A Wyvewhat?! That's not a real Plane!
I had never heard of a Wyvern until I saw an add for the Trumpeter kit. It's what I call "ugly cool" looking, like the F-4 Phantom. As soon as I saw it, I wanted one. The 1/48 scale kit was a little expensive for my taste, so when I found a 1/72 scale kit at a hobby shop in Berkeley(!), I snapped it up.
I immediately decided to make an S4 from Operation Musketeer. I've always liked the look of the yellow and black striped aircraft from this conflict. The size of the model surprised me. Even in 1/72 it's nearly as large as a 1/48 WW II single-engine fighter. The kit went together quite well although the flaps and RATO bottles were a little fiddly. But, that might have been due to operator error.
To me it really looks the part.
Excellent job in any scale...more so in 72nd. Nice build.
Scott, Frog had a kit way back, which I got, as I was into all them quirky looking 50s RAF/RN aircraft. Gannet, Sea Venom. Buccaneer, Hunter, Seavixen. Yours looks a lot more refined. Just a neat aircraft! Must have been a sight to see, with them contraprops whirling and the exhaust coming out of both sides of the fuselage!
Thanks for posting this, and nicely done!
Your right on, "ugly cool"!. If it was a girl it would never get asked to the prom (sorry, to any of my over sensitive friends). It would almost look more adapt for a sci-fi movie. However I love the counter rotators (glad to see them off set, and not lined up ) and that big A@# pipe coming out of the side, and to top it off, a well built model. Nice work Soctt !
Scott,
Truly as ugly as a board fence but like a lot of British A/C, (sorry Brits) it is so ugly it is beautiful.. Your work is excellent
🙂 ... Greetings ... 🙂 :
Nice work on that one Scott.
Ugly ? ... I fail too see this trait on it, interesting ... yes.
People I know consider the A-10 ugly ... ( I see it beautiful, elegant and yet so menacing , full of character ). Some say the F-117 is ugly and a weird duck. I see it full of intrigue in ever angle.
You did a good job on that model and a very striking paint job.
Scott,Nice build of a cool looking aircraft,there are four others on this site and yours is just as good as all of them,I think the Trumpeter is a better kit than the Classic airframes version.
N.
I forgot to ask ,What paints did you use ?
N.
At that time I was using Model Master paints thinned with lacquer thinner. Dark sea grey and medium sea grey.
I like this era of Royal Navy aircraft, too. Neat work, Scott.
VERY interesting a/c & you've done a great job with it!
Westland can be forgiven a lot! They can even be forgiven for naming most of their planes using the letter W (Whirlwind, Wagtail, Wapiti, Welkin, Widgeon, Witch, Wood Pigeon, Wallace, Wizard, Weasel, Walrus and plenty of others!) Why? Because when Supermarine was bombed out Westland produced Spitfires. Even more than that they designed later Seafires. When you've been involved with Spits there's no point in building a beautiful thing, because you've already won!
All that aside this is a lovely job building an odd looking plane! With the apparent curve of the fuselage, the size of the tailplane, the crazy contra-prop, and 'finlets' it was almost like it was a cut-and-shut job! Great build of a very different plane!
Folks, in heraldry (hey, I'm just Mr. Obscure) a Wyvern is a young dragon. Seems to fit, huh?
Very nicely done Scott. Call it "character", much better than "ugly".
Seriously, you've done a great job on this. I think it's one of Trumpeter's best.
Nice build Scott, an ugly bird as one might say but impressive.
I love the Wyvern - bought this same kit, so am curious if you had any build issues? I was thinking of hanging the torpedo off of it - don't see many torpedo-totin' aircraft after the end of WWII...
By the way - great build and finish on this one. I also love the black/yellow stripes (finished a Sea Hawk in that scheme).
Thanks Greg. No build issues to speak of except you need to be careful with the flaps and RATO bits. Mine didn't come with a torpedo if I recall correctly.
Oh, yeah! I'll be putting my Operation Musketeer Seahawk up eventually as I did that one too.
I like the Wyvern for the simple reason that it looks aggressive and could carry a meaningful weapons load, the counter-rotating props just add to that menacing look. It was a multi-role aircraft that could be used as a torpedo bomber and attack aircraft. The Wyvern was already obsolete by the time it entered service and after the Suez crisis of 1956, they were withdrawn from service. You did a splendid job on this kit. I am currently building the 1/48 scale version and it IS a big. Well done Scot it looks awesome!
Morne, let us know what you think about the 48th. I'm getting the polystyrene fever again! Heaven help us!
Hi Bernard. The Wyvern in 1/48 is slightly smaller thann the Airfix 1/48 Canberra bomber so its huge and the name Wyvern is a suitable name for it. The Trumpy kit builds into a very good looking example of the real thing. The tailwheel bay is devoid of detail so I opted to scratchbuild mine. The cockpit needs a resin replacement. The wheelbays need extra "plumbing" detail and some extra wiring to the RATO gear. The underwing rockets have no exhaust outlet so replacement rocket "tails" need to be sourced. The white coloured seal on the canopy can be replicated with a white masking tape used for nail art. With some tlc it builds into a very nice replica of a Wyvern. Just behind the prop on the top left hand side is a circular air vent that is absent on the kit. Just dril a shallow hole and insert a + shaped part fashioned from thin plasticard. These add-ons make the model stand out even more. Needless to say there are enough resin and photo etch parts that can dress up the kit.
Nice ! Great looking aircraft.
I've liked the Wyvern since I saw a photo of one in "all the World's Aircraft - 1954." Built most of the kits, and I think Trumpeter hit the jackpot with this and the 1/48 release (which I have heard were designed by a non-Trumpeter source and brought to them when another company failed).
A Very Important Modeler once declared that one of my Wyverns was "a what-if airplane."
You've done a really nice job with this model.
Apparently that "Very Important Modeler" was more like a Very Uninformed Modeler".
Nice job Scott, very well done.
I agree with Morne, the 1/48 Trumpeter kit is excellent, did one last year, and added everything he suggests. It turned out really nicely, and yes it is HUGE! If anyone gets the chance, go and stand under the real example in the Fleet Air Arm Museum in Yeovilton, it really is a monster!
Thanks for all the kind words everyone. I very much appreciate you all taking the time to look and comment.
Thanks for the positive reviews of the kit, everyone! I still find it hard to believe Trumpeter did one of these in each scale, after all these years ago that Frog did theirs. Love that 50s stuff! Maybe a Gannet? Or a Scimitar?
Nice job, I'm a big Wyvern fan. Did you use decals for the Suez stripes?
Thanks John. Generally, I have found invasion/Suez stripe decals to have less than adequate fit so I usually, as in this case, paint them.
Wow Scott, if I didn't know better I would think this was a much larger scale plane. You have packed a lot of great details in a tiny package... Look fantastic.
I like it, plus you don't see too many of these built either .
Nicely done