Italeri 1:48 Wessex UH 5

[colin m]

Here we are again, quiet but not totally idle.

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The insides are all built up. Including those strange blus seats. Not sure how accurate they are, but all the pictures I found showed blue seats. I'm normally used to slotting the cockpit into a fuselage and job done, but here it's perched up on the cabin - most unusual.

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So the fuselage (is it still a fuselage with a helicopter?) stuck together. For a new mold the seam wasn't great.

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The main rotor has been molded with a nice droop to the blades - it was a bit of fun getting this into shape.

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Underside view of where the nose will meet the fuselage. The main part of the nose is made of three parts, which by peoples previous experiences can be a bit of a pain to join up without bits of filler here and there. Well I managed to build mine without any filler - great I thought, then this appeared. The bottom of the fuselage is about 1.5mm wider than the slot it fits into. Time for a bit of hot water I think. Now, tea or coffee ?

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[flyjoe180]

Colin, that is great work on the interior. They look like time machines with the masts sticking up out of them I reckon. It looks to be a rather tricky fuselage to get right. You should be able to file or sand that edge down? It's not an ideal thing to have to do but I'm sure you'll feel the force and get it sorted.

[Ian M]

Difficult to say from the photo, but I think the best idea is to trim the bottom part where its to wide, or to narrow, lol.

Erm coffee please.

Ian M

[colin m]

A time machine, it certainly does have a Dr Who / HG Wells look about it. Anyway, problem fixed. Just a tiny amount of sanding followed by hot water, allowing the nose to slip on. Which then had quite a good fit - well I was surprised anyway.....

[flyjoe180]

You expanded it using hot water? What a great idea.

[colin m]

Hot water is an old trick Joe, probably used by modelers since the dark ages (before internet).

So, a bit more progress.

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The nose has been sanded and stretched, a spreader bar slipped to keep it the correct width. The IP sits in the nose, which then has to line up with the cockpit later - a bit difficult - easy to knock those 'pedals' off.

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Some pieces of the kit supplied PE. I've only ever dealt with angled PE before so making curves has been interesting - the best tool I found for curving the PE was my glasses case, it's got curves of varying degrees all over it.

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Hot off the press - I've just fitted the landing gear this morning, giving it all day to set whilst I spend the day in the garden. However, beware (if you're going to have a go of this kit) the instructions are wrong here. The longest part of the landing gear, needs to be swapped with the other side.

Right, I'm off to do some hanging baskets - it's sunny.........................

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[Guest]

Coming along nicely Colin, looks a detailed kit. Cheers Derek

[tr1ckey66]

Hi Colin

This whirlybird seems to be shaping up very nicely. I've never built a helicopter kit but this does look cool. This is another one of those builds that makes me want to go out and buy a kit!

The Wessex has a very strong look - very British and, to my eye, really cool.

look forward to seeing the finished model

Cheers

P

[Ian M]

This is looking very nice. I might just have to get me one of those. It looks just how a helicopter should look.

Ian M

[flyjoe180]

Looks like a Wessex now. Coming along nicley Colin.

[colin m]

It's a good looking kit gentlemen. Very nice detail, just tricky enough in places to test the builder !

[colin m]

June in three weeks time. I should be able to finish by then............................

So, a bit more has been done, not helped in the slightest by a brilliant Bank Holiday weekend. Right, big push now.

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This nice bit of PE needed to be bent, or should that be shaped, in just about every plane going. I'm normally a sort of right angle type person. But the air intake mesh is actually plastic (kit supplied) and cuts / shapes very well.

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The PE in place, it was glued in bit by bit, slowly bending where needed. The cockpit glazing was also added and didn't fit to well. I wonder what primering will show up here later.

Anyway, it's now time for some tricky masking and hopefully a bit of primer later.

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[Guest]

It's going to be a stunner when it's finished Colin. Cheers Derek

[Dave W]

Looking good Colin.Im tempted to try a helicopter after watching your build.

[geegad]

some great detail going into this build..keep it up