Special Hobby 1/32 Westland Whirlwind

Started by Tom Cleaver · 40 · 3 years ago
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    Tom Cleaver said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    @eb801 - the "footprint" of the model is about 2/3 that of a 1/48 B-17.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Turned out super, @tcinla!

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    Tom Cleaver said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    The Whirlibomber finished. Not a difficult kit, the hardest part was bending the engine nacelles so the forward bulkhead would fit right, since it has the mounts for the main gear.

    Operation Starkey was an attempt to spoof the Germans that a limited invasion of France was happening, to cover for the landing in Italy in September 1943. The Germans weren't taken in. The main result is this was the first use of "invasion stripes," which would be seen again 9 months later when the invasion wasn't a spoof.

    I found a photo of a Whirlibomber being loaded with "old" 250-lb bombs with the warhead painted the prewar pale yellow and the tails being new and painted green. I thought it looked good so I appropriated it here.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Greg Fabian said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Looks great! Westland was ahead of their time with the bubble canopy.

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    Steve Oakson said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Very nice results.

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    Tom Cleaver said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    @gwfabian - yes, it's hard to believe it's a 1938 design.

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    Michael Ezat said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Very elegant aircraft and well made model ! Thank you for sharing Tom .

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Love it too, @tcinla!
    Great result.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Another beauty, Tom @tcinla.
    This design was indeed a bit futuristic at that time.

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    George R Blair Jr said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    This came out really nicely, Tom (@tcinla). I really like your find on the yellow on the bombs...it gives it a great splash of color.