1/72 Italeri Wessex [finished]

[TonyOD]

...though this does raise the question of how I should finish the rotors, @hendie. I was going to do them all-over satin same as the fuselage, but logically neoprene would be matt in appearance. What's the purpose of this leading edge? Protect the rotors?

[hendie]

1 hour ago, TonyOD said:

What's the purpose of this leading edge? Protect the rotors?

 

The neoprene was there to protect leading edge.  Then we put sacrificial tape on to protect the neoprene. The sacrificial tape was like a really heavy duty sellotape. 

 

The blades took quite a beating from whizzing around in the atmosphere, and the leading edge took the brunt of that. If they flew through a rainstorm the sacrificial tape got all boogered up and you could hear them coming from miles away - enough time to get the kimwipe, rags, MEK, scissors and tape together and start pushing the safety raiser out of the hangar before they landed. It was a real messy job getting that tape off there.

 

All over satin would be fine - as would matt finish.

 

 

[TonyOD]

5 hours ago, hendie said:

 

The neoprene was there to protect leading edge.  Then we put sacrificial tape on to protect the neoprene. The sacrificial tape was like a really heavy duty sellotape. 

 

The blades took quite a beating from whizzing around in the atmosphere, and the leading edge took the brunt of that. If they flew through a rainstorm the sacrificial tape got all boogered up and you could hear them coming from miles away - enough time to get the kimwipe, rags, MEK, scissors and tape together and start pushing the safety raiser out of the hangar before they landed. It was a real messy job getting that tape off there.

Fascinating insight into the working lives of these machines. The closest I've ever been to a Wessex is when one landed on the playing field of my school. It was yellow, so RAF I'm guessing. They let our air cadets have a look around.

[2996 Victor]

Hi @TonyOD,

Just caught up with your thread. Excellent progress so far and looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Kind regards,

Mark

[TonyOD]

1 hour ago, 2996 Victor said:

Hi @TonyOD,

Just caught up with your thread. Excellent progress so far and looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Kind regards,

Mark

Thanks. I’m just cursing Italeri again for reasons I’ll explain in due course.

[2996 Victor]

26 minutes ago, TonyOD said:

Thanks. I’m just cursing Italeri again for reasons I’ll explain in due course.

I'm sorry to hear that! Hope you manage to sort out what ever the trouble is.....

 

Kind regards,

 

Mark

[TonyOD]

The sins of Italeri, part 316...

 

So, some weeks ago when I started building this thing, the very first thing the instructions ask you to do is to drill half a dozen holes in the fuselage to accommodate the little pylons that carry the external wire antennae around the outside of the helicopter. It looks like this:

 

 

There are some little guide holes moulded into the inside of the fuselage halves to facilitate this. Easy, right?  So I got my little hand drill out, drilled the holes, stuck the pylons and they've been there ever since.

 

Fast forward to last night, and I'm putting some decals on... it's only their relative position to the aircraft markings that makes me notice that they pylons are in completely the wrong place!

 

 

The one next to the "Y" in "NAVY" should be forward of the roundel. The One above my thumb should be above the door (actually where the winch will end up). The pairs on the the port side are similarly misplaced.

 

I mean, I could try to correct it but I think I'm beyond caring. I'll end up with a half-decent helicopter, hopefully, with some slightly misplaced antenna pylons. FWIW, every other example of this build I can see on the net with one exception has the pylons in the wrong place. 

 

Honestly, have Italeri got it in for me or what?

 

 

 

[Andwil]

Nasty surprise for a late stage in the build.  I haven’t put mine on yet so have time to drill holes in the correct places and fill in the incorrect ones.

 

AW

[TonyOD]

17 minutes ago, Andwil said:

Nasty surprise for a late stage in the build.  I haven’t put mine on yet so have time to drill holes in the correct places and fill in the incorrect ones.

 

AW

 

By way of comparison I had a look at the fusalage of the Revell HAS.3 (your build, same mould) that I have in the stash, and to be fair there are also the hints of guide holes in the correct positions, as well as the incorrect ones (I can't for the life of me work out why these incorrect ones are even there, they serve no purpose other than to sow confusion). I drilled the wrong ones, it seems, it's not a problem with the mould, it's a lack of clarity in the instructions. In Revell's instructions there isn't even a mention of drilling holes, they just show the pylons being attached in the correct positions from the outside of the fuselage and presumably it's left to the modeller to realise that they need to put some holes in. The Italeri instructions also, on close inspection, show the (rather crudely depicted) pylons going on in the right positions but by then the holes are there and that's where my pylons ended up.

 

It seems that it's a common mistake with anyone building the Italeri kit.

 

I don't like Italeri.

 

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by TonyOD

[perdu]

Do not take it personally

 

This is a fact of life

 

IF ITACRAPI CAN SCREW UP, THEY WILL.

 

I haven't nicknamed them without a deep well of intimate historic experience.

 

What they generally do provide however are the raw materials to enable us to extend our skill strengths.

 

It might be an idea to read about the next Italeri one you would like to try, it's a wide internet

The info is out there

What mistake do the manufacturer make?

What is better than the last one they did?

Do people use the decals much?

 

Nobody kits a Wessex that is right, my favourite is the Frog from the sixties but that has no interior.

Ludicrous wheels and little surface details but is by far the most accurate outline Wessex you can buy

 

If you can buy it

Matchbox made a more accurate Wessex than Italeri but they both have stupid-wide shovel noses

The Matchbox tail rotor turns the right way and early mouldings gave both engine options, early Napier Gazelle or later Gnome versions.

All were based on the wide cabin windows of Royal Navy machines so not for RAF Wessexes.

