1/48 Lynx Danish Style

[Bigdave22014]

4 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Thanks Crisp. I had heard similar re both 1/48 and 1/32, but very encouraging to hear that, given you have likely spent some considerable hours with one strapped about your person. Who got to fill the windscreen washer bottle then? 

He never bothered. He used to dunk them in the oggin when they needed a clean 

[Martian]

8 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Only one of, my green be-tentacled friend, but thanks for the compliment.

 

For example, given his avatar, I don’t think @Chewbacca will mind me outing him as another ex-Navy Lynx operator.  In his case the left-hand seat, so if you want to know any of that radar / missile / navigation / brains stuff, he’s your man.  I was the trained monkey on the right (or so assorted examples of Talking Ballast told me every so often...)

 

I had forgotten about Ralph, particularly remiss of me since we attend the same club. I put it down to this bug I have had for the last three weeks raddling my brain cells.

7 hours ago, Marklo said:

1/48 is only 50% bigger but I find it makes modelling a little bit easier as things like interiors are just a bit less fiddly and the overall build doesn’t take up a lot more shelf space.

The downside of course is that it makes a lot more fine detail possible. Not good if one is a weak willed and easily tempted alien.

5 hours ago, heloman1 said:

Looking good Martin, pity we lost Lynx7 we could have had Wilcat input too...

 

Colin

Cheers Colin.

 

Martian 👽

[Chewbacca]

10 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Only one of, my green be-tentacled friend, but thanks for the compliment.

 

For example, given his avatar, I don’t think @Chewbacca will mind me outing him as another ex-Navy Lynx operator.  In his case the left-hand seat, so if you want to know any of that radar / missile / navigation / brains stuff, he’s your man.  I was the trained monkey on the right (or so assorted examples of Talking Ballast told me every so often...)

 

@Terry1954, both the Airfix 1/48 and Revell 1/32 Lynx kits are good.  No slur should be inferred on 1/72 Lynx kits - no doubt there are good examples there, too; it’s just not my scale so I have no idea.  [The WEM 1/350 one is good].

No problem at all there Crisp.  In fact had you not done so I wouldn't have found this thread as I was alerted to it by BM when you namechecked me.  Which would have been a pity as the work is excellent as we have come to expect from our alien friend!  I especially love the improvements to the soundproofing.  

 

I also like the photo sequence of a MRGB change.  Like you I had to change one in Gibraltar after the main bearing disintegrated on the way out to Gulf War 1.  We only had 8 hrs alongside in Gib so there was no way the boys could get it done alongside - I was so grateful that I was in a Batch 2B Type 22 with the high hangar roof and a gantry crane so we could do it inside.  Sadly no photos.

 

 

[Martian]

2 minutes ago, Chewbacca said:

No problem at all there Crisp.  In fact had you not done so I wouldn't have found this thread as I was alerted to it by BM when you namechecked me.  Which would have been a pity as the work is excellent as we have come to expect from our alien friend!  I especially love the improvements to the soundproofing.  

Thanks Ralph. I promise not to be so dimwitted in future.

 

Martian the Forgetful 👽

[hopkp]

As usual, a thread that is both informative and entertaining, which I will follow with great interest as I have a couple of these in the stash.

 

Can I ask about how you made the intake screens - did you use the method described in the 'pinned topics' on this website or go some other route?

[Martian]

Another heads up Guys. I was taking a look at how the whole transmission /engine area comes together and thought I would see how the panels containing the exhausts fitted (parts 36D and 37D). The short answer is that they don't, well, not very well. Given that most folk are going to want to keep the exhaust assemblies separate for ease of painting and that said exhausts are quite a tight fit, together with the need for filling and sanding on the exterior of the panels,once the se parts are set, I will be reinforcing the joints from the inside with strips of plastic card. of the kit part that represents the engine covers themselves is "approximate" at best, needing filling both fore and aft.

 

I think that anyone thinking of buying this kit should be aware that this kit needs a significant amount of modelling experience and repays very close attention to the instruction sheet.

 

Enough pitfalls for one update @Pappy?

