Westland Wessex HU5 mix-n-match pair with added Rovex input 1/72 scale

[perdu]

I am taking a rotary breather amongst the fixed wing miscellany of builds and amongst the planned helicoptery in my future is a HU5 Wessex.

 

Most helicopters in my collection are from the RAF collection so my next attempt has to be a Fleet Air Arm machine version.

 

I have built a few Gnome engined Wessexes in my time and I find the nose on all of them to be missing something in the way of accuracy.

 

Both kits nose filter sections are too large and need reduction to suit photographs of the same.

 

The Italeri tail cone is too short but the Matchbox looks right but the Matchbox nose is rather dreadful, much too wide across the intake mouth.

 

I am using the plans from the 4+ Wessex publication which has drawings for all versions as the design details and now to begin.  This is what I am looking for, an HC2 here but the noses are the same for the 2 or the 5.

 

Time to reduce the Italeri nose a bit

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

This might not show the changes yet, but the left side of the nose hsa been reduced whilst the right side hasn't yet.

 

This view of the finished intake shows a reduced width which will fit closer to the shape on the first picture

 

Originally it was fatter on the front section but now it is filed to more closely follow the line of the nose.

 

More to follow as I finish the trainers and Hawkers I'm already doing

 

[Hamden]

 

Another @perdu master class I'll take a seat at the bar and watch and learn from the master.

 

  Stay safe              Roger

[AlxBNE]

Another helicopter is always welcome.

You are going to have your work cut out to produce an accurate representation of this aircraft....

@perdu I am not sure your skills can be downgraded to achieve the decal silvering required around the air force marking and serial number.

If you need advice on how to put the decals on so badly that they stick out like a sore thumb I might be able to help 🤪

[perdu]

I'll work on it, advice often welcome

 

[heloman1]

Good start Bill, pick your nose for a while until you figured things out! There was an accurate nose in the early ROTOR craft releases. I have a couple of spares but no way of getting one to you.

Glad you have the 4+ book, it's a modellers bible.

 

Colin the Wessex

[perdu]

OKeydoke

 

Printed off the plans from my 4+ (don't get paints or cut diagrams this way) and laid the Matchbox fuselage halves over  them to check

 

(I always thought the basic accuracy was so good it shocked me just how awful the nose is!)

Near enough a perfect fit and the six foot scale is exactly one inch so that has cleared me to  go on with the project.

The grill on the back of the turtleback is only engraved whereas the Italeri one actually has opened out louvres and a more pointy taper, so that will be used here, expect me to make the best use of the best parts on this, my favourite rotary ever along with the Gnome engined nose which Italeri have got mainly right, albeit with too wide an air intake.

 

I have decided not to attempt open panels on the HU5 but deep inside I crave an 18sqn Walter from RAF Germany back in the seventies, emulating my first ever converted Frog kit which even now I remember with deep, abiding pleasure...

 

That one which will be another kit-bash, may well get the MRG and open panels following on from @hendie's magnificent examples that we shared the excitement of.

 

The HC2 will need smaller side windows on  the cargo section and since the oft reported 'best way' is to use a tail from the Italeri Sea Bat and the nose from a 'UH5, both already in stock that is probably what's next.

 

Down the road apiece though, this HU4 will join the Sea Vixen, Lightning and the ilk, from now on.

 

Laters.

[hendie]

I'm here. I'm in. I'm excited.

 

who's got the charcuterie board?

[Fritag]

Your builds are rarely, if ever, lacking in adventure Bill.

 

And this one looks like another trek into unchartered territory where the maps say only ‘here be dragons’.

 

It will of course be a joy to follow - and I fully intend to do so. 

[perdu]

A joy? Who figured?

 

This is just skirting round territory that Alan and Colin have often trod in possibly different scales Steve but might be fun later on

 

As the Italeri bears more 'detail' inside I intend using some of it for the build but frankly some of  that detail is spurious in the extreme

 

Here is an example.

 

Much of the Italeri interior is of superior shape so it will be pressganged into sitting quietly inside the Matchboxer

 

However this is where spuriosity reigns, the front panel does have ribs and surface changes but not the shape of the ones in either kit

 

Should that worry me? Hmm maybe not but this is me so I will have to change the front bulkhead

 

 

I'll try for a better shot of that in the morning, a before and an after I hope.

