1/72nd Special Hobby Wirraway, 21 Sqn RAAF/ later part of Y Sqn RAF at Kluang, Malaya in 1941/42.

[tonyot]

2 hours ago, JWM said:

Great as always! Are they both Special Hobby?  There are few of 1/72 Wirraways, among them two of SH/MPM concern, one from 1996, second from 2010 (named "new tool" here:   

https://www.scalemates.com/search.php?q="cac+wirraway"++1%3A72  ) .

Actually I do not know the difference among them...Have you experienced with both moulds by chance?

Regards

J-W

 

 

Hiya J-W,

              The only Wirraway kits that I have built in 1/72nd scale are this one from MPM which is quite an old limited run injection moulded kit, typical of early MPM with lots of flash and a limited interior with vacuformed canopy;

 

 

And these two from Special Hobby;

 

Which are the same basic kit but with different decals. The Special Hobby kits are lovely kits with full interior and options for a resin late style cowling containing the air intake incorporated into it,....but with an early Harvard style cowling included on the plastic parts.

 

I`ve not seen the contents of the other kits so cannot comment really.

 

Cheers

           Tony

[tonyot]

Thanks everybody for your very kind comments,

Cheers

           Tony

[Michael louey]

6 hours ago, tonyot said:

Hiya J-W,

              The only Wirraway kits that I have built in 1/72nd scale are this one from MPM which is quite an old limited run injection moulded kit, typical of early MPM with lots of flash and a limited interior with vacuformed canopy;

 

 

And these two from Special Hobby;

 

 

 

Which are the same basic kit but with different decals. The Special Hobby kits are lovely kits with full interior and options for a resin late style cowling containing the air intake incorporated into it,....but with an early Harvard style cowling included on the plastic parts.

 

I`ve not seen the contents of the other kits so cannot comment really.

 

Cheers

           Tony

 

Tony's covered the details pretty well.

 

Just a few comments -

The MPM kit has a major outline flaw in it - the fuselage sides taper from front to back when looked at in plan. They should be parallel. The SH kits are correct here.

The 2nd SH boxing (Rabual) has extra resin to cover the different early cowling type and a fairing for a once off "single seater Wirraway"

 

The other kit available is the High Planes kit which is very accurate in outline and has a nice vac form canopy (which may need to be trimmed down for height based on experience from a friend's build). It's a limited run kit (actually High Planes first kit) and needs a lot of small detail scratched but ends up looking very nice.

 

Cheers

 

Michael.

[tausugAir]

The brush painted one is very much my choice: my admiration always for brush painters whose resulting handiwork is undistinguishable from that of airbrushed. Thanks for sharing your inspirational brushwork.

Farouk

[tonyot]

18 hours ago, Michael louey said:

 

Tony's covered the details pretty well.

 

Just a few comments -

The MPM kit has a major outline flaw in it - the fuselage sides taper from front to back when looked at in plan. They should be parallel. The SH kits are correct here.

The 2nd SH boxing (Rabual) has extra resin to cover the different early cowling type and a fairing for a once off "single seater Wirraway"

 

The other kit available is the High Planes kit which is very accurate in outline and has a nice vac form canopy (which may need to be trimmed down for height based on experience from a friend's build). It's a limited run kit (actually High Planes first kit) and needs a lot of small detail scratched but ends up looking very nice.

 

Cheers

 

Michael.

Cheers Michael,.....but the SH kit only includes a late style engine cowling in resin,.....the earlier one is on the plastic sprues mate. I`ve never found a photo of the `one off' single seater but it is quite intriguing! 

 All the best,

                   Tony

[Michael louey]

2 hours ago, tonyot said:

Cheers Michael,.....but the SH kit only includes a late style engine cowling in resin,.....the earlier one is on the plastic sprues mate. I`ve never found a photo of the `one off' single seater but it is quite intriguing! 

 All the best,

                   Tony

Hi Tony,

 

Thanks for the clarification - I haven't looked at my copy for a while - I only recall it came with an extra cowling and the single seater fairing. As this is an early version I thought the new cowling would be the one for the early airframes. I've seen the photo of the "Secret Weapon". I'm pretty sure it was in one of my AHSA (Aviation Historical Society of Australia) journals. I'll try to find it and if so, I'll pm you to see if you want a scan.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[tonyot]

37 minutes ago, Michael louey said:

Hi Tony,

 

Thanks for the clarification - I haven't looked at my copy for a while - I only recall it came with an extra cowling and the single seater fairing. As this is an early version I thought the new cowling would be the one for the early airframes. I've seen the photo of the "Secret Weapon". I'm pretty sure it was in one of my AHSA (Aviation Historical Society of Australia) journals. I'll try to find it and if so, I'll pm you to see if you want a scan.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

Cheers Michael,.....if you come across it that photo will be very interesting, I meant to say that the kit doesn`t include a Vickers K Gun either, which is a shame.

All the best

                 Tony

[MRMLA]

Congrats! Nice one!  It's great inspiration for me!

[mhaselden]

 

23 hours ago, Michael louey said:

Hi Tony,

 

Thanks for the clarification - I haven't looked at my copy for a while - I only recall it came with an extra cowling and the single seater fairing. As this is an early version I thought the new cowling would be the one for the early airframes. I've seen the photo of the "Secret Weapon". I'm pretty sure it was in one of my AHSA (Aviation Historical Society of Australia) journals. I'll try to find it and if so, I'll pm you to see if you want a scan.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

 

22 hours ago, tonyot said:

Cheers Michael,.....if you come across it that photo will be very interesting, I meant to say that the kit doesn`t include a Vickers K Gun either, which is a shame.

All the best

                 Tony

 

 

Gents,

 

There's a photo of "The Secret Weapon" on p.59 of Stewart Wilson's book on the Boomerang, Wirraway and CA-15 (see my post on the previous page for a pic of the book's cover).

 

Cheers,
Mark

[tonyot]

14 minutes ago, mhaselden said:

 

 

 

 

Gents,

 

There's a photo of "The Secret Weapon" on p.59 of Stewart Wilson's book on the Boomerang, Wirraway and CA-15 (see my post on the previous page for a pic of the book's cover).

 

Cheers,
Mark

Cheers Mark,.....but I don`t have that book and have you seen the prices,.....just cannot afford one.

 

Tony

[mhaselden]

3 hours ago, tonyot said:

Cheers Mark,.....but I don`t have that book and have you seen the prices,.....just cannot afford one.

 

Tony

 

Yeah...I know.  Some books go for silly prices.  I refuse to pander to the trend and will only buy when the book is priced reasonably.  Thankfully I've been pretty lucky and managed to find most items on my wants list without sacrificing body parts.

 

Check your email when you get a chance!

 

Cheers,

Mark