 

Thanks for looking

 

Martian 👽

 

 

[Martian]

18 hours ago, hopkp said:

As usual, a thread that is both informative and entertaining, which I will follow with great interest as I have a couple of these in the stash.

 

Can I ask about how you made the intake screens - did you use the method described in the 'pinned topics' on this website or go some other route?

The intake screens were mostly done following the method in the pinned topic, with the exception that I managed to get the mesh pushed down over the kit parts without having to cut into it. I then scored around the base of the mesh and cut the excess away and then, little by little, trimmed it properly to shape. The process did cause the mesh to flatten out a bit which meant that it needed to be placed over the kit part and reformed again from time to time in order to bend it back to the required shape. I have also left the mesh detachable for now so that I can access the intakes for painting.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Martian 👽

[Pappy]

On 2/26/2020 at 11:53 PM, Martian Hale said:

Another heads up Guys. I was taking a look at how the whole transmission /engine area comes together and thought I would see how the panels containing the exhausts fitted (parts 36D and 37D). The short answer is that they don't, well, not very well. Given that most folk are going to want to keep the exhaust assemblies separate for ease of painting and that said exhausts are quite a tight fit, together with the need for filling and sanding on the exterior of the panels,once the se parts are set, I will be reinforcing the joints from the inside with strips of plastic card. of the kit part that represents the engine covers themselves is "approximate" at best, needing filling both fore and aft.

 

I think that anyone thinking of buying this kit should be aware that this kit needs a significant amount of modelling experience and repays very close attention to the instruction sheet.

 

Enough pitfalls for one update @Pappy?

 

Thanks for looking

 

Martian 👽

 

 

G'day Martian,

 

On the matter of the 'zorsts, yes the fit is tight but they do fit quite snugly into their respective openings but the real issue is that the end bits that stick out of the holes in 36D/37D have an increased diameter,in a type of 'stepped' arrangement which is quite strange. On the real deal, the exhausts are a smaller diameter to the opening and there is a visible gap between the exhaust and the fairing. I don't know why Airfix did this, perhaps to allow a larger gl,uing surface for a stronger bond? If you were to add the red FOD covers you could get away with it as the increased diameter would be explained by the cover material but otherwise it just looks wrong.

 

I thought it better to attach the exhaust fairing parts to each respective fuselage half which is oput of sequence with the destructions. This allows you to adjust the fit to avoid a step which is harder to do if you follow the assembly sequence as the majority of the engine/transmission housing would be in place. One thing that the instructions get right is that the engine sub-assembly parts need to be instally from rear to front. 

 

cheers,

 

Pappy

Edited February 29, 2020 by Pappy

[hopkp]

5 hours ago, Martian Hale said:

The intake screens were mostly done following the method in the pinned topic, with the exception that I managed to get the mesh pushed down over the kit parts without having to cut into it. I then scored around the base of the mesh and cut the excess away and then, little by little, trimmed it properly to shape. The process did cause the mesh to flatten out a bit which meant that it needed to be placed over the kit part and reformed again from time to time in order to bend it back to the required shape. I have also left the mesh detachable for now so that I can access the intakes for painting.

 

Hope that helps.

 

Martian 👽

It does - thanks!

[Martian]

OK, let's get the crap over with. Progress may be a bit patchy for a while. My Father is slowly dying. I don't pass this information on in order to gain sympathy but to let you all know where we stand with things. I am in the situation where I may need to drop things at a moments notice to travel up to Yorkshire to help my Brother.

 

That over with, I have made some progress over the last day or so.

 

I began by cleaning up the exhaust panels and the exhausts themselves. The exhausts are a nice push fit which will allow me to paint them separately and pop them into place at the end of the build.

 

The fuselage structure of the cockpit as supplied in the kit is little more than a large triangle on each side. These were carved away and a more representative structure created from plastic strip. What made this difficult is the fact that the upper part of the structure is of an L shaped section.

 

The next problem, although I had anticipated it since I first examined the kit, is the undercarriage and the stub wings. Airfix would have you glue the main undercarriage legs to the stub wings and then add the end caps. The end caps, of course don't even begin to fit and the attached undercarriage will not survive the associated filling and sanding. My solution to this was to cut the undercarriage legs in half, allowing me to insert the lower part of the legs after the main assembly of the model is complete. I decided that the part of the oleo that protrudes above the stub wing looked a little fragile so I decided cut to the chase and scratch build some replacements from Albion Alloys' tubing.

