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Westland Lysander Mk.I/Mk.III (A07116) 1:48 Airfix The Lysander was designed in response to a 1934 requirement from the British Air Ministry for a Liaison and cooperation aircraft for the Army, supplanting the obsolete Hawker Hector in the role, an aircraft that had nowhere near the reputation as the Lysander would go on to earn. Three companies were given the opportunity to submit proposals, with Westland invited late to the party, almost as an afterthought. Westland’s designer was relatively inexperienced, so took the precaution of canvassing the opinions of the pilots that would eventually fly the aircraft, which paid dividends when it came to the competition. The design was advanced for its time, despite having a fabric wing and rear fuselage, using metals where they would benefit performance, and reverting to wooden parts where practical, which saved weight and made for a resilient airframe. Its aerodynamic design was so effective that it had an incredibly low stall-speed of only 65mph that allowed it to take-off and land in extraordinarily small spaces, using rough fields that would have destroyed more dainty aircraft. The flaps and slats were independent and would deploy automatically as conditions dictated, often resulting in asymmetric deployment under many circumstances, simplifying the process of controlling low-speed handling, thereby reducing pilot workload at critical moments. In 1938 the first airframes reached service in their original cooperation role, and by the time war broke out, most Mk.Is had been replaced by the more advanced Mk.IIs that substituted the Bristol Mercury engine with a slightly more powerful Bristol Perseus XII. During the invasion of France, Lysanders were on the front-line, their slow speed making tempting targets for German fighters and anti-aircraft gunners, which caused heavy losses that mounted to 118 of the 175 aircraft that had been sent to France and Belgium, leading to its withdrawal from service in its original role. With invasion of Britain looking increasingly likely, the Lysander was to be tasked with patrolling the coast, attacking the enemy with guns and light bombs should they be encountered, to the extent that a prototype was engineered with a large Delanne four-gun turret replacing the rear fuselage, bracketed by a pair of large rudders that formed a H-tail akin to that of a Lancaster. Designated P.12, and sometimes known as the Wendover, it was intended to be a beach-strafer, but was more likely to kill the enemy by asphyxiation through laughing at its ungainly design. Fortunately for all, its services and those of its sister project nicknamed the “Pregnant Guppy” were never called upon. By 1941 a new lease of life for the Lizzie had been envisaged, engaging in covert duties behind enemy lines, dropping off and picking up special operations operatives and equipment on missions for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), painting them matt black in an attempt to hide from the enemy when over their territory. They were very successful in this role, although casualties weren’t uncommon due to the nature of their duties, with a similar situation overseas in Burma where Lysanders were also used. Some aircraft were converted to target tug duties, seeing them painted in bright schemes to ensure they didn’t become an inadvertent target of the trainees, rather than the drogue they were towing. In total, almost 1,800 airframes were produced encompassing all variants including the Mk.III that saw the engine reverting back to a later variant of the Mercury, seeing service with the Free French, Canadians and other countries, followed by some civilian operations after the war. The Kit A brand-new tooling from Airfix that was announced late in 2024 to a great deal of excitement from modellers in 1:48 and anyone with an interest in WWII British aviation, myself included. I’ve always had a soft-spot for the Lizzie since my father built an old Keil-Kraft Lysander from balsa and doped tissue paper in my youth, so I was amongst those folks that were most excited. Now it is here as Airfix’s first major release of 2025 at the start of a promising modelling year for most of us, unless your modelling desires drift too far from the beaten path. The kit arrives in a large top-opening box in Airfix’s traditional red-theme, although the logo is still the old 3D variant that has just been replaced with a simplified rendition. The box art is up to Airfix’s usual high standard showing a Lizzie ascending into a darkening sky, possibly on the way to bomb something, but without a gunner visible in the rear seat to crew the Vickers K gun. Inside are five sprues in dark grey styrene, plus another relatively large sprue in clear. The decals are slipped inside the instruction booklet that is printed on A4 paper in spot colour, with another folded sheet of glossy A3 paper having the painting and decaling instructions printed in full colour. Detail is rather good, with a part-count of 171 offering plenty of options, while the exterior is covered with finely engraved panel lines, raised and recessed fasteners, and a subtly scalloped