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Vickers Wellington - Airfix (Old Tool)


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Being a glutton for punishment, I have retrieved this old antique from the loft. I apparently started this at some point in the long distant past - I reckon in the early 80s. I obviously then lost heart and it languished in various lofts and garages for almost four decades. The imminent release of Airfix's new tool Wellington prompted me to try and  get it finished. The box shows the year 1975 but I know the moulds actually date back to 1959 - so very early in "the story of Airfix".

The parts are few and ill fitting and my Humbrol filler is going to get depleted quite rapidly I can see.

The original propellers have also gone walkies but I have some Aeroclub alternatives.

The original decals were still in the box but they are well beyond their "best by" date. I have some Xtradecal alternatives.

The best thing about the kit is the fantastic artwork by Roy Cross - which is my favourite I reckon.

 

 

 

pMOk7Ilw.jpg

 

N2kQOeDM.jpg

 

Znn0j2SI.jpg

 

The above images were taken a few weeks ago and I've made a fair bit of progress since then. 

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I'm in here for that. I want to see how it builds up. A hard to resist plane in the seventies for me, but that dramatic Matchbox box art won in the end. So I only built the Matchbox one once. Here is another wip on bm of this old kit at the moment. I will link it, when I find it again. Anyway:

de5b6309b835ef9bec156d423d9623cb.jpg

 

Ok, found it:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235033904-back-to-the-beginning-airfix-wellington-iii/

Cheers

Edited by bbudde
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Thanks for linking my build Benedict.

It will be interesting to see what features the old girl throws at you Eric.  Mine seems worse than the samples I built in the 70s, but that could be rose tinted glasses.

 

Andy

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Pull up a pew by all means. I'm reminded of the line by Bette Davis from the film "All About Eve", "Fasten your seatbelts. It’s going to be a bumpy night".  Although in this case it really means "bumpy weeks".

 

As I mentioned above, I have already been working on the model for a few weeks and here are some more progress shots. As predicted, the build has turned out to be a filler monster so I've spent quite a bit of time filling, sanding, priming - repeat ad nauseum -

 

OoMRB7KR.jpg

 

As can be seen, there are some prominent ejector pin marks in fairly obvious areas - so these needed filling.

 

IAgv9kND.jpg

 

Main airframe assembled and primed. The fabric surface and stringers etc are done quite nicely coinsidering how old the model is. The Airfix "rivet fiend" hadn't swung into action back in 1959 so rivet detail; is minimal (as it was on the real aeroplane)

 

hoxcz86s.jpg

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Ah yes

 

I remember it  well

 

 

 

 

 

 

And on that (rather bum) note Eric would you mind me enjoying this from the back?

As you are no doubt aware I love the 'bringing these old and moribund creations back from the depths' tasks you undertake

 

Great start too, nice one

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So, did you paint the collector rings a nice shiny copper colour? I hope not. These would have been a darker, heat-stained steel colour. Sometimes they were painted over with a black stove enamel type of paint, to cover the hot glow from Luftwaffe nightfighters.

 

 

Chris

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When I was a child the Airfix Wellington was my first "large" plane to be built.

Meanwhile I've got two of these in my stash - and at least one of them should be build before the new tooled one ...

 

will follow this build highly interested

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This is really starting to look the part. I have a much earlier example of this kit, I wonder if the fit is any better? :hmmm:

 

Martian

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13 hours ago, dogsbody said:

So, did you paint the collector rings a nice shiny copper colour? I hope not. These would have been a darker, heat-stained steel colour. Sometimes they were painted over with a black stove enamel type of paint, to cover the hot glow from Luftwaffe nightfighters.

 

 

Chris

They are at the moment - but I don't intend to leave them that way. Part of the "weathering" will be to matt them down and apply some tone variation to them. Looking at photos (including the famous colour pictures taken by Charles Brown), it's obvious that collector rings could be a wide variety of colours and shades. They started life quite bright and shiny but once the aircraft entered service, heating from the exhaust and the effect of exposure to the elements caused them to dull down and start changing tone quite quickly.

 

Anyway, some update shots - 

 

rgUctjZ7.jpg

 

B5atOPiO.jpg

 

Airfix omitted the runners behind the side cockpit windows so I have added some using cut up Avery type labels. I've also added some preshade in an attempt to have the top colours look a bit varied.

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Looking very nice indeed.  I remember as a youngster, seeing my mum wrapping one of these up for Christmas and getting excited about opening it on the big day. Only to be disappointed as it was for my cousin. That'll teach me not to try and discover what my pressies were !!!

 

Keep up the good work 

All the best 

Chris 

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9 hours ago, Eric Mc said:

They are at the moment - but I don't intend to leave them that way. Part of the "weathering" will be to matt them down and apply some tone variation to them. Looking at photos (including the famous colour pictures taken by Charles Brown), it's obvious that collector rings could be a wide variety of colours and shades. They started life quite bright and shiny but once the aircraft entered service, heating from the exhaust and the effect of exposure to the elements caused them to dull down and start changing tone quite quickly.

 

Anyway, some update shots - 

 

rgUctjZ7.jpg

 

B5atOPiO.jpg

 

Airfix omitted the runners behind the side cockpit windows so I have added some using cut up Avery type labels. I've also added some preshade in an attempt to have the top colours look a bit varied.

 

Very good! I await further progress.

 

 

Chris

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Your monitor is correct. It is a North African based Wellington of 424 Royal Canadian Air Force.

 

I've been working on various techniques for the canopy framing. I've ended up using painted tape and a bit of brush painting. Because the transparencies were such a poor fit, I decided early on that it was pointless masking and painting the canopies in advance - as I usually do. I reckoned that the painted framing would be damaged by the sanding and filling required.

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Further progress. Canopy framing and side window framing now painted. The colours have been toned down somewhat although there is a bit more tro be done in that area. I'm leaving it semi-gloss for the moment to aid the decal application.

 

wZbTKzEE.jpg

 

FS4t6cfZ.jpg

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On 30/03/2018 at 07:40, Eric Mc said:

They are at the moment - but I don't intend to leave them that way. Part of the "weathering" will be to matt them down and apply some tone variation to them. Looking at photos (including the famous colour pictures taken by Charles Brown), it's obvious that collector rings could be a wide variety of colours and shades. They started life quite bright and shiny but once the aircraft entered service, heating from the exhaust and the effect of exposure to the elements caused them to dull down and start changing tone quite quickly.

 

Anyway, some update shots - 

 

rgUctjZ7.jpg

 

B5atOPiO.jpg

 

Airfix omitted the runners behind the side cockpit windows so I have added some using cut up Avery type labels. I've also added some preshade in an attempt to have the top colours look a bit varied.

That grey mottle finish should fool the German night fighters  ........... very cunning

 

cheers, adey

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resized_c38f4139-e543-48ef-8fcc-ad56217f

 

The instruction sheet from my late 1960s Airfix Wellington. The mouldings look to be very good.

Red instrument panel anyone ?

 

adey

Edited by adey m
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