HUGE HELO - 1:32 SEA LYNX IN SPECIAL ANNIVERSARY MARKINGS

SMN REPORT:

More temptation for you helo fans, in the form of this eye candy from Revell, showing build-up pix of the 1:32 Sea Lynx Mk 88, and very handsome it looks too, especially in the optional anniversary markings shown here.

About the kit

Due for release in time for Christmas, the 1:32 scale Revell Sea Lynx measures some 415 mm (16.3 in) long, with a rotor diameter of 401 mm (15.8 in). There are plenty of parts to keep you busy, 265 in all, with optional weapons that include pairs of homing torpedoes and Sea Skua missiles. 

What’s inside

With these big-scale kits, Revell goes to great lengths to satisfy detail-freaks like us. Here’s a list of what to expect when you open up the box:

* New mould.
* Fine surface detail, recessed panel lines.
* Interior includes textured side walls.
* Cockpit with instrument panel, realistic seats.
* Sonar system with system racks.
* Nose section has correct radome and antennas.
* Pilots doors optionally open, sliding side doors.
* Detailed landing gear, rotor head.
* Weapon launch frames and pylons.
* Two torpedoes, two Sea Skua missiles.
* Machine gun on pintle mount.
* Decals include standard and 25th Anniversary markings.

The real thing

The Lynx is a British-designed multi-role helicopter that first flew way back in 1971. In the 40-plus years since, the helo has been improved hugely and currently serves with 14 countries around the world. The naval Sea Lynx featured in this Revell kit has been in service with MFG 3 (Naval Aviation Squadron) ‘Graf Zeppelin’ in Nordholz, Germany, since 1981 - and it is the 25th anniversary markings featuring in this kit that celebrated this in 2006.   

Weapons fit

Equipment and weapons are designed for anti-submarine warfare, with armament that includes torpedoes, Sea Skua missiles and a 12.7 mm machine gun. Search equipment includes a variable depth sonar. Currently, the German Sea Lynx is on anti-pirate ops around the Horn of Africa. 

Summation

Attractive model, attractive markings - what’s not to like. The large scale will make it fairly easy to motorize if that’s your thing, or with some figures and a frigate landing pad, it'll make an ace potential competition winner. Torpedoes and Sea Skuas (below) are neatly modelled and a diorama featuring ground crew arming-up for an anti-pirate mission would make a terrific of-the-moment display. 

Helicopter kits to look at here, and a reminder that Airfix makes an attractive, albeit slightly smaller, 1:48 scale Lynx.

Model pictures courtesy Revell

INCOMING - REVELL REVEALS TEST SHOTS OF BIG SEA LYNX HELICOPTER KIT

SMN report:

Here’s a hugely interesting kit, and it’s coming our way after the summer. The Revell Sea Lynx Mk.88, optionally a HAS Mk.3, will be produced to big 1:32 scale, making it a must-build for helo fans.

Detail up

By the look of these test-shot pix from Revell, the 1:32 scale Sea Lynx will be packed with detail inside and out. We are assured that there will be plenty of ordnance to hang off the hardpoints, including a choice of machine guns and torpedoes.

Brief stats

* Scale: 1:32

* Components 130

* Fuselage length 399 mm (15.7 in)

* Rotor diameter 474 mm (18.7 in)

* Release date October 2012

About the Lynx

The Westland Lynx is a successful multi-role helicopter that made its first flight in 1971. It’s been a good seller down the years, with assorted versions flown by the armed forces of 14 countries. Lynx versatility, reliability and performance have been boosted by a policy of continuous upgrades to fit new requirements. 

Anti-piracy missions

The Sea Lynx is used primarily for life-saving Search and Rescue (SAR) missions, and armed anti-submarine patrols. But right now, ship-based Sea Lynx units are finding a new role in helping to combat piracy off Somalia, East Africa. The pic (above) shows such an action, with a German Sea Lynx winching down boarders to search a suspect pirate skiff. And only last month, a group of beached pirate vessels were fired on by a helicopter team.

Summation

A mouthwatering kit, even if the fit around the windshield looks a bit iffy in these pix. But don’t forget they are test-shots, and we fully expect things to be brought up to scratch before the Sea Lynx goes on sale in October.

More helicopter kits here, including some tasty RC machines.

INCOMING - AIRFIX 1:48 WESTLAND ARMY LYNX AH.7 HELO

SMN report:

Airfix has released the new-tool 1:48 scale Westland AH.7 Lynx helicopter, an Army support machine currently hard at work in Afghanistan.

Useful load carrier

The Lynx family has proved a valuable asset to dozens of air arms, and the skid-equipped Lynx AH.7 is no exception - the helo can carry combat troops and cargo internally, and larger loads including Land Rovers or field guns slung underneath. 

What’s in the box?

The 1:48 scale kit contains 233 components, so there’s a fair amount of assembly to get through. The detail work looks good, especially those all-important paddle-tipped rotor blades, a key component in producing the Lynx’s excellent performance - the type still holds the world air speed record for rotorcraft. Length of the model when assembled is 316 mm (12.4 in), while stated ‘width’ (for which read rotor diameter) is 265 mm (10.4 in). So at 1:48 scale, even this relatively small helicopter assembles to make a fair-sized model.

Family of Airfix Lynx kits

Airfix has been keen to create a group of kits to match the real-world helicopters, so the AH.7 is paired with the Lynx HMA.8, Mk.88A, and Mk.90B. Even better, the choppers are due for release in hugely useful gift packs.

Gift sets

The Operation Herrick Support Gift Set has a group of eight British Army soldiers included, making a very useful asset for diorama makers. The Patrol and Support Group Gift Set goes one better and adds a Land Rover, a great little model in its own right.

