Airfix has returned to the forefront of modeling with the release of the Westland Lynx family. This release is the naval version of the Lynx. Airfix has also released an Army version. Typical of most naval aircraft, the helicopter can fold its blades and tailboom for storage onboard ship.

This release contains 331 pieces of light blue/grey plastic. My review copy had no flash that I could see. The parts are all packaged in a heavy gauge cardboard top-opening box. The box is packed with the parts and decals. The parts are sealed inside a plastic bag inside the box. Thankfully, the clear parts are packaged in a separate plastic bag. The decals are on a large sheet inside the instructions book, so be careful when opening it up.

History

The IT-1 tank was a Soviet cold war missile tank based on the T-62 Hull. The tank was specially designed to carry and fire the 3M7 Drakon missile from a pop-up launcher. It saw limited service from 1968 to 1970. It was withdrawn due to the limited ammo it could carry and the large dead zone around the tank caused by the minimum range of the missile. Most were converted into recovery vehicles.

The Kit

The contents of the kit are nicely boxed and individually wrapped in plastic sealed bags. There are 19 sprues, 1 clear sprue, 1 PE fret, and the lower hull section. The instruction are in booklet form with 12 pages of black and white instructions. A separate color painting guide is also included. No decals come with the kit and there are no instructions to guide you as to where they might have gone.

With the release of the Encore (upgraded Monogram) A-37 there is renewed interest in this little dragonfly. The kit is really nice, despite its age.

Perfectly molded in light grey resin these two gun barrels have the shrouded miniguns inside of thinned fairings. The addition of these little jewels will add to the look and aid you from having to clean up a seam on the shroud. This will ensure the shroud is round. You’ll also have hollowed out gun tubes inside of the shroud.

Highly recommended.

Thanks to Aires and IPMS/USA for the review copy. You can obtain yours by contacting www.modelchoice.net or your local hobby shop or online retailer.