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In-Box Review
148
Lysander Mk. III
Lysander Mk. III
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by: Andy Brazier [ BETHEYN ]

History

The Westland Lysander was a British army co-operation and liaison aircraft produced by Westland Aircraft. It was used during the Second World War. The aircraft's exceptional short-field performance made possible clandestine missions using small, unprepared airstrips behind enemy lines that placed or recovered agents, particularly in occupied France. Like other British army air co-operation aircraft it was given the name of a mythical or legendary leader, in this case the Spartan general Lysander.
The Lysander Mk III SCW was a Special version for clandestine operations. It carried no armament and was equipped with a long-range 150 gallon fuel tank, and had a fixed external ladder.
Info from Wiki

Eduard's Lysander
Eduard's Lysander is an ex Gavia release, and has been released at least twice before by Eduard. The earliest review for this kit on Aeroscale, was by Rowan Baylis (Merlin), done way back in 2004!
- Lysander Mk. III ProfiPack
- Lysander Mk. III in Ilmavoimat service
This boxing of the Lysander is not as complex as the earlier release's, as there is less Photo Etch and resin parts to install. Compared to the earlier releases, this is nearly a "Weekend Edition" boxing, and should be pretty straightforward to build.

In the box
Packed in the standard lidded box. The box art wok is quite nice with a Lysander just finishing attacking some ground units. the box sides have a montage of the marking options. The end of the box now has a Blackberry info bar-code (the black and white square box), which links you direct to Eduard's product web page. All the latest Eduard kits have this bar-code, so you can scan and see what you get, as long as you have a Blackberry phone that is, if not you will have to open the box lol.
Packed into the box are four tan coloured sprues, one clear sprue, one partially coloured Photo etch fret, nine resin parts, a film sheet, a set of masks, the decal sheet and the instructions.
The sprues have very little flash, and no discrepancies in the plastic. The ejector pins marks are out of harms way, so they shouldn't cause any problems during the build.
The kit has engraved panel lines and raised areas for the fabric, fasteners and vents adorning the kit.
A nicely detailed cockpit is included with colour P.E instrument panels, harness's, and few bits and bobs hanging off the interior framework.
Depending on which marking scheme you wish to build, the choice of armament is either one pintle-mounted Vickers, twin Lewis guns, or in the SCW role, none.
Both types of guns are resin and P.E affairs, with the single Vickers having a quite complex looking P.E pintle to build. The twin Lewis guns have P.E barrel sleeves, which will need to bent into a cylinder shape.
No weapons or hard points are supplied for the wheel spat stub wings, which is a bit misleading as the box artwork clearly shows hard points.
An engine is supplied, and the detail is fairly good, but you will have to supply and cut some plastic rod for the push rods.
Marking option A has a long tapering rod, which you need to supply yourself, ending in a spiral "hook" , supplied as a P.E item, on the underside of the aircraft. This is possibly used for target towing, air-sea rescue, or picking up mail ( I couldn't quite figure out which lol).
The nine resin parts are only lightly attached to two casting blocks and are cream coloured, but have a little flash, which should be easy to remove.
The one fret of P.E is partially coloured with the instrument panels, harness's and side consoles coloured. The rest of the fret contains parts for the guns, sleeves, gun-sights and the pintle. The small clear film is used for the twin Lewis guns sighting mechanism.
The clear parts are crystal clear with raised frame details, which will aid in applying the masks.
Masks for the canopy and wheels are supplied, and is the typical Kabuki tape material. A full guide to the position of the masks are given in the instruction booklet.

Instructions
The instruction book follows the usual Eduard standard layout, with a easy to follow build sequence, with internal colours given along the way, along with symbols and blue outlines signaling any steps needing, P.E, resin or optional parts.
The build sequence is over 20 steps, and is easy to follow.
The last four pages have full colour profiles of the 5 marking options.


