Another Lynx? AH-7

[Cklasse]

Now….how many WIP do I have in here? Quite a handful. I am starting one more so that I can complete it by December. There is an Airfix Cup competition coming up in December here in Singapore.  It’s a Tiger theme competition and the only tiger I have in my stash is the Lynx. I am not sure if I can pull through this build with tiny PE parts for the interior and exterior. This will be my first venture into the PE parts world. There are already numerous Lynx build here and I hope to do it as well as the rest.  

Alright, I will have to work on my B747 and this Lynx as well. Both aircraft needs to complete by year end.

[Farmerboy]

Will follow with interest as l have built several of these a few years ago, from memory it’s a good kit but dry fitting is a must especially to check the fit of the interior ‘capsule’ or there will be problems closing the fuselage!

[Cklasse]

My boys have been reminding me that the competition date is coming close and I am running out of time. So, work started last weekend. 
Lots of build reviews and images from the internet were studied. Holes were drilled; seat frames and ceiling (for communication cord).

 

I realized matching colours exactly to the real thing is going to be a problem. Looking at photos only gave different hints due to lighting. Anyway, I just compare photos to what others painted in their built and paint what I think is good.

The padded interior and floor board painted. I can now proceed to add the PE parts and detailing before “dirtying” it. 

[Cklasse]

I was thinking what do I see if I am looking at someone’s completed Lynx? I guess one area would be what’s inside the opened door cabin. 
My intention is to close the port door and open the starboard side. Pictures of the bench seats show a cut out at the corners of the seat. So, I decided that the bench facing the opened door will get the knife.

The bench legs are amputated to make way for the grinding stone. The back rest and seats are also given some curves.

 

Next up would be some work on the starboard skid before I can close the fuselage. I am going to hang the helo with one skid touching a block, so some metal rods needs to be embedded into the skid and fuselage for support.

This is the challenge I am taking up.

 

Would welcome and appreciate any suggestions and comments for something I need to take note. I can only see the rotors are tilted slightly upwards for the hover.

[bar side]

Well if it’s attached to road & touching the ground you could run power in to it.  Then you could have working lights & motors to turn the rotors!  Nice so far & I have one in the stash too but with little experience of building or being around helicopters I will be watching with interest

[heloman1]

Good luck with your build, it's a very good kit. Beware of the top aft corners of the cabin, you will/might need to shave to corners to get the fuselage halves to close up.

I have a few in the stash, two down four to go!!!

 

Colin

[Cklasse]

Cabin almost completed and I need to sort out the magic support for the helo; just like those magic floating people basking in the streets.

A rod was bent into shape and and buried into the skid. Helo is light, so the rod is more than enough strength to do the magic.

 

[Cklasse]

Completed the floor and moving on to the seats. After looking at pictures of Lynx cabin, I can’t help but to add some plastic to make the pilot seat cover. 

This is my first experience in using AK wash to weather and I am satisfied with the result.

 

 

[Cklasse]

Pilot seats finally installed into cockpit. I realized the Airfix seats are too wide at the top. The pictures of Lynx show a more tapered to the top seats.

 

Completed seat belts for the bench facing the opened door. Will work on the other bench facing the closed door, likely a lite version. It’s quite a pain to make these tiny seat belts.

 

Pictures of the rear bench show some with and without seat belts. I am going to skip the belts for this training Lynx or I will never get to close the two halves of the fuselage.

Edited September 6, 2022 by Cklasse

[Cklasse]

All seats are finally assembled and ready to close the fuselage. I was trying to test fit a crew figure looking out from the cabin last night and realized there is a lack of space. Upon studying Lynx photos, I found that Airfix has made the bench seats too big. The scale seats depth should be lesser so that the floor space in front is bigger.

Anyway, I managed to wiggle a position for the kneeling crew, with some repositioning of the legs.

[Cklasse]

With the seats assembled, I hastily fitted the cabin into the fuselage. How exciting to see the helo coming together.

Bearing in mind the numerous advices from Modellers here, I made sure the cabin was trimmed so that the fuselage halves fitted over the cabin like a glove. 
There were some small gaps from the top part of the fuselage. I think Airfix has done a good job of getting the various parts to join at the gaps of what the real Lynx has. So, no filling of joint lines required other than those with bigger gaps.

 

Cooling intake and exhaust were also carved out from the kit sealed parts.

 

I was late in placing the PE parts and realized the tail has one mesh screen. The tail had already sealed, so it was more work to cut out the holes and installed a rod inside to simulate the driveshaft to the tail rotor.