surface in between the ribs on the fabric-covered wings and aft fuselage. A pair of crew figures with separate arms and heads are also to be found on the sprues, which is good to see, as they will be easy to place in realistic poses, rather than the traditional hands-on-lap of yore, which weren’t particularly convincing in an in-flight model unless they had psycho-kinetic powers! The designer(s) have clearly gone to a great deal of trouble to make a highly-detailed kit for us all to play with. Construction begins unusually with a fuel tank that is situated between the crew members, and is a key structure in the cockpit. It is made from five parts plus a feeder tube, and has a frame applied to its vertical rear, mating it with the cockpit floor that extends to the rear of the fuselage, with framework moulded-in. Detail painting of the moulded-in details is called out while fitting the gunner’s round seat on an L-shaped bracket that fixes to the frame at the rear of the tank. The port side frame has additional parts glued on, with two decals applied to the side around the controls, fitting that frame first, then adding two cross-braces, and the upper frame of the aft fuselage that requires removal of two lugs at the very rear on the underside of the balance-weight compartment floor. The starboard frame is also detailed and has more decals applied around controls, with another lug removed from the rear of an instrument panel before it is glued to the fuselage assembly, which allows the map table to be fixed over the fuel tank with a choice of map decal, plus a diagonal cross-brace behind the pilot, and the rudder pedals, fitting a square sill to the cockpit opening, which has more decals applied. A pair of stacked balance-weights are fitted into the small compartment under the tail fin, which sometimes also carried a manual starter handle, which you could scratch-build from wire if you feel the urge. The pilot’s seat can be built either for installing a pilot or to portray an empty cockpit, using the seat back without belts for the former, and an alternative part with belts moulded-in for the empty option. A pair of arms are fitted to the sides of the seat, using an alternative part for a dropped arm on the port side to accommodate the pilot. Your chosen seat is inserted into the cockpit tub, showing its correct orientation in two scrap diagrams with the seat highlighted in red. A circular firewall bulkhead is fixed to the front of the fuselage frame, optionally attaching a circular palette of Vickers gun magazines moulded as a single part to the rear, which must have a pair of lugs removed from their underside to ensure a good fit, then mounting a shallow rear deck over the top with a circular winder glued into a recess. The other fitting for decal option B leaves the magazines on the sprues, and instead has a deck with raised rear and separate sides installed instead. The pilot’s control column is detail-painted and installed in front of the seat, building the instrument panel from two parts plus a decal to depict the dials, mounting it in front of the pilot on the side frames. The fuselage halves are prepared by adding inserts near the front of the cockpit sides, painting the interior as instructed, and if you have chosen decal option A, removing a small triangular section of the gunner’s sill, as indicated in green. Decal option B has a small flashed-over hole drilled out from inside at a 50° angle, inserting the almost complete interior into the port side, which locates on three guides moulded into the fuselage, bringing the starboard fuselage half in to close the model, adding a nose insert in front of the pilot, a belly insert with the inner faces of the gear legs moulded-in underneath, plus the appropriate insert under the rear, depending on your decal choice. The outer faces of the gear legs are applied over the inners, then the elevators are each made from two halves, with the option of fitting them in the fuselage either configured for flight, or for take-off and landing, for which they are angled up at the rear, inserting the rectangular tabs and gluing them according to the scrap diagrams that advise the location for glue in yellow. The rudder is another two-part assembly that slots into the rear of the fin, and can be deflected if you wish. You have another choice when it comes to the landing gear spats, which depends on your decal choice, as you’d probably have guessed. For decal choice A there are no weapons mounts, first cutting out a nick in the leading edge of the spat outer face, then closing the two halves around a liner, and inserting a landing light into the recess in the nose. The nick is a guide for drilling out the machine gun hole with a 1mm bit, following the instructions to achieve the correct angle, and paying attention to the scrap view from the front. For option B, the same process is carried out, replacing the outer skin with a different part that has a recess for the weapons winglet moulded into the side, which are both single parts. Your chosen gear option is glued to the upper portion of the struts, building the wheels from two-part tyres and adding hubs to both sides, choosing a