Westland Wessex. Bits, Various, for the use of. Transmission Deck & Cockpit set now added for 2024

[missile-monkey]

On 7/4/2023 at 6:46 PM, RAF4EVER said:

Not sure they were on the Navy HU5, 845Sqdrn used to have 4 aircraft at Aldergrove, maybe @bootneck can shed some light on the situation

 

Yes. 845 NAS had 4 cabs at Aldergrove pre 1982. When the squadrons returned after the unpleasantness in the South Atlantic in 1982 they never went back. I think the crabs got their knickers in a knot because they weren't allowed to play with the grown ups..!  ( tongue in cheek no offence intended.)

 

Regards

MM

[missile-monkey]

On 7/4/2023 at 2:41 PM, RAF4EVER said:

The rifle, it was a bracket on the Front Bulkhead,it held the SLR in a horizontal position,this was for use in Northern Ireland. Was a Modification.

 

It was on the top above the Fire Extinguisher

 

Maybe @Pete in Lincs remembers them?

 

I think that must have been a crab thing. Nine years on HU 5s ( 707, 772 and 845 Squadrons) I never saw a rifle rack on the forward bulkhead. Just as well really I would'nt trust a Aircrewman with a water pistol never mind an SLR.... **** Caveat I may be wrong it was a long time ago and many beers have been consumed since then..

 

Regards

MM

[badger]

Would definitely be interested in a couple of sets in 1/72 when they are available as have 2 Italeri kits in the stash.

 

Astounding work on these - some top tier CAD skills in evidence!

 

[perdu]

On 04/07/2023 at 14:41, RAF4EVER said:

The rifle, it was a bracket on the Front Bulkhead,it held the SLR in a horizontal position,this was for use in Northern Ireland. Was a Modification.

 

It was on the top above the Fire Extinguisher

 

Maybe @Pete in Lincs remembers them?

And in that part of the discussion I forgot I had a picture or three very poor images of the very adaptation in service on an HC2 in Norniron

 

Faces hidden, well just in case,  where advisable.

 

There behind him the Plastic Fantastic dear old SLR in the modified vehicle dash mounted unit with a retaining strap.

 

What I liked was a rarely shown photo of the starboard cab interior, there b'aint many of those around I'll tell 'ee.

 

And this'n is awfully sparse for visibility.

[bootneck]

That clarifies that it was just one clamp and a canvas retaining strap, also how the weapon was positioned.  Thanks for posting that image Bill.

 

cheers,
Mike

[RAF4EVER]

1 hour ago, perdu said:

And in that part of the discussion I forgot I had a picture or three very poor images of the very adaptation in service on an HC2 in Norniron

 

Faces hidden, well just in case,  where advisable.

 

There behind him the Plastic Fantastic dear old SLR in the modified vehicle dash mounted unit with a retaining strap.

 

What I liked was a rarely shown photo of the starboard cab interior, there b'aint many of those around I'll tell 'ee.

 

And this'n is awfully sparse for visibility.

That is as I remember it👍

[perdu]

Well having sorted that out how about me whetting your whistles even more?

 

The happy postlady came to the door this morning bearing tidings from Hendieland.

 

Inside were some test shots of further wonders, I present to you

at the top of screen Nitesun and its control boxes, new interior for the filter casings down here by the front and in between the loadie's securing (monkey?) rail for the ceilings, left of them more of those lovely SACRU units and look at the winch/hoist, the actual winding cable is around the cable drum and the drive shaft is nicely corrugated inside the casing.

 

see the lovely jet pipe too, none of those exaggerated  rings round the outside

 

Also featured 

 

Engine control avionics and engine compartments to make opening panels a doddle if such a plan suits you

 

Those little holey rectangles?

 

The reinforced mounting points to have the undercarriage sit safely on the fuselage sides, like so!

 

And not content with that Hendie has also supplied the fuel filler caps to go just there 

 

 

There are two on the sides of  the fuselage, these are delightful.

 

These will be added to the Hendie stack when the sizes and fit can be checked, but I thought you'd like to see them early on during development.

 

Alan says I can by the way.

 

 

[perdu]

Oh yes by the way, there are chocks, lots of chocks

[heloman1]

I'm liking the parts you have fashioned very much Alan. Now I need to make up a shopping list and ask about courier options.

