atvd1020 Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 (edited) This is the build thread for my entry (as of now) in the Bomber Command group build- the Valom Vickers Wellesley I. First, the box art: There wasn't much sun when I took the pictures of the sprues below, so I played with the lighting settings on my camera and then the contrast to capture the geodesic detail on the kit. The detail is still a bit unclear: The kit comes with two fuselages, the other for the LRDU variant, perhaps? The floor windows and the lower fuselage window shown on the box art aren't provided in the kit. I'm not sure if I will add them yet. The wings. The lighting makes the geodesic framework fainter than it seems, but even then it's not too pronounced: The kit comes with some photo-etch, photographed here with the clear bits and the decals (the blue is a bit suspect): I found this post by Mark Davies on the Hyperscale forum which points out what needs to be added to the kit, and what things to watch out for: http://www.network54.com/Forum/644810/message/1406161131/ That's all for the moment. I hope to have some parts painted and some small bits assembled by Monday. Edited September 27, 2014 by atvd1020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 OOh, I like Arthurs very much. will tune in for this. If only we had a 1/48th one ( vacs are available i know) Always liked the ones with the long interconnecting canopy and extra Vickers Ks poking out the side windows too . Good choice Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Pete Posted September 6, 2014 Share Posted September 6, 2014 (edited) Hi there I think we may have a problem with the Wellesley - pm sent Pete Edited September 6, 2014 by Potato Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted September 6, 2014 Author Share Posted September 6, 2014 Put on hold since the Wellesley wasn't serving with Bomber Command per se within the time frame set by the group build. The RAF's Bomber Command history clearly lists it as an inter-war medium bomber as well. my mistake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted September 7, 2014 Share Posted September 7, 2014 Crikey, oh no, would have been nice to see this, what are you going to build instead ? Good luck with what ever you decide to do. All the bestChris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted September 27, 2014 Author Share Posted September 27, 2014 Since the time frame for the group build has been expanded, I will be restarting this build with a period-appropriate Wellesley. Potato Pete has kindly offered to help me out with decals as well, so I don't need to cobble my own from generic serials. I'll see what I can get done over the weekend... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 I`m looking forward to seeing this one,........there were some nice Bomber Command markings worn on the Wellesley and Dutch Decals DDK7207 RAF Night Bombers has some good ones on it if you can find a copy. These include a 35 Sqn one and my favourite one of the NM coded 76 Sqn Wellesley`s which look great with their big codes. Good luck,...cheers, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Pete Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Arun, Tony, The 35 Squadron set are the ones on the way. They do, IMHO look rather smart Pete 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Optimistic I know, but whilst we're on the subject, does anyone know the serial for NM.B? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted September 30, 2014 Author Share Posted September 30, 2014 Optimistic I know, but whilst we're on the subject, does anyone know the serial for NM.B? Sorry, it's not listed or visible in the references and photos I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Jephcott Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Looking forward to seeing this progress... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted October 14, 2014 Author Share Posted October 14, 2014 (edited) *ahem* And so, a small update. I've finished most of the interior and painted it Humbrol 78 (and put together one of the bomb panniers): What interior bits (PE and plastic) the kit provide match up with photographs of the Wellesley's interior I have, but there still is more to add for the more motivated modeler. The framing of the folded chair is either black or wood in photos; I chose the latter for simplicity's sake. Sorry for the harsh lighting; I used the camera's flash to mask out the yellow of my regular lighting. The PE seatbelts were painted with Lifecolor acrylics and were a bit oversize for the gunner's chair. Besides seatbelts and pedals, a lot of the PE was used to provide instrument panels for all the equipment in the cockpit, which came as little featureless blocks of plastic. The PE for the engine (in progress but not shown) is more daunting; the pushrods went on fine but the other parts seem oversized. As Mark Davies noted in the Hyperscale link, the plastic is very soft and cleaning up the ejector pin marks was fairly easy. Edited October 14, 2014 by atvd1020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted October 14, 2014 Share Posted October 14, 2014 Looking good but I doubt whether the entire insides were painted Interior Grey Green? The interior of thefabric areas were probably brick red (the initial red lead dope seeping through the fabric-) and the geodetic framework was invariably left silver. The cockpit area was probably the only area where Interior Grey Green would be seen. Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted October 15, 2014 Author Share Posted October 15, 2014 Looking good but I doubt whether the entire insides were painted Interior Grey Green? The interior of thefabric areas were probably brick red (the initial red lead dope seeping through the fabric-) and the geodetic framework was invariably left silver. The cockpit area was probably the only area where Interior Grey Green would be seen. Cheers Tony *squints at reference photos* I see what you mean, but fortunately that's easy to rectify. Would this have been the case before pre- and during the war? