Westland Wessex - Sky Pirates of the Nullarbor Coast

[KiwiZac]

*passes out in shock from all of the colours* If your aim with the camo is to take out any enemies without firing a shot, mission accomplished!

[zenrat]

Nearly done.

[NARSES2]

Tease 

[Captain Canada]

The Partridge Family have a flying bus....with a gun ! lol Looks excellent !

[zenrat]

This is finished, but I have to write some words and take some photos.

[zenrat]

Westland Wessex – Sky Pirates of the Nullarbor Coast

One of the consequences of Captain Fat Hamster switching his flagship from Runnymede class dirigible to Handley Page Henfield was that his merry band of miscreants lost the ability to descend upon their victims to remove the loot.
Interim solutions when striking inland included restricting their targets to those trains and trucks they could attack in the vicinity of the many makeshift airstrips littering the Nullarbor or, if that was not possible dropping parachutists to secure the loot and put survivors to work clearing runways in the bush.
Wessex - Sky Pirates 7 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
In the case of targets at sea large flying boats were used (small seaplanes for compact high value items such as diamonds or children) as was a fleet of fast gunboats, torpedo boats and other coastal craft.
The invention of the helicopter was a boon to Captain Fat Hamster.  He recognised it for the vital tool it would become and was an early adopter, stealing them wherever he could find them.
Wessex - Sky Pirates 6 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
The Wessex pictured here was drug runner in a former life.  Used to transport the psychedelic DMT (extracted from Golden Wattle*) from outback labs to city dealers its "Mondrian on Acid" paint job was ascribed to its pilot having a taste for the products he was shipping.
Acquired by Captain Fat Hamster as payment for a debt it was upgraded using parts from a stolen NZ Colonial Marines aircraft and became part of the Sky Pirates air fleet.
Wessex - Sky Pirates 2 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
Armament consists of two KZ40 rapid fire drum-fed 40mm auto-cannons from New Zealand's choicest arms manufacturer Yates Aviation (Munitions and Arms Division) plus a pair of door mounted South Australian built M60 copies.
Wessex - Sky Pirates 11 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
The twin cannon made this Wessex an ideal Train Hunter.  Chasing down the Indian Pacific or The Ghan under a full moon she'd knock out the flak coaches before putting a couple of rounds into each locomotive.  Once the train ground to a halt her crew would pick the passengers clean before disappearing off into the wide brown land sleeping under the Milky Way.
Wessex - Sky Pirates 5 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
The Model:
Chinese knock off Matchbox Westland Wessex HU5/HAS31 with Matchbox Westland Lysander main undercarriage.
Rear undercarriage is from my parts box (possibly Tamiya MiG29?).
Cannon are Academy Ju87G (thanks Zac) with scratchbuild drum magazines.
All figures are by Elheim Figures.
Wessex - Sky Pirates 1 by Fred Maillardet, on Flickr
*This bit is true – a potent psychedelic drug can in fact be extracted from Australia's floral emblem.

[NARSES2]

Wonderfull, absolutely wonderfull 

[ericr]

its "Mondrian on Acid" paint job was ascribed to its pilot having a taste for the products he was shipping.

I'm crazy about it

[DogfighterZen]

Far out, dude!! 
That's gotta be one of the most original camo schemes ever, but that should be no surprise if the pilot was so responsible, pilots should always check if the cargo is in good condition...

[zenrat]

Thanks folks.

[Flyer]

looks great with the wings, loadout, paintjob and spats! 

[Captain Canada]

Great job on this one. Love the camo, the colours, and the pattern. Love the stance of the beast, and the armament. Great use of materials as well, the Lysander bits really suit her eh ? Love the shot from underneath as well !

[zenrat]

Thanks folks.
The stub wings/undercarriage fitted very easilly.  I mounted them beneath the lower steps but did consider putting them higher up under the upper steps.  I didn't partly because then they obscured the gunners forward view.  But mainly because I thought the long legged look was better.

[ericr]

its "Mondrian on Acid" paint job was ascribed to its pilot having a taste for the products he was shipping.

I'm crazy about it

by the way, is the pattern completely imaginary or did you have some model?
I am tempted to find a Wessex ... 

[zenrat]

It was sort of based upon the camo used on Skoda Turtle armoured cars.  But not to the extent of actually having a pic in front of me while drawing on the pattern in pencil.
There is a whole discussion on colours and schemes earlier in this thread.