A Three-colour Wellington with a Complicated Tale...

[81-er]

This is a complicated one, so bear with me. Some time ago, I was browsing on the DK Decals site and came across a profile for a Wellington in three-colour desert camouflage, so I started this thread to find out if it was legit. While I did eventually find a photograph to prove it was, in the process I unearthed a photo of another Wellington, also in the three-colour camo, but a rather more interesting looking aircraft. While I have also got a photo of this aircraft pre-crash, it’s copyrighted so I can’t post it here. What I can do is link to the post-crash photo here, which was originally posted in this thread, and apparently is from Airfix Magazine Annual No 6.

 

I realise that photo doesn’t show a lot, but the pre-crash photo did, and you can read a lot of the discussion on that photo in my thread I linked at the start of this one. What I can say is this aircraft is a Ic and coded “R”, sadly without a unit or serial, so I’ll leave the serial off unless more info comes to light. The lack of guns also indicates it’s being used as a transport rather than a bomber. It also wears C1 roundels.

 

Colours are always hard to deduce from b&w photos, but we have a few clues (plus my own assumptions):

 

• Firstly, standard camouflage for transports in the desert was TSS over azure, so it’s a reasonable assumption to say that’s the likely start of the scheme.
• Secondly, from the way the blue of the roundel shows up (or rather doesn’t), it indicates a type of film that’s less sensitive to blue. If we assume TSS over Azure (which I am), that ties in well. The lower colour is very light in the photos, indicating a lack of blue sensitivity in the film, which also suggests the lightest camo colour is Extra Dark Sea Grey.
• Thirdly, assuming a field applied scheme, it’s reasonable to assume the third colour is either Middle Stone or Dark Earth. This third colour shows up lighter than the Dark Slate Grey of the TSS scheme, which would suggest it’s more likely Middle Stone.
• Finally, when looking at the pattern of light/dark/medium of the camo (admittedly far easier on the pre-crash photo), we can work out that this is a standard Wellington camouflage pattern with every other area of Extra Dark Sea Grey overpainted with Middle Stone.

 

Phew!

 

This is where I have to extend my thanks and gratitude to a number of people far more versed in decoding b&w photos and in the standards of schemes used in theatre than I am. Those people are (in no particular order) @Graham Boak @Ed Russell and @KRK4m. Without the input of you guys I wouldn’t have been able to get to this point with my detective work, so thank you all very much!

 

To build this wonderfully odd aircraft, I’ve got the recent Airfix kit. While I’ve got the GR Mk VIII boxing, all of the parts to build the Ic are in there:

 

 

All of the sprues are still bagged:

 

 

To assist, I’ve got Montex canopy masks, Aires wheels, and the DK Decals set I found the original aircraft in, but also conveniently has the right decals for this one:

 

 

If you've made it this far, bravo for sticking with me! I’m a bit snowed under with group builds at the moment, but I’m determined to get this one built this year. Even better if I manage it by Telford. Expect a start at some point either after I’ve cleared the decks of some of the current projects, or when I get impatient.

 

TL/DR – I’m doing a Wellington Ic transport in TSS + Middle Stone over Azure 🤣

 

James

Edited August 18, 2023 by 81-er
Minor correction

[Graham Boak]

Just one point: the transport scheme TSS over Azure Blue was not a desert scheme but that officially adopted on the formation of Transport Command in 1943.

[81-er]

Thanks for the correction, Graham  I did already check with Craig before I posted this, so I know I'm safe because it's been modified for desert use.

 

James

[Wings unlevel]

What a terrific project James, sounds like a fascinating subject. Enjoy!

[Dansk]

Inspired choice james.

You don't see a lot of Wellies being built so this will be a treat, especially with your particular airframe choice.

enjoy!

[81-er]

Thanks gents

 

James

[Robert Stuart]

A fascinating project, James, especially in the light of the linked discussion.

[Marcel]

Fingers crossed James, I’m looking forward to your Wellington!

[Beardybloke]

Sounds intriguing James, I'll be following too

[modelling minion]

I have been really looking forward to this one mate. I have had a soft spot for the Wimpey since I was a kid and have a couple of these same kits to get stuck into at some point, I'm hoping that Model Art will bring out a sheet for post war French ones from North Africa!🤞

This scheme has got to be one of the most unusual and eye catching worn by a Wimpey and I have no doubt that you will do a top job on it James, its already proving popular!

 

🇺🇦

[81-er]

Thanks everyone  

 

6 hours ago, modelling minion said:

I have been really looking forward to this one mate. I have had a soft spot for the Wimpey since I was a kid and have a couple of these same kits to get stuck into at some point, I'm hoping that Model Art will bring out a sheet for post war French ones from North Africa!🤞

This scheme has got to be one of the most unusual and eye catching worn by a Wimpey and I have no doubt that you will do a top job on it James, its already proving popular!

I've been really looking forward to this one too, I'm sure it'll raise a few eyebrows wherever I display it after it's done. I best make sure I have the photos handy to prove it's not a WHIFF... This new tooling looks far superior to the one I built as a kid, it's almost too good to close it up. One of the guys at my club is actually planning to build one as a cutaway at some point to show off all the amazing interior detailing.

 

James

[81-er]

I should add another name to the thanks list that I missed from my first post, @Paul Lucas has been sharing some interesting information that gives me plenty of food for thought too.