different hub part for option B, installing them on the hubs, and enclosing them with covers for option A, which also has a lens applied over the landing light recess. The tail-wheel consists of a simple strut with a wheel fitted to the axle, which is inserted into a recess in the underside of the fuselage at the rear. Moving back inside the cockpit, a ring sight is mounted on the tubular coaming, building the pilot from integrated torso and legs, plus separate arms, head, and parachute pack under his rear, taking care to align his hands with the controls as best you can for added realism. A scrap diagram assists with this, marking the figure out in red. The gunner offers a choice between options A and B. Gunner A has a single Vickers Gun, and has different arms to glue onto the torso part, remembering to add his head, and align his hands with the controls of his weapons, so you may wish to build those first. The Vickers Gun has a barrel moulded into the breech, adding a plate-magazine to the top and a brass-catcher with dump-bag to the right side, then mounting it with a single part that attaches to the deck at the rear of his compartment. The twin Browning .303s for option B are glued together, with a towel-rail handle fitted over the top, and a curving twin ammo-feed that is flex-fitted to the forward part of the breech, attaching it to the model via the same mount as the Vickers Gun uses for the closed-cockpit option. Two additional diagrams show the position of the guns when not in use and with the canopy closed, which is shown in blue with a ghost of the weapons visible through the plexiglass. The glazing of the canopy offers the open or closed choice for both the A and B options, using shortened side panels for the open options, the part numbers of which differ between variants. The windscreen is common between both decal options, as is the styrene wing root spar that rests on top of the side panels and interior framework. The gunner’s canopy has four parts for open and closed A and B options to allow it to slide back over the fuselage, using the same top panel for the pilot’s canopy either closed over his location or slid back over the fixed top section that has a small part glued inside. The pilot’s side windows drop down inside the fuselage, so aren’t required if you intend to leave them open. A small glazed panel is inserted on either side of the tail root, presumably to allow the quick checking of the ballast weights before take-off, avoiding any unpleasant handling characteristics once mobile. Lizzie had odd-shaped wings that are moulded as two parts per wing, drilling out a flashed-over hole on the upper half for antennae for option B. The two halves are glued together, adding slats to the leading-edge, plus flaps and ailerons to the trailing edges, utilising two different parts if you intend to show the slats deployed. Clear wingtip lights are inserted, which have recesses inside to allow painting of the appropriately coloured bulb, fitting a choice of pitot probes to the starboard wing. The wing supports are V-shaped, and mate with the undersides of the wings in deep recesses, after which they can be installed on the root spar, locating the tip of the V in another recess in the upper landing gear fairing. When the glue is cured, clear inserts are fitted in a small gap at the root of the wing, drilling a 0.7mm hole in the port side, using a 1:1 template that is printed on the relevant instruction step for option B. As the Lysander wasn’t intended to be a glider, the engine is made next, starting with front of the cylinders that have push-rods and bell-housing attached to the front, trapping the prop-axle in place without glue, then fitting the rear of engine after removing a lug that is marked in green, inserting a pair of intake trumpets in slots in the rear of the engine, as shown in the accompanying diagram. The exhaust collector ring fairing has a 1mm hole drilled in one side from within, a technique suggested in a scrap diagram, then fitting an insert in a recess moulded into it, sliding the collector ring inside, lining up with the insert fitted earlier. The insert also lines up with the engine as it is brought in, enclosing the assembly in three cowling segments that have bulged fairings moulded into their outer skin, choosing open or closed cooling gills by selecting the appropriate part. A two-part exhaust and auxiliary intake are fitted into recesses on the exterior of the cowling, finishing it by adding the bead-sight with a V-shaped support in the 12 O’clock position. The engine and cowling are then glued to the model on a keyed peg, fitting the three-bladed prop and separate spinner to the front of the aircraft, which if you’ve been careful/lucky with the glue, should remain mobile. Option B is armed with a quantity of small bombs, with a choice of four single-part small bombs in the recess under the tail, two larger two-part bombs with separate mounting rails under the winglets, or two palettes that each contain four of the smaller bombs as an alternative. A long tube is glued under the belly, its location confirmed by two additional scrap diagrams, then several short antennae are dotted around