1/72 HobbyBoss Navy Lynx

Gallery Article by Vitor Sousa on Dec 9 2011

 

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

 

Click on images below to see larger images

Photo 03 Photo 04 Photo 05 Photo 06

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

Click on images below to see larger images

Photo 07 Photo 08 Photo 09 Photo 10
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Photos and text © by Vitor Sousa