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Trumpy Wellington Mk III 1/48


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This looks quite nice for a Wellington! I really should consider buying a Wellington at some point, there are definitely a lot of options from markings to users to kits and beyond. Could be a fun project.

 

I'll be watching, Tweener

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Hopefully the Postal strike won't impede the delivery of your Eduard set. Now that they've gone back to work, things are starting to be delivered. The two orders I made with Hannants at the end of October have arrived up here last week.

 

 

Chris

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Thanks guys. The lack of detail provided by Trumpeter in the bomb bay is disappointing to me. Personally, I would have much preferred had they ditched all the nice interior detail. which will never be seen, and given the wide open bomb bay more attention.

 

I had glued on one of the longitudinal frames already (see below) and every time I looked at it I foresaw regretting not addressing it to more represent the delicate nature of its real-life version. The Eduard set looks like it will do that quite nicely. It better, given the price!!!

 

 18120301-jpg.520195 

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Very nice start so far! I have the MK.I on my stash! I will follow your built with attention!

 

Agree with you concerning The bomb bay, Trumpy could have done better... Eduard is still an expensive option! You still have the scratch built avenue if you want to sharpen your skills!😉

 

Good luck!

 

Frank

Edited by Frank083
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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all. Not much happening on the build at the moment but I did get a session in last Friday to attend to the bare bulkhead separating the bomb bay from the nose section. This wall will be clearly seen through the open entrance hatch and so deserves some treatment. The warren truss stiffeners were added using styrene rectangular stock and the step up into the cockpit was cut from card. The latter is made of wood on the real aircraft and so will be painted as such.

 

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The rather poor representation of the camera was cut off the bottom of the cockpit floor and will be replaced with a better looking example that was supported from a frame off the floor in reality. First, I'm trying to confirm whether or not my rig would have had the thing in the first place. An excerpt from a reference kindly provided by a colleague states that "An F.24 type camera, for both day and night photography, was mounted either in the nose or in the rear fuselage". The giveaway would be the clear perspex square under the camera lens. Trumpeter does provide one in the nose but I have not been able to confirm its presence on this particular aircraft as all pics of it are from above. The only somewhat useful pic of another Wimpy on 425 Squadron that I have found is the one below but it is very small and even with gamma adjustment I can't see the window which, if it was there, would be a square piece of perspex to the right of the ladder.

 

r-lacerte-crew-jpg.521785

 

But even if I could prove that it wasn't there, I have no idea where it would have been mounted in the back so I think I'll just go ahead and install one in the front.

Searching the net, I found this
 

lanc_10mrmp_f24_camera_mount_b1-jpg.5217

 

which is labelled as a Lancaster installation (note the hint of geodetic framing though!?) but which very much resembles what I would replicate on my bird unless someone has better info.

 

Thanks for following!

 

Andy

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks all for your reactions and support. Progress has been slow but some recent activity may be worth sharing.

 

The F24 camera installation and its environs received the most attention. The only thing provided in the kit was a rather poor-looking icicle thingy dangling from the cabin floor. Though I have no pictures of the camera setup in the Wimpy, I decided to improvise based on the sketch of the Lancaster installation posted above. To start with, I tried to locate a camera in my spares and, though I had a pair of really nice German ones, the best I could come up with for the British unit was a "partial" unit from my Revell Mosquito.

 

18122101-jpg.522620

 

Using the single piece as a basis, I sawed off part of the body on the top and added the film cartridge lid using two pieces of thick plastic card glued together and shaped with a scalpel and file. A strip of aluminum tape represents the closure strap and a length of styrene tube was used to extend the lens body.

 

18122102-jpg.522621

 

Next, I glued in the clear part for the camera opening and added a circular fairing that was obliquely cut from a drinking straw, the inside of which was painted black. A frame for the camera was built using styrene rod.

 

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With the camera painted a dark grey and the inside of the lens black, I formed the lens using Testors Clear Part Cement which is still drying in the below pic.
 

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Here's the finished unit, all of which will be seen through the adjacent crew hatch.