 

Here's my inspiration, Harry Benson's 'Scram!'

 

 

I know that as he was proceeding our own Ex-FAAWAFU was driving ships around down there, so an untidy link with a friend.

 

Here's how I plan to fit it all together

 

 

And this ends model making for today

[perdu]

Apart from a tendency to make huge clangers* whilst making models of desire, THIS is why I cant get on with Italeri.

 

Do you see that beautifully moulded panel sitting on the drawing?

 

Fine and dandy ribbing.

 

Panels for access to whatever it is that helicopters keep tucked away under the driver.

 

Whatever it is it isn't THIS.

Even the ribs are in the wrong place so I had to knock up one a bit more like, trying to decide whether I should add ribs approximately 0.003" deep.

 

Or draw ribs on after the painting is done?

 

Anyway this is what were getting...

 

Also visible here is the drastically altered jet intake casing, now tacked onto the Italian nose section it belongs to.

 

I have to decide which cockpit rear wall I will be using, obviously the moulded surface in useless anyway, no matter whether by Lesney or Italeri.

 

I expect I will use the Italeri one but the cross hatching doesn't convince me as sound proofing padding somehow.

 

Crack open the Prosecco foil or kitchen roll, both of which often bear quilted surfaces, I rather suspect my owner would prefer the former...

 

It begins.

 

Longerons first in construction.

 

The rest will as night from day, follow.

[Terry1954]

Wow, a Bill Wessex, and I've caught it on page 1.

There is nothing quite as likely to lift my spirits, as a Wessex build by you Bill. 🥳

 

Grand progress has already been made, and would you believe that only yesterday, my son Justin and I (he's over from Canada for a couple of months, so doing the grand sightseeing tour with Dad, and catching up with his 6 siblings), visited the Bournemouth Aviation Museum, and got to "fly in" a real life Wessex HAS 3 (excuse the colours, see explanation below ).........

 

 

Justin, just holding it in the hover in this shot, I did warn him that left hand should really be on the collective. @Ex-FAAWAFU would not approve ...

 

 

To explain the yellow scheme and the provenance of this particular Wessex, the following is from the museums website.....

 

"Westland Wessex HAS3 (cn WA241) XT257 was a pre-production version of the Naval HAS3 built by Westland at Yeovil early in 1965. As such, it never saw operational service, spending its career on development flying, such as with A&AEE Boscombe Down testing flight control systems and radio evaluation in 1966. Its flying days were over by 1980 and it was passed to the RAF as an instructional airframe (8719M) at 1 School of Technical Training at Halton and subsequently to the new 1 SoTT at Cosford early in 1995. At some stage it acquired the yellow colour scheme of a RAF HAR2 rescue variant — which it never was. Sold to a private owner in West Sussex in 1998, XT257 arrived by road in January 2005 for display at the Bournemouth Aviation Museum"

 

And why not put a shameless plug in for two of my fav Wessex schemes, the first of which was a love at first sight moment for me at the 1968 Biggin Hill Airshow (yes, I am old) .........

 

 

If you double click on the first picture at the top, you should see a few more shots in the album, including a few reasonable internals of the albeit shabby but largely intact cockpit.

 

And might I make a small further thread drift Bill on behalf of the young @Fritag in the form of a sad looking Jaguar also spotted yesterday ...........

 

 

 

One of yours perhaps Steve?

 

OK, I'll behave now and sit back and watch what I know will be a great build.

 

Terry

 

 

 

Terry

[Fritag]

1 hour ago, Terry1954 said:

One of yours perhaps Steve?

 

Yes she is or was an old NAVWASS equipped GR1; I flew her a few times as a student on the Jag OCU in early 1985.  Shortly before she was retired.  I'm not responsible for either her early retirement or sad state of repair tho' 

 

She went US on me during a weapons sortie once - probably a NAVWASS dump (but I don't remember).

 

IIRC, unlike now, she did in fact have engines then..... (although F4 and Lightning drivers might have denied it ).

Edited May 25, 2023 by Fritag

[heloman1]

On 5/24/2023 at 1:03 PM, hendie said:

I'm here. I'm in. I'm excited.

 

who's got the charcuterie board?

Took your time Alan...

[perdu]

OK let's us just clear a few things up shall us?

