1/48 Trumpeter Vickers Wellington IC

[Stephen Allen]

Moving on a bit. I mixed two different shades of matt black, one with a small amount of white, and one that had rather more, a very dark grey. Shade one was the base colours, shade two was used to spot and modulate the base, To finish I waved a very thin coat of the pure black over the other two to blend it all together. Sounds easy, but painting so much black took a lot of masking and a couple of solid hours of waving the airbrush about.

 

Special Night, RDM2, in photos, always looks weathered and chalked, it was a very fragile finish and that was what I aimed for at this stage - more wear and weathering will come later. You can contrast this finish with the ordinary Night that I used to depict the repaint around the modified roundels.
 

So the big reveal. This is the plane with the paint just dry and masks removed. There are a few spots that will need a touch in, but overall I am pretty happy with both the paint and the markings.

 

 

 

 

 

That’s it for about a week as I am going away for a few days. When I come back it will be time for a gloss overcoat to prepare for the decal (one) and continuation of the weathering.

[Stephen Allen]

Back in the workroom and things have been quietly progressing. I have sprayed an overall gloss coat in preparation for the Flory claywash, and have started work on the cowlings. The gloss isn’t actually very gloss, but it will be enough to ensure that I can remove and manipulate the claywash as I need to.

 

 

The ways to treat Bristol style cowlings with their prominent exhaust collector rings are myriad. For this aircraft I have decided that the rings will be a mottled browny/red, to depict the anti-glow paint that Wellingtons and other night-flying aircraft started to use in 1941, with the usual unpainted section forming the fairing forward of the actual exhaust. I used enamels as a base, then moved on to oils to try and get the patchy appearance of the paint as it gradually heat-hardened and darkened. I’ve also started detailing the exhausts, applying an off white for the asbestos sheathing on the extended port exhaust. The idea was to keep the heat in until it hits the boiler section just aft. This then heated water into steam to power the aircraft’s cabin heating system.

 

 

I’ve also started a test piece simulating the area of the fuselage where the Techmod decal for the ‘Firefly’ artwork will go. I have seen lots of comments both good and bad about how these perform so I want a trial before committing it to the airframe. I am using a spare decal from the sheet to see how they perform, how to avoid silvering, how to get them down over the reinforcing strakes on the fuselage etc. If I can’t get a good result then Plan B is an aircraft without the artwork. There is a photo of the aircraft without the artwork, which could be dated either before or after it was painted on. The second photo shows a brush- painted gloss coat drying on the test piece. I will do a thin brush coat on the aircraft in the area of the decal, as I find that this generally helps with silvering. I might also repeat this experiment a few times to see what methods and chemicals work best

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve done some work on the modified/widened resin wheels as well, using a silver pencil to colour in the hubs. These will get an oil wash which will hopefully help clean up the rim/tyre edge - the castings have a very indistinct edge which doesn’t help neatness.

 

[Stephen Allen]

I did end up using the ‘Firefly’ decal. In experimenting with the spare Techmod decals I found that good old Microset and Microsol seemed to work fine. The decal did stick very quickly so there was limited time to get it into place but it did conform well.
 

After it set it was on with the first stage of weathering, applying a Flory claywash. Dark dirt for the upper surfaces, and Gray for the lower.

 

 

 

 

 

[Stephen Allen]

Time to instal the engines. They are one of the nicest aspects of the kit. No doubt one of the aftermarket resin or 3D ones would be more complete, but these look the part behind the cowling.

 

 

 

 

I’ve wiped off the claywash and have started some of the chipping to the metal components. All of the remaining kit parts;  aerial, pitot, ‘Antler’ balance weights to the rudder and those on the elevators, have been fitted. I have been cleaning up as I go, blowing the dust off with the airbrush, brushing and vacuuming etc. I just need to trim and fit the brake lines into their fittings on the wheel hubs then its time for the flat coat. That won’t quite finish the weathering, there will be some more chipping to depict recent and brighter dings to the paintwork, and some work with oil stains. It’s getting close though!😀

 

[woody37]

Looking superb Stephen, I've recently got the 1/72 Airfix kit and this is giving me an appetite to start it!

[Stephen Allen]

After the overall flat coat, off come the masks. I had effectively double masked the turrets, with the relevant bits of the Eduard kabuki masks applied to the clear panels, and another layer of paper masking on top to protect the somewhat fragile paintwork. This system worked really well, and the turrets emerged from several weeks of masking unscathed by having the fuselage assembled around them.

 

 

 

That was the good news. The bad news during unmasking was that the cockpit transparency had an obvious smear on the starboard clearview panel. Some gentle polishing confirmed that this was on the inside. What to do?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Only one thing to do.

