Armstrong Whitworth Whitley GR. Mk.VII

[Shelliecool]

My next build is Airfix's 1:72 Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk.V. I was lucky enough to receive this kit for Christmas, and am looking forward to the challenges of the build. The kit contains a very detailed instruction booklet, and decals for 2 aircraft.

 

Several of the decals are rather large (which worries me slightly due to silvering), so I may carefully cut them down.

There are 5 detailed grey sprues and 2 clear, these are very clean with little to no flash and help make this look like a great kit.

 

 

There are two colour schemes for this kit, the Coastal Command version pictured on the box, and The British Overseas Aircraft Corporation. My son has chosen The British Overseas Aircraft Corporation scheme of 1942, which has no rear or nose guns or glass. I plan to make this an out of the box build, using Vallejo acrylics throughout. I hope to learn more about this aircraft along the way.

 

[Greg Law]

That's a shame. I rather like the turrents on this plane. Without them I think it looks like a box with wings, but everyone to their own. It will be interesting to see how it turns out.

[Hamden]

 

I'll follow along as well if I may.

 

  Roger

[Spookytooth]

I will tag along to , if I may.

 

Simon.

[Mikey-1980]

tagging along for your build....looking forward to it

[elger]

Planning to build a Whitley next myself. Looking forward to following your build!

[stever219]

This is a very good kit, but you do have to be careful how you put it together.  The joint between the rear fuselage sides and wing roots needs some care in assembly to avoid gaps: the undercarriage and engine bearer assemblies need careful lining up too; the bearers have an awkward butt joint in the middle.  

 

The engine radiators are a bit of a faff too: on my second and third kits I assembled the forward part of the nacelles and cowlings, complete with radiator shutter, first and used tweezers and a little finger to push the rads as far forward in their housing as possible before applying liquid poly from behind and inside using a needle applicator.  Once they’re in the rear section can be assembled  

 

The fit of cowlings to leading edges isn’t very special and takes a bit of fettling: I managed to bodge it badly on one of mine, but it’s not too horrendous to recover.

 

Please don’t take my comments as condemnation of this kit; I’ve enjoyed building mine and would quite happily build more given half a chance and the room to display them.  Build it and enjoy it!😀😀😀😀

[Shelliecool]

Thanks for all your comments, it's great to have you all onboard.

Michelle

1 hour ago, stever219 said:

This is a very good kit, but you do have to be careful how you put it together.  The joint between the rear fuselage sides and wing roots needs some care in assembly to avoid gaps: the undercarriage and engine bearer assemblies need careful lining up too; the bearers have an awkward butt joint in the middle.  

 

The engine radiators are a bit of a faff too: on my second and third kits I assembled the forward part of the nacelles and cowlings, complete with radiator shutter, first and used tweezers and a little finger to push the rads as far forward in their housing as possible before applying liquid poly from behind and inside using a needle applicator.  Once they’re in the rear section can be assembled  

 

The fit of cowlings to leading edges isn’t very special and takes a bit of fettling: I managed to bodge it badly on one of mine, but it’s not too horrendous to recover.

 

Please don’t take my comments as condemnation of this kit; I’ve enjoyed building mine and would quite happily build more given half a chance and the room to display them.  Build it and enjoy it!😀😀😀😀

Thanks Steve, it's great to know which areas are going to cause a little head scratching.

Thanks again,

Michelle

[stever219]

On 3/27/2019 at 8:36 PM, Shelliecool said:

Thanks for all your comments, it's great to have you all onboard.

Michelle

Thanks Steve, it's great to know which areas are going to cause a little head scratching.

Thanks again,

Michelle

My pleasure Michelle.  I forgot to mention that you can leave the firewalls out when assembling the forward section of the nacelle; they can easily be inserted through the wheel bays once the rads are in.  Why on Earth Airfix wanted us to install the rads from the front, after first having applied cement, through a hole that required the rads to be twisted in at an angle and then be pulled straight is beyond me.🤨😖🥴

Edited March 29, 2019 by stever219
Oops.

[Shelliecool]

Having given some of the interior parts a coat of primer, I have since airbrushed them with Vallejo interior green.

These are now drying in preparation for the build to start.

[Christer A]

A BOAC Whitley? This will be interesting!

I had lots of fun with mine last year.

 

I do recommend some painting masks for it, I used Montex to good effect.

Edited March 28, 2019 by Christer A
Added some missing vowels

[stever219]

5 hours ago, Christer A said:

 

I had lots of fun with min last year.