 

So as you see, 'tain't you they hate, it's all of us.

 

[Paul J]

Sounds like we need to bombard Airfix to tool up an all new Wessex kit with all the FAA and RAF variants. And export ones.

[TonyOD]

51 minutes ago, perdu said:

IF ITACRAPI CAN SCREW UP, THEY WILL.

It's just a pity, really. I mean, I've dealt with the nose, I feel I can have a crack at that tail rotor, and after much deliberation I landed on the right shade of green, only for this to come up.

 

I was looking at Italeri's history with the Wessex and I noticed that one boxing of their 1/48 HU.5 says on the lid that it's a "UH.5"! I mean, if that's the level of attention to detail we can expect....

[perdu]

It is...

[TonyOD]

Stuff it, I can do this. I'm going to pinch the pylons from the HAS.3 kit and use them. I already used its rotor blades as once I'd put six coats of paint in three different shades of green on the originals and then tried to sand them back surface detail was lacking. Putting new pylons on will be easy, the question is can I remove the old ones and make it look like they were never there without damaging any decals? 

[hendie]

As always - check to see if you can get photographic evidence first 

Aerial fits changed between types but even within types there can be differences.  For example not all HC2's are created equal.   The HK Wessex had a different aerial fit than most other HC2's I've seen.

[TonyOD]

2 hours ago, hendie said:

As always - check to see if you can get photographic evidence first 

Aerial fits changed between types but even within types there can be differences.  For example not all HC2's are created equal.   The HK Wessex had a different aerial fit than most other HC2's I've seen.

Yeah I've noticed different configurations on other variants, e.g. one where the antenna just runs down the starboard side. There's plenty enough photographic evidence out there to confirm that I've got XS522 wrong though.

 

Going forward my starting position on all builds will be the kit manufacturer is lying to me.

Edited July 19, 2020 by TonyOD

[Chewbacca]

3 hours ago, TonyOD said:

Going forward my starting position on all builds will be the kit manufacturer is lying to me.

I'm sure they're simply trying to stop you getting bored 

[TonyOD]

So, not as difficult a fix as I feared. Old pylons removed with side cutters, some careful fettling down with a sharp knife and light sanding, with a bit of touching up it should be fine. Holes for new pylons drilled. Onward!

 

Edited July 19, 2020 by TonyOD

[Andwil]

10 hours ago, hendie said:

As always - check to see if you can get photographic evidence first 

Aerial fits changed between types but even within types there can be differences.  For example not all HC2's are created equal.   The HK Wessex had a different aerial fit than most other HC2's I've seen.

Not only between types and within types, but from my research into the RAN Wessex Im building, the same airframe over time.  It pays to work from a good photo source.

 

AW

[TonyOD]

10 hours ago, Andwil said:

Not only between types and within types, but from my research into the RAN Wessex Im building, the same airframe over time.  It pays to work from a good photo source.

 

AW

I wonder what percentage of builds are actually anything like accurate. So much of it is assumption or guesswork to fill in the gaps of whatever photographic evidence can be turned up, and the further you go back in time the more guesswork you're likely to have to do. I tend to assume that the people who manufacture kits and decals have access to a greater scope of research material than I do and that what they depict should be reliable, but I'm sure they're often assuming and guessing too. I have an idea for the upcoming Heller Classic GB and my representation of the interior of this aircraft will be based entirely on what I imagine it might have looked like, in the absence of any photographic evidence whatsoever!

[qn30jEkPz7]

4 hours ago, TonyOD said:

I have an idea for the upcoming Heller Classic GB and my representation of the interior of this aircraft will be based entirely on what I imagine it might have looked like, in the absence of any photographic evidence whatsoever

That’s my approach - in the event of doubt don’t go looking for evidence that might prove you wrong and create more work

[TonyOD]

43 minutes ago, LostCosmonauts said:

That’s my approach - in the event of doubt don’t go looking for evidence that might prove you wrong and create more work

I have turned up an old Pathe newsreel video that offers a tantalising glimpse...

[TonyOD]

While waiting for touch up paint to dry on the fuselage I've taken the masking tape off the rotor blades. I'd hoped for a nice clean black leading edge, but despite best efforts it's a bit of a bleed-fest...

 

[TonyOD]

Further vexations:

 

I have put the rearmost antenna pylons aft of the tailwheel, whereas they should be forward. Here we go again...

 

Also, Buzby should be tucked further under the nose. I have another decal. Wasn't going to bother fixing it but in for a penny...

 

I can't even blame these ones on Italeri!

 

Edit: it turns out that for the pylons, actually, I can 

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by TonyOD

[TonyOD]

Got the decals on, apart from replacement Buzby who will go on this evening. I’ve used a mixture from the OOB Italeri sheet (very nicely printed) and Modeldecal sheet no. 96, which offers a more comprehensive range of stencils. I found it helpful to cut the ones around the windows in half at opposite corners and apply the halves separately, trying to wrestle those flimsy little things around a raised and masked window was only going to end in tears. Those serial numbers are rather too large. 

 

It was all looking a bit patchy and uneven what with the various bits of touching up, but a coat of Klear has helped even it all out. Final pair of errant antenna pylons done away with, you’d never know they were there. I haven’t made a very good job of the canopy fit, the way I glued the instrument panel in meant it pressed against the centre console between the seats so the nose was tilted very slightly forward. Be reyt, I thought, but it’s a bit off.

 

I don’t (i.e. can’t) do weathering but anyway every pic I’ve seen of this a/c has shown it as clean as a whistle, I’m going to have a go at the panel lines with a dark grey wash though.

 

This close-up photography is brutal, isn't it?

 

Edited July 22, 2020 by TonyOD