Westland Wessex HAS 3 Interior (1/48 Scale) now ready to order

[hendie]

 

It's been a long time coming, but we're finally here.  The Wessex HAS upgrade (Set E) is finally ready for public consumption.

 

 

... or it will be as soon as I reprint another batch of the pit head gear - I ran a batch two days ago, cleaned 'em up and cured them and only as I was getting everything ready did I notice that I'd missed placing a support and the wheel hadn't printed properly. Damn. After a bit of cursing I added the print support and am now running another batch.

 

As a reminder, here's what you get in the package.

 

 

Price for Set E HAS.3/1 Sonar Upgrade will be a special introductory $25.00 until March 31st so place your orders now.

I already have a few orders for these in the queue as well as a bunch of the other sets. I'll do my best to get these out as soon as I can.

As always, I do not ask for payment until your order is complete and ready to ship. Once it's in the post I'll provide a tracking number which should be able to let you track it to your door.

 

Instructions for this Set can be found over on Scalemates:   WESSEX Set E Instructions

 

Now, I can get back to the Wessex weapons package.

 

 

 

 

 

Original first post below

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

Hendie's at it again I'm afraid.  I had hinted at this some time back in my other Wessex bits for sale thread, but for various reasons - mainly being too busy - that development got put on the back burner... until now.

The usual caveats apply. I know enough to know the difference from the front end and the back end of a Wessex, and I know zero, zilch, nada about the HAS 3.  Everything I'm doing here is based on photographic evidence from the BM Walkrounds, and trying to make it fit within the ITaleri Wessex body shell

 

I picked this project up again last week and started delving into it trying to remember where I left off. It was roughly around this stage.

 

 

 

Starboard forward station - just inside the cabin door where the loadie usually sits

 

Port forward station

 

 

The bit that sits under that station

 

 

Finally - very early stages of trying to figure out the winch mechanism and the Sonar Rig.

 

 

I ran some test prints the other night, and was very impressed with the level of detail of the prints. The issue I ran into was that I had been trying to follow the 1:1 framework as accurately as possible and that the assembly very liable to deform under handling, so I've had to add some features to impart some structural integrity so that numpties like me can actually handle the parts under "normal" modeling conditions. I am trying to add the additional supports in places where they would not be visible whenever possible.

There's still a long way to go on this and it's going to take some time, but I thought I'd throw it out there to gauge the interest level.

 

I'm going to try and model as much as I can but I only have a few reference photos to go on, and having never seen an HAS 3 in the flesh I have no idea what is missing from those references, and I assume, quite a lot. Any additional help or info will be gratefully received. 

 

I managed to snag an Italeri HAS 3 the other day for what I consider to be a reasonable price - I.e. Not what they're asking on ebay, thankfully.   That should be with me sometime next week and I can start test fitting against the target kit as soon as I get some available time to myself.  I might also get around to modeling some of the external bits n bobs - I'll know more once I receive the kit and can start comparing it to photos

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9 by hendie
Link to instruction sheet added.

[hendie]

Placeholder post for the moment. I'll put finished article pics in here... eventually

 

 

 

[perdu]

Preliminaries look pretty good so far Alan

 

I have several shot which might be of use, I'll collate them and send them to you by PM if you'd like them.

[bootneck]

These dimensions might also help if building the sonar gantry.

 

 

 

 

cheers,

Mike

[hendie]

1 hour ago, perdu said:

I'll collate them and send them to you by PM if you'd like them.

 

thanks Bill, yes please.

 

Thanks Mike.

 

All info is useful - there is very little in the way of good photos to be found. The best I have are from the Walkrounds section on BM

 

 

[hendie]

A bit more work has been performed on the sonar fit out.

 

 

Still lots of tweaking to be done

 

 

I only have one photo of the winch and the resolution is not great so it's difficult trying to determine what goes where, and even what the what is since it's all painted black. In addition I have no shots of the rear face so will have to make up some pretend mecha-gubbinses.

