Westland Whirlwind

[RichB]

Much relieved that it wasn't that whirly bird contraption, one of my faves, this should be good !

Happy I'm not the only one attracted to this bird . It's a very old favorite of mine

I have always been curious as to why this airplane was not developed any further .

Cheers,

The main reason was Rolls-Royce's need to focus on Merlin production and development that lead to the dropping of the Peregrine engine. The Whirlwind would have required significant redesign to accept the bigger Merlin. The arrival of the Beaufighter whose performance equaled or exceeded the Whirlwind's sealed its fate.


I somewhat understand that but everyone else's fighter engine was up rated during the war without size change . Seem as they could have done something to improve them :idonno Oh well.

Cheers, Christian

Cheers,
Rich

They did build a small number (approx. 75) of a Merlin powered variant, the Welkin. It was intended to intercept high altitude reconnaissance aircraft but by the time it was operational the Luftwaffe had stopped these flights due to the Spitfire Mk. VI. A couple of the airframes were used for testing and to gain experience with high altitude flying.

Cheers,
Rich

 

[phantom II]

Much relieved that it wasn't that whirly bird contraption, one of my faves, this should be good !

Happy I'm not the only one attracted to this bird . It's a very old favorite of mine

I have always been curious as to why this airplane was not developed any further .

Cheers,

The main reason was Rolls-Royce's need to focus on Merlin production and development that lead to the dropping of the Peregrine engine. The Whirlwind would have required significant redesign to accept the bigger Merlin. The arrival of the Beaufighter whose performance equaled or exceeded the Whirlwind's sealed its fate.


I somewhat understand that but everyone else's fighter engine was up rated during the war without size change . Seem as they could have done something to improve them :idonno Oh well.

Cheers, Christian

Cheers,
Rich

They did build a small number (approx. 75) of a Merlin powered variant, the Welkin. It was intended to intercept high altitude reconnaissance aircraft but by the time it was operational the Luftwaffe had stopped these flights due to the Spitfire Mk. VI. A couple of the airframes were used for testing and to gain experience with high altitude flying.

Cheers,
Rich

Interesting read about the Welkin even though it was not used during the war it is credited for pionnering the pressurized cabin A major piece of aircraft hardware .
I has never read it's history before .

Cheers,

 

[phantom II]

Not much time Sunday. I did manage to fit the horizontal tail pieces and figure out just how the tail strut and bulkhead fit into the bird .

Some bits of sprue were needed to square it off

I also started trimming wing pieces and looking at the fit.

It matches pretty well except for this . I'll wait until the scribing is done.

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[Iron Mike]

Scribe on!

 

[moon puppy]

Fit? What Fit??

 

[phantom II]

Fit? What Fit??

Got me there. That's actually a didn't fit but all considered the rest of the wing mating surfaces do fit together quite well. This is the bad spot .

Cheers,

 

[jknaus]

Now where is the putty?
Good luck with this.
James

 

[phantom II]

Now where is the putty?
Good luck with this.
James

No worries James . This sort of stuff is now news with short run kits.

The plastic either drooped while still warm or it just needs a bit of trimming :v

I have not owned any putty in years . :idonno

Scribbing done. Letting the glue cure in the marks.

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[Iron Mike]

I really hate scribing, I always get heavy handed or slip out of the lines. Looking forward to the update.

:drinks

 

[phantom II]

I really hate scribing, I always get heavy handed or slip out of the lines. Looking forward to the update.

:drinks

Don't feel bad Mike . I find it nerve wreaking but until I find a better idea ... :idonno

Anyhow, I can't always stay in the lines either . Just so many subtle things that affect my ability to do good . Even my mood plays a part in it :angry:

Best to have a plan for hiding the slips . :coolio Really starting to think that my UMM blade is my best friend though


Not much to show today but things are progressing .

Any remaining glue marks have now been sanded/polished off and some surfacer has been applied to my slips and other marks inherited from the manufacturer.

I will let that harden overnight as it polishes out better that way . It will be ready for assembly after that.

After some more trimming in some not so obvious places, things are looking up . Nothing that some glue will not close up.

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[SA Dave]

Wowser

 

[phantom II]

Wowser

Here's one just for you Dave . I looked at the resin cannons yesterday and they are so small and flimsy, I decided to go with alternate parts.

Cheers,

 

[phantom II]

Meanwhile yesterday was quite the deal, trying to assemble this thing I have come to the conclusion these people must not like us, or have absolutely no pride in their product.

They have managed to make a pretty decent plastic model and have really improved the the pictograph part of their plans......However if the instructions cannot be fallowed, they are pretty useless.

There are only three different ways shown to assemble the wheel bays . Only four parts and trying to follow them I have gotten it wrong at least three times To say the least they had to be carefully trimmed in order for them to fit inside the cavity.

Finally , free styling it, I figured it out...

At this point, I just decided to check the landing gear parts to make sure they would actually fit ( and they did ).

I also found out that these little bits need to be installed next . However they both came pre-broken :facepalm , so I'm off to make some replacements :frantic

The high point of the day was installing the coolers . Take care as they could be installed backwards and upside down without missing a beat. Look at pictures :skipper

Sorry, nice piece but poor picture.


Hopping to make a bit of progress today Cheers, Christian B)

 

[SA Dave]

ooooh those brass pieces will look great

 

[razordws]

ooooh those brass pieces will look great

What he said. :drool

Looking good!

 

[phantom II]

ooooh those brass pieces will look great

Thank Dave. I hope they don't look too terribly sturdy . I have love their previous products.

Cheers B)

 

[phantom II]

ooooh those brass pieces will look great

What he said. :drool

Looking good!

Thanks . They do make a very nice product

Cheers,

 

[phantom II]

Tired of this thing jousting with me yesterday

Made a couple fact simile actuators .

Sprayed the bays with a mixture of black surfacer with a drop of gray 1000 so it would not be as dark . Oversprayed it with some RAF interior green so I still have some shadows

Installed those booger actuators and buttoned it up...

and we're off

Cheers, Christian B)

 

[moon puppy]

BAMN!

 

[Flyingbabydoc]

What an amazing Job! Nice how you got the shading without any washes... Must be good to airbrush...

Awesome Job on the actuators. Looking Forward to the Progress.

Cheers

Alex