CT Modeller Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Whirlwind HAS.7 - 824 Naval Air Squadron, HMS Centaur 1963. This is the Italeri H-19 kit with the Rotorcraft conversion to make a Whirlwind HAS7. This was a far more involved conversion than I was expecting - I sort of had the idea that the Whirlwind 7 was the same as a Sikorsky H-19 with a few changes here and there - wrong! The model has more resin than plastic. The whole tail boom is resin (though you could use the kit supplied version if you could be bothered to remove some detail), and the whole lower fuselage below the floor line is also resin. This was because the Mk7 had the facility to carry a torpedo semi-enclosed in the lower fuselage, which required the floor line to be raised as well as a new under-fuselage profile. The resin fitted pretty well overall. There was much PE provided also. The kit moulded-in engine cooling vents all had to go and were replaced with PE, as well as various footsteps, handholds, windscreen wipers, etc. A replacement white metal undercarriage is also provided - much needed because with all that resin at the back a fair old dose of lead was needed in the nose to keep it on its wheels. I would have liked the conversion kit instructions to have been much clearer, though. In particular, I only discovered fairly late on that I needed to remove some windscreen framing from the transparencies. I suppose I should have done a bit more research myself, then I wouldn't have been in that position! Kit decals were good - lots of choice. I was always going to do a yellow/oxford blue scheme and didn't want the kit provided example so went for an 824 NAS example from the early 60s. As usual, and enjoyable experience. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodders154 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 lovely kit lovely colour scheme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Hi Chris, Glad you like the conversion kit, you've made a splendid job of your model, I think it's the first one I've seen iin OB and Yellow. Thanks also for your comment re the kit, the inclusion of the tail was Ali, he found out it was almost impssible to find the cranked tail kit in the UK. Colin @ ROTORrcraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goon Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Very nice Whirlwind, in a gorgeous colour scheme. You've nailed the weathering too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 very nice. I love the old blue/yellow scheme... Alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papa Delta Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Sweet build! Love the scheme. And you're right, a lot of nice marking selections with that conversion set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Really lovely build. Those etched brass engine grilles really look the business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotorheadtx Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Very, very nice!! Great job!! (What paints did you use??) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Heath Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Realy, realy nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Lovely, the only problem with a well made kit like yours is it's hard to believe it was anything but easy to put together Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 That is a really lovely helicopter,...first rate and Fleet Air Arm to boot,...fantastic! Cheers Tony O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Super!! Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HL-10 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 You've done a very nice job there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 awesome build,looks great Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Very nice indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NavDoc Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 A knockout ! What a great color scheme ! What scale is this?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Really super build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goggsy Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 (edited) Lovely build and I've also learned something. I've build the Airfix 1/72 kit before and thought it was fairly accurate but went back to check my sources after seeing your build. I hadn't realised that the tail boom has a bit of a taper to it on both top and bottom as the Airfix kit certainly doesn't, but having looked at pictures of the real thing you've got it bang on. You live and learn.... Edited July 18, 2013 by goggsy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dolphin38 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Very nice Whirlwind, I'm in the process of completing the HAR1 version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Lovely work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicE1 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 lovely example! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cardiff guy Posted July 18, 2013 Share Posted July 18, 2013 nice little kit well done Glenn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selwyn Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Lovely build and I've also learned something. I've build the Airfix 1/72 kit before and thought it was fairly accurate but went back to check my sources after seeing your build. I hadn't realised that the tail boom has a bit of a taper to it on both top and bottom as the Airfix kit certainly doesn't, but having looked at pictures of the real thing you've got it bang on. You live and learn.... The airfix kit is accurate, The Tail boom was modified on later models of whirlwinds to introduce a tail down taper. the Airfix kit depicts the earlier configuration. Selwyn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted July 19, 2013 Share Posted July 19, 2013 Lovely build and I've also learned something. I've build the Airfix 1/72 kit before and thought it was fairly accurate but went back to check my sources after seeing your build. I hadn't realised that the tail boom has a bit of a taper to it on both top and bottom as the Airfix kit certainly doesn't, but having looked at pictures of the real thing you've got it bang on. You live and learn.... The Airix kit depicts the Mk21/22's (S-55/H-16) with the early straigh tail boom, on later types the boom was drooped to give clearance for the main rotorblades when making flared landings (tail down). The Italeri kit is available as both types (straight and drooped plus a kit with the floats), the Airfix kit also suffers from being slightly under scale but still worth building. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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