Jump to content

[Italeri 1/48] Westland Wessex UH5


Jurrie

Recommended Posts

All,

 

Recently I started a new kit, namely Italeri's Westland Wessex UH5. This will be the first helicopter I build :). I use an Eduard set for the interior, an Eduard masking set is still on its way. 

 

Some history about the Wessex:


The Westland Wessex was a British-built turbine-powered development of the Sikorsky H-34. It was developed and produced under license by Westland Aircraft (later Westland Helicopters). One of the main changes from Sikorsky's H-34 was the replacement of the piston-engine powerplant with a turboshaft engine; the Wessex was the first large mass-produced helicopter designed around use of a gas turbine engine.[1] Early models were powered by a single Napier Gazelle engine, while later builds used a pair of de Havilland Gnome engines.

The Wessex was initially produced for the Royal Navy (RN) and later for the Royal Air Force (RAF); a limited number of civilian aircraft were also produced, as well as some export sales. The Wessex operated as an anti-submarine warfare and utility helicopter; it is perhaps best recognised for its use as a search and rescue (SAR) helicopter. The type entered operational service in 1961, and had a service life in excess of 40 years before being retired in Britain.

Source:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westland_Wessex

 

The kit - step 1-3
The kit is from Italeri, scale 1/48 and kitnumber 2720. My first impression was positive: quite new-tool (well...2012), not too many parts with even some PE and mesh. The parts looked quite good with a reasonable amount of detail. My 'second impression' was a bit less. The kit has flash in unhandy places, sinkmarks, the detail gets soft near the edges of the parts (e.g. rivets), fit is okay-ish, and there have been some questionable choices in the buildup of the kit. Maybe I'm a bit too spoiled with HobbyBoss, Trumpeter and Tamiya, but Italeri is lacking in finesse. But, I do think the parts are good enough to make a nice kit.

 

Overview of activities:
- Building the cockpit. I removed some parts for the pre-painted PE. I did add some unpainted PE parts. I kept the buildup as such that I can paint and weather easily;
- Building of the compartment where the rotors are attached to (no idea how this is called). Build OOTB;

- Building the interior. I filled sinkmarks, primed it to check, some extra filling and sending. Then I added some wires. Also I added some tape to the seats to get a more accurate share (conform real-live pictures as well). I did look into another Wessex build on this forum as well :)

1kEdN43.jpg
pXRuhdc.jpg
LJeDE70.jpg
dm5MgVm.jpg
AoEAoC8.jpg
ALJdzbR.jpg

 

Next steps

Do some sanding on the front of the aircraft and start priming. The ordered paint for this one is still on its way :).

 

Hope you like it so far.

 

Gr,

Jurrie

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Chris,

 

Thanks for your response! I do agree that they are way better than e.g. old Revell kits, but they just don't have the finesse of Kittyhawk, Trumpeter, Tamiya or Hobbyboss. 'In the past', the price would make up for it. But nowadays, this is an expensive kit.

 

Jurrie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking like a very good start!

It is an intetesting helicopter indeed!

Alwa s facinating how existing designs could be improved in a way that suddenly they were kind of competitive for much much longer!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Thanks guys for your responses! I've progressed somewhat:

 

What I did:
1. Primer (UMP)
2. Base colors (Tamiya, Gunze, with the airbrush). The airbrushed the 'cargo' area dark grey, followed by AK Interactive Chipping Fluid and then a light grey color. Then, with some water and a toothpick, I uncovered the dark grey.
3. Chipping (various colors)
4. Painted details with Vallejo Model Color
5. Added Eduard PE details
6. Pinwashes en some general washes with Shadow Brown / Dark Brown of 502 Abteilung
7. MIG/AK Interactive Earth & Dust with brush and some turpentine
8. Streaks grime (dark, rust). Added some green slime from AK to have some moist areas
9. Oil & kerosine splashes
10. ..and some stuff I probably forgot :D.

uT2yH26.jpg
fjB7FgV.jpg
wQstgi2.jpg
vSRRBhh.jpg
eB03KWu.jpg
W7sJF9u.jpg

 

Cheers!

Jurrie

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 6 months later...

Thanks for the kind responses. It has been a while, so I have a bit bigger update this time :):

 

What I did:
1. Build the majority of the helicopter
2. On the top, the detail is quite soft. I had to deepen panellines and create rivets with a small drill
3. Primer (UMP)
4. Pre-shade/irregular spots with black (Tamiya X-1)
5. Put dark seegray and green van Gunze in a camo pattern on the model. I added some highlights and shadows to get a weathered look. I used Vallejo Model Air Black on the underside, and highlighted it with German Grey (also Vallejo)

DMvR4I9.jpg
YnI4yZq.jpg
853ftjk.jpg
TfRvHSe.jpg
S89xswI.jpg
dGPxoyJ.jpg

 

Some bits and pieces are broken and I need to correct some stuff (e.g. see topside of cockpit), but it provides a good first look :).

