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1/32 scratchbuilt Westland Whirlwind


ironman1945

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Hi everyone. This is my first posting to "in the works"; I hope the picture transfers OK.

 

This is something I have been working on and off for the last 2 1/2 years; sort of a culmination of everything I have been reading about over the last 30 years. Fuselage is plastic plank on frame; flying surfaces are plastic laminated over balsa core.

 

Its my 5th build since getting back into the hobby... not that I ever really left; I have a large kit collection. Being in the Navy, I've just never been home much to build.

 

Will try and post more close up pictures later; hope you like it.

 

Dave

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;) ;) B) :D

Nice work Dave and great plane to do as well!

Love to see more pics...I reckon if you have piccies over the course of your build it'd make a great article for the site.

 

Cheers Matt

 

PS Which Navy?...

PPS Thanks for the lift :lol: ;) :ph34r: :ph34r: :ph34r: I'm Army

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Hi everyone. Thanks for the very kind words; much appreciated. This is the first time I have attempted a full scratchbuild; while it can be very frustrating (the fuselage here is the 2nd one I attempted; the wings the 3rd), it is also very rewarding. Hey if I can do it so can you, so I encourage you to give it a go.

 

Answers to questions:

 

1) Drawings used were from the 4+ publication. I also have the drawings from the old Kookaburra publication; there are differences between the two. As I have read in the book "The Master Scracthbuilders" (by the way I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to try this),one of the most difficult things is finding accurate plans. I did not go to the nth degree to verify the drawings, mainly beacuse I wanted to get on with it.

 

2) I am in the Canadian Navy; I am a Combat Systems Engineering Officer. In fact I am retiring this year after 20 years service; I have a position as a civilian Defence Department engineer doing pretty much the same thing.

 

3) I do have some old in progress slides of this build over the last 3 years, showing the fuselage and wing. I will post them as soon as I can. For me, this process was a severe test of patience, but I enjoyed/continue to enjoy the challenge!

 

I would like to thank LSP Chris for his efforts in digging up photos of the landing gear bays. I still dont have a definitive picture of this area; I am about use artistic liscence to add the detail. Of course once I am done a photo will turn up....thats how it always goes!

 

Anyway first close up is of the cockpit-port side.

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Landing gear detail. I used a combination of brass, scrap plastic shapes and model railroad parts. I've found that model railroad parts are handy for combining together to get a final desired shape or form. Tires are laminated plastic sheet, sanded and filed down while attatched to a Dremel tool. The center wheels were carved out using a Micro-Detailer plastic grinding tool; this tool is a must have for scratchbuilding.

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Tail plane. This was made from laminated plastic, carved to shape.

 

Well thats all for now; more photos as thing progress, and as I said earlier I will scan images from the early days with the fuselage and wing as soon as possible.

 

One intersting note, so far I have used 1 1/2 boxes of Milliput super fine epoxy putty on this project. Lots of sanding and elbow grease!

 

Finally, thanks to everyone at LSP and to everyone who has ever posted anything here.. a constant source of inspiration to be sure!

 

Dave

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Well Dave, you're talking about the inspiration given to you by all the LSP'ers, but right now you in turn are giving it back, because this is truly a very fine build, keep us posted please.

Can't wait to see the end result.

 

happy modeling,

 

Jack.

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Dave,

 

Firstly, a very warm welcome to LSP. Second, Your scratchbuilt Westland Whirlwind is an inspiration to everyone (very similar to Alan Clarke's scratchbuilt 1/24th scale Whirlwind...maybe he was your original inspiration?).

 

It is always nice to see someone 'have a go' at the dark side of modelling (scratchbuilding :rolleyes:). Perseverance is the key word, but the results are always very rewarding (and the amount you learn, both in terms of knowledge, and development of your modelling techniques and skills is, quite frankly, priceless!). A very impressive project already Dave, and I am sure that we shall all follow this one with a great deal of interest.

 

Good luck and best regards

 

Derek

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I have managed some early photos of this build. Sorry of the resolution is not the greatest; I have an old scanner.

 

First is the original fuselage alongside the 2 plank on frame halves of the final version.

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