 

Thanks for looking

 

Martian 👽

 

 

 

 

 

[Hamden]

 

Sorry to hear about your father Martian, take care of yourself during these troubled times.

Your Lynx will wait till your ready and will hopefully provide you with some light relief when needed

 

                  Roger

[Pete in Lincs]

Martian, nice to see you back here but I agree with Hamden. Family comes first and look after yourself. We can wait. (just about).

[Martian]

14 minutes ago, Pete in Lincs said:

Martian, nice to see you back here but I agree with Hamden. Family comes first and look after yourself. We can wait. (just about).

Thanks Pete, BM is just about the only thing that is keeping me sane at the moment. If that doesn't say how bad things are, then I don't know what does!

30 minutes ago, Hamden said:

 

Sorry to hear about your father Martian, take care of yourself during these troubled times.

Your Lynx will wait till your ready and will hopefully provide you with some light relief when needed

 

                  Roger

Cheers Roger, light relief is why I started this build.

 

Martian 👽

[Teuchter]

Travelling doesn't help the situation, it's good that you have the Lynx to distract you. Take care.

Don

[Martian]

1 minute ago, Teuchter said:

Travelling doesn't help the situation, it's good that you have the Lynx to distract you. Take care.

Don

Thanks Don, its an over 500 mile round trip and that alone is wiping me out as I am trying to recover from a bad dose of tonsillitis. 

 

Martian of the Sore Throat and Lug Holes 👽

[Heather Kay]

Although now elderly, thankfully my parents are far from infirm. I’m not looking forward to the time when they may need me and my sister to be closer. Thoughts with you, Martian. 

[perdu]

I am sorry your father is declining Martian, it is never a good time for anyone

 

 

Get better yourself, being under the weather makes all the stress worse.

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

Since I drive up to Nottingham and back every 4th weekend to visit my 95-year-old Mum [being no 4 of 4 brothers], I understand how you feel re Yorkshire from our neck of the woods - and (obviously) about approaching the end with a loved-one.  It’s crap.  Sympathies.

 

I had come to the same conclusion about the oleos, but two things:

 

1. Those caps on top of the oleo upper section look very (too) big at the moment, though they might easily be WIP (in which case ignore me).  The real thing isn’t very big - see this one (FAA Museum’s XZ699) just peeking into the bottom of the photo.

2. Again, you may simply be mocking up for photographic purposes, but one of my bêtes noires is the number of Lynx models that get the wheels wrong.  They were never flown with the wheels fore & aft; the (Navy) Lynx was designed as a deck-landing thoroughbred, so the main wheels’ primary position is to allow the aircraft to rotate on deck (the nose-wheel castors through 90 degrees controlled by a switch in the cockpit).  This is true even if operating from ashore, because there are no brakes; just wheel locks (either on or off, nothing in between) - so you still fly with the main wheels toed in.  In the event of a running landing after a single engine failure, you unlock the wheels (again, a cockpit switch) so they can rotate and thus not burst, and the wheels are at c.45 to the direction of travel and act as a crude - but effective - slow-down mechanism.  A lot of stinky smoke off the runway... but it works. Why have the weight and engineering complexity of brakes if you don’t need them? I don’t know whether the Wildcat is the same, but wouldn't be surprised.

 

I think part of the reason so many modellers show the wheels fore & aft (apart from the fact that it looks odd if you don’t know why) is that the vast majority of walkround photos are taken at air shows, and the only time the wheels ARE fore & aft is when the cab’s being moved around by ground crew.  Chock-Heads (OK, all matelots) being essentially lazy b’s, they often don’t bother to toe the wheels in again after moving into the display line (cos they’ll only have to reverse the process at the end of the show) - so people think this is how a Lynx should look.

 

It isn’t.

 

Right:

 

Not right (but in this case it’s obvious why!):

 

Edited March 4, 2020 by Ex-FAAWAFU

[Terry1954]

Sorry about your father Martian. Challenging times for you understandably but good to hear BM keeps you sane. 

