Westland Lynx AH.1 by Fujimi

1/72 scale
Kit No. 7A19-500 (Fujimi Famous Fighter Series No. 19)
Price: $30.00
Decals: One version – British Royal Army
Comments: Engraved and raised panel lines, basic cockpit; cabin doors can be positioned open or closed; spinning rotor; aftermarket missile launchers recommended

History

Introduced in 1971 and developed jointly with the French firm Aerospatiale, the Westland Lynx is a twin gas turbine powered helicopter with advanced dual control systems and a four-blade rotor, and has proven its remarkable versatility for over 40 years of service. Originally intended as a utility craft for both civilian and naval usage, military interest led to the development of both battlefield and naval variants. The Lynx entered operational military service in 1979 and was later adopted by the armed forces of over a dozen nations.

The initial design (then known as the Westland WG.13) began in the mid-1960’s as a replacement for the Westland Scout and Wasp, and a more advanced alternative to the UH-1 Iroquois (a.k.a the Bell Huey). As part of the Anglo-French helicopter agreement signed in February 1967, Aérospatiale were given a work share in the manufacturing programme equal to 30% of production with Westland performing the remainder. It was intended that France would buy Lynxes for its Navy and as an armed reconnaissance helicopter for the French Army, with the United Kingdom in return buying Aérospatiale Gazelles and Pumas for its armed forces. The French Army cancelled its requirement for Lynxes in October 1969. The British Army ordered over 100 Lynxes, designated the Lynx AH.1 (Army Helicopter Mark 1), for various roles.

The Lynx has become the backbone of the British Army and Navy helicopter forces dues to its basic stability and unrivaled agility.  It is one of the few helicopters in the world that can perform advanced aerobatics, including loops. Both the Royal Army and Navy employ the Lynx in aerobatic display teams to amaze crowds at air shows. In military service it has primarily served in battlefield utility, anti-armour, search and rescue, anti-submarine warfare and maritime attack roles. It has also been tasked with troop transport, armed escort, airborne command post, fire support platform, border patrol, and anti-piracy duties.

Since its first flight, the Lynx has been continually upgraded, keeping it at the forefront of rotary wing technology, as evidenced by the most recent variants, the Super Lynx and the Wildcat. Army models kept the traditional landing skids until about 2015, when with the introduction of the AH.9 they adopted the tricycle-wheeled undercarriage used by the Royal Navy to aid ground handling. The British Army and Royal Navy Lynx fleets are due to be upgraded to a new common advanced Lynx variant based on the Super Lynx 300, with a new tail boom, undercarriage, cockpit, avionics and sensors. Initially referred to as the Future Lynx, then Lynx Wildcat, this type has since been renamed as the AW159 Wildcat.

As of 2015, the AAC (Army Air Corps, the air arm of the British Royal Army) operate the Lynx AH.7 and AH.9 as utility helicopters. Army-owned Lynx AH.7 and AH.9 are also in service with the Fleet Air Arm where they operate as attack/utility helicopters in support of the Royal Marines. Lynx HAS.3 and HMA.8 operate as anti-submarine warfare and maritime attack helicopters respectively, equipped with the Stingray torpedo, Sea Skua anti-ship missile and depth charges from Royal Navy warships. The HAS.3 and HMA.8 are also capable of anti-trafficking and anti-piracy roles when carrying boarding parties and when fitted with the FN Herstal M3M pintle mounted heavy machine gun.

Operational Service

The HAS.2 naval ASW variant took part in combat operations in British service during the Falklands War in 1982. Although none were shot down, three were lost aboard vessels hit in Argentine air attacks (HMS Coventry, HMS Ardent and MV Atlantic Conveyor). Lynx helicopters used the Sea Skua air to surface missile to devastating effect against the Iraqi Navy during the 1991 Gulf War. The Lynx also saw service with British Army forces during that conflict. In September 2000 the Lynx was used during an operation to rescue British soldiers in Sierra Leone.

