Trumpeter Westland Whirlwind Heavy Fighter 1:48

[Mike]

Westland Whirlwind Heavy Fighter
1:48 Trumpeter

The Westland Whirlwind was a heavy fighter that showed a significant amount of promise that was sadly unrealised due to problems with the engines, and has become known as somewhat of a problem child of the RAF's early WWII line-up, and was only used by two squadrons until 1943, when despite a degree of aptitude shown as a fighter bomber, it was withdrawn from service.

When first flown, it had a good turn of speed and docile handling characteristics at all speeds, but with a high landing speed that precluded its use at some shorter airfields. Initially fitted with a twin tail, this was replaced by a large single tail with the elevators set high out of the turbulent air from the flaps. The upper section of the tail was made moveable to counter lateral stability issues, but still the Peregrine engine's reliability issued dogged its development. The cancellation of further development by Rolls-Royce was to be the death-knell of the project eventually, as the airframe had been designed around the engine and re-engining with anything then current would have meant more re-design work. The Peregrine was powerful and responsive at low level, but performance dropped off as the height increased, so the Whirlwind found greatest success at low level, where its four 20mm cannon in the nose could concentrate fire without the need to consider convergence that affected accuracy of wing mounted weaponry.

As the pilots who flew it gained experience, the Whirlwind's positives could be exploited and its use as a ground-attack fighter bomber during the Rhubarb missions over the channel in France were successful, and the twin engines meant that return to base with one engine knocked out was a possibility. At low level it was incredibly fast for its day, and could handle the opposition easily as it could out-drag them, with relatively light control forces needed for manoeuvring. Around half of the Whirlwinds were retro-fitted with bomb racks under their wings to carry a pair of 250lb bombs to increase their destructive power on ground attack missions.

As the technology race passed the Whirlwind by, it became clear that its days were numbered, and it was eventually replaced in 1943 by the Hawker Typhoon, with it being declared obsolete the following January. Thus ended the career of a rather attractive-looking (to me, at least) technology test-bed, a career that may have been somewhat longer if it had been designed around a different engine.


The Kit
This new one from Trumpeter is the only option in styrene in this scale at the moment, the only previous alternative being the Classic Airframes kit, which has been out of production for some years now, so is becoming harder to get hold of. Announced a few months back, the usual will-they/won't-they argument blew up almost immediately over whether this would be done well. Now that the kit has started to arrive on our shores, it is being picked over at length and being compared with the old CA kit. As I have both kits, a quick comparison shows some differences between the kits, but that's to be expected. The kit arrives in a standard top-opening box, and inside are four sprues of mid-grey styrene, a well wrapped sprue of clear parts, decal sheet, painting and decaling guide, and instruction booklet.

First impressions are that it is a nicely tooled kit, but not one of Trumpeter's premium kits, as the flying surfaces are all moulded in, plus the wingtip lights, and there is no Photo-Etch (PE) included in the package. The tail gear bay doors are moulded into the fuselage sides, and the main gear bay doors seem destined to fit in the open position too, so it's wheels down, or prepare yourself for some work. The gross outline of the aircraft doesn't look at variance with plans and photographic evidence, with the wingspan scaling out well, and the fuselage "in the ball-park" or close, depending on where you take your measurements from. There are some points noted below that might cause some additional work, some of which I have gleaned from discussions on the site, and some I have spotted myself since my kit arrived

• Incorrect panel line on rear nacelle where aft section rotates to accommodate the deployment of the flaps.
• Top section of the rudder depicted as panel line rather than section of rudder.
• Slightly bulged profile of the windscreen from ahead.
• Taper of front of nacelles a little shallow, or nacelles too short.
• Wing fuel tanks should be raised all around with a bevelled edge due to addition of self-sealing layer top and bottom from early 1941, or flush before that date.
• Roll-over bars missing from canopy.
• Curve on landing gear bay hinge-line absent.
• No retractable foot-step on port side.

Construction begins with the cockpit, which starts as a flat floor part with lots of moulded in detail, to which a very simple seat is added, although it should instead be affixed to the rear bulkhead in a similar fashion to that of the Spitfire's seat. The instrument panel fits into a slot in-between the moulded in rudder pedals, and a decal is included for detailing, before two cockpit side-walls are added, which have chunky rib detail moulded in. The rear is the bulkhead with a raised wedge-shaped section where the seat mounting point should be. The engine nacelles are next, with a simple three part tray consisting of bay roof, front and rear bulkheads, with ribbing moulded into the inside of the nacelles, and in order to fit the landing gear, you must sandwich the parts between the halves during construction. The wheels are two-part with integral hubs, and these fit between the H-shaped main strut by flexing the legs outward. The retraction jack fits in a pair of box-shaped slots in the leg, with the other end locating in a recess in the rear edge of the bay opening. The shrouded exhausts fit to either side of the nacelle, and are handed with a longer shroud on the inboard side, presumably to reduce glare for the pilot.