 

The good news is that I managed to grab an Italeri HAS 3 for a very reasonable price the other day so I can at least make sure this all fits within the cabin (and may do some extra bits for the HAS 3 when I get time).

One potential stumbling block is that I may lose my access to SolidWorks in the next month or two - if that does happen, I may have to recreate all of this in Fusion.  

 

I'll try and get some test prints of this done over the next week or two

 

 

 

 

[perdu]

Photos sent via Googlemail address Alan

 

If you have a better one to use please add it on a PM

 

👍

[perdu]

Your Fusion lessons for me would indicate there will be an almost seamless transition 'Uberguru'

[hendie]

*tweak*

 

Thanks to Bills wonderful photos I spotted some errors on my earlier modeling. I'm not saying that this is 100% accurate but it's closer to the 1:1 now

 

 

still a long way to go.

 

 

[hendie]

I finally got around to running some test prints.

 

Be aware that these are not pretty. Nor were they intended to be - this was purely a functional "will it print" as designed test.

I ran the test prints at a low resolution, did no clean up apart from remove the supports (in some cases, very badly), and squirted primer over them. End of story. This run was purely for my own edification, just checking to see if (1) the parts were printable, and (2) if I was in the ballpark regarding dimensions, since these parts were all created using what few reference shots I had available. i.e. guesswork.

 

First up, the box frame for the winch to sit on, and some other contraption that sits behind it. Yes, I am not at all familiar with the HAS whatever so I have no idea what these parts are actually called.

 

 

Next up we have the instrument rack that sits just inside the loadies door on the starboard side.  The handles look a bit on the thick side, but they are only around 0.35mm in diameter.

 

 

Followed by the rack that sits on the starboard side.

 

 

and lastly, for this episode, we have the winch.  The winch is still very much a WIP and I knew this wasn't going to be a good print, and just used the auto support feature in Chitubox for convenience and speed of set up (wife was shouting at me for something). 

I broke a few pieces and a few hydraulic hoses during the fairly aggressive support removal afterwards. At this stage I am more concerned with how it fits into the overall scheme than producing a completely accurate rendition of the winch.

This will only get better as I move forward as there is quite a bit more pipework/hosework to be added which will help support itself during printing.  More on that when the time comes.

 

 

So that's the individual parts so far.

There is a compromise to be made between getting these designs somewhere near accurate but also being able to be handled by the average user and clumsy sods like myself, while also being able to survive packaging and transit.  Some areas of these parts are so fragile that they can easily be deformed if you're not careful, so I plan to add some additional support structure to give them some more strength. Where possible I will add the additional support in places where it will not be seen when the parts are fitted.

 

Talking of fitting... do they? 

Well, using one of my own Wessex cabin bulkheads as a rough guide it looks like everything is going to fit into the available space - that's good news.

When I get time I plan to mock up the HAS3 to test everything on a final fit, but that is a ways off yet - still lots more modifications (and more parts) to be done before that.

 

 

As I mentioned above, these are very rough first run test prints.

 

 

The masochists among you can have a go at wiring up all the instruments if you feel so inclined. I won't.

 

 

If nothing else, at least the winch will be visible through the cabin door. I should mention that I only have very limited photos of the winch so the design is going to be pure fantasy on my part for the rear face, and 95% of the forward facing side. 

 

 

Now that I have this first test print under my belt, I have a good idea of what needs to be modified to make the structures more manageable. It's just a case of getting the time to do it. 

I'm also working on the seats and instrument consoles, along with the sonar dipping rig and whatever other gubbinses I can find decent photos of.  

 

what was that quote again?  If you build it, no-one will know it's there ?  - or was it If you build it, no-one can hear you scream?  One of those I'm sure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CJP]

Wow that is looking suitably good so far Hendie - I might be tempted at a future date but got to finish the HAS31B first.

Chris

[hendie]

9 minutes ago, CJP said:

I might be tempted at a future date

 

I'm sure they'll still be here 

[AlxBNE]

More hendie Wessex magic.

I have been tempted before......these latest offerings are an additional temptation.