 

The Lynx is looking good. I saw and heard (over the radio) one it's younger stablemates yesterday, at quite close quarters, when flying with a colleague from Bournemouth to Bembridge and back. We had just landed and while taxying back a Wildcat made a run along Bouremouths runway at about 100 feet I'm guessing. At the same time a Merlin was doing all kinds of weird things at a good 3000 plus feet directly overhead. Strange types these Naval aviators...... 😂

 

Terry

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

40 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

I saw and heard (over the radio) one it's younger stablemates....

 

 

...Strange types these Naval aviators...

Alas, the Wildcat lacks the characteristic “growl” of the early Lynx.  I say “alas” for pure nostalgia reasons: the lack of growl is because it has a much better tail rotor design than the original Lynx - it was the over-worked TR that made the noise.

 

Strange?  Oh, yes.  It’s a matter of pride.

[perdu]

Wondering, and appallingly diverting Martian's thread, whether any adjustments need making to the fuel or igniters for all of those various available fuels?

 

Then extrapolating, no adjustment needed to run diesel engines on kero/paraffin so probably not...

[Ex-FAAWAFU]

46 minutes ago, perdu said:

Wondering, and appallingly diverting Martian's thread, whether any adjustments need making to the fuel or igniters for all of those various available fuels?

 

Then extrapolating, no adjustment needed to run diesel engines on kero/paraffin so probably not...

Not for “Normal” fuels (the ones listed in white), no.  The Emergency fuels (in red) impose limitations on the engines (long since forgotten, but all to do with temperatures and how efficiently it burns, from memory) - but since the Emergency list pretty much includes the Poteen that @The Baron knocks up in his Irish bathtub, this was really only of academic interest.  I don’t recall ever using any fuel that wasn’t F34 or F44.  Dieso is the stuff the ship’s Tynes and Ollies ran on, so we weren’t limited in reality.

[moaning dolphin]

Sorry to hear of your troubles, you have my sympathies at such a crap time.

 

The Lynx is looking good, I had the same thoughts ref the landing gear, although I have left mine off until near the bitter end due to my clumsy fingers!

 

55 minutes ago, perdu said:

Wondering, and appallingly diverting Martian's thread, whether any adjustments need making to the fuel or igniters for all of those various available fuels?

Not sure about the Lynx, but with the Seaking you could interchange the top couple with no problem, but as you moved down the list you did get more checks and restrictions (cant remember exactly due to fogginess) and as you reach the bottom few and emergency fuels that would impose greater restrictions on running and severely limit the overall life of the engine. Although if you do end up having to use the emergency fuels you wouldn't be worried about preserving the longevity of the engine!

Bob

[Martian]

6 hours ago, Heather Kay said:

Although now elderly, thankfully my parents are far from infirm. I’m not looking forward to the time when they may need me and my sister to be closer. Thoughts with you, Martian. 

Thanks Heather, muchly appreciated.

5 hours ago, perdu said:

I am sorry your father is declining Martian, it is never a good time for anyone

 

 

Get better yourself, being under the weather makes all the stress worse.

Funny how crap all piles in at once.

5 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Since I drive up to Nottingham and back every 4th weekend to visit my 95-year-old Mum [being no 4 of 4 brothers], I understand how you feel re Yorkshire from our neck of the woods - and (obviously) about approaching the end with a loved-one.  It’s crap.  Sympathies.

 

I had come to the same conclusion about the oleos, but two things:

 

1. Those caps on top of the oleo upper section look very (too) big at the moment, though they might easily be WIP (in which case ignore me).  The real thing isn’t very big - see this one (FAA Museum’s XZ699) just peeking into the bottom of the photo.

