The
Aircraft
The
Westland Wessex is essentially a licence-built Sikorsky S-58 fitted with one (or
two) turboshaft engines in place of the original piston power plant, and
converted to anti-submarine, utility and assault variants.
The
Mk.31, a variation on the RN HAS.3, was ordered by the Royal Australian Navy for
operations from the carrier HMAS Melbourne. Twenty-seven were delivered
in the twelve months from November 1962. Some served in a training role at the
Nowra shore base, and others with HS 817 Sqn. on the Melbourne. In 1969
the 23 surviving Wessex’s were upgraded to Mk.31B standard, identifiable by
the bulged gear housing behind the main rotor.
The Wessex was phased out of anti-submarine duties from 1975 by the Sea King,
and 725 Sqn. was disbanded. The Wessex’s joined 723 Sqn. for miscellaneous
duties including Army support. The Wessex’s underwent a revival in 1984 when
they replaced the Navy's Grumman Trackers, often operating from ships such as
HMAS Stalwart and HMAS Tobruk, as well as from Nowra.
Westland
Wessex Mk.31
TYPE:
Anti submarine and utility helicopter.
COUNTRY
OF ORIGIN: Britain
ENGINE:
One Napier/Rolls Royce Gazelle 162 turboshaft of 1600 shp
DIMENSIONS:
-
Rotor
diam.: 56 ft 0 in / 17.07 m.
-
Fuselage
length: 48 ft 4.5 in / 14.74 m
-
Height:
16 ft 2 in / 4.93 m.
WEIGHTS:
-
Empty:
8,900 lb / 4,037 kg
-
Max.
loaded: 14,000 lb / 6,350 kg
CAPACITY:
Normally 4.
PERFORMANCE:
-
Max.
speed: 110 kts / 204 kph
-
Max.
cruise: 105 kts / 195 kph
-
Max.
climb: 1,540 ft/ 469 m. per min
-
Service
ceiling: 14,100 ft / 4,298 m.
-
Normal
range: 262 n.mls / 483 km.
ARMAMENT:
(ASW) Two externally mounted torpedoes.
R.A.N.
SERVICE: 1963-1991
with HT 725 (training) at Nowra, and HS 817 Squadron (HMAS Melbourne); from
1975, when replacement Sea Kings arrived, Wessex’s
transferred to 723 Sqn.
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Preamble
Another
of my end of project-on to the next, stash perusals yielded this old gem,
purchased for the princely sum of $4 from a fellow club member, who was happy to
pass it on to me as he knew I would build it!
The
Kit
This
is the most recent boxing of the Matchbox Wessex, issued by Revell Germany
during the early to mid nineties. The decals seem to be better than other
Matchbox re-releases by Revell Germany decals that are often thick, indistinct
and reluctant to settle down on anything but a flat surface, even with decal
treatments!
So
what is in the box? There are three sprues within the typical box, all moulded
in light grey and a clear sprue for the canopy and windows. The canopy is rather
thickly moulded but has nicely defined framing. The RAN HAS.31 option consists
of a new nose and exhaust stubs.
Two
decal options are provided, along with an instruction sheet with painting
instructions for two helicopters, one RN and the other RAN.
The
kit is typical of Matchbox, but with very fine raised panel lines other than the
more usual trench like panel lines. Dry fitting indicated that the kit went
together very well, with the most glaring inaccuracies centred on the cockpit
and minor shape issues. Well I was
not after a contest winner here at all, so I could safely ignore all the
shortcomings built into the kit or otherwise.
Construction
Assembly
started with the cockpit. Matchbox supply two seats, a centre console, foot
pedals, joysticks and an instrument panel. The seats are certainly too tall but
I did not want to accurise this kit, preferring to just add some Tamiya masking
tape harnesses. While the seats were drying I scratch built a collective lever
and cemented that in the correct position. I used various shades of Vallejo
acrylics to paint all the cockpit components.
The
instructions called for the removal of the RN type nose so that the RAN style
nose could be added. This was done with a scalpel, lightly scoring along the
moulded guides on each fuselage half until the nose came away. A quick wipe over
with wet n dry tidied up the cut.
The
main cabin was devoid of any sort of detail whatsoever, so the installed floor
and cockpit sides were quickly painted Vallejo Basalt Grey and the cabin windows
added. Once the paint was dry I added the floor and cockpit tub to one fuselage
half and then used masking tape to hold both fuselage halves together, thus
ensuring each assembly was square and true while the cement cured.
