48th Scale `Junglie' Wessex HAS.1- 845 NAS, Borneo

[tonyot]

Hello Folks,

I`ve always wanted to build a model of the earliest Wessex `Junglie' version which were specially stripped out HAS.1 anti sub versions that were painted overall Light Stone and rushed out to Borneo to replace the Whirlwind Mk.7 `Junglie`s' which were operating from primitive jungle heli pads. My original intention was to use the Revell Wessex HAS.3 kit but when Italeri announced that they were doing the same version I held out for one of these instead and here is the result, backdated to HAS.1 status and depicting XP142/J `Mr. Jinks' of 845 NAS, which was later converted to HAS.3 status and went on to become the famous `Humprey' of Falklands fame and now resides in the Fleet Air Arm Museum! Here is the build thread;

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234942543-48th-scale-wessex-has1-junglie/

The `Mr Jink`s' artwork inside the red circle on the nose is hand painted, as is the 845 NAS insignia although a very kind Britmodeller (Dave!) has done me some decal replacements which are on their way from the USA,...what a kind bloke! Two of the emergency escape windows have been opened up to let a bit of cool air in and a `Gimpy' GPMG from the Airfix Lynx kit has been mounted in one of them. Anyway enough blurb,...here is the model;

And here is it again with my next Junglie lurking behind, the Italeri Wessex HU.5!

Hope you like it,

All the best

Tony O

Edited July 12, 2013 by tonyot

[Shalako]

Very nice build mate.

Keep up the good work!!

Cheers

Sernak

[HL-10]

Very nice indeed!

You've done a lovely job on that Wessex.

[Paul Alan Bardell]

Tony

Love it! - its a great looking Wessex.

[Tim T]

Great work as always Tony. Good to see the mojo is back.

[Stephen]

One of the nicest builds you've done yet.

Stephen

[russ c]

Fantastic job and really different, I love it

[woody37]

Wow, it's finished already !

Fantastic build Tony, love your choice, very unusual

[jenko]

Nice one Tony ............looking forward to the 5

[batcode]

great build ,looks fantastic , do love the schme suits it

[Orion]

Hi Tonyot,

Excellent model. My compliments.

When was it produced and some dates on the Borneo OPS from this particular chopper.

Interesting that this chopper became Humphry during the Falkland War.

It tells something about the Westland Company.

Regards,

Dirk

The Netherlands

[snapper_city]

Really nice job.

[OzH]

Tony

Great model and a great back storey as well. Its always Interesting to see some of the history behind a famous airframe like his one.

Well done matey...

OzH

[Viking]

Excellent, really looks the biz.

Cheers

John

[tonyot]

Thanks everybody, glad you like it and thanks for saying so,

Cheers

Tony O

[tonyot]

Hi Tonyot,

Excellent model. My compliments.

When was it produced and some dates on the Borneo OPS from this particular chopper.

Interesting that this chopper became Humphry during the Falkland War.

It tells something about the Westland Company.

Regards,

Dirk

The Netherlands

Thank you Dirk,

XP142 was produced as a Wessex HAS.1 during 1962 and went straight to 845 NAS in the `Junglie' role coded `J/A' aboard HMS Albion in August 1962. It encountered engine problems in Kuching and Kenya prior to joining B Flight of 845 NAS aboard HMS Bulwark where it received the Mr Jinks artwork plus the new carriers tail code B. Other Wessex within the same unit received relevant cartoon artwork to suit their code letters. After mods at the AHU Sembawang it rejoined B Flight in May 1964 at Nanga Gaat, Borneo but after injesting foliage into the engine it suffered an engine surge and was returned to the UK where is was repaired at Fleetlands and converted back to ASW status. In 1966 it joined 706 NAS in the anti sub role as a HAS.1 but was returned to Westlands at Yeovil in 1967 to be converted to HAS.3 status.

As a HAS.3, XP142 was delivered to 814 NAS (coded 270/H) for service aboard HMS Hermes in 1969 but following an engine fire it made an emergency landing aboard Hermes and after repairs it moved back to 706 NAS at Culdrose. Refinished at Lee on Solent and Fleetlands it joined HMS Hampshire flight in 1973, moved to HMS Fife Flight in 1976 and following spells of depot level upgrades it moved to 737 NAS at Portland in 1981. Famously XP142 joined HMS Antrim Flight as 406/AN, named `Humphrey' in November 1981 and served through the Falklands Campaign, seeing extensive service during the fight for South Georgia including dropping depth charges on the submarine `Santa Fe' and helping to deploy and then rescue the SAS team which landed on the Fortuna Glacier, plus the rescue of another SAS team which had engine failure on their Gemini boat. After South Georgia was taken HMS Antrim moved to the Falklands and along with `Humphrey' played an important role in the initial amphibious landing (naval gunfire support plus dropping off Special Forces patrols) but on the 21st May 1982 HMS Antrim was strafed by Argentinian Daggers and Humprey was damaged in the hangar, damage which she still sports today in the Fleet Air Arm Museum,........is that enough???

Cheers

Tony O

[MikeR]

Lovely model!

Mike.

[VG 33]

Very nice I like it very much with such a messy interior.

Patrick

[TCinLA]

That's a really excellent model - great care in construction, modification, detailing, painting and decaling. Congratulations.

I was in Southeast Asia (with the USN) when Britain was involved in the "confrontation" with Indonesia in the early 60s. It's a little-known event (certainly here in the US but also to a degree over in Blighty-land), and from what I saw at the time it was a good example of British "muddling through" (as with this) that got them through the event.

Edited July 12, 2013 by TCinLA

[tonyot]

Thanks lads,

Glad you like it,.......back in the 1960`s the British Armed Forces had some awful kit but they were a highly professional and motivated bunch, probably more than any time in our post war history and more so, they were used to making the most of what they had and muddling through to obtain excellent results, batting way above their weight on a regular basis! Although they were still very professional in the 1980`s when I joined, I would have loved to have served during the 1950`s & 60`s,......a classic era in British Military history with commitments all over the world.

Cheers again,

Tony O

Edited July 12, 2013 by tonyot

[cunners]

It's great to see another mark of Wessex being done apart from a HU5 (says a man currently making a HU5....) and one of such interesting history. A 60 Sqn Wessex was the first service helicopter I had a ride in in the early 90s and they have remained my favourite cab ever since.

[burnley63]

Now that's a good looking Wessex, really like the "Junglie" scheme. As others have said great model.

Kevin

[Blue Monday]

Brilliantly finished. The extra weathering around the engine bay is really nice. It makes sense that the nose on this ship would be dirtier with grease and oil. Nice.

BM.

[Paul Bradley]

Very nice, Tony! Can't wait to see what you do with the '5.

[pinky coffeeboat]

Lovely job Tony. It's actually making me look at maybe buying a couple. I used to see Wessex all the time (born and bred in Northern Ireland) and when I joined the navy, I worked on Wessex learning the basics of air engineering before being set loose on "real" aircraft in the fleet!!

It's great to see another mark of Wessex being done apart from a HU5 (says a man currently making a HU5....) and one of such interesting history. A 60 Sqn Wessex was the first service helicopter I had a ride in in the early 90s and they have remained my favourite cab ever since.

That's a coincidence - my first ever flight in a helicopter was with 60sqn (XT671) in Sennybridge during annual camp with the TA 1994.

Edited July 13, 2013 by pinky coffeeboat