Westland Wyvern

[crookedmouth]

My first ever post and my first model in 15 years. I bought this kit as a return to modelling after a break to bring up 2 daughters, and on opening the box I was immediately worried that perhaps I'd overstretched myself. Maybe a couple of 1/72 Airfix Spitfires would have been a good idea just to get my eye back in.

Well, I needn't have worried. The kit goes together like a dream and I turned out a very passable (for a first go) attempt. The detailing is fantastic, with lovely inscribed panel lines, an etched metal instrument panel fascia and a superb glossy plastic finish with no flashing. The kit even has a working contra-rotating prop mechanism, which is quite funky. However, it is also quite fiddly and if you misinterpret the rather obscure instructions for this bit, and glue the wrong components (as did I), it won't work. Ho hum.

All this quality is belied by the rather shoddy box art which does the kit absolutely no justice. The instructions are (mostly) detailed and (fairly) clear and simple to follow; although the painting guide is a little short on the detail.

The kit comes with a nice selection of weapons, including RATOGs, a torpedo, 1000lb bombs and external fuel tanks. I'm no expert in the weaponry of the era, but they do look a little non-descript, especially the rockets. The cockpit is beautifully detailed but doesn't come with a pilot, which seems to be fairly typical these days.

The decals give you three squadron options and the nicest looking one is the Suez plane. This is where my main gripe with the kit comes in - the decals are semi-translucent and very fragile. The paintwork shows through them in places although this can be remedied but the main problem is that they are so fragile that the bigger ones (the Suez invasion stripes) tore, lifted and peeled away before I'd even finished painting. I'd strongly recommend painting the stripes by hand or perhaps there's a proprietary decal adhesive/protector that you could use.

Overall, this is a gorgeous kit of a breathtakingly ugly and ultimately rather rubbish aeroplane. I think the Wyvern was obsolete before it entered service and only served for about 4 years before it was replaced. Its engine also had a worrying habit of cutting under high g loadings - never a good thing in a catapult-launched carrier aircraft. I believe that one pilot even managed to eject from underwater *after* his carrier had run him down in the water! Says more for Messrs Martin and Baker than it does for Westland.

However, for me, many of the aircraft's "defects" are plus points: ugly = distinctive, temperamental & dangerous = interesting, short lived = rare!!

[Mike]

Not half bad for a first foray back to the modelling world

while we're at it Was it the 1:48 scale kit?

[John Laidlaw]

Not half bad for a first foray back to the modelling world

what Mike said

[crookedmouth]

Thanks for the welcome and also for the compliments! Theres a lot about the finished kit that I'm not happy with, especially my weathering. On the other hand, after all that time I was bound to be rusty.

Yes, it was the 1/48th scale - you can't beat it for aircraft, I reckon. I'm working on the Classic Airframes 1/48 Gannet ASW at the mo and will be posting a review anon.

Another piccie (just worked out Photobucket)