 

 

Yes, I did consider leaving it and only displaying the better side, however, at this point that would have seemed like a cop-out. Fortunately the crew access hatch popped off without too much of a struggle. Then it was just a case of carefully inserting a cotton tip, lightly moistened, and gently wiping the canopy without breaking anything else. For good measure I wiped all of the canopy, using a bent cotton tip to reach over the pilot’s seat, and the bomb aimer’s panel for good measure. If you are going to contemplate this sort of action, it’s important to start with the mildest possible solvent - water - and only use something more aggressive if you really, really need it. In order of mildness, its water, followed by saliva (got used a lot when I worked in a museum and surprisingly effective), alcohol, then Mr Levelling Thinner. I got away with water only, followed by a dry cotton tip to polish.

 

 

I must have managed to get some of the clear coat into the fuselage while waving the airbrush about despite it being pretty well sealed. Possibly entered around the edges of the forward turret. Fortunately, by the time it settled it must have been practically dry and had no hold on the smooth clear plastic. Lucky also that it was somewhere I could do something about it. I had visions of trying a very long pipe cleaner through the astrodome hole but it didn’t come to that.

 

At this point (with heart rate returning to normal) I have to leave it for a week while I head off interstate again.

[woody37]

I find myself doing this a lot! Those ear buds have saved many a canopy from inside frost! Looks great

[Stephen Allen]

Back again and nearly there. Some oil streaks to the rear of the engine nacelles, and some glossier oil wash (Airfix enamel) to the oil tank filler area, and streaking the propellor blade hubs and roots. A little more silver chipping as well. The forward and aft ID/formation lights have been added. I used some heated clear plastic rod and a forming tool I bought from Red Roo - very useful. I like how the silver backing to each lens makes the lights shine when a bright light like a flash hits them. You can also see why there is really no point super detailing the all ready quite good engines, unless you leave the cowlings open.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what’s left? One more light underneath the nose, gun barrels and the aerials. Oh, and a Molotow chrome pen is arriving shortly to touch in the sliders on the undercarriage.
 

My preference for the aerials is thin metal rigging wire but I suspect that the length of the main aerial might make it difficult to get the main run taut without pulling the mast out of true and the line would be highly exposed to the usual wandering destructive fingers (ever exhibited a rigged model ship at a show? A good way to turn your hair grey), so it might end up being elastic line. There are small insulators at both ends as well as the junction of the line down to the aerial lead-in, so there is a little weight that has to be supported as well. Nearly there!

[Stephen Allen]

Happily, I was able to tauten wire without pulling anything out of true. I used Modelkasten 0.15 rigging wire. Using a deep anchor point on the tail and fuselage and a section of microtube at the top of the mast allowed me to pretension the wires, glue them, then cut them. The insulator/junction on the wire, and the insulatir at the tail I painted a deep red as they may have been bakelite. I guess white would also be a possibility for porcelain, but I don’t have any close-up photos that would show. I regret that the lines are so fine, it’s actually really hard to photograph them - my camera just can’t catch them.

 

 

 

 

[Stephen Allen]

Finally, with apologies for the delay! The IFF aerials have been added.

 

 

The recognition light below the nose.

 

 

Master Model gun barrels added to both turrets. I must have spent some time earlier in the build aligning them as all four slid in perfectly, with only a drop of acrylic glue needed to secure them.

 

 

 

The build completed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So that’s that, build started August of ‘23, interrupted by other builds and life in general as enthusiasm for this one waxed and waned, finally completed August ‘25. Once I’ve tidied up the workroom I will get the camera out again and take some more photos for the RFI. Thanks for following along!

 

cheers

 

Steve

 

[Dunny]

Stephen,

 

Lovely build and finish and a most interesting journey. Your attention to detail is commendable and I believe you may have produced the definitive 1:48 Wellington build,

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

[TheBaron]

Love the hues and surface textures  of your paint work Steve: richly observed and convincing  indeed for the scale.

 

Tony

[bigbadbadge]

Wow a gorgeous Wellington,  fantastic paint and finish too.

Great work 

Chris

[MOK61]

Lovely build, Stephen. I have just read the thread from the beginning in an evening. Inspirational work, now...how much of this can I steal for 1/72...hmmmm 🤔

 

Murray

[Stephen Allen]

Apart from the finish, I suspect almost nothing if you are building the Airfix kit, which is far superior as a kit to Trumpeter’s 1/48 scale effort! 

 

cheers

 

Steve

[woody37]

Brilliant Steve, it was worth all the extra work you've put into it.

[mark.au]

Very nice indeed, Steve. Will we get to see it at ScaleACT?

[Stephen Allen]

Will it be at ScaleACT? Quite likely, as my model ship club, TF72, usually puts on a display of RC ships, so I guess I could bring the Wimpy along too and enter it in the show.

 

cheers

 

Steve

[ant62]

I have just purchased the same model from a guy my mate knows for £20..

I dont that i have the talent or the balls to do what you have done to the welly(as i call it)..

It is wonderfull to see such talent......

 

I may copy some aspects though if that is ok....

[Stephen Allen]

Feel free - just enjoy the build!

 

cheers

 

Steve

[Rob K.]

To my eyes, the Wellington looks right from every angle. Great result.

 

Very interesting build thread as well.

 

Rgds,

 

Rob