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John vd Biggelaar
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Vickers Wellington Mk.Ic, Polish 301st squadron, Trumpeter 1/72

June 20, 2022 · in Aviation · · 39 · 1.4K

Herewith I present you the Mk.Ic from the 301st squadron as used in September 1942.

At first I had the idea to build it straight out of the box but since it was a gift from my daughter I decided to make it even more special.
A PE set from Eduard was used to make the interior look even more busy and a bit more realistic, same counts for some exterior parts like the balancers on the vertical stabilizer, brake lines and horizontal antenna underneath the fuselage.

The kit had no option to show it with open bomb bay, although as you look on the net, nearly all photos show the Wellington with open bomb bay. It was also mentioned by Tom @tcinla, that this was normal behavior of Wellingtons.
I decided to cut the single piece bomb bay door into the thirty required seperate bay doors. The inside of the single piece was decorated with correct panel lines which made it a bit easier to perform the cutting proces. A lot of work I have to admit but I'm pretty confident with the outcome.

Painting was done with my preferred Vallejo acrylics paints. Dark earth and dark green were used for the upper part, black mixed with black grey was used for the lower surface. This dark lower surface was more difficult to weather than I expected. A lighter grey was used to create the exhaust stains. A mixture containing rust metallic was used to paint the exhaust collector rings and exhaust pipes.

After my return to this hobby, it was my first 1/72 scale. In the past I did build only 1/72 but it seems that age has caused 1/72 to become a much smaller scale than I was used to. Still it was a real pleasure to build this kit, with the help of a magnifier. The fitting of this set is really great. Interior has nice details from the kit itself but the Eduard PE set makes it more complete.

The entire build can be found here:
https://imodeler.com/groups/bomber-command/forum/topic/trumpeter-vickers-wellington-mk-ic-1-72-73/

I want to thank all of you who followed this thread and provided me with valuable information and motivating words.
And special thanks to my daughter who made it possible to get this wonderful kit on my bench.

Reader reactions:
19  Awesome 1 

23 additional images. Click to enlarge.


39 responses

  1. Lovely work, John... I thought I did well attaching 12 separate bomb doors to a 1/48 He177, but 30...?! You evidently love your modelling... lol.

    Notwithstanding, an excellent rendition of this famous aircraft, and very nicely painted... ;-).

    Regards,

    Paul

  2. Very nice work on a historic, but modeler neglected bomber.

    I've been looking at 1/72 on some subjects because as much as I prefer 1/48 stuff, I found that 1/48 ww2 medium and heavy bombers were going to clog up my self space quickly (also multi engine-ed planes take much longer to build). Doesn't hurt that there have been recently (Airfix, Hasegawa and sometimes Trumpeter) are some nice 1/72 multi engine bomber kits to build.

  3. Very nice work!

  4. You really put a lot into this one, John! All that extra detailing really made it shine. Thanks for sharing the build process too.

  5. Beautiful result @johnb. a pleasure to watch the project.

  6. Well done, John (@johnb). This build really captures the look of the bomber. It was fun following your build in Groups.

  7. H*ll of a build John, well modelled sir.

    Ian.

  8. Some have criticized the Trumpeter kit for exaggerated appearance of the Barns geodesic structure. Personally I think that this feature on the kit is appropriate in that it illustrates this brilliant structural design. And in the photos I’ve seen of Wimpys operating in the cold altitude this feature is quite evident. Very nice build!

  9. Amazing result, John! Your Wellington looks very realistic and it is hard to believe it is only 1/72!
    Your improvements definitely show, the opening of the bomb bay was a big job that you carried out in excellence.
    Your build thread was an equal joy to watch.
    Congratulations!

    • @fiveten, thank you, Spiros. I doubted a lot before starting to cut this bomb bay into all those seperate pieces. Pleased with the result myself. It was my pleasure to have you following the thread with supporting comments.

  10. It was pleasure to follow Your build! I like Vellingtons very much! Great build and good paintjob! Open bomb bay is masterpiece! I think I will not try to open it 🙂 After heavy looses in 1942y some crews from 301 squadron was moved to my fav 138 Special Duty Squadron to Polish 1586 Flight. Rest of them was moved to 300 Polish squadron.

  11. I remember the first version of the Airfix kit, must have been in the late 1950s, so I couldn’t resist reading your WIP, a masterclass in itself. Now it’s in the Headlines all that work must seem well rewarded, and I’m sure your daughter is impressed as well. What is she going to buy you next?

  12. Awesome build @johnb, love the colors! How much of the interior can still be seen through those tiny windows? I was thinking of buying the Airfix kit, your build is very much inspiring.

  13. Nice work of an Iconic plane John. Barnes Wallis would approve !
    I wanted to ask what delineated the camouflage masking and how you do this. Tape first then putty ? Looks like a good technique.

    • @bernardbedeur, thanks for the kind words, Bernard. The demarcation between the black paint and the upper camouflage was done with masking tape. For the demarcations on the surface camouflage I used patafix, created small worms from it, and filled the open spaces with masking tape.

  14. Impressive work John to an excellent looking Wellington.

  15. Excellent build! Love all the extra detail - well done!

  16. Bravo, John. You put a huge amount of effort and care into your Wellington and it sure shows. Really enjoyed your build thread.

  17. John,

    Five stars on many levels. Making a gift that keeps on giving . I enjoyed reading your comments, photos and the model turned out to be real jewel.

    Two thumbs on some strong work.

  18. Very beautiful Wimpy. Great work John.

  19. Great work on this Wellington John. Can you advise the numbers of the Vallejo Dark Green and Dark Earth that you used. I am asking as I have a 1/72 Hampden and Lancaster awaiting build and painting. These will be done in the pre war and war codes of 44 Sqn/ 44 (Rhodesia) Sqn.

  20. Hello John! Remember me how was about fit of this kit?

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