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Eduard 1/48 Lysander Mk. III "Profipack"

By Greg Goheen

The Build

This offering by Eduard was reviewed earlier by me in the August issue and I was anxious to set aside some of the works underway on my workbench to do something quite different and interesting. Armed with the necessary paints I began construction, as usual, with the cockpit assembly. I have to say I was a bit tentative about this aspect of the build too, as the intricate roll-cage surrounding the pilot and gunner seemed sure to present some fit problems with such tiny locator pins. Still, I went to town cementing each part into place and checked the fit several times with the fuselage halves to find that my worries were without merit. Painted in RAF interior green I gave the entire assembly a light wash of artist's oils and was quite pleased with the sub-assembly. The extra fuel cells were used for my particular version too, these being painted with Alclad Duraluminum as directed on the instruction sheets. Again, no fit issues to speak of as I buttoned the cockpit into place and closed the fuselage halves.

The wings did not present any problems in terms of fit either and were clamped as the glue set. I did encounter a bit of some fit issues with the spats, however, as the backside of the lenses were small concaved pieces that were to fit between the halves of the spats, yet seemed to be too large. These were sanded quite a bit until the desired fit was achieved, albeit not perfect as was later discovered when placing the clear lenses into place.

The engine and cowling assemblies were actually the most problematic with this kit. For whatever reason, Eduard engineered the cowling in three pieces instead of one. While this may somehow be argued as providing a more accurate shape once completed (doubtful) it wasn't the easiest assembly, given there are no locator pins...making the assembly of these three pieces quite delicate. Likewise, the engine did not fit into place once the cowling had dried. This, to me, seems to be a problem with many of Eduard's prop kits, in which they have gone to great lengths to allow the modeler a more accurate engine assembly by offering separate components for each cylinder head and crankcase, yet the tolerances are so fine that often (at least in my experience) it does not properly fit.

I actually fault myself a bit on this one, as I knew it was possibly going to pose a problem but I never test fitted my engine until after I'd painted it. I figured that I had cut the cylinder heads short enough (shorter than required even) that there was no way possible that they wouldn't fit when completed. Wrong! Eduard strikes again... so I had to shave the top of the heads and repaint in order to get a decent, although still tight, fit. The wings and canopy windows were left off at this point to ready for paint.

Painting

The scheme chosen for this build was that of the Lysander Mk. III SCW, V9287, No. 161 for no other reason than I greatly enjoyed the interesting scheme. This features Model Master enamels and I used Medium Sea Gray and RAF Green for the majority of the painting, airbrushing the lighter of these first in several thin coats. BlueTac was then used to mask off where I wanted to lay in the dark green camouflage and worked quite well in offering a soft edge. Some will argue that these planes received a hard edge demarcation but I'll leave that debate alone as I simply like the softer edged look for this scale and aircraft.

Next came the application of Black for the undersides and much of the fuselage. A few tricks I've learned, doing night schemes with black, is that you don't want to always use true black for the color nor do you want to use flat. The first of these can be answered as scale black (making die-hards simply cringe while spouting off how inaccurate this is) looks far more appropriate. Given any weather, any period of time, what once was true black paint will fade, thus the reason for using a mix. For this I simply used Model Master Gloss Black and added a few drops of the Medium Sea Gray into it. This offered a slightly - and I do mean slightly - lightened shade of black that, to me, looks far more appropriate.

The reason for using this gloss black mix rather than whipping up the same batch with flat black is simple: As you will be coating your work with Future for the application (and ease) of the decals and that, when finished, you will most likely be overspraying the entire aircraft with either clear flat or clear semi-gloss, depending on your taste. When flat black is used in these cases (ask me, I've mad the mistake more than a time or two) it does not offer nearly as smooth of a finish for the decals, even with the addition of Future being applied over it, and winds up looking almost chalky when clear flat is finally sprayed over the top of it. Again, BlueTac was used to mask along the fuselage sides and around the spats where necessary. The front cowling ring and exhaust was painted Alclad copper first and then misted with Duraluminum and Dark Aluminum to proper effect.

I will note at this point too that the masks provided by Eduard for the canopies were simply worthless. I know, blasphemy to say that Eduard could possibly do anything wrong with their kits, but I will tell you all the same that the masks included were utterly worthless. Most, for this kit, are a silly crescent shape that has the builder overlap from each side and still have to fill in with liquid masking medium. I ask...what's the point? Seriously, if you are going to include masks with a kit that cover half the canopy and require filler, what is the point? Tamiya tape was used in this regard, tried and true, without any mishaps whatsoever.

As stated in the review, the decals were simply perfect in register and thin. I had no problem settling each into place and snuggling down with Solva-Set. Yes, another word used to strike fear into many modelers, Solva-Set. I like it; it works and is usually my preferred brand of setting solution. Anyway, once the decals were set into place I began to apply a few chips here and there on the spat and around the cowling just for good measure. This was done with Model Master Chrome, which, of course, lightens considerably once the clear flat coat is airbrushed over the aircraft. Again, no worries, no overthinking, it IS a hobby and supposed to be fun, believe it or not.

Odds and Ends

The one area I didn't expect problems with this build was the canopies. Wow, talk about being surprised, and not at all in a good way. The fit here was horrible and now with Future dipped, interior framing painted and exterior framing done, it was back to the workbench to meticulously shave and sand each of them to properly fit. I was anything but happy at this point, as the test fitting of canopies was not something I was expecting yet clearly was getting plenty of just that now each time I sanded and checked the fit. It was maddening, only to have to start over from the beginning with the painted frames inside and out once again before re-shooting with a clear flat. Whew! They were then finally fit into place, still having to use white glue for some of the small gaps to touching up with a brush.

So was it worth it? The answer is yes, I'm happy with the results of a truly interesting and unique aircraft. However, I can say that I don't think I'll be building another one anytime soon, as it's a builder's kit and full of pitfalls that one has to be prepared for. If you've tackled one of the earlier Classic Airframes kits or MPM, then you will know ahead of time that there is going to be tons of test fitting and imperfections to challenge you. I didn't expect this from Eduard but again am happy with the finished build.