Hello
ARC! Here is my Airfix AH.7 Lynx. I wanted to finish it as the
aircraft I saw at the helipad at SFOR HQ while I was deployed to Bosnia back in
97-98. This kit fits like a dream, until you introduce some Photo-Etch.
The tolerance of the plastic parts is SO fine... How fine is it? It
is sooo fine... the fit gets thrown off because of some of the PE parts.
For example, I had quite the gap to deal with around the windshield, and the
center part of the lower fuselage had a bit more gap to fill than it would have
if I had not used the PE set.
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In order
to match the Lynx in the photo, I had to scratch build the search light, as well
as the steps on the front end of the skids. The cargo hook was embellished with
some steel wire to represent the electrical connectors. I also made the inlet
FOD screens out of steel mesh and strip plastic using the clear kit parts as a
guide. As for mission equipment, I remember the Lynx only having the one
machine gun mounted on the left hand side. After having scoured the
internet for references, I came across a forum thread where one of the former
Lynx crew members described having a gun mounted on the left, and mounting
3 TOW missiles on the right, so I went ahead and built mine that way in order to
have a more interesting configuration.
I painted the
camouflage us ing a combination of
Tamiya acrylics and Model Master enamels,
giving them each enough time to dry and cure between coats. I also masked
and painted the SFOR stencils on the sides of the transition section and on the
tail rotor pylon. The "s" is smaller than the rest of the
stencil because the aircraft were originally marked as IFOR, but when the
mission changed, they just painted over the "i" with an "s",
which sometimes didn't fit in the space provided. Bosnia got kind of muddy
at times, so I muddied up the skids and cabin area with Tamiya weathering
powders. Finally, the base is a bit of scrap pine and Popsicle sticks cut
to size and covered with kitchen foil and weathered with paint and powders in my
attempt to represent the steel planks that were the helipads at SFOR
headquarters in Ilidza.
Overall this is a
great kit, but if you use any photoetch sets with this one, be prepared for some
extra sanding and filling. I really enjoyed putting this one together and
its now a small reminder of some of the more exciting days of my youth.
Thanks for looking!
CHEERS!
Ramon
R. Lomeli
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images below to see larger images
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