[perdu]

Looks excellent Alan.

 

So now I have to find imagery for the sonar dunkers's mate's  chairs huh?

 

 

Searching begins...

 

Referring the back of the winch I doubt if anyone, let alone a modeller will ever see it.

 

Even on the airframe I examined at the Helicoter Museum the architecture of the hidden spaces was inaccessible, maybe Mike @bootneck could grab a picture, might be worth asking him.

[hendie]

^{I've got some shots of the chair Bill, there's some useful stuff in the BM Walkrounds section - which I remembered for once.}

 

^{wots going on with the front in this reply box???}

[perdu]

Tiny fontitis?

[hendie]

Apparently. No matter what size I selected it stayed tiny.

This post is drop my phone and it is working fine

 

 

[hendie]

Back again with another slight update... and the correct font size this time.

 

This is something I should have done earlier, but I had so much going on at the workbench I really didn't have room to create yet another mess. Now the DB5's have cleared, I have some space so the first thing to do was get the HAS3 kit out and start measuring up so I know things are going to (eventually) fit in their intended spaces.

When designing work like this there are two aspects to consider. 1 - Accuracy, and 2 - How close to accurate have the kit suppliers made the kit.  There always has to be some kind of compromise in the end and this is no exception. 

we (I) need to get a HAS3 Sonar fit out to fit within the confines of an Italeri Wessex cabin. I wonder how that's going to go.

 

First up is to start building up the cabin and one of my earlier test prints seems to fit okay, so that's good

 

 

The remainder of the cabin are was built up using my own cabin bulkheads part as I assume most folks would be using that for this type of build.

 

 

Then a test fit of the other electronics rack again shows that things are fitting.

 

 

Now that I had the luxury of having the cabin built up I could take measurements to mock up the floor and cabin ceiling in the model and check the relationship of all the parts together. Not so good I'm afraid.

There's 2 major issues going on here. 1 - the pithead gantry head is protruding above the ceiling, and 2 - the sonar hole in the floor is way out of position relative to the sonar position on the kit. Ignore the fact that the electronics racks are sitting outside the limits of the floor in this screenshot - I've been reworking certain parts and broke some of the constraints - that will all get sorted as I move forward.

 

 

The misalignment of the sonar Rig to the floor exit is seen to better effect here.  The construction line (faint grey rectangle) is marking the cabin door position.

 

 

Another factor to consider - I know the Italeri cabin ceiling is too low, but what I do not know is just how far any modellers are going to take the modifications, so decided to leave the cabin ceiling positioned where it is and make everything fit within their cabin envelope (he types hopefully).

 

All this 3D'ing about has been done using mainly reference photos and with a very few reference dimensions. All together it looked reasonably accurate given the constraints I'm working under, but it doesn't fit inside the model, so that's a bit of a road block innit?

 

I've started reworking the gantry. The floor to ceiling height inside the cabin is only 31.5mm so it's going to take a bit of work. The more I look at this, I think I need to go back to the winch as I think it's sitting too high. Unfortunately it's not just a case of lowering it though I'll check that as my first pass. I think I'm going to have to reduce the frame height which is going to break a lot of the relationships and constraints between the parts, so that could be some major reworking - I won't know until I start, but I think we'll get there.

It doesn't help that Italeri have got the position of the sonar hole on the underside slightly too forward as far as I can tell by checking with the drawings - I still have to make this all fits the kit one way or another.

 

 

onwards and upwards as they say. (dunno why tho')

 

 

[CJP]

Hi Alan - I like the way the sonar fit is looking - pity it's a bit off a can of worms at the moment due to the kits shortcomings but I am sure you will get it sorted & looking great

Chris

[perdu]

I suppose I would rewrite the Italeri floor into what should be there and if I were to go rogue and build a 1/48 Wessex I would make the inner box height fit reality so I could fit your parts as they are designed, but wow that is going to be a lot of work.

 

As always the quality of your design work is brilliant

 

NOT BEING A LOT OF HELP AM I DAD?

