you???? Have you considered working for Westland? You could show them how to build helicopters properly! Absolutely stunning craftsmanship

Thanks all! Made a start on the T800 hump-back. Started with a blob of Milliput and shaped it. I found licking it aided with the sculpting...... Once its hardened, I'll work it and sand/fill it to the required shape but its not too bad at present. Tricky part will be placing the exhausts at the right angle to almost 'meld' with the main rear section of the top deck. Intakes are next. I'm hoping these will be straight forward to fabricate as they are just big holes rounded off. I'm reluctant to start chopping bits off the original kit just in case it all goes horribly wrong and I have to stick to a Mk7!

The photo at post #6 is 'Oxbow', the last EO used on NI Lynx. As sniperUK quite rightly points out, the link to Arrse shows 'Chancellor'. Prior to that, we had 'Helitelly'. Similarly large green ball but with a different fitment to the fuselage. Currently use Wescam MX15 and very soon, the MX10 on Lynx 9A's. (sniperUK, what a coincidence to see a few of my posts on the Arrse link )

Many thanks for all your positive replies! I've stuck a new thread in the Work in progress for my Belcher Bits Lynx. I'll be juggling that with a recently purchased MDC 1/32 Hawker Typhoon. Cant wait to get my teeth in to that as it is a truly beautiful kit. Planning on scratch building a Napier Sabre for it so really dont give myself any let up since returning to the fold....

Looking really nice! Especially like the cabin and IP

After finishing my Aeroclub Chippie, I dug out my Lynx. Bought it about 10 years ago but never really got started. Since rediscovering modelling, its the next on my list of 'to do's'. Its the AH7 version but I'm going to convert it to the AH9A with M3M .50 cal. This will require quite a bit of heavy modifying of the engine areas and putting wheels on it as well as a tiny bit of instrument panel mods and the tail cone strake. Luckily, when Westland converted the original AH9s, the just used old Whirlwind wheels and oleos! I've discovered that 1/48 Spitfire wheels are a perfect size for the mains and the 1/72 Spit wheels are perfect for the nose wheels. The kit consists of part resin, part injection. Generally a very good quality kit but a few parts are quite frustrating. The main rotor head and main rotor blade extension arms are not terribly well formed so I'll probably end up scratch building them. Fuselage goes together quite well but require quite a bit of filler and sanding. Easily done as the resin and plastic is easily worked Start of the cockpit area. I've fabricated the air vent tubing from brass tube. Since I've decided to do this as an AH9A, I'll need to remove these as the 9a has a posh ECS. Start of making the cargo floor and rear heating vents and 3 man seat The screen area is a vacform (luckily, x2 in the kit) and seeing how I wanted to show cockpit doors open, I decided to scratch build the doors Initial fit of the cabin roof and control frame. I drilled and inserted pegs at the base of the control frame to aid strength and ease fitment. All just dry mounted at present. Cabin floor. Front seats will be used as a basis for the armoured seats Start of the armoured seat wings. thin scored plasticard Armoured seats with interia reels fitted. Pedals fabricated. The M3M .50 cal comes with a 1200 round ammo cradle so this was made using box section and sheet plasticard. 600 round ammo boxes sit on each side Next came the construction of the M3M and its plinth. I decided to scratch build the weapon but used a purchased barrel. Very high quality from White Ensign. The plinth was built using box section and cut and formed strips of plasticard Decided to hand make the seat harnesses but I may buy a set from Eduard. Making the weapon mount. This bit will form the control handle and grip Weapon mount complete. I decided to make the mount fully moveable in elevation and azimuth. Means I can position the weapon in the stowed or ready position Mount complete. You can see the ammo cradle with ammo containers fitted Roof detail showing soundproofing (Milliput with the texture from a modelling knife rolled over it), interior cabin light and intercom drop leads Interior finished The black chip basket thing is the link catcher. This is usually removed and stowed on the back of the ammo cradle when the weapon is stowed. Made using a framework of thin box section with a 10thou plasticard top and bottom then 'skinned' with mesh Going to make a start on constructing the new engine area next. Undecided whether to have cowlings open and show the T800s. Thanks for looking

Thank you :-D I hope you have as much pleasure building it as I did. Just my luck to find out halfway through the build that Heritage are bringing a 1/48 Chippie out in the near future!