 

I do recommened som paintng masks for it, I used Montex to good effect.

Couldn't agree more: doing the cockpit greenhouse by hand isn't conducive to a relaxing modelling session.  Guess how I know this......

[Shelliecool]

I have begun work on the interior of the aircraft, attaching the pilots seat, pedals and interior walls.

Leaving these to dry I then turned my attention to the fuselage walls, gluing the instruments into place and weathering them using a light dirt wash.

The kit is going together really nicely, fingers crossed it continues that way.

[dogsbody]

Ooh! Another one of your nice builds. I shall be creeping on this one, too.

 

 

Chris

[Shelliecool]

I have continued my work on the cockpit/cabin area.

Fixing the instrument panel in place, the navigators seat and work bench, before carefully gluing it to the fuselage.

Once it was all in place I added a little subtle weathering, using a dirt wash, and then aluminium for a little chipping (the flash on the camera makes it really stand out, in reality it is much more subtle).

 

[dogsbody]

I know this kit comes with a map decal for the navigator's table, but be advised that unless the crew is on-board, all maps and other documents would be removed when the crew vacates the aircraft.

 

This is looking good so far.

 

 

Chris

[RidgeRunner]

I always liked the Whitley. I had a Frog Whitley for Christmas as a lad and it was built by Christmas Day afternoon!

 

Martin

[Spookytooth]

12 hours ago, dogsbody said:

I know this kit comes with a map decal for the navigator's table, but be advised that unless the crew is on-board, all maps and other documents would be removed when the crew vacates the aircraft.

 

This is looking good so far.

 

 

Chris

Thanks for the info there Chris.

Will remember that for future builds.

 

Simon.

[Shelliecool]

With the cockpit interior ready, I carefully joined the other half of the fuselage to the Interior.

There was a tiny gap on the top which I have filled with Mr.Surfacer 1000, apart from this it fitted very nicely (which makes a change!). There was no need to sand down the interior or trim anything. 

I have joined the rear fuselage halves (with interior floor inserted), again these fitted nice and flush with no problems. I have since added a line of Mr.Surfacer, and begun Sanding down the seams. 

 

In between sanding sessions (my least favourite part of builds), I fitted the glass to the underside section of the aircraft, and then attached the structure that will hold the wings. Now this is fiddly, keeping the horizontal structure in place while also holding it in its curve position, a little persistence payed off and it is now together.

Finally, I have secured the roof section to the fuselage. This went together well and merely required a little tape to keep the aircrafts shape.

[Spookytooth]

All good solid work there good lady.

These new mouldings Airfix are bringing out are not bad at all.

 

Simon.

[Bigdave22014]

Looking good Michelle.

 

There's a lot of white on these Coastal Command schemes, so if I may, can I recommend Citadel white spray paint from Games Workshop? They keep changing the name but it seems to be the same stuff all the time. I think it's Corax White at the moment....

It covers well, gives an even finish and seems to "shrink" as it dries to reveal all those little details like rivets.

[Shelliecool]

1 hour ago, Spookytooth said:

All good solid work there good lady.

These new mouldings Airfix are bringing out are not bad at all.

 

Simon.

Couldn't agree more, the majority of the time the new mouldings just slot together with ease.......I was lucky enough to get an Airfix Beaufighter for mother's day, which looks like a nice kit too.

Thanks,

Michelle

[Shelliecool]

2 minutes ago, Bigdave22014 said:

Looking good Michelle.

 

There's a lot of white on these Coastal Command schemes, so if I may, can I recommend Citadel white spray paint from Games Workshop? They keep changing the name but it seems to be the same stuff all the time. I think it's Corax White at the moment....

It covers well, gives an even finish and seems to "shrink" as it dries to reveal all those little details like rivets.

This sounds like the stuff of magic Bigdave! Mine will have an aluminium underside (and camo top), but I will be purchasing some of this as I have quite a few white builds in my stash.

Thanks for the excellent tip,

Michelle.

[Bigdave22014]

They do other colours as well (I use their clear-coat a lot, as it has a lovely satin-matt finish - name changes again, no idea what the current version is called....) and their black (which seems to have stayed as Chaos Black for a long time....)

[Shelliecool]

1 hour ago, Bigdave22014 said:

They do other colours as well (I use their clear-coat a lot, as it has a lovely satin-matt finish - name changes again, no idea what the current version is called....) and their black (which seems to have stayed as Chaos Black for a long time....)

Sounds great.......I will check them out!

Thank you,

Michelle