The
remainder of assembly proceeded smoothly and rather quickly, with only small
amounts of filler in most areas required to smooth out ill fitting joints. I
found the rotor gear housing covers very troublesome with significant filler
required to smooth over the seam line and restore the surface contours. To add
to this, cleanup was complicated by the need to protect raised surface detail.
Once
this was done I cleaned up, polished and masked the canopy. The masked canopy
was offered up to the fuselage and cemented into place with clear parts cement,
reinforced with a careful application of liquid cement; this filled any gaps
between the fuselage and the canopy. A quick application of white glue, with
excess wiped away with a wet mk1 finger, smoothed out any remaining gaps. The
cockpit side windows were added at this stage as well and did not fit very well
at all, requiring some work to get a somewhat decent fit.
Once
masking was completed, I attached the main gear legs to the fuselage. Matchbox
supplies each assembly in two parts. This proved troublesome and much
manipulation was needed to achieve correct sit and to ensure the assemblies were
symmetrical. I am still not exactly happy with the final placement; it appears
that the main gear sits “low” in relation to the fuselage.
Painting
and Decaling
Now
that construction was finished I could settle down to masking fun and painting.
I started with the white area, using a mixture of Tamiya white primer and
Citadel skull white to achieve a nice even white finish. This was left to cure
for a week while I continued with other sub components. I then used Tamiya
masking tape to mask the demarcation line between the oxford blue and white. Cut
into thin strips, Tamiya masking tape is excellent for masking around bends and
corners.
I
then used a spray can of Model Master Sea Blue, this giving a good shade
approximation of the Oxford Blue used on the Wessex. The spray went on thick and
did not seem to cure very well at all, so I sanded back the flaws as well as I
could and over painted the area with Aeromaster USN Sea Blue. Certainly not the
exact blue I was looking for as it is a little too green in shade but looked
good enough based on some colour pics I have of the Wessex. Removing the masking
revealed some minor runs which were dealt with fine wet n dry used wet and some
touch up painting with white paint. The winch frame was then added with the
winch mechanism box cover painted Vallejo flat black.
The
completed airframe was put aside to cure prior to application of Johnsons
“Super Stride” with a wide flat brush kept especially for this purpose. Now
the Wessex was ready for decaling.
The
decals performed like champions, adhering very well even after several
adjustments in position. I was a little alarmed at the milky coloured decal
adhesive, but this dried perfectly clear. Indeed the only issue with the decals
was the nose number, which needed some cuts with the scalpel and repeated
applications of decal solution to help conform over the surface. A subsequent
touch-up with white paint was required to fill up the resulting gaps in the
decal.
I
then turned my attention to the main and tail rotor assemblies which needed
careful painting and assembly, followed by weathering with a sludge wash.
All
finished assemblies were washed with warm water to remove any decal glue residue
and then airbrushed with Pollyscale flat clear to seal everything in and impart
a uniform finish. As per my previous Matchbox F9F-5 Panther, the flat clear
really gives a good in-scale gloss finish without making the finished model look
toylike. Checking out reference photo’s confirmed this as in service pictures
indicated a well worn gloss finish fading to a more eggshell or very low sheen
finish. Only the examples preserved in museums had a factory fresh glossy
finish.
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Finishing
Touches
The
exterior aerial wires were then added using smoke coloured invisible thread and
the rotor assemblies added. My Wessex was now finished.
I
then noticed that the warning danger arrows were pointing the wrong way, oh
well, a good example of not checking references more thoroughly whilst applying
markings!
Overall
Frog
and Matchbox were the only game in town for those modellers wanting to add a
Wessex kit to their collection, until Italeri released a superb offering with
full interior detail. (Revell’s kit is a re-boxed Italeri kit and the old Frog
kit has been re-released recently by Eastern Express). I am unaware of any 1:48
scale kits currently available for the Wessex, though there was a 1:48 Revell
kit some years ago.
This
little Matchbox Wessex however, inaccuracies aside, builds up very well indeed
and would make an ideal first kit foray into the diverse world of helicopter
modelling.
I
have ordered the Italeri Wessex as I am most taken by the canary yellow rescue
version!
Good
fun and it looks great!
References
- The
Internet
- World
Aircraft Files
Michael
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