The fuselage closes around the cockpit and wheel bay part, into which a single piece tail wheel fits, with no sign of any mechanism to retract it, and little detail within the bay itself. The nose cone with four cannons fits onto the front of the fuselage, and has a number of locating tabs to ensure correct orientation, and before installation of the canopy, a rear turtle-deck part is glued onto the flat area aft of the opening, and this section is inaccurate, as it has no sign of the roll-over protection system that should be there. Adding a rod between the aft of the deck and the head armour would help, but a flat length within the canopy and an inverted-V attached to the lower canopy frame should also be present, as should a flare-gun panel on the starboard forward portion of the canopy, although this could be sprayed on using punched masks. The elevators fit on using the standard tabs and slots, and should it at a 90^o to the fin. You might also want to scribe and shape the top section of the rudder before you install the elevators, so that it matches the profile of the rudder, and if you're going all-out, change the profile of the starboard side of the rudder to a more convex profile to counter torque-steer due to prop rotational forces.

The lower wing is full-width, crossing the fuselage, so there will be a pair of short seams here, and the upper wings are of course separate parts with radiator baths in the leading edges to cut down on drag. In practice a cooling flap was often seen open at the rear of the wing, but this panel is moulded into the wing on the model. Under the nose are a pair of aerodynamic fairings, the larger of which that contains the spent cartridges from the four 20mm cannons, and wasn't always fitted, with the smaller one containing the gun camera, offset to starboard. The completed nacelles are then offered up to the underside of the wing, and locate by two pins that slot into corresponding holes in the wing's lower surface. The gear bay doors are added, and these have ribbing detail moulded in, as well as hinges that mate with recesses in the outer edges of the wheel bay. There is a slight disparity in the shape of the bay's longer hinge-edge, which has a short curved section toward the front that isn't depicted here. Adapting the edge and altering the door to match shouldn't be too time consuming, and re-scribing the straight panel line that represents the aft rotating-portion of the nacelle would also be advisable if you are going for accuracy. The front of the nacelles appear a little straight to my eyes, and would either benefit from a little extra length if compared with the CA kit, or a little work with a sanding stick, both of which would then require some correction of the prop-spinner. The curve of the spinner is about right however, and I suspect many will opt to just leave it as is. The spinner is separate from the prop blades though, so re-working wouldn't risk damaging the blades. A pair of bomb crutches with stabilising frames are placed straddling the join between inner and outer wing panels, although no bombs are present in the kit.

Adding the aerial mast in front of the cockpit and aiming bead to the front cowling finish the build, but check your references for the aerial wiring, plus a further two that lead from the elevator tips to the fuselage sides.

Markings
Two aircraft from 263 squadron are depicted on the decal sheet, which has some problems that may require the use of aftermarket alternatives, or painting masks to correct. From the box you can build one of the following, the information for which I've gleaned from a search on the 'net:

• P7116 coded HE-F 263 Squadron – Green/Grey over grey with chequered fin fairing and clover leaf on cockpit side. Aug 41 - May 42.
• P6969 coded HE-V 263 Squadron – Dark Green/Dark Earth over grey. Sometimes seen with heavy wear to the airframe's paint.

The colours in the photo appear better than in the flesh, proving that the camera is indeed a liar!

The sheet is simple, and fairly poorly printed, with visible smearing on some of the decals, plus a mis-registration of the red that renders all the centres of the roundels out of line. The colours are also somewhat suspect, having a more lemon yellow tint to the fuselage roundels, and a red that is perhaps too bright. The chequers on the tail fin bullet are also misaligned with the white backdrop, and there is also some conjecture over whether the black was in fact red. Oddly, the prop tips are supplied as decals, which I haven't seen in a long while.

Conclusion
After ditching the kit decals, the rest of the model seems somewhat better, and of the errors that I have noticed and had pointed out so far, none of them particularly shouts "unbuildable". Of course it's disappointing to see a kit of a rare aircraft that hasn't been kitted very often have such errors, but much of the remainder is of good quality. It's not going to be a weekend project if you are serious about your Whirlwinds, but if you want a good representation of this underused ground attack fighter, most of the issues can remain unfixed and it'll still give a good rendition.

Recommended with caveats.

Review sample courtesy of my wallet.

[Buzby061]

Always wondered why they didn't hang a couple of Merlins on it.

[Chaotic Mike]

Always wondered why they didn't hang a couple of Merlins on it.

Too big, too powerful. Significant re-engineering would have been required, by which time the Mosquito would have been eating its lunch. IMHO, YMMV, etc...

[Radleigh]

Doesn't look a bad kit and tbh, with a few minor corrections (the Rudder being the main one) it'll build up into a decent looking kit, regardless of what other people say. Nice review Mike...

[Ian]

Never really considered the Whirlwind as a 'favourite', but in 1:48 it will be a good and unusual addition to the cabinet - taking note of the caveats, and once some AM decals hit the shelves, I'll buy/build one.

Well presented & written review, Mike.

Ian

[Antoine]

Thanks Mike.

As usual, a very interesting review.

Always had a soft spot for this aircraft, don't know why.

I'll certainly get it, after a few more reading of your contribution.

