Westland Wyvern – 1/48 Classic Airframes - FINISHED!

Started by Eric Berg · 112 · 3 years ago
  • Profile Photo
    Eric Berg said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    George: Now I see what your talking about. I gather the exhaust fairing was installed after the Wyvern was painted with that extra dark grey. Thanks for the heads up.

  • Profile Photo
    Eric Berg said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Spiros: building these limited run kits give me fits every time. No pun intended.

  • Profile Photo
    George Henderson said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    PM sent Eric

  • Profile Photo
    Eric Berg said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    LIGHTS
    I just added wing tip lights made from clear sprue and drilled holes filled with paint to simulate bulbs and polished the heck out them. Now time to clean up the wings, sand off all the glossy shine on the plastic and prep for the paint shop. Rear canopy will be painted separately.

    Thanks to George for providing a Wyvern cutaway illustration.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    That's the way to make lights, my friend @eb801!
    A spectacular job (and an example I have to follow, as I keep on simulating them with clear paint blobs over some chrome base paint...).
    This truly is a super Wyvern!

  • Profile Photo
    Pedro L. Rocha said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    I second Spiros opinion about the lights. Both you and Erik have the magic touch when it comes to build clear lenses. I have to risk doing one like yours someday, probably on some 109.
    And thanks for the feedback of your Mr primer experience. I use MR Surfacer 1500 with some dilution and it sprays really well. If I find that stuff at one of my LHS I’ll be sure to grab one and try it also

  • Profile Photo
    Adrian Starling said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Eric, I have come in quite late into your build! This really impressive work and I really like the great detail you are incorporating such as the lights to name one!. I look forward to following your very well detailed and extremely interesting aircraft. Many thanks!

  • Profile Photo
    George Henderson said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Easiest way I've found to put the "bulbs" into the clear parts is to first use a push pin thumb tack to make a starter hole. You can also use a needle but the thumb tack hurts less when you drive it into your thumb. Then you can use your finest drill and bore out your "bulb"


    I also use these to paint knobs on instrument panels and sidewall

  • Profile Photo
    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Those positionlights looks great Eric @eb801.
    Yet another super simple solution from George @blackadder57 - thanks.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Trick copied, @blackadder57 – thanks form me, too!

  • Profile Photo
    Eric Berg said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Thanks for the pushpin tip George.

    Off to the paint shop now. First I’m going to prime this beast using Mr. Surfacer Primer 1000, a product that is new to me, although I have used Mr. Surfacer 500 and 1000 for years as filler. After trying this primer out and experimenting with masking, I have to say I’m more than impressed. Looks like this will be my go to primer from now on. Since there are zero hobby shops within 75 miles of me, I stumbled across this on Sprue Brothers, ordered it and took a chance on it. Glad I did.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Looking forward to your painting, my friend @eb801.

  • Profile Photo
    Eric Berg said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    PAINT SHOP TIME!


    The Wyvern is now ready for paint after a final spray of Mr Surfacer Primer after much touch up and a little more filler plus lots of sanding and rescribing.

    All along I have been doing mini assemblies for when that final day comes and i can attach all the stuff in this photo. They still need to be detailed in the meantime. The rear canopy has been set aside for its own paint session.

    A quick note about the tires in this kit. Only the pre-production Wyverns sported smooth tires as depicted by the excellent resin wheels supplied here. They should be knobby like the DeHavilland Hornet.

  • Profile Photo
    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Looking nice and smooth, my friend @eb801!
    Great subassies, too.

  • Profile Photo
    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 8 months ago:

    Nice bunch of prepped stuff Eric. The knobby tires AFAIK were in widespread use those days, so makes perfect sense to me.