18122105-jpg.522624

 

There's a complete bulkhead missing from Trumpeter's kit and that is located just in front of the instrument panel and coinciding with the front edge of the crew hatch, so again it's quite visible. The problem is that this thing is, once again, a truss framework and difficult to replicate from scratch. The bulkhead I'm talking about is seen circled in the pic below:
 

bulkhead-jpg.522758

 

Fortunately, the most visible part at the bottom is plated over, so presents no real issue. For the truss, I elected to try to cut openings in a solid piece of thick styrene sheet. After making a cardboard template for the curvature, I cut the two bulkhead halves and drilled out the openings. Below is the start of this operation which is rather ugly but, arguably, effective.
 

18122201-jpg.522759

 

I elected not to go all the way to the top with this as the bulkhead becomes less visible higher up.

With detail pics of a local Lancaster that I had access to yesterday, I also addressed the additional parts for the camera. A junction box was fashioned and glued to the side of the body and the control box and motor were also created and glued to locations based on my judgement. The new parts below are clearly seen in white and have yet to be painted.

 

18122202-jpg.522760

 

The floor assembly remains loose for now so the wire connecting the camera to the motor on its left can't be installed yet. There's also more to install under the floor in the pilot's position. Stay tuned if you want to see all that!

Thanks again for watching.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks to all who have watched and commented so far. Update time!

 

Detailing of the forward section continues with the addition of bits of round and flat styrene on the back of the instrument panel and completion of the underside of the cockpit floor.

 

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Another one of the many steps before closing up the fuselage was to add seat belts to the pilot's seat. I decided to scratch build these rather than spring for a new set of PE belts. I made these from plain masking tape and stainless steel wire for the buckles. The grommets were done by placing a dab of chrome paint from one of my new Molotow chrome pens I got for Christmas and then, when dry, placing a black ink dot in the middle.

 

18122701-jpg.523433

 

Note that at some point I must have brushed the cockpit against something and obliterated all the throttle levers I worked so hard to make. I'll need to redo these now. I'll also need to come up with seat belts and the back rest for the Flight Engineer. Though the back rest can be seen in one of my reference pics, I have not seen if and how the seat belts attach to the folding seat.

In the meantime, the back of the instrument panel was given some spaghetti wiring which was then painted, some black and some silver. I only did enough to suggest the mess that was really there as only the bottom stuff will be seen through the hatch. With this all done, I glued the panel securely in place with CA. The below pic shows the panel in place and the cockpit floor loosely positioned. Two wires emanate from the camera so far; one goes to the controller and one runs behind the camera and stops. The drive cable from the motor can only be installed once the floor is permanently attached.

 

18122702-jpg.523434

 

Next up was the wing spar, a rather important feature that Trumpeter omitted. I got my reference for this from the Eduard detail set instruction sheet that I downloaded from the net and made it using styrene card. Two sides were made with spacers in between.

 

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Here's the spar in place ready for paint.
 

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I also assembled the forward turret. I cut off the thick triangular parts, one of which can be seen in the below pic, and replaced them with card. Lightening holes and a stiffener plate were also added and I also fashioned a box representing the gun sight. Soon after, I was corrected on the gun sight and made sure to later make it with the good over the reflector glass.

 

 18122803-jpg.523437

 

The engines had been worked on occasionally when I took breaks from other things. Each is only 5 parts but the single-piece collector ring proved to be a bear to clean. There was a lot of flash and mould ridges the had to be filed away. The gear cases are gloss black but I want to flatten them down a tad still.

 

19010101-jpg.523772

 

Back to the turret, I finished the sight by adding a new shroud made up of bits of styrene card and rod. I also managed to twist a short bar of styrene to make the ammo chutes and installed those, though the final result is pretty hard to see.

 

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On the starboard side of the nose, I began to install some of the major cabling. Some is based on photos/references and others are pure guesswork based on where I think the electrons need to go.

 

19010202-jpg.523871

 

The structure behind the large bomb aimer's window took some research to figure out but I finally got around to scratching it. Below you can see that I painted the cables I showed above. There is a hefty tapered beam with lightening holes running lengthwise on both sides of the glass through which the bomb sight peeks and I've replicate these using pieces cut and drilled from thick styrene sheet. Outboard of those are curved sections of the fuselage geodetic structure and these were made using solder. The pic below shows the beginnings of these modifications on the starboard side and below that is the start of a truss that will span across the front end which will be described more below. 

