Vickers Wellington

rickshaw · January 01, 2011, 06:06:15 PM

I have the urge to build a Wellington. I know its strange. Which is the best kit?

The old, venerable Airfix?
The MPC
The Marquette
The Italeri (isn't that the same as the Marquette one?)
The Matchbox
The Revell (reissue of the Matchbox?)
The Trumpeter

And yes, I know they make different marks, I'm just talking generically at the moment.

I'm bit concerned that according to some reviews the Trumpeter has overdone the geodesic shape on the wing surfaces.

Also, is/was there a Warwick available in 1/72?

pyro-manic · January 01, 2011, 06:32:33 PM

I have a Revell/Matchbox one, and it looks pretty nice on the sprues. The Trumpeter one is probably the best, but it's more pricy. Overdone framing could be easily dealt with by a bit of sanding.

Cliffy B · January 01, 2011, 06:36:26 PM

Check out the Wellington gallery over on ARC for some built up examples. Should give you an idea of how good each kit is. It has the Airfix, Trumpy, and Matchbox/Revell kits as well as a ridiculously detailed "skinless" 1/48 scratchbuilt version complete with framing

http://www.arcair.com/Gal-Fea%20Archives/Prop/Wellington/Wellington.htm

ChernayaAkula · January 01, 2011, 07:32:44 PM

As far as I know, the MPM/Italeri family of Wimpeys are the best. Saw the Italeri Mk.X at a friend's and it looked pretty darn nice in the box.

MPM Mk.Ic review >>HERE<< on Hyperscale
Italeri Mk.X review >>HERE<< on Hyperscale

NARSES2 · January 02, 2011, 01:42:21 AM

Ease of building Revell/Matchbox. Quite a nice kit and you can detail it if you so wish. I built one a year or so back

I built the Airfix one a few decades ago and havn't looked since so can't pass comment.

The Trumpeter one is nice, and the "overdone" (If it is) geodetics dosn't bother me. One in the stash

The Italeri/MPM ones are nice but a little fiddly in places. One in the stash.

When I get around to another it will probably be the Trumpeter one, leave the Itaeri/MPM one for when I'm in the mood to tackle someting a little more challenging

Chris

Radish · January 02, 2011, 02:18:14 AM

The Revell/Matchbox one fits like a dream and looks good.

PR19_Kit · January 02, 2011, 05:54:04 AM

Quote from: rickshaw on January 01, 2011, 06:06:15 PM
Also, is/was there a Warwick available in 1/72?

AFAIK not as a mainstream kit, although Sutcliffe did a vacform version for a while. I'm not sure if anyone took over that mould though.

Converting a Wellington into a Warwick would NOT be for the fainthearted!

rickshaw · January 02, 2011, 06:12:09 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on January 02, 2011, 05:54:04 AM
Quote from: rickshaw on January 01, 2011, 06:06:15 PM
Also, is/was there a Warwick available in 1/72?

AFAIK not as a mainstream kit, although Sutcliffe did a vacform version for a while. I'm not sure if anyone took over that mould though.

Converting a Wellington into a Warwick would NOT be for the fainthearted!

Appears Contrail did one (just missed one on eBay which went for a whopping 80 quid!

). This is what it turns out like though - http://www.hsgalleries.com/gallery04/warwickgc_1.htm

Jon suggested it wouldn't be "too hard" here: -

Quote
The Warwick was the big brother of the Wellington and the two shared a basic design...the first Wellington was, in effect, a cut-down Warwick.

The Warwick had a main fuselage that was longer by 12 stations and the nose forward of the cockpit was longer by 5 stations...making the Warwick Mk II at 70' some 8' 7" longer than a Wellington Mk. I and 5' 3" longer than a Mk. X. The Warwick ASR was 72' 3" long.

The Warwicks wingspan was greater on each side by 7 inboard stations... 5' 3.25" inches per side for a span of 96' 8.5" as compared to the Wimpie's span of 86' 2".

Mmm, not sure about that...

Martin H · January 02, 2011, 06:17:19 AM

I believe Sutcliffe & Contrail were one and the same outfit.

PR19_Kit · January 03, 2011, 02:40:12 AM

£80 for ANY Sutcliffe/Contrail kit is insane!

If that's the case my 3-4 unbuilt Contrail Russian bombers should be worth more than my house!

I think the main issue with trying to convert a Wellington into a Warwick is the issue of reproducing and matching the geodetic structure on the outside. Our usual method of patching two non-matching bits together and then PSRing the life out of them just won't work with a visible geodetic structure.

Gondor · January 03, 2011, 02:47:46 AM

OK... this is a crazy idea of how to replicate the structure.

Replicate the structure !!!

Balsa core split vertically into left and right fuselage halves. Build structure on each half then remove from the core and attach each half together then use fabric and dope just like the R/C guys do.
Extremely fiddly and requiring a very high skill level but not impossible from what I have seen some people do on this site.

Gondor

rickshaw · January 03, 2011, 02:50:12 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on January 03, 2011, 02:40:12 AM
£80 for ANY Sutcliffe/Contrail kit is insane!

If that's the case my 3-4 unbuilt Contrail Russian bombers should be worth more than my house!

With the prices some kits draw on Evilbay, you should wait a few years and then find out! Some people lay down wine, modellers lay down kits!

Quote
I think the main issue with trying to convert a Wellington into a Warwick is the issue of reproducing and matching the geodetic structure on the outside. Our usual method of patching two non-matching bits together and then PSRing the life out of them just won't work with a visible geodetic structure.

If one is careful, it might be possible to match them up but I suspect you'd end up with a lot of sections one or two geodetic diamonds wide. Alternatively, you could just say, "bugger it!" and sand the whole lot smooth. I often wonder how much of the structure really would be visible through the fabric at a distance.

Mossie · January 03, 2011, 05:51:36 AM

It's more noticable on the wings, but not really on the fuselage, where the horizontal stringers dominate. I think this is how it's largely depicted in the Trumpeter kit. The stringers might be easier to recreate, but the wing stretch might be more difficult.

rickshaw · January 03, 2011, 05:57:54 AM

Looking at the drawings of the two aircraft side by side, I think the real problem is the curves in the fuselage. Very hard to duplicate by splicing sections in.

kitnut617 · January 03, 2011, 05:58:52 AM

The Marquette kit is the Frog kit. Frog though never released it, but if you want to build a Wellington Mk.V or VI and use the Unicraft conversion, this is the kit to use.

The quirks to this kit is that it's at least 1/8" deeper (3mm) than all the other kits of the Wellington.

Top pic shows it matches very well with the Unicraft conversion, whereas the following pics show the conversion compared to an Airfix and Matchbox kits