Paul A H Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I need to double-check, but I think this is just my second finished model of the year (although there are a couple of minor fixes outstanding). It's the Special Hobby Westland Whirlwind, finished with Mr Hobby acrylics and Tamiya varnishes. Overall, a straightforward kit to build and a nice addition to the collection. I think I'll be adding another in the Ocean Grey/Dark Green scheme one day 41 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Crikey (ha ha)! What a beauty. A great build and a terrific finish. I often wonder what the Whirlwind would have been like had it been equipped with handed Merlin 60s. That it was never even attempted is one of the great aviation mysteries to me, especially as the RAF lacked a long range fighter. After all, with the Spitfire, Beaufighter, Whitley, Halifax, Lancaster and Sunderland all having versions with completely different types of engine (albeit with varying degrees of success), it couldn't have been beyond the realms of possibility. Anyway, a lovely Whirlwind. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bish Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 Great looking build and nice to know it was a straight forward build. I have the FB version that I will be doing in the new year. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 It looks great. I have one in stash, if it turns out half as good as your one I'll be a very happy boy indeed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted December 11, 2015 Author Share Posted December 11, 2015 Thanks chaps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis_C Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 I like it! It is a beauty - and BTW Whirlwind was a beauty as well! Inspires to obtain the MPM's kit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight_Flyer Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 does look great and I like the paint chipping which is quite realistic. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephLalor Posted December 11, 2015 Share Posted December 11, 2015 (edited) Crikey (ha ha)! What a beauty. A great build and a terrific finish. I often wonder what the Whirlwind would have been like had it been equipped with handed Merlin 60s. That it was never even attempted is one of the great aviation mysteries to me, especially as the RAF lacked a long range fighter. After all, with the Spitfire, Beaufighter, Whitley, Halifax, Lancaster and Sunderland all having versions with completely different types of engine (albeit with varying degrees of success), it couldn't have been beyond the realms of possibility. Anyway, a lovely Whirlwind. Lovely model indeed, hope my Cooper Details and Classic Airframes ones turn out as well. Still a wonderfully sporty looking design, pity there isn't one on the display circuit. I seem to remember reading that it was thought that Merlins would overstress the Whirlwind's airframe. Edited December 11, 2015 by JosephLalor 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Nice job! The workmanship with the painting and the subtle weathering is superb. Cheers, Bill 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radleigh Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 (edited) Lovely job, it's such a shame we don't have a 1/1 scale Whirlwind... if my numbers came in I think I would get a replica built from wood for a museum... (along with a Stirling, Whitley, Wellesley...) Edited December 12, 2015 by Radleigh 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David H Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Crikey (ha ha)! What a beauty. A great build and a terrific finish. I often wonder what the Whirlwind would have been like had it been equipped with handed Merlin 60s. That it was never even attempted is one of the great aviation mysteries to me, especially as the RAF lacked a long range fighter. After all, with the Spitfire, Beaufighter, Whitley, Halifax, Lancaster and Sunderland all having versions with completely different types of engine (albeit with varying degrees of success), it couldn't have been beyond the realms of possibility. Anyway, a lovely Whirlwind. You ask an excellent question- What would have happened if the Whirlwind development was continued further?? If the Whirlwind was equipped with handed Merlin 60s, the handling characteristics in terms of directional stability would have improved, as would single engined handling characteristics. Directional control on takeoff and landing would have been much easier. Obviously the plane would have been some knots faster. Having said that, the increased weight of the Merlins no doubt would mandate an increase in wing area to compensate and allow for an improved rate of climb and service ceiling. Depending how much the plane was enlarged would dictate how much of a range improvement you could get, working on the assumption you would get increased internal volume for fuel tankage. I think one reason the Whirlwind was not taken further was demand for Merlin engines. This is working in a vacuum on the assumption Merlins could not be built under license. A Whirlwind required 2 engines compared to only one for a Spitfire or Hurricane. The Air Ministry was probably perfectly content to allow the Whirlwind to go along while it used the Perigrines, but if it placed an additional demand on Merlin production it would be ruled out. Finally, i suspect the RAF was almost as dubious of multiengine fighters as the USAAF was. However, as we now know the P-38 was the perfect plane for air combat in the Pacific where range is critical. Interestingly enough, plans were drawn up to test Merlins in the P-38, but it never went beyond the proposal stage. Possibly for similar reasons. Lockheed did build a radicalized high-altitude derivative called the P-49, but i don't know much about it. Just my thoughts. Others know more. david 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis_C Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 I think that RAF simply preferred Beaufighter as a multiengined fighter. In addition Whirlwind production was limited with Peregrins (un)availability. Westland just build 116 out of 400 ordered by RAF because Rolls-Royce said 'no more Peregrines'. And Merlin was too large an engine to make redesign simple. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 That's a beauty Paul, nice work Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CedB Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Lovely build Paul - good job! One of my favourites too... Lovely job, it's such a shame we don't have a 1/1 scale Whirlwind... if my numbers came in I think I would get a replica built from wood for a museum... (along with a Stirling, Whitley, Wellesley...) These guys are doing it! I've registered (I think it was free) and you can donate to the project and buy mugs and hats and stuff. Their newsletter (and archive) has loads of stuff for Crikey fans... this month's has a long article about poor prop performance at altitude... no intention for a flying end result but they're using as many original parts as they can get their hands on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Really nice Whirlwind there Paul, great job 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Lovely work there. Tempted to get one myself, now! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted December 12, 2015 Author Share Posted December 12, 2015 Thanks for the kind words everyone Funnily enough, I got to thinking about a Merlin engined Whirlwind when I was building this kit. I guess you could do worse than start off by combining a Whirlwind with a Hornet to see what happens! Mitch - go for it, it's not a difficult kit to build 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 Fantastic finish Paul, looks more like 1/48 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 (edited) You ask an excellent question- What would have happened if the Whirlwind development was continued further?? If the Whirlwind was equipped with handed Merlin 60s, the handling characteristics in terms of directional stability would have improved, as would single engined handling characteristics. Directional control on takeoff and landing would have been much easier. Obviously the plane would have been some knots faster. Having said that, the increased weight of the Merlins no doubt would mandate an increase in wing area to compensate and allow for an improved rate of climb and service ceiling. Depending how much the plane was enlarged would dictate how much of a range improvement you could get, working on the assumption you would get increased internal volume for fuel tankage. I think one reason the Whirlwind was not taken further was demand for Merlin engines. This is working in a vacuum on the assumption Merlins could not be built under license. A Whirlwind required 2 engines compared to only one for a Spitfire or Hurricane. The Air Ministry was probably perfectly content to allow the Whirlwind to go along while it used the Perigrines, but if it placed an additional demand on Merlin production it would be ruled out. Finally, i suspect the RAF was almost as dubious of multiengine fighters as the USAAF was. However, as we now know the P-38 was the perfect plane for air combat in the Pacific where range is critical. Interestingly enough, plans were drawn up to test Merlins in the P-38, but it never went beyond the proposal stage. Possibly for similar reasons. Lockheed did build a radicalized high-altitude derivative called the P-49, but i don't know much about it. Just my thoughts. Others know more. david Good points well argued as was JosephLalor's one that the Merlin would have overstressed the airframe. And there was me ruminating about what would have happened if they'd stuck a couple of Griffons in it! Going from 1700 hp to 4000, I suspect they would have torn themselves out of the wings. I have since read up a bit on the subject of Merlins and it seems the Whirlwind's design was so tailored to the Peregrine that it just wouldn't have been feasible to re-design it to take the Merlin, especially with the urgency of demand during wartime. Pity it wasn't designed around the Merlin from the beginning. I can't help thinking that if it had it might have been one of the greats. Edited December 14, 2015 by Meatbox8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Oh yes! what a beauty. It is a very graceful looking aeroplane, and you've done it full justice Paul. The finish is superb, Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oz rb fan Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 funnily enough the whirlwind was offered with merlins(xx if i recall)....petter even designed the cowls with the merlin in mind,it had two problems,being a twin it would have used twice the engines and more resources as a whole,and 2 Dowding wasnt a fan and wanted the RAF's resources (and in some ways correctly)used in other place's with the typhoon coming on the whirlwind was losing it's job....what is amazing as she served for 3 years of war unmodified for it's whole life.....not many other planes can say that,,and the pilots loved it, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flankerman Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 I often wonder what the Whirlwind would have been like had it been equipped with handed Merlin 60s. They did fit Merlins - and called it the Westland Welkin........ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Welkin Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 That's lovely! I bought one of these at Telford for a steal this year (So much cheaper buying straight off the MPM guys!) and was wondering how it'll look when I eventually do it. Now I've got my answer: not as good as this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimHead23 Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Beautiful work. I have a few of these in the stash along with some Pavla kits. I've been collecting some reference material and hope to make a start on some next year. That is truly inspirational. Thanks for sharing. It's always been a favourite of mine. Regards Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted December 13, 2015 Share Posted December 13, 2015 Lovely model. Takes me back to the Airfix Whirlwind I built 30 or more years ago... didn't do anything like the job you've done though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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