 

Cheers

 

Jurrie

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Another update :

1. I taped and airbrushed some of the details. Think of the steps towards the cockpit, the lightblue band, the RAF roundels, the black/white part on top of the helicopter, the dark-grey blocks on the top of the tail, etc

2. Added minor chipping with light grey and a minimum of aluminium. From photo's, I see that the real thing is almost not chipped, so I kept this to a minimum

3. Broke and attached some accessoires a couple of times :S

4. Gloss coat with Alclad Aqua Gloss

5. Primed the tail rotor, airbrushed grey, taped, white and red airbrushed, taped again, gloss black and alclad on the leading edges (?). I still need to complete the center piece

6. primed the main rotor, airbrushed grey, highlighted the grey, airbrushed one rotorblade white and then yello, taped some more for the center piece. Airbrushed that part gloss black and several tones of Alclad. I also taped the outer edges and airbrushed them yellow. I am aware that this machine would probably not have a yellow rotor, but that is some artistic freedom then from my end :)

 

XsbTNoX.jpg
k3P4W7S.jpg
FYatSHN.jpg
xKC3o4t.jpg
kPpRjbn.jpg

 

Next steps: complete the side rotor, paint details of the helicopter, decals.

 

Cheers

 

Jurrie

Edited by Jurrie
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Thanks Nikolay!

@all,
Another update:

1. A applied the decals, which are very thin (+). However, sometimes air gets somehow trapped below the decals. That took a lot of time to fix. Did some minor cuts and applied Daco Solutions Medium softener
2. Pinwashes with AK panelliner van AK. Used various colors.
3. Main rotor (?) weathered, not done yet.

 

I lost some minor details here and there...I still have them and will apply them in the last stages of this build (...).

 

iaX23wW.jpg
qCrZC8I.jpg
QuQ4BCl.jpg
vK3DyIt.jpg
PcwvM2Z.jpg
syx1Q3f.jpg
dVfh5cF.jpg
RyU1Avp.jpg
 

Cheers,

Jurrie

  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Another massive update, I did a lot of mini-steps in weathering this beast :). I try to give an update below, but it is probably not complete :).

 

Side rotor
1. Pinwashes with a mix of a black and dark brown oil paint
2. Streaks with a dark grey oil paint
3. Washes with medium gray, light gray and brown
4. Oil spats with AK Interactive Grease, Kerosine & Engine Oil. I used this set a lot for this kit, I like it a lot!
5. Pinwashes at the metallic part of the side rotor (hub?)
5. Wash/filter/spats with AK Interactive Grease, Kerosine  & Engine Oil at the hub of the rotor

 

Main rotor
1. Streaks with dark grey and dark brown oil paints
2. Washes with lightgray, black and brown
3. Oil spats with AK Interactive Grease, Kerosine & Engine Oil
4. Pinwashes at the metallic part of the main rotor (hub?)
5. Wash/filter/spats with AK Interactive Grease, Kerosine  & Engine Oil at the hub of the rotor
6. Dust spats with AK Interactive Dust & Dirt deposits (2 colors)

 

Helicopter
1. I re-added a number of details (not complete yet
2. Painted and weathered some details
3. Oil dot technique with medium green, dark gray, brown and yellow
4. Local filters with various oil paints
5. Streaks with oil paint (dark rust and shadow brown) and with  AK Interactive Grease, Kerosine & Engine Oil
6. Weathering with AK Interactive Grease, Kerosine  & Engine Oil at the main landing gear. I still need to do the rear landing gear
7. Oil spats on some local areas with AK Interactive Grease, Kerosine  & Engine Oil

 

Wheels
1. Airbrush wheels gloss black and then Alclad
2. Then cut a circular shape tape with the DSPIA circel cutter for the center part (masking)
3. Airbrush dark grey
4. Pinwash with black oil paint on tyre thread
5. Pinwash shadow brown in the center hub of the wheels
6. Pinwash dark rust in the center part of the hub of the wheels
7. Dust & dirt deposits added of AK interactive between the rim of the wheel and the tyre, and directly on the tyre tread itself
8. Spats with dust & dirt deposits

 

7yjw9CE.jpg
voIIU7n.jpg
ltwkmDV.jpg
FjOie8q.jpg
SDfcu0H.jpg
WPKtxSV.jpg
5Auskpa.jpg
j9HGbrY.jpg
9olbLAw.jpg
DAFN7Eb.jpg
d0IS17M.jpg
ZSQ58nh.jpg
HKCjqMc.jpg
GMcrn0r.jpg

 

On to the final steps :)!

 

Cheers

 

Jurrie

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just noticed this build and it's yet another of the builds on here that dumbfound me. Put together flawlessly and the paintwork is absolutely perfect. Wonderful work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your replies.

 

@Lord Riot, it should indeed be HU.5, an error by Italeri. Stupid me took it over in the title 😄. Ill ensure its spelled correctly on the nameplate.

 

Jurrie

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks petetasker. It's not the worst kit I've ever build, but it is definitely not that good. But, with some patience and effort, a decent model can be build (at least in my view :)).

 

Update

1. Weathering of the rear landing gear with AK Interactive  Grease, Kerosine, Engine Oil and finally Dust & Dirt deposits
2. Attached all final missing details
3. Masking tape removed on the windows. I also removed some overspray and retouched some paint near the windows
4. Wiring added, painted and weathered
5. I replaced the window wipers from the kit with some of my own, made with Evergreen and copperwire. After that, I painted them and attached them with superglue
6. Dust & Dirt Deposits (van Ak interactive) added diluted to the landing gear area and door. Also put on some dust splashes with a brush and toothpick
7. Rigging with Uschi van der Rosten (0.03).

 

You can view the final update - since it is now complete - here:

 

Cheers :)

Jurrie

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...