 

19010401-jpg.524361

 

One of the handiest tools I have is a plastic Vernier Scale that enables me to measure inside distances easily. With the fuselage taped together temporarily, I slid the Vernier to determine the needed length and depth of the truss. After carefully cutting the truss out, I then checked the fit of the truss and, once satisfied,  I glued the truss to the starboard fuselage side.

 

19010402-jpg.524362

 

With that done, 2 more struts were added to the truss and these were located beside the tapered beams.
 

19010403-jpg.524363

 

And that, my friends, is how this project looks today. More to come in due course. Thanks for watching!

 

Andy

 

Edited by Crimea River
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Time for another instalment in our detailing saga.

Continuing on the starboard nose section, the Flight Engineer's seat got my attention next. Here's the kit part:
 

19010701-jpg.525402

 

And here it is after I got my mitts all over it. The square support bar was replaced with round stock and the seat bottom had a square cut out and a backing added.

 

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The seat was then installed in the fuselage. This is actually supposed to be done when bringing the fuselage halves together as there is a pin that inserts into the bulkhead behind the pilot. Heck with that says I. Rather, I used the mark where the bulkhead ends that I previously scratched with a scalpel and cut the support bar to suit. It's not like I want the seat to operate. Behind the seat you can see a bit of grey wire that represents a cockpit heat hose.

 

19010703-jpg.525404

 

Here's the finished seat all painted up and drybrushed with silver. Above the seat you can see that I wired the panel with some fine 0.2mm lead wire. The leather pouch has been finalized and the triangular frame in front of the seat was made from round stock to represent the folding foot rest.
 

19011104-jpg.525405

 

Moving over to the port side, I began work on the MkXIV Bomb Sight components. First, though, I had to add yet more wiring bundles to represent the spaghetti coming off the instrument panel being routed to the bowels of the aircraft. Receipt of my replenished supply of lead wire yesterday allowed me to move ahead with this step. The wiring was rather conveniently tucked behind the camera out of sight.....

 

19011101-jpg.525407

 

A great reference for the Mk XIV Bomb Sight unit can be found here for those interested in the details. Another for the Wellington in particular can be found here. I found these invaluable for making the parts and for routing of connecting tubing and wires. The major piece, besides the sighting head itself, is the "Computor" which looks like this:

 

capture-jpg.525406

 

Using the dimensions provided in the first linked reference, I fabricated the unit from built up card, round rod bits for the knobs, and brass wire. Below are the results, with apologies for the blurry pics:

 

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With Andy Donnelly's Celtic Show on CKUA.com playing in the background, I set about installing the Computor components this evening. The cylindrical object on the left is the air dryer. Between it and the finished Computor is a small panel containing the main valve and filter unit and a wack of tubing and wiring which I replicated as much as possible from diagrams and schematics in the linked documents.

 

19011105-jpg.525410

 

A bit more wiring is yet to come here and then it will be on to the sighting head itself, which will be a bit of a tricky scratch build. Here's what that looks like:

 

capture-jpg.525411

 

Thanks for following and see you soon - hopefully!

 

Andy

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Here is the process I used for scratch building the tiny bomb sighting head. With my vernier set at a target overall scale length of 9mm, I began assembling a bunch of bits of card and rod in the rough proportions needed to build up this complex piece of kit.
 

19011402-jpg.525809

 

The cast aluminum arm was made by using strips of brass sheet bent and CA glued to the outermost rod. To make it look a little more solid, I dropped some Testors Clear Parts Cement into the two spaces. The overall sight came out about a millimeter too long but I'm VERY happy with the outcome

 

19011403-jpg.525810

 

Some finishing touches were added by first pinching the sight in my holder and attaching some wiring/hoses. The single bit of wire coming off the back of the cylinder represents a suction line and the two thinner wires will be sent off to the computor unit.

 

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The head was then painted and some labels scratched in with a pin.
 