 

James

[81-er]

Proof of life! I’d really like to get this one done in time to take it to Telford, so I need to get on with it. First of all, an overall view of where things currently stand:

 

 

Regular stalkers may note that I’ve had a big reorganise of my bench in the hopes I can now keep it tidy enough to afford a decent working area, rather than trying to work in a space less than a sheet of A4 on what is actually an A1-sized mat!

 

A closer shot of the fuselage internals:

 

 

 

As the aircraft I’m modelling had the side windows painted over, I’ve not bothered too much in here, just covered a few areas that might be visible (yeah, right) on the finished model. I’ve left out all of the parts Airfix suggest are unlikely to be visible, and only painted the geodetic framing where it’s most likely to be visible. Speaking of which, I found a great cheat for that, a silver marker pen:

 

 

I fitted the blanking plates Airfix provide instead of the waist gun windows, which have a hell of a gap around them and will require some careful filling and sanding on the outside to maintain the ribbed pattern on the fuselage sides.

 

I’ve use the kit decal on the IP, as I don’t expect it to be visible anyway. There’s a prominent box on the righthand panel, and Airfix provide a flat decal that’s supposed to go over it, but with now allowance for the height of the box between the printed detail. I cut the decal into two bits and applied each to the relevant section:

 

 

A closer look at the cockpit area, which just needs the IP installed and the seat, which needs some belts adding:

 

 

I went with black rather than the grey-green Airfix suggest and most of the photos I could find of Wellington cockpits appear to show them painted black. If it’s wrong, I apologise, but I doubt it’ll matter once it’s closed up anyway.

 

James

[modelling minion]

Thats really nice work James.

I agree completely that there is little point going overboard with the interior as nothing will be visible later anyway, makes you wonder why they put the time and effort into doing it in the first place doesn't it.

The marker pen has worked very well indeed and is an idea that I'm sure many of us will copy when building our kits in the future.

Your bench looks very neat and well organised, certainly puts mine to shame!

[81-er]

Thanks Craig  It's nice they give you the option with the interior details, one of the guys at my club is currently building one in cutaway to show it off. It might even be finished for this month's meeting on Wednesday. I'm sure the bench won't stay this organised for long, so no need to feel ashamed. Not in shot is the rest of the living room, with a large pile of in-progress kits and a large area of RC car maintenance (chaos) as I'm in the process of repairing the damage to mine & the kids' cars after some fun in the park at the weekend. I think the bench is currently the tidiest area of the room 

 

James

[IanC]

Neat and tidy. I love the stick and corrugated card parts holder 'solution'. 😀 

[Zephyr91]

Apologies James, I've only just caught up with this. [There's so much to keep an eye on around here! ]  Don't normally do "bigger aircraft" cos I don't have storage space but have always had a soft spot for the Wellington and this caught my eye.

 

Really interesting research and I look forward to following progress.  Great looking so far

 

Rob

 

 

[81-er]

Thanks gents  @IanC the cardboard holder is by Mr Hobby. I was going to knock some up myself, but the pre-made ones were cheap enough that it wasn't worth the time to do it. If you want something larger, there's cat scratching things in a similar design available. The grippers on wooden sticks are also Mr Hobby, the shorter plastic ones are used micro brushes with the used head chopped off, and a bit of blue tack to hold the parts

 

James

[Wings unlevel]

Very neat and tidy James... and the Wellington is looking good too! 🤣

[jackroadkill]

22 hours ago, 81-er said:

Regular stalkers

 

You rang, sir?!

 

She's looking great, and I'm looking forward to seeing her at Telford.

[81-er]

Thanks gents  

 

Thanks to @Paul Lucas I now have a serial number for the aircraft, DV624. Quoting from the PM he sent me:

 

 

"I have been able to identify Wellington 'R' as being DV624 of No.294 (ASR) Squadron based at LG 91 in Egypt during November 1943.

 

The incident captured in the photo was taken on or about 18 November 1943 following a local flight to test some new IFF equipment. Having completed the test successfully, after landing and during the ensuing run, the pilot retracted the undercarriage instead of the flaps and the aircraft settled onto its port wing and swung around. The port engine was shock loaded, the port tail plane and wing, fuselage and belly were all damaged and the aircraft was assessed as Category II, repairable, but not on site."

 

I certainly wouldn't have liked to be that pilot when his CO found out what happened! 

 

James

[franky boy]

Nice work on the interior James. It certainly looks like a comprehensive kit from your photos. 
 

I bet the pilot mentioned above was hauled over the coals!

 

James 

[81-er]

Thanks James  It really is, the amount of details Airfix supply for the interior is astounding, even though most of it will never be seen. If you have a nose at the instructions on Scalemates, you'll see what I mean. Anything in green is something Airfix think is unlikely to be seen, and I'm leaving all of that out of this build as the only views into the interior are going to be the nose/cockpit glazing and the astrodome on the top.

 

James

[81-er]

I really need to get cracking on this if there’s any hope of still making it to Telford (probably slim at this point). The pilot’s seat got some belts from a leftover PE set. They’re actually US belts, but I suspect so little will be visible in the cockpit that it won’t matter:

 

 

The IP was squeezed in:

 

 

Which meant I could close up the fuselage:

 

 

The wings have been assembled as well:

 

 

I still need to clean up the seems, but I’m very impressed with this structure in the wheel bay. There’s quite a bit of detail on it and the hole at the top is the mount for the brace to the main gear legs. This is also probably the last time this piece will be visible:

 

 

Hopefully there’ll be more progress this evening.

 

James

[Wings unlevel]

Looking good James, good to see it closed up and taking shape. And the kit seems to do a great job of rendering the Wellington’s structure and construction.