1/72nd Fly AW. Whitley Mk.V- FINISHED

[tonyot]

Hello Folks,

I`ve never taken part in a Group Build before so I hope you don`t mind me joining you here?

I thought that I`d have a go at building the 1/72nd scale Fly Whitley Mk.V bomber.

I`m not sure which scheme to settle on yet but it will probably be the top one here;

Which is from 58 Sqn at Linton on Ouse as I love the early war bomber scheme, but I may be swayed if I can find an aircraft which took dropped Para`s during the Bruneval or Tragino Aquaduct Raids.

Here goes then,.....first up I painted the main parts on the sprue and added the basic cockpit parts to the left hand fuselage half and the gun turrets were also started,.....here are most of the internals fitted or laid out ready along with the transparencies;;

The white piece of plastic card will be added to the rear fuselage floor as this seemed to have a walkway laid across it. Another piece of plastic card was painted Interior Grey Green and added to extend the floor behind the cockpit area and this was propped up with more scrap card.

While in the building frame of mind the engine nacelles were assembled next with the resin radiator griils in place. The remaining resin parts for the engines such as prop spinners, air intakes etc will be added later;

Here the basic engine nacelle parts can be seen with the parts of one of the wing showing the breakdown of these parts with a one piece upper, two pieces to the lower wing and a resin wheel well;

To help the lower wing joint to bed together and stay level a piece of plastic card was glued across the inside of the joint and quite a bit of resin has to be removed from the top section of the resin wheel well, especially on the upper forward section to enable it to fit and let the engine pod fit onto the wing later.

Thats it for now,....more soon,

Cheers

Tony

PS- I`ve changed all of the above as I wasn`t happy with he original post,...hope you don`t mind?

Edited November 18, 2014 by tonyot

[Martian]

As I have this kit in the stash, I look forward to seeing how well, or otherwise, it goes together.

Martin

[Stew Dapple]

I've seen this kit about but I don't think I've ever seen one built, so I'd be interested in hearing what you think of it as you go - as well as being interested in seeing your build

Cheers,

Stew

[Chris Jephcott]

I'm watching this one with very keen interested. I've always been tempted to buy a Fly Whitley, but never seen one being built.

A good start!!

[bigbadbadge]

Hi Tony, good to have you along, this should be a good build, always like your threads. I too would be interested on getting my hands on a Whitley so will watch with interest.

All the best
Chris

[tonyot]

Thanks everybody, I must tell you that I`ve changed page 1 as I wasn`t really happy with it and I`ve made more effort this time!

Here is the next update;

The rear fuselage floor has been fitted and the plastic card walkway has been painted black and installed. This feature shows up in a photo showing paratroopers sat on the floor en route to the DZ so it might not be a feature of the bomber version? Also seen here are the resin gun barrels and the parts for the rear gun turret. The glazing for this is very clouded and full of bubbles so may be replaced using a Falcon vacuformed part?;

Here is a closer view of the cockpit and nose turret area showing the section of extra plastic card flooring behind the cockpit area which will just show up through the bulkhead doorway, a map on the navigators chart table with a lamp made from fuse fire and a blob of super glue on the end while the canopy framework has been painted black because judging from the few cockpit photos that I`ve found of the real aircraft these appear to be black and not Interior Grey Green;

The wings have been assembled and the engines were test fitted to the nacelles,....not the best of fit but some filler and elbow grease should sort that out hopefully and this was the reason for not adding the air intakes and exhausts? The forward section of the resin wheel well and the rear face of the resin radiators in the engine pods were painted black as were the areas between them as there is an opening under the engine pod;

Don`t fit the resin wheel well too far back as the forward part should be level with the joint between the nacelle and the engine pod so that it fits snugly(ish) into the bottom of the engine pod.

Thats it for now,

Cheers

Tony

Edited September 22, 2014 by tonyot

[woody37]

Looking forwards to this Tony as I got one recently. I want to change the clear parts for the Falcon ones from the airfix kit though because they're not the strongest part of this kit.

[tonyot]

Looking forwards to this Tony as I got one recently. I want to change the clear parts for the Falcon ones from the airfix kit though because they're not the strongest part of this kit.

Hiya Neil,

If it turns out anything like your Frog Whitley I`ll be very happy indeed,.....in fact I`ve got photos of your model in my reference bundle for this build! I`ll probably use the turrets from the Falcon kit at least as I agree with you, they are not the best and I`ll be using Kristal Klear for the fuselage windows rather than the clear plastic blobs provided.

The lastest update; Tonight I`ve joined the fuselage halves, built both wings and attached them to the fuselage! It looks like a Whitley underneath all of the tape which is holding it together while the glue dries,......its too dark for a piccy so I`ll take one in the morning.

Cheers for now

Tony

[heloman1]

Good choice of subject Tony, welcome to the world of GB's, I'm sure you'll enjoy the banter etc. Looks like Messers Armstrongand Whitworth hadn't invested in a set of French curves for this design.

I'll follow your build with interest.

Colin

[tonyot]

Cheers Colin,

Yes I know what you mean about the Whitley`s shape but I still like the look of it! Here are some pics of the progress so far;

Most of the airframe parts are now assembled and attached to each other but some filling and plenty of sanding is now required!;

Here is a close up of the cockpit before the lid goes on. Hardly anything can be seen inside so there is no need to add extra detail such as the curved track in the floor for the Navigators sliding chair but a map, slide rule and a basic lamp have been added;

Cheers for now,

Tony

[heloman1]

I do like the cockpit Tony, you've really brought it to life with the map table. Yes the design is quiry, not quite Lancaster but past the earlier interwars bomber designs.

