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Which 1/72 Wellington?


thankyousam

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Hi all, this is my very first post after reading as much as possible in the last week. I was given a starter kit (Revell Hurricane) for Christmas which has been my first kit for about 15-20 years. I've just finished the Hurricane, with varying success - not sure I'm ready to start posting pictures. Some of you guys are true artists, making my endeavours look very amateurish. But I won't be put off and I'm keen to learn how to do things better! I've got a Airfix Vulan on the go now too, which I hope to get built in the coming weeks. I'm sure I'll have questions about that at somepoint too. :rolleyes:

Anyway, back to my question: I've been looking at 1/72 Wellington kits but getting confused as to which one will provide the best OOB build - other than decals, perhaps, I'm not yet involved in this enough to go for after-market upgrades/options.

I've read reviews of the Trumpeter Mk X kit saying the fabric/geodectic surfaces are too pronounced and that the decals are questionable. I've not seen any specific criticism about the build quality though.

But then I've seen numerous criticisms on BM slating the Italeri and 'new' Airfix kits as well.

I don't mind a bit of work, but scratch-building is not on my current list of skills :)

Are there other 1/72 options I've not found out about yet? I'd prefer to spend less than £25 on the kit is possible, so rare and unusual kits might be out of the question.

My late grandfather trained in Wellingtons in WWII, although I don't believe ever saw active service, so I have a personal interest in doing this kit. Would really appreciate some advice on this. :)

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Hello and firstly welcome.

I've built the Trumpy Coastal Command Wellington and I found it an excellent and relatively stress free build. If it was me and I was just getting back into it I wouldn't get too hung up on relatively minor accuracy issues, my concern would be how trouble free the build is likely to be and as stated the Trumpeter one ticks that box.

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Hi all, this is my very first post after reading as much as possible in the last week. I was given a starter kit (Revell Hurricane) for Christmas which has been my first kit for about 15-20 years. I've just finished the Hurricane, with varying success - not sure I'm ready to start posting pictures.

Just how I got back into this lark this time last year. I'm sure you'll have fun and find you improve rapidly

Anyway, back to my question: I've been looking at 1/72 Wellington kits but getting confused as to which one will provide the best OOB build - other than decals, perhaps, I'm not yet involved in this enough to go for after-market upgrades/options.

I've read reviews of the Trumpeter Mk X kit saying the fabric/geodectic surfaces are too pronounced and that the decals are questionable. I've not seen any specific criticism about the build quality though.

I got a trumpeter Wellie for Xmas and it looks very good in the box. The surfaces are out of scale but don't strike me as being a deal breaker and I'm more than happy to live with it so I'm guessing you'd be too. The kit looks very well molded and the all the reviews I've read say they go together really well. I'd say go for the trumpeter kit and replacement decals should be easily available if you're not happy with the kit ones (can't say I've inspected them that closely yet). I'm sure if you search through the site you'll find pictures of completed ones so you can judge for yourself.

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First of all :welcome: to the forum

Now as to the Wellington go for the Trumpy or the Italeri kits as either will provide a very trouble free build and are relatively inexpensive. Don't get yourself too tied up in knots over the accuracy of the fabric detail or other things at this stage just build and have fun. The Airfix kit dates back to the 60's I think so if it were me I would leave that one to the collectors market.

Cheers

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Italeri is the MPM moulding. The initial release as a Mk.Ic did draw considerable ire, people finding the fit poor and objecting to have to assemble engines from separate cylinders. As a fairly early large product from the short-run MPM stable, it did seem to have problems that later kits have (generally) improved upon. The Italeri later option has apparently modified some of the problems (single part engines?) but introduced a few of its own. For easy of assembly it does not seem to match the Trumpeter, as people say above.

The Airfix Wellington dates back to the very early 60s, the first of the large Airfix subjects, and one I saw from a more recent production run was looking pretty poor. There was a rumour that they would release the MPM/Italeri kit, but I don't think that happened.

You can probably get a Russian re-run of the Frog Mk.Ic tooling, but I suspect you shouldn't bother.

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Here's a summary (as I see it) of currently available, and easily obtained older Wellingtons:

Airfix Mk.III - Very old kit, not very accurate and tooling now completely worn out. Probably the worst option

Frog Mk.1c - Easily found in Eastern European packaging. Might have been half decent if Frog had finished the moulds before their demise. Nose and cockpit shapes are inaccurate, tail fin too short and engine nacelles have square edges where tooling was never finished. Clear parts are horrible. There may be more, I started buildingone in the 1980s and finished it about 5 years ago, I've doubtless forgotten some of the stuff I fixed early on!

Matchbox/Revell - Builds well, original Matchbox kits have very nice geodetic structure, though this was largely lost when the moulds were restored by Revell. No cockpit details, and the same old shape issues around the nose and cockpit. Wing posisiton is wrong, either too far forward or too far back, I don't remember which.

