1/72 Vickers Wellington Mk. Ia
This is the brand new Airfix Mk. Ia/Ic kit. What a treat this one is! Packed into this 1/72 scale Wellington is a complete interior. I built the Mk. Ia version because the extensive fuselage glazing isn't painted over. I wanted to see how the complete interior went together, and how much is visible when done. I'm pleased to report that it built quite well and includes every single interior part with very good fit. The turrets are extremely well detailed and assembled perfectly. I ran a build log on the RAF100 forum if you'd like to see how it went together. How much is visible? Not much, but more then you'd expect. I built this kit straight from the box, only adding a pilot's harness made from a wine bottle wrapper. I painted it with 25 year old Xtracolor dark earth and dark green, and brand new Humbrol black for the “Night” color. Straight black is too dark for night and needs to be lightened. My formula is about 9:1 Black to white with a few drops of flat red added to soften it up a bit. It's a great kit!
Best looking Wellington I've seen, John! Centuries ago, (well, it seems like centuries!) my Dad & I made one of the Airfix Wellingtons. It was great and filled an important niche in our collection, but the details were pretty sparse.
Well done, Sir!
Thanks, Jeff! That original Airfix Wellington was the last one I built too! About 1975, my dad bought that kit for me. I remember the box art featuring it being chased by a 109 at low level.
El arte de la caja de Airfix era dramática : a nivel del mar con un motor parado y perseguido por el 109. Nunca llegué a modelar un Wellington ,pero viendo lo bonito que luce el tuyo,dan ganas de probar con un kit.
Thanks, Julio!
Awesome looking Wellington John, nice to hear there were no fit issues. Seems Airfix has really come a long way with that issue with their new kit releases. Now what type of wine did those pilot hardness come from? I prefer a good Cab for mine but will resort to a Pinot Noir on occasion.
Thanks, Tom! It was an Italian red.
simply beautiful john
Thanks, Bob!
John I followed the WIP on this, very well done. I have never seen the original Airfix Wellingon, but I just finished up on an origianal moulding Airfix B-26 which was surprisingly detailed despite the older moulding, Compared to the much later Hasegawa kit. It did need a lot of care to get it together, but I can imagine the older Wellington was similar. This new one looks like a winner and it shows on this one. Well done and quite impressive. You nailed the look and finish on the engine cowl rings. What did you use to get that finish. I just completed a Beaufighter and they look way too bright. Like a new copper penny. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks, Chuck. It was a fun kit. The original Wellington was a basic kit that came out in the late ‘50s. The Airfix B-26 is a nice model from 1973 or 1974. I mixed flat black and silver to make a dark gun metal color for the collector rings. I then dry brushed them with straight silver. Mine aren’t perfect, but it works pretty good.
Inspirational! (Eyes his own kit...)
Thanks, Tom! Can’t wait to see yours. I’m interested to see what further variants they bring out. This kit has a lot of potential.
Lovely - and nice to see all that detail in the turrets (after I scratchbuilt all the turrets in the Privateer I finished last year, I can appreciate it!).
Thanks, Greg!
Some times the sun,moon and the stars align and conspire to make things happen. This kit is a happening. Great starting point (new airfix kit) some excellent painting and decals make for a great build.
Two thumbs up John.
Thanks, Stephen! The kit decals are really high end and have the bare minimum of carrier film necessary.
Saw this cartoon from when they were retrieving the aircraft from the loch...
Beautifully done, John,
‘Liked’
That’s a good one, David!
Fantastic work John. I've followed your wip and it's inspiring to get my hands on this kit as well.
Thanks, Ferry. Build away!
A great build !
Thanks, Robert!
Great looking build.
Thanks, Anthony.
Beautifully done John!
Thanks, Charles!
Very well done, John! An outstanding build to complete a brilliant set of contributions to RAF100 GB. Thanks so much for everything, you are the reference point for impressively efficient, very high standard modelling. I don't know how you manage it! I'll get her into the final presentation!
Thanks, Paul. It’s been a pleasure to participate!