the airframe depending on which decal option you have chosen, one of which is mounted in the hole drilled in the wing root glazing earlier. Option B also has a Camera Gun Type G-22 (D57) mounted over the wing, a part that was identified for me by @hwallen1410 who knows things. The last steps of the instructions show the installation one of the two rear gun options for an open cockpit, using a different mount from that used for the closed canopy option, with extra diagrams showing their orientation from a side view. Markings There are two options in this initial boxing, each one covered by a full side of A3 in full colour. They both wear the same green/brown camouflage on the upper surfaces, option B having a sky underside, while A has wrap-around camo on the fuselage, with black/white wings that were used as identification markings during the early days of WWII. From the box you can build one of the following: Lysander Mk.I, No.16 Sqn., RAF Old Sarum, Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, 1938-9 Lysander Mk.III, No.309 Polish Fighter-Reconnaissance Sqn., RAF Renfrew, Glasgow, Scotland, 1940 Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion Awesome. It’s all I can do to not break out the glue and paint right now. Detail is excellent, as are the many options throughout the build. Make your decal choice early and mark the options you’ll use to avoid confusion, and you’ll build a great-looking model of this much-loved iconic aircraft that performed a valuable job through WWII. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Westland Lysander in Worldwide Service Photo Archive Number #32 ISBN: 9781908757449 Wingleader Publications In 1934, the aircraft that was to become the Lysander was designed in response to a specification for a liaison aircraft to replace the little-known Hawker Hector, which was a biplane formerly used in this role. By comparison, the Lysander was highly advanced, being a monoplane with leading-edge slats that gave it a low stall-speed of only 65mph that resulted in excellent short-field performance, but also led to a relatively low top speed that wasn’t a problem until war broke out. Westland had listened carefully to the needs of pilots, and the aircraft was well-suited to its job, as well as being easy to fly. When Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939, war was declared by Britain and France, the Lysander was continuing in its original role for a while, until it was discovered that the enemy were able to shoot them down with ease, leading to heavy losses that were unsustainable. Following the fall of France, other uses for the Lysander were investigated, creating possibly one of the ugliest aircraft ever, one which always get a giggle when ugly aircraft are discussed. Project P.12, re-engineered from the wing trailing-edge back with a straight profile fuselage that terminated in a four-gun Delanne turret that was bracketed by another pair of wings with vertical rudders at each end, intended to be used as a beach straffer in the event of an invasion by German troops. Thankfully, only one was made, and the invasion never happened because of the successful defence of Britain by the RAF, Coastal Command, Fleet Air Arm and many others during the Battle of Britain. During the Battle of Britain and beyond, the Lysander was re-tasked in the Air Sea Rescue (ASR) role, where it performed admirably, saving many airmen, regardless of their nation. They could carry floating flares on their spat-mounted winglets to signal nearby launches, and a dinghy pack could also be carried to be dropped to airmen that were further from assistance, and needed respite from the cold water of the Channel or North Sea. The winglets could also carry small bombs for targets of opportunity on armed-reconnaissance missions, using cameras that could be fitted within the fuselage, taking photos vertically aiming via a window under the pilot’s floor, and using marks painted on the insides of the wing support struts to aim the oblique camera. Where the Lysander really shone was in the Special Duties role, dropping agents and supplies for the Special Operations Executive (SOE), the forerunner of MI6, and the Resistance fighters throughout Europe. Its slow speed and short take-off/landing performance was a boon, although these missions were incredibly dangerous, with the likelihood that the Germans could be waiting for both the agents and the delivery/pick-up aircraft. Painting most of the airframe black helped to disguise it, but the danger was ever-present. Later in the war when the need for special operations aircraft waned, many Lysanders were re-assigned to the target tug role, and bright paintwork was the order of the day to differentiate them from the drogue they deployed behind them. A bright yellow and black diagonal stripe pattern was generally painted over the lower portions of the aircraft, although some were striped all-over. The Book This thirty-second volume in the series covers the Lysander’s career from Mk.Is of the Pre-War era to Mk.II and Mk.III airframes, sub-variants, including those with equipment specific to their task, such as the ASR, Special Duties and Target