heloman1 Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 No idea what I'll be doing in late 2016, but building a Wessex sounds like fun - count me in. Welcome Paul, thanks for joining us. We now have 24 pax, I think we're going to have a great GB... Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgbn Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 One Question the old 1/72 Matchbox Wessex HU.5 is that just rubbish or how does this one shape up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milktrip Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 I have one in the stash Henrik. Never built one but looks pretty basic in the box. As for fit / accuracy I don't know? as said never built one and I know very little about the Wessex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Check out post 40. The photo of three Wessexes has the Matchbox one. The middle one in the sand and spinach scheme. Or these may help: I don't have the model any more as I've sold it, but the pics may give you an idea. Its a fine enough kit if you're not fussy. And another one I did for BM once before: Italeri kit and Modeldecals. It may have been for a WIP thread or a helicopter GB, not sure now. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hgbn Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Thanks Paul, Having the same kit was just curious on the general shape, size and is by no means a Wessex expert. Can see there is two different engine configurations in the Matchbox kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 In all honesty the Matchbox kit is one of the worst out of them all. A square fuselage, raised panel lines and poor detail. Nice decal sheets so it would be worth it just for those. The old, nay, very old Frog kit is still worth plugging at for an early Wessex HAS Mk1 (small cabin windows). The Italeri kit with it's shortfalls is the way to go. There is 6mm missing form the transion from the cabin rear end to the tail cone is it's biggest problem. I mastered an for the extended plug for the ROTOR carft range and hopefully Colin @ Frieghtdog will make it available. For a HAS Mk1 you would need an H-34 kit and a HAS 3 with a reworked nose and under fuselage but it's not straight forward.. As for 48th scale Wessex then the only game in town is again Italeri. Not too much wrong with it but had it been a piece of armour, I'm sure Italeri would have made a much better/proper job of the kit. Available in HASs Mk1 (recently released), HAS Mk3 and HU Mk5. If you wish to kit bash, ther eare small cabin windows again inthe ROTOR craft range fior an HC/HAR Mk2. Xtras-decals do a nice sheet to cover these Decals aplenty in the old Model Decals range, now available from Hannant's, from HAS 1's right through all the marques to HU5's. Well worth a look at. The old Revell kit is quite horrific in it's side profile and will need quite a bit of work to bring it close to looking like a Wessex. Overly small main rotorhead laid back tail pylon, etc, etc. You'll find one cheap but is it worth it? Not really. There you go guys. Colin 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted March 19, 2015 Share Posted March 19, 2015 Date added to the first post 5th November 2016 to 5th February 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Hi Mish. Apologies for my absence, looking after my good lady whilst she goes through chemotherapy... Many thanks for the dates, I'll do my best to keep the GB in the limelight. Now we need a banner. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 OK guys, the lady has spoken, we have our GB dates. Burning and turning (start) 5th November, off the line and back in the shed (finish) 5th February 2017, three months in all. I know it's a long way off but such is the popularity of STGB's and GB's in general at present. I think we were very lucky to get a date at all! So plenty of time to get your thinking caps on (overalls) as to what you will be building. In the meantime, I'll ask my bros to design us a banner. I'll be back on my long forgotten Wessex HU5 build again soon. It's not a how to but more and indication of where the Italery kit can be made better/more accurate. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousDFB1 Posted March 20, 2015 Share Posted March 20, 2015 I know exactly what I'll be building It will be 'Humphrey' a HAS.3 from HMS Antrim in the Falklands Conflict, Only I will be presenting Humphrey as it now is in Yeoviton FAA Museum, completed with red circled Argentinian bullet holes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted March 20, 2015 Author Share Posted March 20, 2015 Sounds good Mish and the Italeri kits (72nd and 48th) are both prime candidates. I've got one of each type to build and by the time the GB rolls around I may only have one or two options left. It may fal to a crab HAR 3 with full rescue fit. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moaning dolphin Posted March 24, 2015 Share Posted March 24, 2015 Excellent! looking forward to this, have been tempted to kick it off but now this group build will give me a target so I can stow it safely away until next November. Seems along way off but then again so did 2015 and now we are a quarter of the way through already! I have a 1:72 and a 1:48 (at the moment!) both italeri so have plenty of time to consider my options. I can safely say that it wont be anywhere near Hendy's epic build over in the WIP section though! Cheers now Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy72nd Posted March 26, 2015 Share Posted March 26, 2015 OK, now that my RCAF (Wessex) has been shot full of holes it's time to switch my aim to something different! I can still do a Wessex in red/white/ blue from RAE, so that's not a problem BUT my interest has been attracted to a 72 Sqn bird, since I build 72nd aircraft....... I would like to do XR518, from the Modeldecal sheet #95, with the 'parrot beak' intake. I have googled myself silly and cannot find any hard data or really good pics?? Any of you British experts know of the best way to go about this? My guess is the nose will need to be completely scratch built? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted March 29, 2015 Author Share Posted March 29, 2015 Flyboy. Not as difficult as you might think. I had a look at it in 48th scale. Take the HU5/HAR nose and turn it updside down, you'll still need to do some surgery but it's not impossible. There aren't too many pics of this fit but I'll see what I can find. Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy72nd Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 OK, thanks, I'll have a look at that aspect, cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted May 10, 2015 Share Posted May 10, 2015 Magic Len, welcome aboard, any idea which type you'll be building? Colin A HU5 From 845 NAS on H.M.S Hermes Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 (edited) Thanks Len, welcome to the GB. With you onboard we've got 27 interested parties. Now that should make for a very interesting GB. If we have 27 different Wessi's in the GB that would be great, that might not happen but 27 Wessi models of whate ever veriety, would look fantastic. Thanks guys, stick with it until we get the nod to start. Colin PS. Please look at my new Wessi HAS Mk1 build thread. Edited May 17, 2015 by heloman1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy72nd Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 OK, have a need for a real Wessex expert!! I have just ordered two (one of each) of the Rotorcraft fuse plugs for my Wessex & family. Over on 72nd Aircraft there is a discussion about the plug and so far the opinions are that they are not needed as the Italeri kit is fine!? I have searched the net net for some good drawings but have come up with next to nothing! So I guess I am asking you, Colin, what's the story behind the fuse plug? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Let me have a look and I'll come back to you. I'm sure that when I did my research into making the plug, the dims I worked on were the main rotohead axis and the centre of the tail rotor and then worked back. No point in going to all that effort of cutting fuselages in half etc, and then carving the plug, if the kit was correct in the first palce... Colin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyboy72nd Posted May 28, 2015 Share Posted May 28, 2015 Should have tossed the link to the topic in the last post here it is if you haven't seen it; http://z15.invisionfree.com/72nd_Aircraft/index.php?showtopic=6670 Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Thanks for the link, I've just registered and will clarify matters re the plug and ROTORcraft. There is a 4mm discrepancy in the fuselage length. This occurs from the aft of the cabin (mould line aft of the cabin windows) and the transition piece which is 4mm too short. I laid the Italeri kit over the 4+ dramings and they are spot on dim wise. Yes the Wessex/H-34 kits looks the part but once you add the extended part they look so more in proportion. Thankfully Italeri rectified the problem by the time they got to the 48th scale kit... Colin @ ROTORcraft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heloman1 Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 Should have tossed the link to the topic in the last post here it is if you haven't seen it; http://z15.invisionfree.com/72nd_Aircraft/index.php?showtopic=6670 Thanks for the help. I've joined and left a reply and explanation on 72nd aircraft site. Hope it helps. Colin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
perdu Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 I suppose there's always room for discussion Colin, I think you soothed some savage breasts over there Certainly explained the points well So November 2016 Still I suppose it will give me time to finish at least one of my Jaguars Seeing the discussion about the Matchbox and Frog Wessexiii prompted me to delve into my storage facility (the cupboard to my LEFT) and get my pair out for inspection Which will pay off quickly because I found a couple of transportation wibbles that will need fixing before they go out on display in July Broken rotor mast on the greeny and strained aerial wire mast on the SAR bird The discussion about the Matchbox kit should certainly centre around the flat faced nose area, I had to fill the inside with Milliput then file off most of the corners to get to the right rounded nose shape, and on the filter casing On the other hand, as you suggest the old (very old) Frog kit is still as dimensionally good as I have seen The green HC2 used to be Matchbox and the HAR2 was a rescued Frog fuselage with everything else scratched including the nose filter So you may ask what for the STGB (did I get that right?) Well I have a spare Matchbox Gazelle nose, with added crispy Milliput for reshaping, and a couple of Italeri thingys to play with How about a HAS1 or even 3? Small windows or large isnt it? Don't expect Hendie style brilliance though, this will only be in 1:72 scale I realise that the GB wont be under way til Nov '15 is it in order to premake the inner dunking kit and the like? If I had an after market kit to put inside that would have been prepared long before I bought it wouldn't it I await your (and of course Mish's) decision and no I wont cheat b Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Hey, why not? I haven't built a helicopter for real in quite some time. I threw a Mi-28 together last year for some testing, but I think a nice Wessex in an interesting scheme would be much more fun. Problem no. 1 - there are a LOT of interesting schemes... Being a braille scale guy, I suppose Italeri is the place to start for Wessex kits? Or elsewhere? Cheers, Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Picked up the Rotorcraft resin fuselage correction plug in from Colin at Freightdog for my build the other evening. Looks nice and will be interested in seeing how it fits!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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