It’s amazing how your opinion of an aircraft can change with the introduction of one more previously unknown element. This happened to me in regards to the rather unique Vickers Wellesley. I’d seen a side shot photo of this aircraft in a book before, and struck me as rather unique (the first to prove the method of geodetic construction a viable one, paving the way for the Wellington), but nothing to get excited over. Then, much later, I finally saw an overhead shot- the wings were MASSIVE!! Now, if there’s anything that attracts my intrest to airplanes (apart from size), it’s freakishly large wings. My opinion on the Wellesley made a complete 180, and thus I began my quest to get the 1/72 Matchbox kit. Belive it or not, E-bay came to the rescue. I present- the $13 Vickers Wellesley-
The kit looks good for its age, and the tri-color sprues don’t bother me at all. It was so you could put it together without paint and have it still look sort of decent. I don’t plan to do this. I’ll need to do something inside the cockpits, but not much, as I don’t plan to open the canopies.
Also, note the wings. They are as long, if not longer, than the fuselage itself. Good stuff. The glare also nicely illustrates the subtle wing fabric detail. It’s not as pronounced as it looks.
Hopefully this is one of my first builds of 2007. Stay tuned!
Oh, don’t worry. I’m still pluggin’ away at THAT ol’ beast! [:D]
The only problem is that I need to spend a week on a step that takes five minutes to explain. I’m almost finished re-gluing the tail planes. The real ones meet the tail at a sharp angle, but the kit had these huge raised locating areas that resulted in a blended tailplain junction. So, I cracked off the horizontal planes, cut out the offending areas, and proceeded to spend the next two weeks filling, puttying, gluing, and sanding the tail back to a useable shape. Right now she isn’t 100% perfect, but it’s close. Maybe close enough.
What’s holding me back on the wings is wires. I need to wire up the inside of the wing before I do anything else. Getting wire and making my third canopy master are next on the list.
I have a strange affliction for models that are different and over the years have picked up a few over the years. The Matchbox Vickers Wellesley was one I purchased from Squadron Shop many years ago for a very low price.
If my febble mind is not failing me, there was a model of this kit featured in an article in FIneScale Modeler within the last 8 years or so, can’t remember year. The fellow did a fantistic job but required a lot of scratchbuilding. You might be able to check the archives, and find the article?
A couple of years ago, there was an article in FSM, on improving this kit. I don’t remember which issue it was in, and I’m just about to leave for work, so cannot check my mag stack.
I’ve got a line on getting a copy, actually. I’ll certianly give it a look-see.
Here’s another picture of this beast, showing the rough size comparison. It’s next to a Fw 190 D-9, same scale, and a hobby knife blade.
It obvious how huge the wings are in this shot. It’s nearly the same as a B-17 (and it’s only got one engine, too)!
The interior is painted, but I may do a better job once I see that article. I’m debating wether or not to do a lot of work on the inside, or simply take the easy way out and plop in the provided pilot figures. Either way you can’t see much, so… we’ll see. (I also don’t want to crack the canopy open, with no way to get a replacement if I wreck it and all…)