Tugs, the latter given the prefix TT. in addition to their Mark number. The changes between variants were often subtle, unless we’re discussing the P.12, in which case it’s blindingly obvious, so the captions are especially useful to determine the differences, where they are clarified using arrows or letters over-printed on the photographs. Throughout the volume, there are six pages devoted to particular airframes, showing their paint and markings using three view profiles, and with a bullet-pointed list of specific aspects of that aircraft’s configuration that would be of use to the modeller that strives for accuracy, some of which are otherwise hard to see unless you know to look. Some of the photos are staged of course, but there are also plenty of candid shots, a few in colour, and some are of damaged aircraft, including an inverted airframe following a ground-loop, a mangled wreck from an unspecified accident, and another that was just a little slow on the brakes and rolled its gear into a drainage ditch, relatively undamaged, but highly embarrassed. The photo of a pilot posing in the seat of his aircraft is particularly poignant, as he was killed in action relatively soon after that picture was taken. There are photo sections of aircraft in the service of other Air Forces around the world, most notably Canada, but also Eire, Turkey and the Free French, who used theirs in service of reclaiming their country from the Nazis. The last section of the book shows Finnish airframes, some wearing skis of their own design, with their blue inverse swastika that is confusing to those with little knowledge of WWII markings. A visually impressive book with plenty of reading material into the bargain that will have you coming back to it again and again. It should sell well in the run-up to the release of Airfix’s new 1:48 kit, and deservedly so, thanks to its impeccable timing. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Lysander Twin Browning Machine Gun (648584) 1:48 Eduard Brassin Eduard have reboxed the 1:48 Lysander kit from Gavia a few times over the years, and one of those times has been a pretty recent affair. They usually include some goodies in the ProfiPACK box, but there’s always a little more in the way of detail the modeller can add. This set contains a twin Browning mount for the rear gunner, and as usual with Eduard's smallest Brassin sets, they arrive in a flat resealable package, with a white backing card protecting the contents and the instructions that are sandwiched between. This set contains eight resin parts on four casting blocks, plus a small fret of Photo-Etch (PE) for the finer details. The guns are moulded with a full-length cooling jacket, and mount on either side of a cruciform bracket, with ammo feeds curving up from below. Each barrel is fitted with two tiny PE parts near the muzzle, a central sight and an auxiliary sight on brackets mounted to the right barrel. A larger bracket is attached to the rear of the breeches and forms the top half of the twin grip mount, which are small resin spindles that slot into the depression in the lower arms of the mount and glue to the PE bracket at the top. The completed assembly is then a drop-in replacement for the kit gun, and you are given colour call-outs in Gunze codes throughout the build. Detail is up to Eduard’s usual exemplary standards, and preparation is simplified by the slim attachment points on each resin part, and you must remove the “bubble-catcher” prong moulded into the tip of each barrel before you finish. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

The Westland Lysander – Airframe Detail #9 ISBN: 9781912932030 Valiant Wings Publishing Westland’s Lysander is a well-known and well-loved aircraft, having played an important part in the war, delivering and collecting British and foreign spies into occupied territory throughout WWII, usually at night and without escort. often the missions were successful, but they ran the risk of being intercepted by Night Fighters or landing in a compromised field that could result in death or capture for the crew as well as their passengers. Its design arose from a requirement for a cooperation and reconnaissance/spotter aircraft to replace an old biplane design by the name of Hector, and after a short competition the Westland design was chosen due to some happy coincidences and advanced features that were engineered into the airframe but might not have been well used in the other roles that the Lysander was originally required to carry out. Fortunately, the capabilities of the Westland design that gave it a 65mph stall-speed and a very short take-off and landing run won through and it entered service in 1938 just in time for war. Due to its low speed it was easy meat during daylight hours, and was quickly withdrawn from spotting duties after Dunkirk, but found other uses with the Special Operations "spooks". For self-defence the aircraft carried a machine gun (sometimes twin) in the rear position, and had the ability to carry two more in the roomy aerodynamic spats that covered much of the landing gear. It could also be fitted with a pair of winglets for small bombs or message dropping work, but