Have you thought about the HAR Mk2 SAR fit? I have detailed photos.

 

Colin

[junglierating]

On 8/3/2023 at 6:17 PM, missile-monkey said:

 

Yes. 845 NAS had 4 cabs at Aldergrove pre 1982. When the squadrons returned after the unpleasantness in the South Atlantic in 1982 they never went back. I think the crabs got their knickers in a knot because they weren't allowed to play with the grown ups..!  ( tongue in cheek no offence intended.)

 

Regards

MM

846 regularly went back with SK 4s for marching season.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Very nice 3D bits for Wessies. I may have to buy some from you when and if I can ever build my, UH-34, S-58T, and Wessex. 

[Bozothenutter]

this thread has made me get the Falklands issue of the kit. 🙄🙃😇

Now @hendie where do I order the pretty stuff?

 

Not everything shows on the Shapeways store (though that does show a 1/32 Wessex rotorhead, any chance of 1/48?)

Mine would be the full monty set.

[hendie]

On 10/11/2023 at 10:36 AM, Bozothenutter said:

any chance of 1/48

 

I can look into it when I get time though I'm not sure if it will scale down and how the assembly with the rotor blades would work.

 

 

My apologies to everyone for letting this one slip into the background.  Life has been giving me a kicking recently and between one thing and many, many others, the mojo has been less than bubbling over.

 

As far as I can remember, everything is now ready to roll - at least Bill didn't scream and shout at me as he tested the waters with the initial 1/72 batch over on his Wessex builds.  That brings us to... I think we're ready to roll (with some caveats) - I have a day job (for the moment), and the mojo still isn't firing on all cylinders but I made a commitment here therefore I should try and keep to it.

 

To recap, we have

Set A:  The engine bay

• Gnome engines X2
• Lower bay firewall
• Upper bay firewall
• Battery tray
• Blue electrical box X2
• Reservoir (at least that's what I think it is)
• Exhaust X2
• Nose Door bulkhead

 

Set B:  the Other Greeblies

• Beetleback
• Cabin Bulkhead
• Cabin sliding door stop
• Fuel Filler caps
• Loadmasters rail
• Rescue hoist & hook
• Nitesun, control box, & junction box
• SACRU
• Undercarriage strengthening plates
• Wheel chocks

I haven't written any instructions for installation as for the most part, it's self explanatory, but if you have any questions, post them here and I'll answer them

 

Pricing.  I've tried to keep things as simple as possible here.

 

WSX72 Set A            US$12.50

WSX72 Set B            US$12.50

WSX72 Set A&B      US$20.00

 

WSX48 Set A            US$15.00     

WSX48 Set B            US$15.00  

WSX48 Set A&B      US$25.00  

 

Postage and packing to the UK will be US$20 (about £16.50 of your British pounds at current rates).  I still have to source packaging as the postmaster shouted at me the last time I sent something as the box was too small to get all the labels on.

For other locations, I'll need to check and get back to you.

 

PM me with your requirements if you are interested and I'll get back to you. I won't take any payment until I've printed your order and it's ready to be mailed.

 

 

[Pete in Lincs]

Alan, The Wessex parts seen here look absolutely fabulous. I feel that I should sit down and start building one immediately.

Trouble is I'm having too much fun in the Sci Fi section. Sorry. Ah well,,,

 

I'm very sorry to hear of your troubles and the mojo loss.

After your excellent builds of the last few years I'm reminded of Roy Batty's speech in Bladerunner. 'The light that shines twice as bright'..or something like that.

Hopefully you'll catch your second wind before too long. In the meantime, My very best wishes from across the pond.

[Terry1954]

Hi Alan,

 

15 hours ago, Pete in Lincs said:

I'm very sorry to hear of your troubles and the mojo loss.

After your excellent builds of the last few years I'm reminded of Roy Batty's speech in Bladerunner. 'The light that shines twice as bright'..or something like that.

Hopefully you'll catch your second wind before too long. In the meantime, My very best wishes from across the pond.

 

Echoing Pete's sentiments on the mojo. I seem to have been there a few times over the last few years!

 

See PM re some Wessex goodies!

 

Cheers

 

Terry

[hendie]

A little update just to let everyone know what's going on.

 

Thanks for all the enquiries, folks.  It's going to take me a few weeks to get all the sets printed. 

