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HpH Supermarine Walrus - Operation Torch - 1942


Out2gtcha

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The journey of thousands and thousands of miles……………………….

 

It truly has been. I've wanted to build a large scale Walrus for years, and when HpH announced theirs I was in heaven!

I never had the upfront cash to buy one outright from the likes of Hannants, (where it was over-priced) so I started looking at the LSP trader forums at the start of the year. Thanks to ErigG, a good mate of his and his want for a rare DH Comet of mine,  I finally got an HpH Supermarine Walrus of my own!

The VERY long journey of this kit started as the kit was built in the Czech Republic, and then shipped to Hannants in the UK for distribution:

 

  • Czech Rebublic to UK =        548 Nautical Miles / 1017 Kilometers

Next, it was purchased by ErigGs mate in Australia:

  • UK to Australia =                   9,459 Nautical Miles / 15223 Kilometers

The kit was then purchased by me, from Erics mate Che:

  • Australia to US =                    9,445 Nautical Miles / 15201 Kilometers

So all in all, this Walrus is quite and world traveler, having traversed more than 19,400 nautical miles to get to my doorstep from whence it was created.  Neat!

 

Having just finished up a “quickie†feel good type WIP build, I thought long about what to start next. I got out a my vac T-cat………………….then did the same thing I always do with it, and that's get it out, look at it, then promptly decide it would be WAY too much work to get right, and put it back.

Got out my Tam P-51, but just wasn't feeling it, and would have needed to order wet transfers for the foil part…………..so I put it back too. Then I walked by the small pile of kits in my PC room, not yet put away in my basement stash area. Buried 2nd from the top was the inconspicuous box for the Walrus.

I had SO much fun putting my last WIP/bipe together, that this one really spoke to me, and I do think its time for a major one, which this WIP will definitely be.

 

 

Although the kit decals have been reported to be very good, I (of course) just cant leave things alone, and have to make this one a bit different from the OOB scheme.

Ian @ Ad Astra made me a set of custom masks for the Walrus from a Walrus based off of the HMS Cumberland, painted for “Operation Torch†in 1942.

For those that don't know, Op –Torch (initially called operation Gymnast) was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of WWII which started on 8 November 1942.

 

This will be the fairly standard seen Walrus 4 camo pattern on top, with shadow shading on the lower upper surfaces, and sky on the undersides. The Operation Torch markings were painted on the British aircraft, using older US roundels:

 

ss48976a.jpg

 

This was due to the Allies believing that the Vichy French forces would not fight, partly because they harbored suspicions that the Vichy French navy would bear a grudge over the British action at Mers-el-Kebir in 1940, so they over-painted any visible British markings with older style US markings.

 

 

 

Any of you familiar with HpH will know of their high standard of quality and especially detail, but for those that are not as familiar, I will give a quick run down of what we get in the box.

Let's get started and see what we have then!

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The box from HpH is a very slim amd inconspicuous looking for what you get inside. There are a LOT of parts crammed in this thing. Its slim but wide, and is very well packed:

 

 

 

DSC03296.jpg

 

 

 

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The Walrus itself, is actually quite a large aircraft, and this model reflects that well. Ive placed a pot of Tamiya paint beside the wings and fuselage for size:

 

 

 

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The detail HpH put on is subdued, and very scale looking:

 

 

 

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There are lots of bags of goodies in this one. Just pulling some random parts out of the 1st bag you can see the level of detail the kit has:

 

 

 

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The engine for example is very well done:

 

 

 

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A bit of a short shot with the flight yolk, but nothing that some CA and micro-balloons wont fix:

 

 

 

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Nice touch with the metal rod impregnated resin tail wheel:

 

 

 

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More...................................

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The 2nd bag of resin goodies has all of the larger and more heavy parts in it like the engine housing, upper wing center section/fuel tank, tip floats, rudder and flying surfaces. All of which again are very well molded:

 

 

 

DSC03311.jpg

 

 

 

The engine housing is a chunky solid little piece of resin. It got a chunk taken out of the front intake tube lip, but again, same as the flight yolk, nothing some CA and filler wont knock out in about 30 seconds:

 

 

 

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Vertical stabilizers, elevators and rudder:

 

 

 

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Fabric detail on the rudder and ailerons is well done if not a tad stark. This will be just fine under a layer of primer and paint:

 

 

 

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Tip floats, just like the fuse are well molded with restrained detail and riveting:

 

 

 

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Center section of the upper wing/fuel tank + the nice little temporary jig guide to mount the engine center pod and get the torque offset correct:

 

 

 

DSC03317.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

 

The clear resin parts of are some of the nicest and clearest clear parts I have ever encountered. Straight out of the box, they are wonderfully molded and crystal clear:

 

 

 

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Even more............................

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The last bag has the instruction DVD, 3 frets of PE including a color set for the IP, a full set of canopy masks, HGW laser textile seat belts (NICE touch HpH!), and a set of nice decals.

 

The HGW textile seatbelts and the color PE are just a couple of the really nice touches that IMHO, make this kit worth every penny I paid for it:

 

 

 

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Im not sure who makes HpHs decals, but they look very well printed, and in good register:

 

 

 

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Lastly, although hard to see, is the set of Ad Astra custom Operation Torch paint masks:

 

 

 

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Well, its another busy week, and Im on-call for work this upcoming weekend, but should be making some kind of actual start on this thing in the next few days/week.

 

Cheers to all and hope to have you along with me for the ride!

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Guest Peterpools

Brian

Awesome choice and surely is going to be a terrific build to follow and enjoy. Looks like the Bronco will be n hold for a few extra months.

Looking forward to the official start.

Keep 'em coming

Peter

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Teresa Peter, thanks for the inspiration.............and yes Peter your correct..................I decided exactly that. I wont drop the Walrus for the Bronco, so Ill just buy the Bronco when it comes out and build it when im done with this big girl.

 

You know how release dates are anyway................it may be a lot longer wait than I think. Either way, I have always loved the pusher arrangement of the Walrus and will be having a blast with this one. :D

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Thanks guys!

 

This one is a little unexpected for even me, but as they say, walking by it, this one just spoke to me. Ive got a real challenge ahead of me with all the paint work, detail work, and rigging but I think it will be fun, cause things just seem easier when your "in" to whatever you're building.

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Looks like I picked the right day to come back to civilization and check up on here.

 

 

Really excited to see this build come together Brian. Really tempted by the Walrus, but it looks like it's too complex for me.  I'm sure you're going to master this one

 

 

 

Matt  :frantic:

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