 

 

🤔

[hendie]

On 10/16/2024 at 4:34 AM, perdu said:

I would make the inner box height fit reality

 

... then I'd need to go and redo the gearbox, and no doubt another few components. Nope!  I don't think I'm gonna head down that path BIll.

 

I revisited the winch mechanism this week and readjusted a few things. I only wanted to readjust one ro two features but they were so far back in the design tree that when I modified them they blew up about two dozen features further along the build.

The main reason for the adjustment was to get the height of the winch looking right in relation to the two angled supports connecting it to the gantry head.  I also added a few hydraulic hoses along the way.

 

 

Here's how it looks in situ now.

 

 

I think there's still a few adjustments called for and I may even go back to the previous version. I'll need to do some test prints to see how it all looks to the MkI eyeball.  The various colors signify the intended printed units, though that may also change once I see test print results.

Work also began on the various electronics units housed in the cabin.  The photos in the BM Walkrounds section are very helpful, but there are a lot of items missing in those photos. For example, there should be a large boxy thing with lots of dials and switches sitting on the right hand side of this unit but so far I have been unable to find a single photo of said box. Master Researcher Bill provided me with a bunch of drawings and there is one drawing showing this unit but the resolution is very low so it's difficult to actually make out what went where. JInky's!  I just remembered I have the Wessex owners manual book and I believe there is a decent drawing in there that I can reference.

 

 

The unit is then added to the model and I find myself questioning the scale. Since dimensions of all this stuff is non-existent I have to do it all by guesswork and my calibrated eyeballs are nearing 65 years old and not as good as they used to be.

 

 

There may be some scale creep in the wrong direction on that last unit, but I won't really know until I add the seats as that is really the only component that gives any sense of scale to this whole shebang.

So instead of working on the chair, I started blocking out the other componentry cos it was easier and it was getting late.

 

 

It's all coming together slowly, but still a long way to go yet.  I think the seats are next on the list.

 

 

 

 

[hendie]

some more work completed on the sonar fit out.

 

These units were completed using about three photos and one drawing as references.

 

 

while these units are mostly imaginary. There are a couple of photos in the Walkrounds section showing these panels but most of the actual magic boxes are missing. I tried to follow the general layout and added buttons/switches/gauges etc. that sort of looked like they belonged on there... maybe.

 

 

Both of those units will need a test print to see how well I have guessed the height of the switches and buttons. No doubt there will be some, or many adjustments once I have test prints in my hand to evaluate.

 

I got the basic geometry of the seats worked out. Shown here without seat cushions. I then found a couple of photos showing the seats with cushions fitted, but I don't know if those were genuine items or just made up for a restoration. However, as they are the only shots I could find, I modelled the cushions after those photos.

 

 

One thing I noted was that the two seats are slightly different (of course they are!), the seat on the port side being more upright and slightly higher, with the legs underneath being more upright as opposed to the jaunty angles of the seat positioned in the center.  I still have to make a few adjustments to the port seat, but here's a quick preview of them both in position

 

 

 

and a side view showing the relationship of all parts together.  I think the seats and electronics boxes look about right size-wise.

 

 

 

 

As per the modelers rule number 6, almost none of this will be seen once fitted.

I think there are a couple of sonobuoy racks fitted towards the rear which I'll include, but for now I need to get back to working on the pit head gear and get that finished.

 

The end is in sight

 

I think...

 

 

 

 

 

[hendie]

In a rare turn of events, I managed to get some free time yesterday and got some serious time in front of the computer allowing me to make some forward movement on this project.

 

The elephant in this particular room has always been the gantry, or pit head as it's sometimes called. The BM Walkrounds provides a few shots, but they are mostly from awkward angles and none of the shots really give me the information I'm looking for. They tease but never follow through. All I can do here is take my best guess and hope that I'm not too far off from reality.