 

Terry they are great pictures, but as you mention Crisp of this virtual parish hasn't found the images yet.

 

Tremble I do, tremble at the thought of his ire, but then again, so what? Its my story to tell.

 

And as for diversionary passages, dammit lad let's have lots of them, they're the life blood of a BM thread.

 

I love 'em.

 

But as you know there are other diversionary tactics, some involving models in play as we banter.

 

F'rinstance the Lightning is still unfinished albeit getting closer and for that I entered the retail purchase market for these two gorgeous things.

 

 

I really do not think the 'things in the kits' (either Lightning or Sea Vixen) compare in a decent manner to these.

 

I now have to find out what the interior colour of the seeker head is, you get a clear seeker dome with this set for each.

 

Wow

 

 

[Brandy]

Late on parade but looking forward to seeing this one progress in due time....

 

Ian 

 

 

[Terry1954]

39 minutes ago, perdu said:

I now have to find out what the interior colour of the seeker head is, you get a clear seeker dome with this set for each.

 

Had this in my Flickr collection, from Cosford

 

 

Not a great help I grant you, but then online found this one of the very same missile.

 

Inert I realise, so not sure if that makes a difference, but on close inspection, looks like very shiny metallic surrounds with a glass dome internally. Maybe Molotow pen can help ...... 🤔

 

 

Terry

[perdu]

That might just do it nicely thanks Terry

[Terry1954]

7 minutes ago, perdu said:

That might just do it

 

Managed to get a better shot of the photo with my phone! For some reason the original kept moving on screen as I tried to screenshot it!

 

 

HTH

 

T

[Pete in Lincs]

9 hours ago, perdu said:

Panels for access to whatever it is that helicopters keep tucked away under the driver.

It may look like those panels were where the Loadie shoveled the coal, but....

IIRC, you got access to the bottom of the drive shaft from the engine connector gearbox (wrong term but that's what it did) that went up to the main rotor gearbox.

Also somewhere around there was a gadget whose name has slipped my memory. With the rotor brake on and engines running the shaft wouldn't turn as this gizmo 

was in effect in freewheel mode. Release the rotor brake and the ball bearings fell into place? to connect the drive train.

And, all the cockpit controls (cyclics, collectives etc) were connected to rods, bellcranks etc under there.

 

At the back of the cabin I remember the curtain in the centre and vertically ribbed metal walls either side. No soundproofing. Flare pistol & cartridges on the Port side.

Interior colour was dark grey. A semi gloss would look right in scale.

 

[dolphin38]

Are these interior shots of the HU5 cabin of use to you

 

IMGP7774 by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr

 

IMGP7773 by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr

 

IMGP7776 by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr

 

IMGP7775 by Phillip Wilmshurst, on Flickr

 

[bigfoot]

I’m going to pull up a seat for this one. I’ve just started building an HC2 combining two Italeri kits so I’m going to get some hints and tips from your build. Off to a fine start.

Edited May 26, 2023 by bigfoot

[perdu]

24 minutes ago, bigfoot said:

I’m going to pull up a seat for this one. I’ve just started building an HC2 combining two Italeri kits so I’m going to get some hints and tips from your build. Off to a fine start.

Welcome aboard dear fellow, I understand the bar is open and has a fine selection of charcuterie, so one is advised.

[perdu]

A question for the team.

 

Does the team think that Bill is about to have, inordinate, massive amounts of fun lashing about inside this little thing?

 

Found lurking around in the interweb, yippee!

 

More?

 

OK

 

Cara Italeri, this is how it works back there

 

I wonder if anyone remembers the debacle with the search for a rotor brake on the Wessie's baby sister, crashing around inside the HAR10 in Hendon to no avail.

 

No such worries here.

 

Oh yes this is going to be fun.

[heloman1]

That front bulkhead Bill, looks like it is a throwback to the H-34 kit.  Glad you have remade it.

To save you some heartache, the item View A, looks like a step I never saw on on a Mk5. I may be putting my foot in it!

 

Colin

[perdu]

I quite agree Colin, and as it doesn't show in the above photo of an HU5 that Philip sent us it isn't getting a look in.

 

But irritatingly I saw it yesterday on a Wessex photo for the first time somewhere inside my archive collection place items.

 

Damned if I can find it again.