[spitfire]

Nice review Mike, one of my favourite aircraft, I like it that much that I even dropped down a scale to build the CA version, which was not an easy build, so a modern tooled kit even with faults has to be a step forward.

Cheers

Den

[stever219]

Please can you confirm the colour scheme for P6969?

IIRC the Temperate Land Scheme was Dark Earth and Dark Green upper surfaces with Sky under surfaces by the time that the Whirlwind was in widespread service with Medium Sea Grey code letters. Medium Sea Grey under surfaces were introduced with the Day Fighter Scheme of Dark Green and Ocean Grey upper surfaces to which were applied Sky code letters. Is this another case of Trumpeter's researchers not being allowed access to Britmodeller, let alone the outside of the Chinese border?

[Abacus]

Yes!

[Greased Lightning]

Nice one Mike, I've been itching to read a BM review of this kit.

[dazdot]

so the question is..........

is it as bad as the 15+ pages on rumourmonger said it was?

[JasonC]

so the question is..........

is it as bad as the 15+ pages on rumourmonger said it was?

That's always going to be a personal judgement, and people should now have plenty enough information to decide for themselves.

J.

Edited May 24, 2014 by JasonC

[Stashaholic Steve]

That's always going to be a personal judgement, and people should now have plenty enough information to decide for themselves.

J.

Well, not being a rivet counter and having very limited "scratching" skills anyway, it'll probably do for me unless Tamigawa announce one, in which case I'll hang fire.

Probably just replace the decals with some better AM ones, which you can be sure will be along very soon (if they're not already).

[GregW]

That's always going to be a personal judgement, and people should now have plenty enough information to decide for themselves.

J.

Well said Jason, my thoughts exactly.

I thought it was overpriced but managed to pick one up for £24 @ the Hendon show. I was "reasonably" happy with what was in the box until I looked at the decals and then the Canopy.

Personally I can live with or correct (wing root) most of the issues but the sliding part of canopy is quite simple wrong. The profile on the box art is actually better! Fingers crossed for a vac or resin replacement.

Cheer

Greg

Edited May 24, 2014 by GregW

[SeaVenom]

I don't know why we're getting quite a few kits lately without clear wing lights (which should be standard by now) but having said that this doesn't sound too bad. Seems a lot better than their Vampire disaster anyway.

[GunnarO]

For those interested in more details, I can recommend this book. Just released from Valiant Wings, it does not contain any walkaround pictures of preserved aircrafts....

But it does contain a lot of details and schematics from the Air Publication for the Whirlwind, along with lots of details of the different prototype/production versions.

Cheers.

[brewerjerry]

Too big, too powerful. Significant re-engineering would have been required, by which time the Mosquito would have been eating its lunch. IMHO, YMMV, etc...

Hi

No the old myth ....

merlins would fit and the airframe could take them.

westland stated in jan 41 they can fit merlin XX's into the whirlwind if they wanted it

in 1940 westlands paper engineered a fit of merlins into the whirlwind

I corresponded with the drawing office designer who did the drawings .,

cheers

jerry

[FalkeEins]

it does not contain any walkaround pictures of preserved aircrafts....

are there any ? (difficult type to research on the net ..)

[JasonC]

are there any ?

No.

[brewerjerry]

Hi

Well finally got mine, not impressed really,

No underwing fuel tank detail and upper wing tank detail messed up, terrible decals, but snuff said already in other threads .....

Looks like it will be a 'what if' built as the jan 41 westland offer of a whirlwind with merlin XX.

Good job i did not sell my CA kits.

Cheers

Jerry

Edited August 16, 2014 by brewerjerry

[SleeperService]

It's interesting that when a new kit hits the shelves the 'previously best option' gets flushed out for sale. This doesn't seem to happen with Trumpeter which speaks volumes about their reputation...

Having read Mike's review a few times and done a bit of looking elsewhere I'm beginning to think that fixing it may not be too difficult. In addition to those items noted I believe there's something amiss with the wing/cockpit arrangement. After a conversation with a BMer at the Avon show I think I have the germ of an idea, can anybody advise me on the best scale plans available?

I'll second GunnarO's recommended reading above. A very worthwhile purchase but beware of some of the text especially regarding the Merlin engine!! Some reads rather like What If? discussions on the publishers website...apparently.

Edited August 19, 2014 by SleeperService

[brewerjerry]

Hi

Mike keeps plans in aviation news are generally considered to be the best, although the whirlwind project team will no doubt be better.

cheers

jerry

Edited August 20, 2014 by brewerjerry

[SleeperService]

Thanks for that brewerjerry. If they're in the Warpaint volume on it's way to me then I'm sorted.

I do enjoy a challenge and, in this case trying a new-to-me technique.

[brewerjerry]

Hi

If they are not pm me, I can scan you a copy, not the best way but better than nothing.

cheers

jerry

[tempestfan]

Slightly o/t, but "Mike Keep's are on top" means those in the ancient Kookaburra (don't remember if by Anthony Shennan or Roy Cross) and those by Pat Lloyd (SMI) have faults ?