Each set is a 9 hour print run, followed by an hour or so of wash, dry with some manual support removal, and post-curing.

Some of the more delicate supports have to be removed before part curing to avoid any potential damage as some of the parts are quite delicate.  I'll be removing most of the supports but may leave some in place for shipping to provide protection.  Make sure you have a good razor saw at the ready when your package arrives.

Since the day job tends to get in the way, I'm trying to get a couple of sets done during the week and another couple of sets at the weekend.  Packaging has been sourced so everything is set to go.

I hope to get the first sets ready and mailed out by the end of the month.  I shall email you with payment details etc. once your package is ready to be sent out. 

 

thanks again for the orders.

 

 

[hendie]

A quick update folks and just to let you know that everyone's order has been sent out today.  The last time I sent a package to the UK it took around 7 days or so though in the past it has taken up to three weeks. You should all have your tracking numbers so at this point, it's in the hands of the USPS and your national postal service.

 

I've been a bit lazy in that I haven't produced any instruction sheets for these items. For the most part it should be self explanatory, but there's one or two parts that may cause one to ponder, so hopefully this will clarify things a bit:

 

For the exhausts, you will need to open up the hole by removing that tab Italeri almost filled the exhaust port up with, then remove the excess material on the inner face, circled in black here.

 

 

That will allow the exhaust flange to sit flush against the inner wall.   You can either choose to fit the exhaust as shown here (but painting will be a nightmare)

 

 

Or, you can remove the flange at the base with a razor saw and glue the flange on the inner face, concentric with the opening, like this.

 

 

That will allow you to paint the exhaust separately and add it at a later time.

 

For those that purchased the WSX72 options, you will find that there are 2 different diameters of exhaust included (with spares).   The smaller ones are what Italeri would have you install, but based on Bill's feedback I enlarged the diameter for a better fit, and have also included those in the set.

 

For the engine bay lower firewall,  you will need to remove some material on the lower surfaces - shown here scribbled with black marker. I just used a file to file a flat on each side. Unfortunately it's one of those file a bit, dry fit, file a bit, dry fit, repetitive exercises

 

 

If you are going to keep the sidewall engine doors closed, you may need to remove some of the two side vents on the firewall. About half a millimeter should do it. Again, lots of test fitting and take it easy.

 

You will no doubt come across some additional parts that I never mentioned before - two tiny tiny parts, and one not quite so tiny. These were an experiment on my part, but they turned out not too bad so I included them in the sets.

Those parts are: The nose door latches and the pin thingy on the bottom of the door - both circled here.  Careful - the door latches are handed

 

 

Here's how I dealt with this - other forms of self flagellation are available.

After thinning out the Italeri shell, and much dry fitting, the nose door firewall does eventually fit. It's certainly not the easiest job but fettling just a little bit at a time gets you there. I did have to remove some material from the bottom of the two intake ducts to get things to fit, and also adjust the angle of that central vertical panel by filing a bit off the bottom end.

That left a small gap at the bottom, and I wasn't too enamored of the joint around the bottom of the firewall and the Italeri part - but the solution is straightforward.

I used small segments of masking tape to follow that curve at the seam and used this as a template.

 

 

The masking tape was transferred to a scrap of styrene sheet which was then trimmed back

 

 

 

I then induced a curve into the styrene sheet and glued it in place (after making some cut outs to match the 1:1 panel). I deliberately left the rearmost edge overhanging the kit part and only trimmed that back once the glue had cured and the part was firmly fixed in place. The port side template is underway in this shot.

 

 

Once that was complete, I added the door latches and the pin thing.

 

 

 

If you have any questions, let me know and I'll answer them here

 

 

 

 

[coneheadff]

Fantastic tutorial Alan!

[Bozothenutter]

Sooooo, how is that rotor head coming along?😈

[Terry1954]

This is all really helpful Alan, thank you.

 

If I could pick a gem out of all of this good stuff, it would be this one .............

 

1 hour ago, hendie said:

I used small segments of masking tape to follow that curve at the seam and used this as a template.

 

........ such a simple, yet very effective approach to templating card to fit into awkward places. Why havent I ever thought of that! 

 

Just shows, you are never too old to learn new things!

 

Very much looking forward to using these parts on a number of Wessex builds that are in my future (but actually the kits are sitting in my stash)!

 

Yet another matter for discussion over beers at the weekend Bill @perdu !!!