Colin

[woody37]

Hi Tony,

Since I did the build, I wasn't happy with the front turret, it was too small, so I made a new one. If you want the former to crash mould one, let me know and I'll post it over or drop it off, good excuse to have a beer as we're not too far apart!

Love the progress, that cockpit looks great. Maps are certainly in fashion at the moment

[tonyot]

Cheers Neil,

I should be OK re the turret as I don`t vac form my own stuff (although I did try once!) but you are welcome to come over any time mate, it would be nice to see you. Glad you like the progress although the cockpit is nowhere near as good as yours,.....I generally like to add a map if I can,...it is a sort of trademark,....I use a page cut from an old issue of Flypast which had a map used as a background to the main feature as it is just right for models.

Cheers

Tony

[woody37]

Lets arrange something Tony in the near future, be good to catch up

Cheers

[tonyot]

Hiya Neil,

Yes mate that would be great,...if not I`ll definitely see you at Telford if you are going?

Here is my latest update;

After a mega sanding session last night the model is almost ready for painting!;

Most of the sub assemblies and parts to add can be seen laid around the basic airframe.

Here is a close up of the turrets and bomb aimers nose glazing,....the clear parts have been dipped in Klear and look much better for it so I`m going to retain them. After painting the interior of the turrets black I`ve found some photos which seem to show that they were painted Interior Grey Green,...so I`ll be changing those today;

Just o show that other versions like the Tiger radial engined Mk.III are on the way, here are the alternative fins, the larger rounded one being for the earlier versions. I`ll be doing a 1 PTS Whitley Mk.III when this kit comes out!;

That`s it for now, hopefully I`ll get some paint on today if my back and legs calm down and stop hurting so much,

Cheers

Tony

[Radleigh]

I love the shape of the Whitley, I wish we had a full size one in the UK!

Look forward to seeing some paint on her..

[tonyot]

I had a good look around the rear fuselage held in the Midland Air Museum at Coventry Airport last month, which is the biggest surviving section of a Whitley that I know of!

Well the back and legs let up just enough to get a couple of coats of Dark Earth onto the model, using my last bottle of Aeromaster paint and my trusty wide flat brush which is excellent for covering large areas with a thin smooth coat of paint;

Next on with the Dark Green disruptive camo and then the black (Night) undersides but I`m having a rest up first!

I`m leaving the fins off until the end to aid painting, weathering and decalling,

Cheers for now,

Tony

Edited September 24, 2014 by tonyot

[Potato Pete]

Oh! what is it with navigators leaving their maps out? The squadron navigation officer will be having kittens

That looks really nice. I love the industrial shape of the Whitley.

Cheers

Pete

[bigbadbadge]

Nice work Tony and quick too, how do you do it fella? I might well be able to sneak in a bit of modelling time tonight hopefully.

All the best

Chris

[Stew Dapple]

Absolutely beautiful finish on that paintwork *consumed with envy*

Nice work Tony

Cheers,

Stew

[Chris Jephcott]

Oh wow! Amazing progress. Looking amazing!!

[AnonymousDFB1]

Looking good

[tonyot]

Thanks again folks,

Here is the latest update;

As the kit doesn`t include a landing light in the leading edge of the left wing I decided to cut one out, first by making two razor saw cuts on each side and then cutting the area open at angles using a sharp knife. I also drilled a pair of windows in the bulkhead behind the nose turret, as these appear to be present in a few photos;

After the opening was cut out it was lined with plastic card as seen here and the gun turret interiors were also repainted using Interior Grey Green plus the turret frames were painted too;

After the landing light was sorted by cutting away the surplus plastic card when the glue was dried, it was time to add the first coat of Dark Green camouflage;

A closer view of the wing reveals what will be used for the landing lights themselves, two of these lenses bought from Little Cars.com at the Bolton Show;

Thats it for now,.....hopefully the green camo will be finished by tommorrow and then the black undersides can be tackled.

One more thing,......has anybody ever seen a photo of N1428/ GE-B of 58 Sqn? I have not found one so far and can only find a colour side view drawing in the Warpaint book,......surely the decal option isn`t based on a side view drawing is it? I`ve found others which look similar,...but not this exact one,....yet!

Cheers for now,

Tony

Edited September 25, 2014 by tonyot

[tonyot]

Just another quick update,

The rear turret has been built up and the nose turret has been modified with a beam across the top made from bent plastic card and as the kit provides a Browning MG when it should have a Vickers K Gun, the resin gun was cut away and a suitable gun from the spares box was added instead;

I`ll paint up the nose turret tonight and then leave it to one side until the end of the build,.....although the frameline on the nose glazing looks a bit dodgy at this magnification so may receive some attention?!

Cheers

Tony

[tonyot]

Well I`ve finally found a photograph of Whitley Mk.V, N1428/ GE-B from 58 Sqn! I is on page 90 of Bomber Squadrons of the RAF and their aircraft by Philip Moyes and guess what,.....the kit decals are wrong! The real aircraft has a much larger red central `dot' on the fuselage roundels and the codes are a different style too and to be honest I`m not keen on it so the hunt is on for another Whitley now!

Cheers for now,

Tony