the Mercury engine could only just manage a little over 200mph at height, so stealth was important over enemy lines, which necessitated night operations. It remained in service with the British until after WWII, and some were converted to Target Tugs, while others were used to assist in air sea rescue duties. The Mk.III was the last major variant from which additional sub-variants were created, including the twin rear guns, or an additional fuel tank between the landing gear for long-range operations. We'll ignore the Wendover beach-straffer experiment here, and if you haven't yet seen it, prepare yourself for a feast for the eyes. The Book This book, by prolific author Richard A Franks, with profiles and plans by Richard J Caruana and example model made by Libor Jekl is perfect-bound as usual and consists of 114 pages within a card jacket, printed on glossy paper stock throughout. It is number 9 in the Airframe Detail series that concentrates more on the aircraft in question, with just a short section to the rear with an example build of the very recent kit in 1:72 from Dora Wings models, which we reviewed recently here. The book is broken down into sections as follows: Introduction 1 Technical Description Detailed coverage of construction and equipment 2 Camouflage & Markings Colour side profiles, notes and photographs 3 Little Lizzie A build of the 1:72 scale Mk.III(SD) from Dora Wings by Libor Jekl Appendices i Lysander kits ii Lysander accessory & mask list iii Bibilography iv Lysander Squadrons Despite the Lizzie appearing to be somewhat outdated for the time with fixed gear and a greenhouse canopy, she was technically impressive with automated slats, slotted flaps, adjustable incidence elevators and some high-strength alloys used to reinforce the join between the landing gear, fuselage and wings. There are a number of extant airframes still, some of which are in flyable condition at home and abroad, so there are tons of photographs, diagrams and profiles, many contemporary in black and white, but many more in colour from preserved examples. The profiles are found in the 2nd section of the book, and show a number of profiles of various airframes along with photographic evidence and finished with a page of diagrams displaying the stencils and markings locations for the type. The sheer level of detail giving within the pages is perfect for the modeller, and will be of use to anyone from novice to super-detailer, with some of the photos and drawings showing the interior, subassembly layout, the instrument panel and other fine details that could improve your build, many of which I haven’t seen before, especially the repair and maintenance photos of the preserved airframes that should give anyone wishing to show off the interior excellent references. Libor Jekl's build of the new Dora Wings kit shows what can be done with the 1:72 model, and results in a lovely example that anyone would be pleased to have in their collection. From a modelling standpoint there is a little scope for building and painting one in 1:144 with the Fox One Design Studio kit in resin, and in plastic 1:72 from Dora, Airfix and Frog (there have been many reboxing of the Frog styrene), or in 1:48 from Gavia (Eduard reboxings are available) and in 1:32 we have the aging Matchbox/Revell kit. Conclusion Another Excellent volume from Valiant, and an interesting one as usual, showcasing this well-loved and under-appreciated aircraft that did much for the success of the Allies that is sadly difficult to quantify accurately, and some of its exploits remained unsung long after the war. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

As the BoB GB is now less than two weeks away I have decided to squeeze in a quick OOB build of the Matchbox Westland Lysander MkII as re-released by Revell as a 'Classic Kit' in 2008: It contains the Matchbox kit (though not moulded in two shades of brown as per the original) and the marking options are the same. The lack of 'bumps' on the cowling indicates this kit represents a Mk.II but the second option R9125 LXoL of 225 Squadron was a Mk.III. This doesn't affect me as I will be building L4805 UGoB of 16 Squadron operating in France in May 1940 which was indeed a Mk.II. The parts look pretty good, not noticeably worn and the famous Matchbox panel trenches don't look as bad as I had imagined they would; the 'fabric' effect is a little bit much, especially on the fuselage, but hopefully will be subdued a little by a coat of primer (or two): There is not a lot of detail in the cockpit but for 1973 this was considered quite well-appointed: To occupy a bit of space I will be adding the crew... I never particularly liked the Matchbox figures, they seemed a bit stiff and artificial looking compared to the contemporary standard Airfix 'crotch-fondler'... ... however I hope a little careful painting combined with the fairly thick canopy part will prove adequate. Speaking of the canopy, it has been dipped in Klear and my next job is to mask it... Cheers, Stew

Hope this meets with the groups approval , I know am late to the party but hope to have it done in time if meets the group approval , love the old matchbox kits ;-)