The Lynx has twice set the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale’s official airspeed record for helicopters, the most recent occasion being August 8, 1986 when a Lynx piloted by Trevor Egginton and fitted with advanced rotor blades produced by the British Experimental Rotor Programme (BERP) set a record of 249.1 mph (400.9 kph), which remains unbroken in 2020. The latest generation of the Lynx (the Augusta Westland Wildcat) is entered service with the British Army and Navy in 2015. The type continues to prove its worth and will likely remain in service for some time, but this outstanding family of helicopters all began with the Lynx AH. 1.

Construction

I had an early mis-step when, in washing the kit during the pre-construction phase, a small, vital part broke free of the sprue and of course immediately went down the kitchen sink drain. If you ever need to fashion a replacement part yourself, some parts are easily scratch-built, but not this one: Part No. 15 was the top of the main rotor mast, somewhat cone-shaped and specially machined with four depressions in it for still smaller parts, and indispensable if you want to connect the rotor blades to the airframe.

Construction halted while I searched through another 1/72 Lynx kit in the stash, by Revell-Germany, hoping to cannibalize it for the sake of the Fujimi Lynx on the work bench. No dice. The parts are not interchangeable since Revell-Germany’s Lynx originates from the Matchbox mold, and Fujimi’s is significantly different. Some weeks went by while I waited for a second Fujimi German Navy Lynx which I found on eBay to arrive from China, used but complete…except for Part No. 15, as I discovered when I opened it. Someone had already cannibalized the kit for the exact part that I needed — apparently I was not the first modeler to lose Part No. 15 to a sink drain or the carpet monster.

After dealing with the seller to get a refund, back to eBay and yet another purchase, this time the exact same kit — out of production and rather hard to find, which is why I had tried substitutes first, but guaranteed by the seller to be 100% complete. Upon receiving it, the first thing I did was seize the main rotor mast and cement it to a much larger part, the main rotor which is molded with the blade arms attached. I would later be very glad I had an identical kit to fall back on, for although Fujimi’s Westland Lynx has relatively few parts, eight or nine of them are quite small.

Construction begins with the rotor assembly, which I completed partially, leaving the rotor blades themselves off. Had I glued them on I was not sure I could store the completed, unwieldy assembly securely until I needed it without it getting damaged — also I wanted to paint the blade arms and rotor blades separately.

The cockpit and cabin interior were next. I airbrushed them in AK Interactive’s RAF Ocean Grey (RC288), the main instrument panel in Tamiya Flat Black. While they may be hard to see, I used a few aftermarket extras: Resin seats from Pavla Models, featuring molded on seat straps; photo-etch instrument panels by Airwaves (the kit called for decals); and a resin TOW missile set from Air-Graphic Models providing a quartet of missile tubes for both sides of the fuselage. The seats required a bit of sanding to fit properly, especially the one to the left of the center console, which had to be sandwiched between the console and the housing for the collective, which was itself squeezed between the seat and the left cabin bulkhead. Stubs on the cockpit floor to guide placement of the kit seats had so be sanded down also.

This was a very straightforward kit and the fit was for the most part above average. The helicopter fuselage halves would not fit flush together until Part No. 16, which is cemented in near the roof of the cabin and supports the rotor assembly, was sanded down a bit. The fuselage also required putty and sanding to hide join seams, especially where the part for the nose is cemented to the fuselage (I superglued a few ball bearings into the nose as insurance against tail-sitting).

Next come the doors and the Lynx’ windscreen and windows. The part for the side windows was also the part for the cockpit doors, and there are windows in each of the two large cabin doors, windows in the forward cockpit roof, as well as the large windscreen. Since the kit had to be painted after all windows were glued in, they all had to be masked and the windows up forward around the cockpit had to be cemented in, all in a particular sequence to avoid mishaps. The side doors with their windows went in first, with the clear Plexiglas portion masked in advance. Next came the large windscreen (also masked in advance), then the part for the forward cockpit roof, which had an overhead window on the right, and a partial window and what I presume is a periscope/gunsight to assist in siting the TOW missiles on the left.