 

[Cklasse]

I have reached the stage to close the fuselage with the windscreen and doors, then it will be painted. The exhaust from Airfix is kind of thick and protruding from the airframe. Photos show that the exhaust is flushed and not really in the center of the airframe hole. So more filing was done to make it look the part.

External PE parts fitted. Will have to complete paint the pilots before I can close the windshield and doors.

[Winded Penguin]

I'm late to this build and already have the feeling this project is going to turn out very well for you 👍

 

As a bonus, you'll be able to feature the finished item in 2 sections on this forum: Aircraft RFI and Dioramas RFI 😉

[Cklasse]

4 hours ago, Winded Penguin said:

I'm late to this build and already have the feeling this project is going to turn out very well for you 👍

 

As a bonus, you'll be able to feature the finished item in 2 sections on this forum: Aircraft RFI and Dioramas RFI 😉

Thank you for your confidence in me. After more than 20 years in the dark side and just coming back to this hobby, I am not sure if I can pull through. This is the first time I am using acrylic paint and still working on the airbrushing skill. Enamel was such a forgiving and easy to use paint but not acrylic.

 

[Winded Penguin]

3 hours ago, Cklasse said:

Thank you for your confidence in me. After more than 20 years in the dark side and just coming back to this hobby, I am not sure if I can pull through. This is the first time I am using acrylic paint and still working on the airbrushing skill. Enamel was such a forgiving and easy to use paint but not acrylic.

 

This is similar to my situation, on the painting side especially.

[Cklasse]

The Queen passed away and my mother-in-law decided to join her. It happened with a fall from bed and everything was over in a span of one week, then another week of funeral that was completed last Thursday. 
RIP my mother-in-law. 
 

So the build continues……..learning from a post here in BM, I struggled to fabricate a mesh screen for the intake. It’s not to the exact shape but good enough, better than the kit transparent screen. Now to struggle with the other screen…..

[heloman1]

Neat work with the intake grill, always a tricky part to replicate. Re the front rotor gearbox hosing, don't pay too much attention to the joints, it slides forward for maintainace, there are two 'slide rails on the cabin roof that guide it forward. Looking rather good.

 

Colin

[Cklasse]

The magic of the hovering helo completed. I decided that the stone structure shall be made from plastic sheets (for support) and covered with plaster. 2 tubes are anchored into the structure to receive the metal rods fixed into the skid. Starboard side of the intake mesh fixed so that I can duplicate the other mesh. 

 

[Cklasse]

How exciting! I finally painted the pilots and had them seated in the cockpit.

Say Hello , guys….

 

The crew will be painted next, possibly in a camouflage uniform for some colours.

Dry fitted the helo to see the hovering helo. Now to work on the structure. I didn’t realized foam plaster for train model diorama cost a lot when I checked it in an art and craft shop today. I came home instead with a can of Mod Podge. Think I will try MP for the structure stone texture. Any advice will be welcome for this diorama first timer. 

[heloman1]

Coming together nicely...

 

Colin

[Cklasse]

Finally painted the grey for the helo and put up the stone structure. Covered the plastic structure with sandy plaster, followed by MP. Taking the advice given from BM, I dapped the MP with a sponge to create an uneven surface. Spray painted the structure black, then coloured with a water colour pencil I found in art shop. I am glad it looks like stone with this technique. 

Edited November 25, 2022 by Cklasse

[k5054nz]

Lovely work!

[Cklasse]

Green painted, not the most ideal due to a new mask I used. I tried for the first time using AK masking putty and it didn’t performed like I wanted. This masking putty is easy to put on but does not hold long. It moves to conform to contour but moves too fast to change my camouflage shape. I will likely use a combination of masking tape and this putty the next time.

 

[Cklasse]

Painted the tiger tail but the orange turned out to be more yellow. I will live with this since I am running out of time to the Airfix Cup. Hopefully the colour will darken after I spray the gloss coat. Next up will be hand paint the stripes tonight. 

 

I am glad I put in the time to scratch build the intake mesh. It looks better after given a coat of silver.

[Paulaero]

You re producing a masterclass here, love the idea of it hovering.

 

I have one of these in the stash to build but the Navy version.

 

I was very fortunate way back in 1987 to spend a week at RAF Gibraltar and the navy took great delight in wanting to show RAF cadets how Helicopters should be flown...

 

 lets just say it was 'Spirited' !!