224 Peter Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Time to return to 1/32nd scale.... Am impressive kit, finely moulded in a hardish grey plastic. Why build a model of an aircraft that was built in small numbers and didn't last much beyond 1944? Because it somehow captivated me ever since I built the old Airfix Kit back in my youth. The originals were built locally in Yeoville and but for the non availability of Rolls Royce Peregrine engines it might have been in service before the war started: with a pair of Merlins it might have been as good as the DH Hornet. This project has also been a source of inspiration... https://www.whirlwindfp.org/ Another 1:1 scale kit. The videos are all worth watching. On with the build! The instructions are clear...to a point. They assume the modeler has a degree of knowledge and experience. The cockpit is the start..... There are very few positive location points and great care is needed, as in step 4 where the two bulkheads have to be glued into the fuselage before much else goes in. Looking at the cockpit of the actual aircraft the layout is chaotic, with instruments here and there. The moral has to be test fit, sand if needed and test again! The paint is Tamyia interior green, it mat be a bit dark when compared with the paint used on the replica..... The project's website has many videos, No 14 is particularly good at this stage as it details the cockpit fit out. More over the next few weeks...! 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Great subject choice, another one who's attention was grabbed by an Airfix Whirlwind, it has always been a favourite subject of mine, I even dropped down to 1/48 scale to build one (Classic Airframes) before the SH kit came out. So of course I have one in the stash and will pop in now and again to see how you are getting on. Cheers Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Ooooooo lovely, I have been cutting bits off the sprues of mine this afternoon. Looks a great kit, I have seen the cockpit fuselage section for the WFP down at the Battle of Britain collection at Hawkinge last year. Very impressive. Chris 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CJP Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 Hi 224Peter, this is going to be an interesting build & I was unaware of the full-size Whirlwind Fighter project so thanks for posting that here. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ModelingEdmontonian Posted February 13 Share Posted February 13 3 hours ago, 224 Peter said: This project has also been a source of inspiration... https://www.whirlwindfp.org/ Another 1:1 scale kit. The videos are all worth watching. Super cool! 3 hours ago, 224 Peter said: Because it somehow captivated me ever since I built the old Airfix Kit back in my youth. she is captivating! beautiful lines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_Bogus Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 (edited) I'll tag along on this if that's OK? Agreed that it's a great kit, and it goes together very well, for the most part. I found that the tailplanes needed thinning out a little before joining, and some of the colour callouts are definitely suspect. The fire extinguisher should be dull brass, not red, and the tailplane underside was unlikely to have been black - but I can see why they called it out as such. On another er - Large Scale forum, it's just been pointed out that the internal structure of the wings was silver, so I have some rework to do on mine! Now wondering if the undercarriage bays should be silver too...? Edited February 14 by B_Bogus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
224 Peter Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 Agreed that the fire extinguisher should be brass Underside colours were fluid in the early years, Neil Robinsons book is helpful..... https://wingleader.co.uk/books/westlandwhirlwindwpa19/ The same A/C could have a number of undersurface colours until the grey/green/grey colours arrived. As to wing interior...bits open to the air like the upper einf where it acted as the cockpit floor and the radiator ducting would probably have been cockpit green, other interior bits like the wheel wells could have been silver. More photo inspection needed, I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B_Bogus Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 (edited) I Assumed (as per the instructions) that the intakes would be interior green, but the evidence would indicate otherwise: https://forum.largescalemodeller.com/topic/19810-132-westland-whirlwind/page/5/ Edited February 14 by B_Bogus 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
224 Peter Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 6 hours ago, B_Bogus said: I Assumed (as per the instructions) that the intakes would be interior green, but the evidence would indicate otherwise: https://forum.largescalemodeller.com/topic/19810-132-westland-whirlwind/page/5/ The LSP thread is fascinating, a 1/32nd scale Whirlwind group build! BUT more importantly, it is clear from the wreckage that the internals, other than the cockpit and forward fuselage, were painted silver. So, that is what I'll follow. Spraying silver is fun...! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
224 Peter Posted February 23 Author Share Posted February 23 Some work done on the cockpit, it is slow and difficult as the tool designer has allowed obsessive detail to run away and overtake ease of construction: too many small parts and too few positive locating points. The cockpit side modules are made up of lots of parts when such parts would normally be expected to be one block. Fitting the flare tubes is a challenge, it is only by referencing the tube covers on the under side is it possible to position them, there are no location lugs or anything. The instrument panel is well moulded and the transfers look good, up to the point that you try to apply them: they are thick and not flexible, thank goodness for Microset. Further, there is no clear location point for the panel.... Anyone bought up on early Frog kits will feel at home.... especially as the two fuselage halves have only a handful of tiny location pins. Photos of the completed cockpit to follow.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