MPM/Italeri/Airfix - Issued in various versions, this looks very nice in the box. It is not an easy build, and has inexcusable shape issues like the much older kits. Nose is shallow and tapered, cockpit glazing is too deep large in every dimension, and is wider than the kit's fuselage. Tail area is short.

In the Italeri Mk.X boxing, the 4-gun tail turret cannot be made to fit the fuselage, which is designed for the earlier 2-gun turret.

All cockpit detail is fictitious, however plausible is may appear.

Undercarriage assemblies and bays are too narrow. All kits have apertures for the full length glazing of the early variants, with ill-fitting inserts for the unglazed variants.

The early Wellingtons had identical turrets in the nose and tail, MPM have made them different sizes........

Trumpeter - Very accurate in terms of shape - it is the only kit to get the nose, cockpit and tail shapes right. Surface detail is a little heavy (but very sharply done), and undercarriage is a little narrow. Cockpit and interior detail is comprehensive and accurate in all versions, though the Coastal Command variant lacks detail inside the nose (due to lack of references?).

Having fought my way through all of the above, I would never entertain anything other than the Trumpeter kits as the basis of a decent replica. The narrow undercarriage is a frustration, but in all respects it's streets ahead of all other options. Decals are a bit on the bright side, but that's really not much of an issue in the grand scheme of things,

Cheers,

Bill.

Edited by Heraldcoupe
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The Airfix Wellington dates back to the very early 60s, the first of the large Airfix subjects, and one I saw from a more recent production run was looking pretty poor. There was a rumour that they would release the MPM/Italeri kit, but I don't think that happened.

It did, the Airfix Wellington 1c is based on the MPM kit,

Cheers,

Bill.

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Trumpeter - Very accurate in terms of shape - it is the only kit to get the nose, cockpit and tail shapes right. Surface detail is a little heavy (but very sharply done), and undercarriage is a little narrow. Cockpit and interior detail is comprehensive and accurate in all versions, though the Coastal Command variant lacks detail inside the nose (due to lack of references?).

The consensus is that the geodetic finish responds well to a light sanding and the application of paint. Hope it does, anyway!

Edited by pigsty
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One more nod for the Trumpeter kit. I have the MPM/Italeri kits as well and will never build them as there are simply too many shape issues (and construction problems). What I don't think anyone has mentioned yet is the Trumpeter kits also include the framing so visible behind the fuselage windows. MPM would have you paint the framing onto the inside surfaces of the windows while trumpy molded it into the fuselage halves with the windows fitting over it.

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Great question, and welcome to Britmodeller. I'm sure that this time next year, you will be experimenting with lots of aftermarket and scratchbuilding ! I've learned alot over the last 12 months thanks to the help from the guys on here.

I've been looking to do a new Welly as the Airfix one on my shelf has progressively lost parts over the 15 years it has gatherered dust, so this thread answers which kit I should buy.

Cheers

Neil

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Here's a summary (as I see it) of currently available, and easily obtained older Wellingtons:

Airfix Mk.III - Very old kit, not very accurate and tooling now completely worn out. Probably the worst option

Frog Mk.1c - Easily found in Eastern European packaging. Might have been half decent if Frog had finished the moulds before their demise. Nose and cockpit shapes are inaccurate, tail fin too short and engine nacelles have square edges where tooling was never finished. Clear parts are horrible. There may be more, I started buildingone in the 1980s and finished it about 5 years ago, I've doubtless forgotten some of the stuff I fixed early on!

Matchbox/Revell - Builds well, original Matchbox kits have very nice geodetic structure, though this was largely lost when the moulds were restored by Revell. No cockpit details, and the same old shape issues around the nose and cockpit. Wing posisiton is wrong, either too far forward or too far back, I don't remember which.

MPM/Italeri/Airfix - Issued in various versions, this looks very nice in the box. It is not an easy build, and has inexcusable shape issues like the much older kits. Nose is shallow and tapered, cockpit glazing is too deep large in every dimension, and is wider than the kit's fuselage. Tail area is short.

In the Italeri Mk.X boxing, the 4-gun tail turret cannot be made to fit the fuselage, which is designed for the earlier 2-gun turret.

All cockpit detail is fictitious, however plausible is may appear.

Undercarriage assemblies and bays are too narrow. All kits have apertures for the full length glazing of the early variants, with ill-fitting inserts for the unglazed variants.

The early Wellingtons had identical turrets in the nose and tail, MPM have made them different sizes........

Trumpeter - Very accurate in terms of shape - it is the only kit to get the nose, cockpit and tail shapes right. Surface detail is a little heavy (but very sharply done), and undercarriage is a little narrow. Cockpit and interior detail is comprehensive and accurate in all versions, though the Coastal Command variant lacks detail inside the nose (due to lack of references?).

