Matchbox 1/72 Vickers Wellesly

[RangerNeil]

Started this one a couple of days ago to relieve some of the frustration coming from the Whitley build.
This is the Matchbox release - I think from 1992, as opposed to the original 1978. The decals seem to bear this out.
As kits go its pretty basic - only 3 sprues, 1 x Green, 1 x Black and 1 x Brown. Parts supplied are for a Wellesley of 14 Sqdn RAF in the Transjordan in 1938 or for an aircraft of the Long Range Development Unit of the same year. The only difference in build being a different nose section with the engine cowling faired in for "stream lining" and larger dia. Prop. The bomb slippers under the wings are deleted on this version.

As a very brief history of the type the Wellesley entered squadron service with the RAF in 1937 with 76 Sqdn and at its peak equipped 6 squadrons. Outdated by the start of WW2 the Wellesly still served in the desert airforce in the early years. The last squadron to operate them, 47 Sqdn RAF, was using them in maritime patrols over the Red Sea until the type was finally stood down in 1942.
The Wellesly was the first of Vickers aircraft to be named after Sir Arther Wellesly, Duke of Wellington, the second being the Wellington itself. Experience with the Wellesly provided Vickers with invaluable data on Barnes-Wallis geodesic construction for the development of the Wellington.
Uniquely the bomb load wasn't carried in the fuselage but in the two under-wing slippers. Carrying a crew of 3 - pilot, bomb aimer and rear gunner - the defensive armant was a fixed single machine gun in the right wing and a flexible Vickers K machine gun in the rear canopy.

Moving on to the kit - apologies - I forgot to take any photos till it was 90% built so no sprue shots I'm afraid. This is the state of play at the moment:




Look closely at the wing surfaces and you can see the geodesic construction.
Upper surfaces got a coat of Tamiya surface primer tonight.

[BigWall]

Huge wings! It's going to be a neat build!

[digger303]

Huge.

[RangerNeil]

Bit more done today. A coat of white primer went on last night and early this morning.


The bomb "slippers" were painted by hairy stick as they were a bit too complex in shape for masking tape - another coat is needed on both the green and brown. Canopies will be masked up tonight and painted tomorrow together with the base Dark Earth coat.
The nose and engine cowl are done by hand, again because of being a nightmare to mask for spraying.

Then tonight the black went on the underside:

[digger303]

It's got the nice frame work showing through the skin. It's going to look good once the paints all on.

[RangerNeil]

Cheers Digger

Dark Earth and Dark Green went on today. As noted on the Whitley thread the wide (18mm) masking tape had run out and having seen how the panzer putty turned out on the Whitely I thought I would do the Wellesly free hand - and using the dread hairy stick. Judge for yourselves how it turned out!!






As of tonight the gloss cost for varnishing has been applied to the upper and lower surfaces ready for the decals tomorrow - hopefully.

[ForeverPlasticKits]

The good old Matchbox kit, i've this one on stach and your build is really good!

And looking at its wings it seems to be a motorized glider!

[RangerNeil]

Decals went on today. Considering this is a 1990's kit they were not bad at all. The wing footsteps were a bit fragile, one split as I was aligning it but the rest went on ok. It did take a fair bit to get them to stick and hold though.






It doesn't look too bad. Once I'm happy they have set properly I'll take a closer look at the upper wing and see how well they've settled into the panel recesses and maybe add some MicroSol to get a better fit.

I tried a dry fit of the canopies. Front one is not too bad but the rear is horrendous in the closed position. Its actually narrower than the fuselage. Luckily thecWellesley has something in common with the Fairey Battle in that the rear gunners canopy is designed to be opened to let the gunner use the Vickers K.so.I think thats how I'll position it.


Just leaves the bomb slippers and undercarriage to be added and then the Wellesley is finished.

[ForeverPlasticKits]

Oldy but still goody, i like so much these kits from my youth, it costed some peanuts for a big pleasure (still intact!). Well done Neil!

[RangerNeil]

OK - couple of hours work today and I'm calling this one done!! Undercarriage, bomb slippers and canopy on. You might like to note the 1930's method of defining walkways on the upper wings. And I'll admit to not knowing what the little square W/T markings are on the underside....












So now its back to the Whitley.........

[ForeverPlasticKits]

This plane with its long wings looks elegant or something ... well don Neil!

[BigWall]

That really looks great! Nice work