Author Topic: Westland Wyvern S.4  (Read 1718 times)

cph64

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Westland Wyvern S.4
« on: June 13, 2022, 02:29:15 PM »
This is the 2011 Trumpeter release which I obtained via Howard, thanks Howard, of a kit and plane I'd fancied making for a while. 151 light grey parts are spread over 5 sprues with an additional clear one for the cockpit, lights etc. Decals provide 3 markings, 2 from HMS Eagle, 1 of which is for the Suez Campaign, and 1 for an a/c from HMS Ark Royal. Also included is a clear film decal for the middle of the instrument panel but Trumpeter would have been better off providing etch seat belts in place of this as I had to make mine from Tamiya tape and you can't see the detail once it's in place. A comprehensive booklet guides you through the build though it does jump around a bit, as inpart way through the cockpit build it moves to the torpedo and propellers. Could it be that Trumpeter know we build other parts whilst waiting for glue to set and paint to dry?
For a highly engineered kit there are a lot of ejector pin marks most of which thankfully are hidden but the good news is the sprue attachment points for the wings are on the mating face not the leading edge which makes cleaning up a lot easier. The ejector seat is made up from 9 pieces and I went with Trumpeter's colours as online photos of Martin Baker M2B seats are few and inconclusive. Painted mostly in Vallejo Light Aircraft Grey it and the rest of the cockpit were treated to washes and dry brushing to pop out the detail. One of the things I like about this kit are the 'tongue and groove' attachments which give a positive of parts. Something other manufacturers could learn from.

MSea

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #1 on: June 13, 2022, 03:23:19 PM »
Keep you quiet for a while Chris - hohoho
MSea

zak

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2022, 05:58:46 PM »
Plenty to do now.
Grumpy by name and nature

Bob C

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #3 on: June 13, 2022, 07:50:37 PM »
cockpit looking good Chris.

Bob c

cph64

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #4 on: June 14, 2022, 04:58:41 PM »
The fuselage has been closed up with the cockpit tube clipping into place securely. The tail wheel has been added and my only concern was getting the turbine housing in correctly as there are only small pips and one brace to hold it in, but all went together well. I then added the central part of the lower wing, having drilled out the holes for the torpedo and RATO brackets prior as well as fitting the flap actuators. This clicked into place nicely but care had to taken to ensure everything lined up. Next up was fitting the main u/c legs and putting the tailplanes on fitting only the lower parts to these so as to avoid masking due to the top finlets being Sky not Dark Sea Grey. The sharp eyed amongst you will notice a gap where they join the body, the instructions say they go in straight but a later picture shows them with dihedral so I'll check further. The last items fitted were the air brakes. Made up of three parts I fitted the part which raises last as the instructions say fit to the other parts, with no clear indication of where, so I fitted the latter to the wings which allowed me to get the former in the correct place.

chriswil42

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #5 on: June 15, 2022, 03:58:59 PM »
Good cockpit detail. Not bad for 1/72nd.
Chris

cph64

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #6 on: June 21, 2022, 04:34:04 PM »
There's no gunsight in the kit so one was made from clear sprue, fixed in place and the base painted before the masked front part of the canopy was glued into place. The masked rear is held in place using Maskol. The frame was painted the interior colour which revealed a gap between the two canopy parts which was filled with Maskol before the upper colour of Tamiya Dark Sea Grey was sprayed on. This was then masked and Sky type 'S' was used for for the underside and relevant parts including the RATO rockets. I'd tried pre-shading with black and white but found I'd under done it so I didn't quite get the result I wanted.

cph64

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #7 on: June 27, 2022, 02:03:57 PM »
The decals have been applied after a coat of Klear, the position of which isn't always obvious on the colour/decalling sheet so 1/48 builds were referenced. There's no mention of where 'Dennis the Menace' goes but as he's on the 1/48 builds he's now on mine. Other decals to cause some head scratching are the set of warning stencils still left with no idea of where they go and some white ones which turned out to be for the propellor manufacturer, these have yet to be fitted. A second coat of Klear has been applied before weathering and final assembly.
The torpedo is made up from three parts and was painted steel with a black warhead and the fins/stabilisers painted in steel and khaki. The 60lb rockets come in two parts with the fins needing to be attached, Cue Nautical language. the lower ones have an adequate step to fit these onto but the upper ones are too thin and too low so combinations of glue/superglue/Plastic Weld had to be used. The attaching arms are Sky Type 'S' and steel with the warheads Olive Green and the bodies the nearest paint to Brunswick Green I could find. The instructions say paint the warheads red but that is for practice rounds according to references I used.

MSea

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #8 on: June 27, 2022, 06:54:54 PM »
looking good Chris
MSea

chriswil42

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #9 on: July 01, 2022, 12:58:32 PM »
Looking veru nice Chris.
Chris

cph64

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #10 on: July 01, 2022, 02:48:07 PM »
Weathering applied, camera ports glazed, payload fitted and the last fiddly bits applied plus the decaled propeller(s), then sliding hood fixed in place with Glue and Glaze and the wings held with Gorilla Glue. The locating tabs for the wing fold version aren't very big hence the CA. Finished as WL879 813 Sqdn HMS Eagle 1958. A challenging build at times with some possible carpet monster food but I think it's turned out ok. The figures give some idea of just how big a beast it was.

Bigkev

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #11 on: July 01, 2022, 07:14:39 PM »
A lovely looking Monster!
Wow, it is a big thing when you look at the figures for scale.
Nice job Chris.
Bigkev
I hope my next is always better

zak

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #12 on: July 02, 2022, 07:39:38 AM »
Looks impressive.
Grumpy by name and nature

Haddock

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #13 on: July 02, 2022, 08:35:58 AM »
Very impressive. Saw one of these at Yeovillton, it is a monster.
Haddock.

chriswil42

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Re: Westland Wyvern S.4
« Reply #14 on: July 02, 2022, 02:30:39 PM »
A big beastie. Impressive model Chris.
Chris