Natter Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Good day all, Matchbox's 1/72 Vickers Wellesley. Seat harnesses and gunsights by Eduard, Bomb load from the Airfix Swordfish, scratchbuilt interior including the opened up wheel bays, Pegasus from Radial Engines and Wheels and Falcon vac-form canopy. Upper camouflage free-hand airbrushed Xtracrylix and undersides Mr Color Flat Black, with the fin flash airbrushed with Xtracolour Roundel Red and Blue. Decals from Kits World, Ventura, hobbyshop.cz and Modeldecal; all of them silvered despite a really shiny Mr Color gloss coat. Inspiration from this photo. Some WiP photos here. This aircraft, from 47 Sqn, was used to pick up the then Major Orde Wingate from Belaiya in Ethiopia in February 1941 while he was leader of Gideon Force. An unsung hero of a forgotten war, the Wellesley was instrumental in the campaign to prevent the Italians from driving the Allies from East Africa and then assisting the Afrika Corps by opening a southern front in North Africa. 70 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Hi Dave, the Wellesley was always labelled a good kit from Matchbox, but you have transcended the barely good: your model is great! And I love the weathering: just right. Congratulations. JR 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vesa Jussila Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 You have really transformed old kit. Excellent work. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
François Escudé Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Hi Dave , What a tremendous job you've done on this matchbox kit. It's amazing to see how Brits could manage to design such beautiful planes like , spits, mossies,and lancs etc and planes like this one , skuas, gannet .. (same in France by the way ...) lets put it as cultural richness as I'm sure it is !! 😁 just joking ! Anyway good job! and thanks for sharing ! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelh Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 I'll built that kit when it first came out. When Matchbox got one right they were ahead of their time. As for the original Wesley, Francois is right. It was no beauty but those high aspect ratio wings gave it an exceptional range. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith in the uk Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Love it Dave , great job on a kit not often seen , well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exhausted Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 You did a great job. I wonder if this plane would have done better in maritime patrol or even rescue (air dropped boat)? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
François Escudé Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 1 hour ago, exhausted said: You did a great job. I wonder if this plane would have done better in maritime patrol or even rescue (air dropped boat)? they should have think about it !! 🤣 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TallBlondJohn Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 10 minutes ago, François Escudé said: they should have think about it !! 🤣 The problem for maritime patrol is you need good visibility downwards, which would have required a lot of tinkering. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
François Escudé Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 2 minutes ago, TallBlondJohn said: The problem for maritime patrol is you need good visibility downwards, which would have required a lot of tinkering. 😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted October 15, 2022 Author Share Posted October 15, 2022 2 hours ago, exhausted said: I wonder if this plane would have done better in maritime patrol or even rescue (air dropped boat)? On 31 October 1942 a Wellesley from 47 Sqn, on maritime patrol, located and depth charged U-559. Although the U-boat was not damaged in the attack the sighting gave a location for the search, and in the subsequent engagement led to the recovery of the Enigma machine and its associated code book. Not a perfect maritime patrol aircraft, but useable. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmerboy Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 The paint job is wonderful such fine detail, very impressive! But that is one weird looking aircraft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Superb rendition of a Matchbox classic, absolutely spot on. Mark. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
François Escudé Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 1 hour ago, Natter said: On 31 October 1942 a Wellesley from 47 Sqn, on maritime patrol, located and depth charged U-559. Although the U-boat was not damaged in the attack the sighting gave a location for the search, and in the subsequent engagement led to the recovery of the Enigma machine and its associated code book. Not a perfect maritime patrol aircraft, but useable. thanks for this useful info indeed ! 👍 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col Walter E Kurtz Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 An extraordinary looking aircraft! The strange external bomb bays remind me of the roof boxes of modern cars. A beautiful model indeed! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robin-42 Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 I built this kit a long time ago, I think it captures the Wellesley better than the newer Valom effort. Thanks for sharing. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
François Escudé Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 5 hours ago, noelh said: I'll built that kit when it first came out. When Matchbox got one right they were ahead of their time. As for the original Wesley, Francois is right. It was no beauty but those high aspect ratio wings gave it an exceptional range. you're right ! Matchbox made our days on these ancients times !! and yes yes where really ahead on many aspects ! thanks for these " souvenirs " 😉 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navy Bird Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Wow, outstanding job on the old kit. I have one in my stash (been there for decades) and I'll be sure to use this build as a reference. Brilliant! Cheers, Bill 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invidia Posted October 15, 2022 Share Posted October 15, 2022 Looks fantastic, these old matchbox kits really do 'scrub up well' 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winenut Posted October 16, 2022 Share Posted October 16, 2022 Love Matchbox Your rendition of the Wellesley is nothing short of brilliant Cheers! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbit Leader Posted October 16, 2022 Share Posted October 16, 2022 Probably the best example of a Matchbox Wellesley I’ve ever come across. That’s just brilliant in every way and the open bomb pannier ticks off a beautiful all round build. Two big ticks from me my friend. Cheers and very well modelled.. Dave 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Mc Posted October 16, 2022 Share Posted October 16, 2022 Gorgeous. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 16, 2022 Share Posted October 16, 2022 That looks wonderful. The silvering is not obvious, or did you over paint it? Either way, this looks very right to me, just like I'll be trying to do with the one I have come the day. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted October 16, 2022 Author Share Posted October 16, 2022 18 minutes ago, stevehnz said: The silvering is not obvious, or did you over paint it? I did think about trying to overpaint, but with the serials (individual letters and numbers from Ventura) and the fuselage codes it would be quite tricky. The underside roundels are probably the worst, but fortunately the edge of the decal film is very narrow. Lesson learned; if I use any of the decals remaining on the sheets I'll try settling them on to a pool of Klear (I still have two original bottles!). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted October 16, 2022 Share Posted October 16, 2022 8 minutes ago, Natter said: I'll try settling them on to a pool of Klear I use it with everything I've done since I learnt of it, totally recommend it, if you haven't already seen it, be my guest. Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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