224 Peter Posted March 4 Author Share Posted March 4 Well not the completed cockpit.....but progress. . There is a mass of VERY small parts, scattered across the sprue frames and instructions that are vague, not forgetting a virtual absence of locating points. To position the instrument panel I had to tape the two fuselage halves together and then position the panel in from the underside....the floor fits to the top surface of the wing , followed by the seat. Still a lot of parts to fit, and paint. Most of the "bits" are. black or silver......Not really sure where some of the bits go! Fitting the fuselage halves together showed the poor fit, caused my micro locating lugs: a lot of testing and gluing in sections will be needed. The next report will focus on the wing and nacelles: there is copious radiator detail, but it is all but invisible. The logic of the toolmaker and designer at Special Hobby escapes me, they have produced a challenging model! 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbadbadge Posted March 4 Share Posted March 4 Looking good so far, details look good. I have built the Classic Airframes kit so am so looking forward to getting started on my one of these. Cracking work so far. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
224 Peter Posted March 13 Author Share Posted March 13 Here is the interior of the wing roots, showing the spars and radiators. Nicely detailed, buy why? Once the upper and lower winfs are hoined everything will be all but invisible! The instructions suggest that all this structure should be interior green, but this is incorrect, only the cockpit is interior green. Once the wing halves are joined the next task is to assemble the engine nacelles and fit them to the lower wing, most unusual. As mentioned previously, the lack of locating pins makes everything "real modelling", measure and test fit before gluing. Getting the tail planes assembled was a challenge with quite a bit of checking and then sanding down once the glue is dry. Once the wing and nacelles are assembled the cockpit can be completed and after that the fusilage halves joined and fitted to the wing...! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitfire Posted March 13 Share Posted March 13 Looking good, you are doing a cracking job. Cheers Dennis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
224 Peter Posted March 15 Author Share Posted March 15 Another Friday Update... The wings and nacelles are together and the fuselage taped up to see what it will look like. It is BIG, a 1/32 Spitfire for comparison...... Takeaways from this week.... 1. A lot of filling and sanding will be needed because of the lack of precision in the joints between major parts. 2. Read the instructions, not just the stage you are working on, but the next stage in which that stage will be used. 3. Test fit wherever possible, a lot of fettling is needed to get joints just so. The propellor hubs are a case in point, there is a short shot on the aft half which means the front half has to be trimmed. 4. Read references, Neil Robinson's book is invaluable. Some gaps and "mis alignments are as the A/C was.... https://www.scalemates.com/books/westland-whirlwind-wingleader-photo-archive-19-neil-robinson--137536 The radiator flaps (not yet fitted) have a small gap at the trailing edge and are moved only with the flaps, which are not adjustable!!! 5. Glue twice, both Revell and Tamiya Thin glues don't soften the polystyrene well, scraping off paint is essential. This will be spectacular, but it has proved to need many almost forgotten modelling skills. This kit is more like a short run kit from the 1970s....Modern (Airfix, Revel, Tamiya etc) tool making spoils us! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
224 Peter Posted March 17 Author Share Posted March 17 Sunday Confusion. I'm making progress, but thought it would be "fun" to describe some of the challenges that it instructions bring to the workbench....For example ehe cockpit seems to evolve through the build, it starts with step 1 but isn’t finished until step 66. Along the way considerable care is needed to avoid difficult to correct errors that the less than clear instructions can lead the unwary into, these are some of the worst… Step 6 covers the assembly of the flare tubes and step 7 their “fitting’ behind the seat bulkhead. I say fitting but it is more like hoping for the best. There is a lug on the tube that locates into a slot on the underside of Part H4. But the other end has no such assistance. On the underside of the fuselage is the marking for the flare tube door, but working out how to align the second tube in step 9 is essentially guesswork and it has to match up with the flap in part A2 so that when the two fuselage halves are joined in step 39… until then it sort of hangs in space with a bit of help from bulkhead G22…I used a bit of stretched sprue to secure the end. Step 10 brings us to the instrument panel. The first 54 machines, up to P6983 have a very different cockpit layout. There is a note next to step 10 drawings, commenting that a choice has to be made in step 10 and 14. What it doesn’t say that Steps 12 and 14 are not needed and for later machines and the builder has to go directly to step 15. Steps 16,17 and 19 involve the identification of some VERY small parts and the lack of clear location points for most just adds to the joy. Building the nacelle bulkheads starts with step 32 and after the challenge of the cockpit it seems easy, but fitting steps 33 and 34 into the respective nacelles is a challenge and there are two tiny brackets on the lower edge of G3 and G23 that step 37 reveals to be the main mounts for the U/C legs….I hope they are strong enough. Epoxy at this point, I think. Talking of assembling thee nacelles step 35 shows one nacelle side with a knife blade symbol, or possibly a drill, and with NO explanation….just a small point of green identifying a little lug on the aft part of the U/C well edge: the implication is that it needs removing. I left it as it would be very easy to remove when fitting the U/C doors in step 60. These examples are just a sample of the eccentricities of the kit. The way the instructions are laid out seems designed to confuse the builder by bouncing from one stage to another and not making clear why….. In the next post I will include photos of the completed cockpit, and joining of the fuselage halves to each other...!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
224 Peter Posted March 21 Author Share Posted March 21 The cockpit is close to being finished, here it is from above: note the absence of a seat, this goes in once the wings and fuselage are joined... The aluminium floor pads are floorboards, the rudder bar and control column will go in before the wing is glued to the fuselage. A closer look at the port side...showing the engine controls It all looks impressive, but I'm not sure how accurate it is when compared with the replica being built as detailed in the video earlier in this story... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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