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted October 20, 2014 Author Share Posted October 20, 2014 A small pictorial update: Re-did the interior colours and added some detail based on photos. Since taking it, I've tidied up the paint job a bit more. I also added a gun button and brake lever(?) to the control column: I've since sawed out parts of the fuselage floor to fit windows in, and marked of spots where spars for the wings (made from sprue) will be added. Coming to the wings, I haven't yet decided whether how much wheel well detail I will add-I would need to replace or supplement what the kit provides with a representation of the geodetic structure. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted October 20, 2014 Share Posted October 20, 2014 Nice one,.....looks great! I`ve been looking forward to an update on this one,...keep them coming. Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted November 4, 2014 Author Share Posted November 4, 2014 A final look at the fuselage with the interior added before I close it up: There are a few flecks of dust to clean up before I close the fuselage. I had to sand off parts of the interior framework to fit the floor behind the cockpit area, and I still have some more sanding to better align it. The cockpit needed sanding of its own to fit snugly between the fuselage halves. I've also cut out the parts where the windows below the cockpit are and will fill it in with a clear plastic insert. I planned to add two spars for the wing but in the end will have to do with one (below the cockpit) as the interior parts don't allow the second spar I planned to run through the fuselage. I also added some faux-geodetic framework to the wheel wells: I decided to keep the wheel well interior provided by the kit and glue the framework on top of that as I was afraid that the framework alone might buckle under the top wing when I assemble that. I used Evergreen strips roughly the same width as that of some of the wheel well parts for consistency's sake. I will try some trompe l'oeil to let the geodetic framework stand out once I've figured out the spar, but before I glue the wings to the fuselage. As far as Czech short-run kits go, this is below AZ, RS and Sword. I've started adding some of the photoetch to the engine (which needed some de-flashing) and it looks like some of it is oversize for the engine. Oh well. Hopefully I should have the fuselage closed, the windows added and the spar fixed for the next post(s). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 Looks good and is coming on great,.....in fact after seeing your pics last week I went out and bought one of these Valom Wellesley kits and I`ve started it already! Your latest pics only make me want to crack on and get some more done on it. Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted November 5, 2014 Share Posted November 5, 2014 What a strange machine. Yet your build thread is has me wanting to get one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted November 15, 2014 Author Share Posted November 15, 2014 Thanks for the comments, guys! @tonyot: I'm glad you feel motivated by the build even though work has slowed down my progress a lot. What's left of the build is still...tricky, and will require lots of test fitting and sanding. A small non-pictorial update: the starboard side of the fuselage is slightly smaller than the port near the engine cowling. Since this asymmetry doesn't seem to show up in photos, I'm making the two halves the same height with putty (whee). This will also improve the canopy fit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 (edited) So, the engine cowling halves of the kit looked like this when joined together: Since the canopy sat worse on the starboard side, I brought it level to the other side with putty up to this point: Naturally, I still need to rescribe the lost panel lines. Photobucket thinks this would be a good idea for a Christmas card, but I can only think of one family member who would find it funny. I also finished the trompe l'oeil for the wheel well geodetic structure. Here's one: It looks better without the camera flash, but then I have to use it to make my photos look less yellow from my normal dining table lighting. Edited December 6, 2014 by atvd1020 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 Sorry for the back-to-back progress posts, but I was abroad this week for work (with really bad Internet) and didn't get round to post them earlier. This is the part everyone is waiting for- the wings actually go on: A plane that only Barnes Wallis could love, indeed. The true weirdness of the plane only hits you, as with others, when you look at a three-dimensional scale replica of it. Just for fun, you can fit a Spitfire on each wing: OK, it's a D520 and a Spitfire, but you get the idea. Both of those are candidates for the next KUTA build, BTW. After adding the wings on, I'm sure the starboard side of the fuselage had some moudling problem or the kit is just badly designed. The wing fit was much worse than the port's, though neither were easy. What dihedral the Wellesley wings had was sacrificed for fit. I had to rebuild some of the detail at the wing root with strip styrene (which should also provide some strengthening): All this with a minimum of loss of geodetic detail, in spite of Liquid Poly. I got the decals from Pete last week, but will only be able to model for the coming two weeks before the deadline. If I can have the model built before that (paint on or no paint on), I will be happy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atvd1020 Posted December 11, 2014 Author Share Posted December 11, 2014 Another non-pictorial update: the tailplanes are on and I've started building the undercarriage (which requires a lot of clean-up). Something seems to be seriously off with the kit's symmetry, but I can't put my finger on it just yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted December 12, 2014 Share Posted December 12, 2014 It is coming together really well, thanks to your efforts that is! Looking forward to seeing it finished, Keep up the good work, Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Potato Pete Posted December 14, 2014 Share Posted December 14, 2014 Coming along nicely there. I always forget just how big the Welesley's wings were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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