Aeroclub 1/48 Vacuform Chipmunk. First build for about 15 years! Despite reservations on tackling a vacform as my first build in over 15 years, it was actually a pleasure to build. Thanks for looking See here for the build

Hi everybody. New member and first post on the forum. I've been away from scale modelling for some years (about 15 or so) and have more time to pick it up again. Quite staggered at how things have changed on the model front and the amount of stuff available to the modeller! Anyway, down to business. Thought I'd share my first project back on the scene. The Aeroclub vacuform 1/48 Chippie. First vac kit I've ever attempted so decided to do something slightly easy....if there is such a thing in vacform. I did the Aeroclub resin Chippie ages ago but they are like hens teeth to get hold of and very expensive when they do come around. This particular one was snapped up on EBay for the princely sum of £10 (about £15 p&p from the States). Scuse the quality of the pics and I wish I'd photographed the build right from the start. Why the Chippie? Its the first aircraft I went solo in and also the first aircraft my girlfriend went solo in so I was sort of building it for her. Nowt more than a few sheets of lumpy plastic! Scratch built cockpit Panels cut and drilled ready for clear acetate to be placed on rear then individual instrument decals (Airscale 1/48 RAF WW2) Front and rear complete Rear instrument pedestal Engine support struts and engine scratch built. Firewall fabricated out of plasticard, engine made from brass tubing, cube section plastic and dressed with bits and bobs and various bits of random PE Coat of grey Mr Hobby 1000 surface primer (brilliant stuff!) Couple of layers of airbrushed Model Master gloss white and masked for a couple of layers of Revell 31 gloss red To simulate the leading edge area in shiny alloy and the main area of the wing in fabric, I masked the leading edge area off and satin/matt varnished the main part of the wing to give the slightly duller fabric effect. Same detail on tail surfaces. Canopy was a right bitch! Its the wrong shape so I decided to pretty much scratch build most of it as well as cutting it to the open position. Cockpit area completed and dressed. Used a set of Eduard harnesses from a 1/48 CH46 On her wheels and mostly complete. Added Little Cars green and red lenses for nav lights. Initial impression on opening the box....not much in there! Pretty much just a sheet of lumpy plastic, a canopy, some very faded decals, a scale drawing (invaluable) and some white metal bits (prop, undercarriage and exhaust). Cutting the fuselage and wings out of the sheet was a fairly straight forward job and I took time to look for hints and tips on line. Measure twice, cut once really does pay dividends. Seeing how I didn't take any photos of the early stages, I'll skip over those bits. Suffice to say, its very important to make sure you cut the parts out very accurately and ensure they fit perfectly. Lots of sanding, filling and filling required to make sure it all goes together properly. I decided to add quite a bit of detail from scratch as there isn't any detail on the kit. Good shape and pretty accurate though. First thing to build was the cockpit area. I built the floor up from thin plasticard and used small H and I beam tubing and also fitted formers and stringers along the inside of the cockpit sides. The rear console on the kit was inaccurately placed so I chopped it off and built my own. This would form the basis of the rear pedestal for the panel and bulkhead aft of the front seat. The seats that come with the kit are pants so decided to make my own again out of plasticard. I fashioned the seat cushions from slightly thicker card and filed/sanded them to shape. Next is the instrument panels. I experimented with a couple of ideas but settled on cutting the basic shapes from 20thou card then drilling the correct instrument holes. From this stage, I painted them flat black. On the back of the panel, I then carefully stuck a piece of thin clear acetate. I purchased a set of WW2 era 1/48 instrument decals and found the correct ones to place in the right place on the panel. These were placed in the back of the acetate (to give the appearance of glass ie panel > acetate > decal). To sandwich all this in, I applied a final black piece of plasticard. The finished panel gives the impression of depth and proper instruments. The dilemma with the front panel was to somehow fit it after I'd glued the fuselage together. Because the panel is recessed under the coaming, it would prove to be very difficult. I elected to fit the front panel on a pedestal that would attach to the floor of the cockpit so save the nightmare of fiddling with it after fuselage join. With the cockpit complete, I could fit it to one side of the fuselage prior to joining them. Fuselage went together very well with no issues. Taking time sanding and dry fitting certainly helped. Minimal amounts of filler required. I decided to show the engine so I had to cut off the engine cowlings. I constructed a firewall out of 20thou plasticard and shaped and sanded it. The next dilemma was to work out how to attach the engine. I decided to do exactly what Dehavilland did and used the support struts as the main load bearing structures. Dusted off my Testors airbrush and completed with several coats of Model master gloss white, Revell 31 Red and Model Master 20381 Light gray. A light sprinkling of gloss, satin and matt varnish and used Model Alliance RAF Germany 1970-75 decals because they had the Gatow Chipmunk markings. This model is in the wrong paint scheme for that so I may change the serial to reflect the Army Chippie I solo’d in. See here for more piccies of completed job. It was actually a pleasure to build!