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I'll now leave this part off the model until it's time to button up the fuselage as I don't want to risk damaging the thing after all this work! In the meantime, I'll finish off a few more visible parts in the interior and post an update when there is something to show.

 

Thanks for looking in and for your interest!

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Thanks guys. I've been a bit spotty with updates so appreciate you stopping by for a peek. A couple more items from the "do-before-gluing-the-fuselage-together punch list" have been now done. One of these was to add some flares to the rack. After looking up the cross section of the ones provided in the kit in my British ordnance reference, I determined that these most closely resembled 4.5" reconnaissance flares which were black with a thin red band near the tip. In the below pic, the mounting holes to the right of the flares had some pressure bottles glued in earlier but the forward one interfered with the wing spar that I built and so I took them out. With the spar there, these won't be seen anyway so I won't replace them. I also didn't spend any time on the oxygen bottles other than roughly spraying some steel coloured paint on them as these won't be seen either. The flares will be just barely visible through the front glass.

 

19011604-jpg.525994

 

Looking at a period photo of the waist gun arrangement that I posted here I decided to make some ammo boxes for these as they weren't provided in the kit. Using the photo, I scaled the boxes relative to the width of the fuselage and translated that ratio to the model proportions to lay out and cut the pieces as seen here: 

 

19011603-jpg.525993

 

From here I assembled the sides, added some stiffeners and glued on some bits to represent the ammo box mounting bracket. It looks a bit rough here but I'm not too fussed as these boxes will be only barely seen through the side windows.

 

19011605-jpg.525995

 

And finally, here is a shot of the port side box painted and glued in place. I have not found any more info on the gun mount and have now assumed that one of the boxes is a gun sight. I painted this one black and will add a clear reflector glass. The other mystery box was painted grey - just cuz!

 

Thanks again for looking in and for the likes and comments.

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Continuing in the beam gun positions, both sides have now been completed. I had ongoing discussions regarding the details provided on the gun mounts and was able to conclude with the help of a colleague that the two "boxes" that I had painted black and grey above are actually meant to depict a hooded gun sight mounted horizontally. See discussion here: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235049145-wellington-iii-waist-guns/&tab=comments#comment-3251765

 

With that resolved I modified the kit part by first cutting off the box that I previously painted grey and and reattaching it to the other part of the sight with a bit of round rod. I then painted the whole thing black and repeated this for the other side. Of course all this was complicated by the fact that I installed the glass panels which prevented me from accessing the visible sides with a paint brush. I also painted the handles a light grey, though the tonal difference in the pics below is hard to discern.

Next came the guns. Knowing that these would almost certainly be broken off, I cut the barrels off, drilled holes in the barrel and breech, glued a copper wire pin into the barrel and set these aside for installation near the end of the build. I then painted the brackets for the gun grey/green and the rest Alclad steel. A bit of a spacer was added on top of the breech to fill the gap with the mount and then, after aligning with the barrels through the glazing, a drop of CA secured the guns in place. I then added ammo belts from some PE spares and made the spent cartridge bags using strips of paper glued together with white glue. The below pics show how all this turned out.

 

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With that done. I temporarily brought the two fuselage halves together and checked on the visibility to the interior. The verdict - like looking into a sewer pipe with welding goggles on. The good news is that this means I can stop adding crap to this area as it will be a waste of time. I had planned to make and install the gunner's seat and some more wooden treads on the floor but won't bother now. I'll concentrate on finishing the nose section and then, after seeing if I can find a way to add the turrets near the end of the build, I'll finally try to get the fuselage halves together.

One other small thing that I did was to add the Eduard bomb bay bulkhead detail, the bomb bay detail set having finally arrived. This entailed making the windows larger and pinching some clear acetate behind the part seen below. One thing that was not provided in the PE set was the diagonal braces which reference pics show as crossing the windows so I cut some lengths of solder and glued these on so they would be visible through the bomb bay. I didn't bother making it tidy on the interior as it will all be invisible.

 

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I'll now refocus my attention to completing things in the nose in hopes of getting the fuselage together soon. Thanks again for following and for the comments and reactions.

 

Andy

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