I made a start on the moveable platform with all it's greeblies and there was a decent shot showing the upper side of that platform so I feel confident that area is being dealt with appropriately. Of course, that involved a major rework of the pit head wheel housing. I'm still not 100% happy with that feature yet so will continue working on it. I also added the operators foot switch - quite happy that I caught that on one of the drawings as it's not immediately noticeable in any photos. I still have guide wheels to add along with release latches and a few other bits n greeblies.

 

 

The sonar fit out would not be complete without something to dip in the water so here we have the dipping thing. Again, test prints are going to be e=needed to see how feasible this all is and if any changes are required. Those fins for example are only 0.3mm thick, but they still looked like armour plate against the main body, so I chamfered the outer edge, then filleted that chamfer to try and disguise the transition. It all looks very in your face in this view but that because of the graphics view I use when modeling (I find it easier to see what's going on).

 

 

Once those two are combined, the pit head starts to look quite convincing though there's still more work to be done here. I know this will be an absolute pig to paint so my plan/hope/totally unrealistic wish is that the pit head and the sonobuoy will be printed separately and can be fitted together once painted though I know that is going to provide some ehrrr fun challenges.  I haven't run a test print on the pit head gear yet so I don't know how flimsy its going to be without the sonobuoy in there. It may be that I have to print the entire unit combined in order to give it enough strength to be able to withstand general handling, painting, and of course, shipping.

 

 

I also modelled up this frame unit which sits in the background, though I have no idea what is actually fitted on here. Does anyone know?  Without any magic boxes on there it's going to be incredibly flimsy so I might leave this out of the final game plan especially as it can hardly be seen

 

See what I mean?

 

 

The story so far...   In actual use, I believe there was a curtain hung around the pit head gear so only the very top end would have been visible, but wheres the fun in that for modelers eh?

 

(I must have been working in SolidWorks too long - I just middle mouse button clicked on that image and tried to rotate the view!   )

 

 

*** Edit ***

First test prints prove that everything is printable - I had no doubts about that. However, support removal is incredibly tedious and frought with danger. I managed to break a few bits even though I was being careful.

Handling is also going to be an issue with some of the finer framework. I think I have no option nut to beef some of them up, and perhaps even modify the design from the 1:1 just so they can be handled - stay tuned.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[CJP]

That cabin fit out is looking fantastic Alan - something I would have had a long think about before trying to scratch build it myself - hats off to Perdu who scratch built it in 1/72 scale with his HMS Antrim Wessex build

Chris

[hendie]

Today has been a bit of a frustrating day. The first test prints turned out fine and I start testing out the fit/positioning of the various parts. Not so good I'm afraid.

 

This is a view perpendicular to the cabin door. I've made the door into a transparent solid so it's easier to see. 

Note how if you looked dead on to the door you would only see about 2/3rds of the winch, the last 1/3rd being obscured inside the cabin. The pit head gear is fully visible, as is half the electronics suite

 

 

As best I can tell from the available photos, this is what you should see looking straight into the cabin door. You should be able to see the entire winch, and the pit head should be approximately in line with the rear of the cabin door opening.

 

 

My choices here are extremely limited as the big dunky thing (the big dipper?) must be centered over the exit hole in the fuselage, therefore the actual position of the pit head gear is fixed by that one factor, and moving that hole on the bottom of the fuselage would be a major, if not impossible task.

I'm pretty certain that Italeri have the hole position too far forward, but it is what it is. I just have to deal with it somehow. 

I've tried repositioning parts, cutting bits off parts and even rescaling parts to see if I could achieve something closer to the 1:1 setup - all to no avail. The winch ends up looking skinny and underfed, while the angles of the tubing on the gantry don't look right.

 

On the brighter side - I guess this means that more of the electronics suite is visible and you just have to move to the left a bit to see more of the winch. 

I'm going to mull this over some more, but I think this is about the best I can do given that we're working with an Italeri kit and all it's faults. I've spent enough time working on this section and it's about time to move on to some of the exterior parts if I want to have these sets ready by the end of the year.

This is the current state of play and I think this is 99.999% the finished product

 

 

 

any thoughts and comments on this approach welcomed