 

Terry

 

 

[perdu]

13 hours ago, hendie said:

For those that purchased the WSX72 options, you will find that there are 2 different diameters of exhaust included (with spares).   The smaller ones are what Italeri would have you install, but based on Bill's feedback I enlarged the diameter for a better fit, and have also included those in the set.

In the spirit of self-flagellation here is a further feedback for what has to be the ultimate Wessex enhancement resource in the world

 

I used the smaller jetpipes for the HU5

 

 

 

The larger ones were over emphatic in situ and these are correct for the scale

 

Here an HC2 in snow (Christmas is a coming)

 

Good size comparison though, methinks.

Another:

 

This seems to be a development photo of a prototype HC2, short exhaust and no nose filter unit but very good example of the efflux size, no?

 

Further confirmation of the size is in the use of Gnomes in other Westland aircraft, I used 1/4" alloy tube to represent the jet pipe on my Whirlwind which tallied with drawings and looked right as do the Gnome jet pipes on Sea King kits.

 

I model what looks right to me, the smaller jet pipes look right on the model.

 

And I will be evermore grateful to Alan for his efforts on our behalf/behalves/behalfs(?) a more precisely working modeller will build class winning Wessexes from these parts.

 

They're wonders in tiny grey resin.

[Bozothenutter]

Just recieved my bits!

Very happy, very nice parts extremely well packed.

Recommended....

Now I'll have to learn about Wessexes (Wessexii?)

[hendie]

On 11/4/2023 at 4:09 PM, Bozothenutter said:

Sooooo, how is that rotor head coming along?😈

 

you mean this one?

 

 

😈😈😈

 

I'm printing off the prototype as I write this.  

 

I'm not committing to anything right at this moment with all the disruption scheduled to intervene with my modeling time over the next few months (Thanksgiving, Xmas etc.)  However, I am looking at whether the rotor head and MRGB can be produced in 1:48, and perhaps 1:72.

This is just a rough prototype and I have to figure out how to divvy it up for printing and assembly.  I think it will be sturdy enough in 1:48, but it may be too fragile to withstand 1:72 - more testing needed.

If it works I'll try and produce the MRGB along with it. I have to pretty much start from scratch on the MRGB as the 1:32 version was designed specifically for the Fly kit and applying a simple scale down to the existing model isn't going to work.

 

 

 

 

[hendie]

The first test print is fresh out of the vat this afternoon

 

 

I'd say it's a little bit better than the kit offering.

 

My apologies for the quality of this second shot, but I think you can still see that it's not quite as frail looking as the kit part. It has a bit more substance to it.

 

 

A couple of pieces broke off either in the printing or in the wash - the lifting eyes on top of the rotor head so I'll look at beefing them up a tad. I think I also lost the grease nipples on top of the bearings so that's something else to follow up on.

I think I'll run these as a single assembly just for ease of handling and if they were separate pieces they'd be a nightmare to assemble.  The whole thing is just over 20mm wide iirc.

 

My thoughts here are that the kit blades would be trimmed at the root to remove the  kit dog leg. Then drill a hole in the kit blade and use some brass rod to pin the blades to the rotor head. Even at this scale you should be able to use a 1mm diameter rod which should provide enough structural integrity to the joint.

I'll probably print these out of clear resin - I know it will yellow in the process, but it will allow anyone to "fill" the reservoir with a nice reddish looking oil. You'll have to make your own droop stops though. I'll give them a try but the last time I tried to print those it didn't end well.  Pitch rods will need to be added as well - 0.5mm or 0.8mm brass rod will do the job nicely.

 

This was just a test print so I ran this at a layer height of 0.05mm. For the actual print I'll run those at 0.010 or 0.015 so there should be a small increase in the overall definition of the parts.

 

 

Note: A heads up for anyone considering ordering the previous sets - they took a lot more work during clean up and post processing than I had anticipated so I'm going to have to make a small price adjustment, but I'll hold off until the new year before implementing that.

 

 

 

[perdu]

The new rotor head is amazing Alan, have a wow mate.

 

Pity about droop stops but hey we make models dont we?

 

The Wessex resin pieces were well received at Telford, although not many people actually looked inside the casing to find out.

 

It looks like the new sets are landing on our shores.

 

I visualise @Hendieparts needing to take on staff...