Airfix Vickers Wellington III
Discussion
Being a glutton for punishment, I have retrieved this old antique from the loft. I apparently started this at some point in the long distant past - I reckon in the early 80s. I obviously then lost heart and it languished in various lofts and garages for almost four decades. The imminent release of Airfix's new tool Wellington prompted me to try and get it finished. The box shows the year 1975 but I know the moulds actually date back to 1959 - so very early in "the story of Airfix".
The parts are few and ill fitting and my Humbrol filler is going to get depleted quite rapidly I can see.
The original propellers have also gone walkies but I have some Aertoclub alternatives.
The original decals were still in the box but they are well beyond their "best by" date. I have some Xtradecal alternatives.
The best thing about the kit is the fantastic artwork by Roy Cross - which is my favourite I reckon.
The parts are few and ill fitting and my Humbrol filler is going to get depleted quite rapidly I can see.
The original propellers have also gone walkies but I have some Aertoclub alternatives.
The original decals were still in the box but they are well beyond their "best by" date. I have some Xtradecal alternatives.
The best thing about the kit is the fantastic artwork by Roy Cross - which is my favourite I reckon.
Airfix's graphic design was spot-on at this point – great (Roy Cross) illustration, strong branding and flawless typography. It's been all downhill from there and, even though the packaging's now better than it's been for decades, it still doesn't have the sheer quality of this era.
I think that the package is the product really – that's what we all bought. Any successful modelling outcome was more or less incidental, as witness the huge stashes of unmade kits we all accumulate. Furthermore, the painting (esp Roy's) was usually the high point of the experience – most of the output beyond that was usually a disappointment by comparison.
I think that the package is the product really – that's what we all bought. Any successful modelling outcome was more or less incidental, as witness the huge stashes of unmade kits we all accumulate. Furthermore, the painting (esp Roy's) was usually the high point of the experience – most of the output beyond that was usually a disappointment by comparison.
I will enjoy seeing you 'Eric' this one Eric
You always make a lovely job, so much I salute you for leaving this one alone, back when
Now we can all watch you making this happen
When it comes to box art I doubt if anyone will match Roy's exciting art, and Adam is unlikely to match it as long as his research is so mimimal
Catalina...
You always make a lovely job, so much I salute you for leaving this one alone, back when
Now we can all watch you making this happen
When it comes to box art I doubt if anyone will match Roy's exciting art, and Adam is unlikely to match it as long as his research is so mimimal
Catalina...
perdu said:
I will enjoy seeing you 'Eric' this one Eric
You always make a lovely job, so much I salute you for leaving this one alone, back when
Now we can all watch you making this happen
When it comes to box art I doubt if anyone will match Roy's exciting art, and Adam is unlikely to match it as long as his research is so mimimal
Catalina...
He also left the tailplanes of the Lightning and the red bars from the Korean War F-51D artwork - although these omissions may have been down to "printer error" rather than "artist error".You always make a lovely job, so much I salute you for leaving this one alone, back when
Now we can all watch you making this happen
When it comes to box art I doubt if anyone will match Roy's exciting art, and Adam is unlikely to match it as long as his research is so mimimal
Catalina...
Finally able to post up some progress pictures of the Wellington build. My new computer won't accept pictures from my camera (which is rather old). So, I've just bought a card reader which allows the pictures to be saved onto the computer without needing to actually plug the camera into the copmputer. It seems to work fine.
As predicted, the model is a filler monster so I've spent quite a bit of time filling, sanding, priming, repeat ad nauseum -
As can be seen in the second picture (which is slightly out of focus), there were fairly prominent ejector pin marks in some very visible areas which needed filling.
As predicted, the model is a filler monster so I've spent quite a bit of time filling, sanding, priming, repeat ad nauseum -
As can be seen in the second picture (which is slightly out of focus), there were fairly prominent ejector pin marks in some very visible areas which needed filling.
And an update -
The first two images show the Wellington primed and with an element of preshading applied. The effect I'm after is a variable tone to the finish. Wellingtons seemed to weather very quickly - presumably the standard RAF paint wore away quite rapidly when applied to what was a chiefly fabric covering. Mine is going to be a North African/Med theatre of operations aircraft so the fading would probably have been even more severe than a British based aircraft.
The second two images show the model with the camouflage colours applied. There is a lot of tidying up and touching up to do and fair bit of additional weathering will be required to tone down the contrast between the Dark Earth and Stone upper surface colours.
One detail left out by Airfix is the set of runners to the rear of the side windows of the cockpit. These allowed the pilot's and co-pilot's windows to be slid back. I fabricated some runners using sticky labels suitably trimmed.
The first two images show the Wellington primed and with an element of preshading applied. The effect I'm after is a variable tone to the finish. Wellingtons seemed to weather very quickly - presumably the standard RAF paint wore away quite rapidly when applied to what was a chiefly fabric covering. Mine is going to be a North African/Med theatre of operations aircraft so the fading would probably have been even more severe than a British based aircraft.
The second two images show the model with the camouflage colours applied. There is a lot of tidying up and touching up to do and fair bit of additional weathering will be required to tone down the contrast between the Dark Earth and Stone upper surface colours.
One detail left out by Airfix is the set of runners to the rear of the side windows of the cockpit. These allowed the pilot's and co-pilot's windows to be slid back. I fabricated some runners using sticky labels suitably trimmed.
This brings back some memories. My father built this kit back in the 70s when I was a kid. Unlike the mostly-grey Airfix kits his was moulded in black plastic like the pictures show and seeing the seating for the rotating front and rear gun turrets really takes me back. This kit started me on a period of modelling in the late 70s and 80s - mostly Airfix and the twin-colour Matchbox kits of the era. Generally mine were glued together, painted and had decals fitted all in one day!
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