Both sets include a dozen paint potettes, a pair of brushes and tube of cement. 

Airfix Lynx kit available here.

More Airfix kits here.

Hovering Lynx displays at an air show, 2010. Pic courtesy Adrian Pingstone.

Neat Land Rover with troops, to 1:48 scale.

2012 INCOMING - CHINESE COMBAT HELICOPTER FROM CHINA

SMN report:

Next up from Dragon is this interesting 1:144 scale ‘Warbird Series’ kit of the PLA WZ-10 attack helicopter, the Chinese answer to Western types like the famed US-built Boeing AH-64 Apache. In layout, the WZ-10 is pretty standard, with a stepped tandem cockpit seating two crew: gunner in front, pilot behind. Flight controls are dualled to act as mutual backup, and the cockpit sides and bottom are protected by composite armour, as are the engines and fuselage fuel tank.

Stealth capability

As for the kit, the general shape looks pretty accurate, not that there have been too many decent pictures released of this Chinese combat machine. The sloping sides reflect at least a token attempt to deflect radar waves, giving the WZ-10 some stealth capability.

Landing gear choice

It’s a new-tool kit, so we can expect the fit and finish to be on a par with Dragon’s other recent kits - in other words, pretty good. According to Dragon, the landing gear can be assembled in ‘landing or flying’ modes. To the best of our knowledge, the WZ-10 does not have retractable wheels, so we’re guessing that this means with oleos extended in flight mode, or compressed in weight-bearing landing position.

Sensors and more

The real thing has a six-blade main rotor, and Dragon has reproduced this nicely, together with an assortment of nose-mounted sensors and combat ordnance hanging under the stub wings either side.

Summation

As you can see from Dragon’s test-shot builds, this is a neat little model, and one that would look good when displayed next to more familiar Western helos, such as the Westland Lynx or Eurocopter Tiger. It’s pretty tiny at 1:144 scale though, and we’d really like Dragon to consider releasing a more detailed version in one or more bigger scales.

Visit Dragon here.

The WZ-10 is coming soon, meantime more Dragon stuff is available here.

Pic of WZ-10 in flight, courtesy 'B747SPNKG'.

2012 INCOMING - NEW AIRFIX KITS AND ACCESSORIES

SMN update:

The 2012 Airfix catalogue is with us, and the company has a host of tasty new products in the pipeline for the coming year. Here’s a look at some of the good stuff to come.

Big scale helicopters

Airfix is making a name for big helicopters, and here we have two in 1:48 scale. The AgustaWestland Merlin HC3 is a medium-lift tactical machine, and one that’s often seen flying nap-of-the-earth training missions around SMN Towers, announcing its presence with a throaty roar from the triple engines. The Airfix kit will feature a rear loading ramp, plus the assortment of pods, humps, bumps and antennas that sprout from the capacious fuselage of this army combat machine. The model will look good when paired with the Supacat AFVs coming soon from Airfix. 

Lynx helo

The 1:48 scale Westland Lynx comes in three versions, with markings to match. The kit assembles to show that the Lynx is a smaller machine than the Merlin, with a length - even at 1:48 scale - of 318 mm (12.5 in), compared with the Merlin’s 407 mm (16 in). Both kits feature the shovel-shaped rotor tips used on these types, an aerodynamic design feature that combines increased blade lift, while also reducing noise levels.

Ships

The Type 45 is the British Royal Navy’s latest destroyer design - one is being deployed to the Persian Gulf just this week - and this kit is to big 1:350 scale, making it ideal for showing off the slab-sided stealth features. At this scale the kit should build to a length of some 435 mm (17.13 in).   

Automotive

The latest Ford Fiesta is a big sales success in all markets where it is sold, so it’s good to see Airfix bringing us a 1:32 scale rally version. Wide wheels, aerofoils, antennas and assorted body mods make this storming machine much more impressive than the cooking road car, so all the better to build a kit of it. Nice too, that it’s to the same scale as Scalextric cars from the same Hornby group of companies.

AFVs

The Supacat Coyote is a 6x6 tactical support vehicle that’s a big brother to the Supacat Coyote, also coming from Airfix this year. Both vehicles are in production for the British Army, and we’re pleased to see that 1:48 scale has been selected, making either or both models ideal for diorama displays with other modern weapon systems, especially those Airfix helicopters.

World War II

Excellent news in this department, with a 1:72 scale Spitfire F22 leading the pack. This later-model ‘Spit’ had a five-bladed propeller, retractable tailwheel and bubble canopy. A nice addition to the 1:72 collection, as will be the biplane Fairey Swordfish floatplane. This was an SMN ‘please make’ request when the standard wheeled Swordfish was announced last year, so we’ll be up for this one, just as soon as it’s available.

Photo-etch accessories and add-on parts

Airfix is getting into the aftermarket business with items like this bag of photo-etch accessories for the Supacat Jackal/Coyote. Some might say this is a clever way to keep kit costs down by leaving bits out of the box, but we say it’s a good option for specialists, as mass-market buyers - prime taget for Airfix - are unlikely to want such stuff. Either way, an interesting development for Airfix, as is the Photo-Reconnaissance (PR) and Refueller parts set for the Airfix Valiant V-bomber kit. Note to Airfix btw - spelling on the package header should be: “Refueller”, not “Refeuller”. We're looking forward to many more Airfix 'detail-plus' packs in future.

Summation

It’s going to be a busy year for the revitalized Airfix, with plenty to keep modelmakers busy throughout 2012. We’ve only touched on the new-stuff list here - for other items, visit Airfix here.

More Airfix kits here.