AdrianMF Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 Hello All, Looking at the chat thread for this, my past self expressed an interest last September in post #39. I am slammed for time this year (work/travel/reorg/new projects, family issues) and in the middle of some horrendously difficult builds, so the decent thing to do should be to go back to basics with a simple Airfix build. Out with the Westland Whirlwind - the fighter, not the helicopter. Airfix first released the kit in 1958, but re-tooled it in 1978 (scalemates.com). I will be building the second version, mostly OOB, from a bag of parts I picked up cheap somewhere. I will try to do a speed build then select something else so I can maintain my tradition of failing to finish group builds Now off to the garage to locate the baggie... Regards, Adrian [edit: in post #222 I suggested I might do the old Mitchell, but I will start with the Whirlwind] 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 WOW - I'm following this one Adrian - a real classic - not represented enough by manufacturers over the years. Good luck and very best wishes for what is likely to be a real treat. GO AIRFIX - GO ADRIAN. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 Crikey! Hopefully this link may be of help http://retrowar.tumblr.com/post/175588623882 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 7, 2018 Author Share Posted July 7, 2018 Well, it turns out I have a boxed Airfix (2.98 from Beatties) and a bagged Bilek kit, which is the Airfix plastic, bagged within the Bilek bag: The decals of either are nothing to write home about, the Airfix ones are not quite in register and the colours are very ragged: The lower wings were severely warped, but I bent them back into shape using the edge of the table to get the dihedral break: Cockpit needed a little love from card and the spares box: Propellers were stuck together and filled: Nacelles needed a firewall: The kit shows the raised area of the radiator exhaust flap so I made a small opening by scraping away some of the plastic: A bit more detail in the wheel wells: Wings, fuselage and tailplane all stuck together: Thanks for looking, Adrian 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 7, 2018 Author Share Posted July 7, 2018 5 hours ago, BIG X said: a real classic Thanks BigX! I am quite surprised the Airfix did a new tool of it; it must have been quite a big seller back in those days. 2 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said: Crikey Thanks Pete. I’m torn between HE-H as shown or -V, which would allow me to do the crazy weathering. -V has a tall fin flash, which is a difference from -H, but I guess it’s reasonable to assume the black port wing. I guess I need to talk to Mr Google... Regards, Adrian 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 I saw a close up pic of the nose recently. Can I find it again, nope. The nose cone is held in place by a big castellated nut with a nappy pin through it! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIG X Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 1 hour ago, Pete in Lincs said: The nose cone is held in place by a big castellated nut with a nappy pin through it! I love a 'proper' technical engineer's description 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted July 7, 2018 Share Posted July 7, 2018 They are/were commonly described as such. Although a better description would be a safety pin. They are usually used in place of a split pin when the item held in place may be/is removed frequently. Puma main rotor blades are held in place with two large metal pins which then have a large 'nappy pin' going through them both. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ventora3300 Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 The Whirlwind is looking good, Adrian. I've never built one and I did 'collect' both the old and new tooling of this kit to do a comparison build (one day). I thought the Whirlwind looked like a cross between a Mosquito and a Meteor. From all accounts, it was a fantastic and well loved aircraft when first produced but not developed any further. Looking forward to the finish. Cheers. Mike 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lawzer Posted July 8, 2018 Share Posted July 8, 2018 I've always wanted to add a whirlwind to my little air force. As @BIG X said I don;t think this aircraft is properly catered fox. Fantastic start! 👍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 8, 2018 Author Share Posted July 8, 2018 Thanks Mike and Lawzer. I can thoroughly recommend this kit as the perfect antidote to 1/24 Spitfires. I’ve been out all day doing designated driver duties for my pals (good job I don’t like champagne) but I’ve just had some time this evening to clean up the subassemblies and stick ‘em all together. I’ve been using Revell Contacta quite generously and as a result there were hardly any gaps to fill, just a couple of tiny ones around the nacelles: Thanks for looking, Adrian 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smudge Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 Nice one Adrian. I built the original version, this is much nicer. I have one somewhere. You have added some nice details, they make all the difference. How did you get such a nice fit with your nacelle firewalls, do you use a profile gauge? Shame the decals are a bit ropey. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted July 9, 2018 Share Posted July 9, 2018 Good start Adrian,one of my favourite Airfix kit's of all time. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 1 hour ago, Smudge said: nice fit with your nacelle firewalls, do you use a profile gauge? Nope. I start out with a piece of card the right width and then I chop off triangles on the corners and see if it fits. At first it doesn’t fit but as you get closer to a good fit guessing the right size of next triangle to take off gets easier. Then when I’m happy I can make a mirror image for the other half/side. I do have a very old profile gauge but I find it more trouble than it’s worth! I’ve not seen the older version in the flesh (although the old header art was fab) but this kit is indeed very nice. 40 minutes ago, stevej60 said: favourite I can see why - it’s great fun to build! Must be the smallest twin they do too, apart from the DH88, and that’s not going to be anyone’s favourite until Hell freezes over! Regards, Adrian 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted July 10, 2018 Share Posted July 10, 2018 I'm just catching up with this one Adrian and it's looking good - especially for a 'speed' build Cliff 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 10, 2018 Author Share Posted July 10, 2018 2 hours ago, CliffB said: 'speed' build Thanks Cliff. I'm hoping to wrap it up this week before I go away again. Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 11, 2018 Author Share Posted July 11, 2018 Hello All, I’ve been tidying up the wing and fuselage joints, and I’ve scribed the trim tabs and flaps, which take in the rear portion of the nacelle. Here it is with a pristine(ish) coat of brushed Humbrol 90 acrylic: And now of course I have to paint one wing black. I’m going with HE-H because I’m not sure -V had the black wing. Xtradecals to the rescue for type A and A1 roundels and fin flash: I will use the B roundels, serial and stencils from the kit and mask the HE-H with Humbrol 64. [Edit - I'm going to go for HE-V because my "Camouflage and Markings 11 - Meteor, Whirlwind, Welkin" has a (the only?) picture of the much-weathered instance and I can see that the bottom of the port nacelle is Sky, so I can assume that the whole underside is that colour, and it has an explanation and a profile of the scheme. And I can cobble serial P6969 together from P6984 and the zero from P7102, so I don't have to mess around with individual letters. Too many interesting schemes - good job I have the Bilek!] Thanks for looking, Adrian 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted July 11, 2018 Share Posted July 11, 2018 Looking great Adrian. I had this reissued kit, however sold it on when the Special Hobby kits came out. Strange as it seems however, I've still not purchased either SH kit and now wish I'd kept this one and just tidied her up a bit. Looking forward to seeing how this finishes up as that weathered HE-H is certainly a crowd favourite. Cheers.. Dave 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 Hello All, My Humbrol 29 acrylic dark earth was almost empty and had turned to jelly, so I dug out a new pot that I had bought a while back, gave it a good stir and started painting. It was like soil mixed with water - really thin and gritty. Luckily I hadn’t got too far along, so I could wipe most of it off. So I am using Revell 82 acrylic instead - it’s a slightly richer colour but flows on beautifully. My default paint box used to be all Humbrol: Anyhow, here’s the beast with its coat of smoother richer dark earth: Thanks for looking, Adrian 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 Well seeing as it’s an Airfix build and Mrs MF is having a slow day today, I might as well press on with the green: The masking worked pretty well with only a couple of touch ups to do. Strangely, the one leading edge that I masked will need more touch up than all the others put together. To continue the spirit of experimentation I decided to use Revell 68 acrylic instead of Humbrol 116. It went on well and again it’s a bit more saturated than the Humbrol equivalent so I’m happy with the look. It doesn’t have that blueish washed out look of Humbrol 30 either. Thanks for looking, Adrian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 For reference, here are three dark earth/dark green schemes: The Hampden is in old Humbrol 29/116 enamel, the Blenheim in Humbrol 29/116 acrylic and the Whirlwind in Revell 82/68 acrylic. The Revell scheme is actually more like the old Humbrol enamels, being more saturated. I think I may stay switched over to the Revell colours. Thanks for looking, Adrian 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 Last few bits now. The tailwheel doors (top left) took a lot of trimming and filing to get them nice and thin: The wheels were masked with rounds of masking tape punched out with a regular hole punch. Thanks for looking, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 Had to add a bit of spurious detail to the main doors... (I’ve since tidied up the third one down) Thanks for looking, Adrian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 14, 2018 Author Share Posted July 14, 2018 There’s something about dark green/dark earth/sky that is somehow Just Right: Thanks for looking, Adrian 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted July 14, 2018 Share Posted July 14, 2018 Nice paint and congrats on such a fast build. I just seem to take months. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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