Having fought my way through all of the above, I would never entertain anything other than the Trumpeter kits as the basis of a decent replica. The narrow undercarriage is a frustration, but in all respects it's streets ahead of all other options. Decals are a bit on the bright side, but that's really not much of an issue in the grand scheme of things,

Cheers,

Bill.

Excellent resume. Almost exactly how I see it. And I know how you suffered a while back trying to turn the Italeri kit into a Wellington.

Two points only: 1. I think you're a little forgiving on the narrow undercarriage of the Trumpeter kits (it's 2mm too narrow) but there's not a lot you can do about it without rebuilding the undercarriage legs and wells. 2. The Italeri Wellington X rear turret can be made to fit but only by taking a razor saw to its mounting. And even then the upper fuselage won't have the slight belling of the upper fuselage apparent on the prototype.

Go for the Trumpeter!

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Excellent resume. Almost exactly how I see it. And I know how you suffered a while back trying to turn the Italeri kit into a Wellington.

It's still here, in the hall of shame. When the white paint started peeling off the fuselage I knew it was time to quit!

Two points only: 1. I think you're a little forgiving on the narrow undercarriage of the Trumpeter kits (it's 2mm too narrow) but there's not a lot you can do about it without rebuilding the undercarriage legs and wells.

I agree, but even at 2mm too narrow, the undercarriage still looks better than any of the other options. The MPM undercarriage is equally narrow and has vague location into fictitious wheel wells!

In truth if we dig a bit deeper, Trumpeter didn't get the wells right, though I won't be too harsh on them. They provided detail of the spar which passes through the well, but misinterpreted it's location, which does upset the way everything else needs to align. It all works in terms of construction though and makes a robust assembly. In mitigation, while they got this area wrong, they at least tried to interpret what should be there, where the others didn't try.

2. The Italeri Wellington X rear turret can be made to fit but only by taking a razor saw to its mounting. And even then the upper fuselage won't have the slight belling of the upper fuselage apparent on the prototype.

...and the base of the rudder needs to be cut back. Once the bigger turret's in place, it also draws attention to the hopeless upward taper under the rear fuselage. If the area where the turret sits is cut down, the section of fuselage underneath is about half the depth it ought to be. The Wellington is actually quite square jawed at the nose, and the back end mimice this. Again, only Trumpeter gets anywhere near, and in fact they do it damned well.

Cheers,

Bill.

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Thanks for all the replies. Way more information than I expected. I hope one day I can contribute something helpful back.

I'm not too concerned about accuracy, just as long as I don't have to make too many modifications to get a good fit and finish. The Trumpeter sounds like a safe bet, so I've just bagged myself a Trumpeter Mk X on a popular internet auction site for £17 delivered.

:)

I was wondering why people have such large stashes of unmade models. Now I can see how things can get out of hand. Not sure my missus, who bought me the Hurricane in the first place (!), would let me get away with a big stack of models waiting in the wings.

Thanks again. I'll try and post some WIP pictures of my builds if I can muster up the confidence.

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Hi,

this is just to illustrate the narrow undercarriage, it is really a pain in the *** , but still better option than strugling with MPM kits. Btw, there are replacement wheels available from Quickboost, but you need to rework the legs and their attachment ponts. Optionally, you can reply to any critique these are "experimental tube less bicycle style tyres used at concrete runways" :D

Trumpeter kit

PC190021.jpg

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The Trumpeter Wellington arrived in the post this morning. It's quite daunting opening the box to see that many pieces :shocked: . I've hidden it away until after I've got a bit further on the Vulcan!

Thanks all for the answers to my query.

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this is just to illustrate the narrow undercarriage, it is really a pain in the *** , but still better option than strugling with MPM kits. Btw, there are replacement wheels available from Quickboost, but you need to rework the legs and their attachment ponts. Optionally, you can reply to any critique these are "experimental tube less bicycle style tyres used at concrete runways" :D

Forgive my ignorance, but what benefit do the Quickboost wheels and tail wheel give over the kit wheels? Given your comment I assume the kit wheels are too narrow? :)

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Forgive my ignorance, but what benefit do the Quickboost wheels and tail wheel give over the kit wheels? Given your comment I assume the kit wheels are too narrow? :)

The main wheels are indeed too narrow, but so is the entire undercarriage, including the bays. The bays need to be widened by at least 2mm to be correct, with the legs and wheels following. It's a real can of worms once you start digging in this area, the same is true of any Wellington kit.

The wheels themselves are OK in most respects, I resorted to adding a disc of plastic between the two halves to bring mine up to a better width. But short of scratchbuildimg legs and bays to the right width, you are going to end up with a compromise.

The Trumpeter Wellingtons are very good kits, better than any others of the type, but they're not perfect,

Cheers,

Bill.

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