2. Again, you may simply be mocking up for photographic purposes, but one of my bêtes noires is the number of Lynx models that get the wheels wrong.  They were never flown with the wheels fore & aft; the (Navy) Lynx was designed as a deck-landing thoroughbred, so the main wheels’ primary position is to allow the aircraft to rotate on deck (the nose-wheel castors through 90 degrees controlled by a switch in the cockpit).  This is true even if operating from ashore, because there are no brakes; just wheel locks (either on or off, nothing in between) - so you still fly with the main wheels toed in.  In the event of a running landing after a single engine failure, you unlock the wheels (again, a cockpit switch) so they can rotate and thus not burst, and the wheels are at c.45 to the direction of travel and act as a crude - but effective - slow-down mechanism.  A lot of stinky smoke off the runway... but it works. Why have the weight and engineering complexity of brakes if you don’t need them? I don’t know whether the Wildcat is the same, but wouldn't be surprised.

 

I think part of the reason so many modellers show the wheels fore & aft (apart from the fact that it looks odd if you don’t know why) is that the vast majority of walkround photos are taken at air shows, and the only time the wheels ARE fore & aft is when the cab’s being moved around by ground crew.  Chock-Heads (OK, all matelots) being essentially lazy b’s, they often don’t bother to toe the wheels in again after moving into the display line (cos they’ll only have to reverse the process at the end of the show) - so people think this is how a Lynx should look.

 

It isn’t.

 

Right:

 

Not right (but in this case it’s obvious why!):

 

Cheers Crisp, people's support here does help a lot when the proverbial is hitting the fan in all directions. 

 

You are quite right about the oleo caps. I hadn't noticed how small they are but it won't take me long to knock them back a bit.

 

The oleos were indeed just bunged into place for the pictures and will be attached at an appropriate angle when it comes to fit them to the model permanently. The kit instructions do in fact give the relevant angles for different configurations so hopefully, even I can't forget to get it right. (Quiet in the cheap seats!)

3 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Sorry about your father Martian. Challenging times for you understandably but good to hear BM keeps you sane. 

 

The Lynx is looking good. I saw and heard (over the radio) one it's younger stablemates yesterday, at quite close quarters, when flying with a colleague from Bournemouth to Bembridge and back. We had just landed and while taxying back a Wildcat made a run along Bouremouths runway at about 100 feet I'm guessing. At the same time a Merlin was doing all kinds of weird things at a good 3000 plus feet directly overhead. Strange types these Naval aviators...... 😂

 

Terry

Thanks Terry, I do use the word sane in the loosest possible sense of the word. Strange types Naval Aviators? Indeed but were Crisp and Ralph any other way, we would worry that they were ill.

2 hours ago, Ex-FAAWAFU said:

Alas, the Wildcat lacks the characteristic “growl” of the early Lynx.  I say “alas” for pure nostalgia reasons: the lack of growl is because it has a much better tail rotor design than the original Lynx - it was the over-worked TR that made the noise.

 

Strange?  Oh, yes.  It’s a matter of pride.

See Terry, that proves it!

1 hour ago, perdu said:

Wondering, and appallingly diverting Martian's thread, whether any adjustments need making to the fuel or igniters for all of those various available fuels?

 

Then extrapolating, no adjustment needed to run diesel engines on kero/paraffin so probably not...

Appallingly diverting? Moi? With my reputation?

48 minutes ago, moaning dolphin said:

Sorry to hear of your troubles, you have my sympathies at such a crap time.

 

The Lynx is looking good, I had the same thoughts ref the landing gear, although I have left mine off until near the bitter end due to my clumsy fingers!

 

Not sure about the Lynx, but with the Seaking you could interchange the top couple with no problem, but as you moved down the list you did get more checks and restrictions (cant remember exactly due to fogginess) and as you reach the bottom few and emergency fuels that would impose greater restrictions on running and severely limit the overall life of the engine. Although if you do end up having to use the emergency fuels you wouldn't be worried about preserving the longevity of the engine!

Bob

Thanks Bob, I think adding the undercarriage after the stub wings have been cleaned up is the only way to go as they will undoubtedly get broken otherwise.

 

Martian 👽

[Terry1954]

45 minutes ago, Martian Hale said:

See Terry, that proves it!

Yes I agree. In fact the chap I was flying with is also ex Navy and his reply was not dissimilar to Crisp's when I made the comment to him about Naval aviators!

 

As you say though, their presence here is very much our gain.

 

Btw, a package arrived this morning in the form of an Airfix 1/48 HMA8. I think I have the 1/48 bug. Do you think I should self isolate?

 

Terry