I present to you my 1/72 construction of a Portuguese Navy LYNX
and in a side project I took the opportunity and made a Royal Navy Black Cat
I’ve used the HobbyBoss kits on both.
But be aware that the HobbyBoss kit for the Black Cat is for the HAS.3 Lynx, not for the recent Lynx used by Black Cats in the Royal Navy, so I had to make some modifications, mainly on the main rotor blades (that now are BERP blades), biggest tail rotor (with different rotation side) and wheel undercarriage.
I’ve also used a few sets from Pavla to increase the detail on the open doors Lynx
See Photos 04, 05, 07 and 08
I was about to close the two halves when:
See
Photo 09
So let’s do something about it
See
Photos
Photo 10 and 11
Gluing the two halves of the fuselage is made progressively from nose to tail
See
Photo 12
A easy way to cover doors is with a sponge and Maskol on the border to cover it all, the Maskol is very easy to apply and clean it thoroughly excesses with finger
See
Photo 13
I use some sticks to better measure the alignment and do not be surprised after
See
Photo 14
On this scale the thickness of the plastic is ungrateful, some sanded need
Here is a detail that (in my opinion) will make a difference in the end.
Compare the Before and the After
See
Photo 15
Be aware of the differences of the HAS.3 and Mk9
See
Photo 16
I paint using a first coat of the base color, the a panel shade, and after another thin coat of base color with a touch of white
See
Photo 17
Instructions indicate the Tamiya XF-19 for the Portuguese Lynx, which I think works very well. But I'm not sure the XF-20 for the Black Cat Lynx
After two thin coats of Klear it’s time for the Decals.
I’ve used “Santa Cruz” brand on the Portuguese letters and Cross and the Black Cat sheet from Model Alliance that provides enough service marks for both Lynxs
See
Photos
Photo 18 and
Photo 19
Meanwhile I’ve raised the bar and scratch build the M3M Browning used by Navy Lynxs. I used only 4 pieces from Eduards B25s Browning and around 30 leftover pieces of photoetch and came out with this
See
Photo 20
Rigging my Heli
The way I got to put the wire line was this one:
Glue the cable to the first point than stick the heli against the wall, with a weight (the clamp) on the line try to move the heli into position to glue the other two points, one by one. This helps keep the wire well stretched
See
Photo 21
So where it is the final result
Photos 22 to 45
I hope you enjoyed these choppers and have served for someone to get enthusiastic about this helicopter kit.
(if I can help in any way about the Lynx helicopter just say it)
Best Regards
Vitor Sousa
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