Decals and markings
The five marking option available are -
A - Lysander Mk.IIIA, V9437, No. 309 Squadron, RAF, Dunino Airfield, Scotland, 1942
Sky undersides and Grenn and brown camo uppers.
B - Lysander Mk.IIIA, V9374, No. 613 Squadron, RAF, Great Britain, 1941
Sky undersides and Grenn and brown camo uppers.
C - Lysander Mk.III, T1429, No. 26 Squadron, RAF, Gatwick AB, 1940/41
Sky undersides and Grenn and brown camo uppers.
D - Lysander Mk.III SCW, V9287, No. 161 (SD) Squadron, RAF, Tempsford AB, 1942
Black undersides with Green and Medium sea grey camo uppers.
E - Lysander Mk.III SCW, V9367, No. 161 (SD) Squadron, RAF, Tempsford AB, 1944
Full black uppers and lowers.
The decals are thinnish and glossy with very little carrier film around the edges. One area of concern is the roundels which seem to have lines printed on them, and look a little strange.
SUMMARY
Highs: Nice detail and marking options.
Lows: Annoying that you have to supply your own plastic rods for some parts.Roundels look a little strange.
Verdict: Probably the easiest Lysander kit Eduard have released, and should be pretty easy to build.
Percentage Rating
80%
  Scale: 1:48
  Mfg. ID: 8290
  Suggested Retail: £25.50
  PUBLISHED: Aug 16, 2011
  NATIONALITY: United Kingdom
NETWORK-WIDE AVERAGE RATINGS
  THIS REVIEWER: 84.81%
  MAKER/PUBLISHER: 88.59%

Our Thanks to Eduard!
This item was provided by them for the purpose of having it reviewed on this KitMaker Network site. If you would like your kit, book, or product reviewed, please contact us.

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About Andy Brazier (betheyn)
FROM: ENGLAND - SOUTH EAST, UNITED KINGDOM

I started modelling in the 70's with my Dad building Airfix aircraft kits. The memory of my Dad and I building and painting a Avro Lancaster on the kitchen table will always be with me. I then found a friend who enjoyed building models, and between us I think we built the entire range of 1/72 Airfi...

Copyright ©2021 text by Andy Brazier [ BETHEYN ]. Images also by copyright holder unless otherwise noted. Opinions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AeroScale. All rights reserved.



Comments

The Lysander was originally designed for the army co-operation role. The hook was for retrieving messages. I don't think a pilot would live very long if he tried to use it for towing anything. The reference books will tell you that the hook was not fitted to the Mk IIIa. Photographs show that it was. The most useful reference would be the 4+ publication, if you can find it these days.
AUG 17, 2011 - 10:41 PM
Thanks Antoni. My gut feeling was that it was used for retrieving messages, but I erred on caution, incase I made myself look more foolish then I already do. Great pic's of the hook in use. I found a couple of pics with the hook attached to the Lysander, but none showing what it actually did. Andy
AUG 18, 2011 - 02:38 AM
A couple of things I forgot. I think the square barcode thingy can be read/scanned by a web cam. Maybe you need to install some software? The SDL Lysander V9287 is as seen at the factory in the special colours applied on later aircraft at the Ilchester Dispersal Factory. The scheme was unlike any of the previous patterns applied to Lysanders. The colours were Dark Green, Dark Sea Grey not Medium Sea Grey and Night (black).
AUG 18, 2011 - 03:41 AM
Hi, I would have to install a web cam first. Its definitely a Blackberry whatsit, as my beloved scanned it for me on her phone to see what, and where it sends you. I think it could be quite a handy App, for instance, if you are at a model show, and would like to know more about the kit before you buy it, especially if the box is sealed. In a ideal world, it would lead you to reviews of the kit as well. Andy
AUG 18, 2011 - 04:23 AM
One feature of the Lysander, which seems to be missed by all manufacturers, is the leading edge slat(s) on each wing. The outer section opened automatically, on landing, and remained deployed when the aircraft were at rest. Supplying them would involve some very fiddly small parts, so this is not meant as a criticism, just a heads-up for the finicky. To make things worse, the inner sections of the slats were not automatic, but made to operate in concert with the flaps, so, if you feel like dropping the flaps, you could be leading yourself into a veritable minefield of extra work, needing to deploy four sections of slats. Edgar
AUG 18, 2011 - 11:15 AM
hi andy, can you have a look at the clear parts and see if the clear sides/windows to the cockpit at straight or have they curved. paul
AUG 20, 2011 - 04:35 AM
Hi Paul, The side windows are slightly curved from front to back.From top to bottom they look straight. I will try and take a pic later for you. Thanks for the info Edgar. I have seen a couple of pics with the slats deployed, I didn't know that they stayed that way at rest, something to think about when building it. Andy
AUG 20, 2011 - 05:07 AM
thanks for that andy,this seems to be a problem on all eduard and gavia kits i have. i've cracked a couple of them trying to get them flat as they dont fit properly when there curved... paul
AUG 20, 2011 - 05:19 AM
   
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