Once the forward cockpit roof was cemented on, I discovered an impossible-to-miss gap between the top of the windshield and the bottom of the roof. There was no way it would be overlooked. I filled it using Milliput, rolled and fitted and finally squeezed into the gap, then shaped and smoothed using an Xacto blade, a toothpick, and my fingertips. The Milliput had to be carefully arranged so that it did not cover the Tamiya tape over the windshield, while filling the gap above it completely. Finally the cabin doors were glued on. Their windows, the roof windows and the small windows on either side of the nose at the feet of the pilot and co-pilot, were all masked using Maskol, and allowed to dry overnight. The next day small areas of the Milliput had to be sanded smooth, augmented with a little Mr. Surfacer 500 here and there, but overall this bit of surgery worked out well. With the windows prepped and the Milliput dry, it was time for the final small parts, a series of antennae on and around the nose. One of the two small antenna for the top of the nose went flying out of my tweezers to be claimed by the carpet monster, followed by a moment of near-panic until I remembered I had an identical Lynx kit just waiting to be cannibalized.

Painting

For the Lynx’ camouflage scheme I chose a mix of enamel and acrylic. The base coat is a Floquil military enamel, British Dark Slate Grey, which closely resembles Light Olive Green, and is a wonderful color to work with. It airbrushed on beautifully, thinned with a little alcohol at a ratio of about 3:1. It is a shame that Floquil military enamels are not more readily available. Next I used a Tamiya acrylic, XF-27 Black Green — I had the option to use Polly Scale acrylic Black Green instead, but Polly Scale paints can be a crap shoot in terms of how easily they go through an airbrush, whereas I knew Tamiya would be trouble-free as always. The rotor assembly consists of AK Interactive’s Dark Aluminum on the rotor shaft head, collar, and rotor arms, Tamiya Semi-Gloss Black on the rotor blades, and Model Master Insignia Yellow for the rotor blade tips. All colors were airbrushed on, except for the Insignia Yellow which I applied with a small paint brush.

Markings

With the paint nice and dry, I protected it with a few light coats of Microscale Micro Gloss. Given the age of the kit (I bought it in 1982), I avoided using most of its decals. I used roundels from a Print Scale set for the Westland Lysander, Sheet No. 72-129, individual letters for the “Army” marking on the Lynx’ boom from a Fantasy Printshop sheet, RAF 12″ Letters and Numbers (Sheet No. FP981), and most of the remaining markings from a set made by FCM of Brazil for the Super Lynx (Sheet No. 72048).

Final Touches

The TOW missile launchers went on next. These aftermarket resin parts required some clean up with an X-acto blade and some sanding. It took a bit of careful study of the photos that came with the set before I figured out that its four parts, each of which consisted of a pair of rocket tubes, had to be cemented to a particular opposite number to make a quartet of rocket tubes fitted to either side of the helicopter almost immediately aft of its cabin doors. I wanted to use these parts as they looked more realistic than the TOW launchers provided with the kit. After cementing them together, I airbrushed them in Floquil Dark Slate Grey, gave them a dark wash and superglued them to each side of the Lynx. Finally, I painted the intake screens and exhausts for the Lynx’ turboshaft engine (a Rolls Royce BS.360 Gem which, sadly, is not included with the kit). The main rotor and tail rotor went on last.

Conclusion

This is a simple to build yet relatively detailed kit of an early version of the British Army Lynx. It is out of production so if you find it, it may not be less than $30, but it is sufficiently refined to give modelers a few hours of solid enjoyment — just make sure its complete! While I am not a huge fan of helicopters, I once saw this kit fully assembled and painted in a hobby shop years ago, and the modeler had done such a phenomenal job I was inspired to buy one. While there are newer kits of some of the later and more sophisticated members of the Lynx family out there, for my money this kit is the most appealing of the lot. Highly recommended.

References

• Book of Aircraft: Eighth Edition; Copyright 2019 Future Publishing Limited; Bournemouth, Dorset.
• militarywikia.org