Vickers Wellington Mk 1A/C, Airfix 1/72 (kit no. A08019)
Airfix released an all new tool 1/72nd scale Vickers Wellington Mk 1A/C medium bomber model kit in July 2018.
One of the most successful and important British aircraft of WW2, the Wellington served throughout the conflict and was produced in greater numbers than any other British-built bomber.
The Wellington owes its unique structure to its predecessor, the Vickers Wellesley, one of the RAF bombers used during the late thirties. It involved a metal "basket weave" (geodetic) structure with fabric cover, which was very strong and considerably lighter than contemporary aircraft. It was able to absorb battle damage that would have been the end of many other types and still return home safely.
The new Airfix kit represents as an option the Mk.IC, which improved on the previous Mk.IA by employing an updated hydraulic system, 24-volt electrical system and “Lorenz beam” blind landing equipment. The Mk.IC also dispensed with the previous retractable ventral turret in favour of two .303 Browning machine guns mounted mid-fuselage on each side of the aircraft. The Airfix team designed the model with the aid of original engineering drawings and other rare Wellington information to provide historical accuracy and “impressive levels of detail.”
The old Airfix Wellington tooling (first released in 1958 or 1959) was written off around 2005, after the original mould wore out and was no longer usable. This is why the last Wellington issued by Airfix in 2008 was actually a rebox of the MPM (2002) kit! The Trumpeter kits (around 2006 – Mk IC and X) were the latest (before the new Airfix) in a series of 1/72 scale kits of the Wellington. The major (and impossible to rectify) problem with the Chinese kit is the overdone geodetic surface detail. The first Wellington kit ever was a Frog Penguin issue, an Mk I. These were issued before and during WW2, and are very rare today. Airfix followed with a Mark III (1958/59), Frog (with an Mk. IC in 1976), and also in 1976 Matchbox (an Mk. X/XIV). Italeri offered in 2007 their versions from the MPM moulds, (an Mk. IC and Mk. X).
The new tool Airfix kit
Airfix new tool 1/72nd scale Wellington is a great kit packed with detail, allowing you to build either the Mk 1A or C versions.
The sturdy box contains six sprues in light grey plastic (126 parts) and one sprue with 15 clear parts (141 parts in total).
The interior is amazingly well-detailed and includes just about everything, including a cockpit full with instrument panel (with decals), control stick, rudder pedals, realistic seats for pilot, wireless operator (radioman) & navigator, the (much hated) “Elsan” chemical toilet (part E43), many bulkheads, flooring/walkways, navigator’s folding table, radio equipment, oxygen bottles, flare/marker launch tube, electrical distribution panels, parachute stowage, packed bomb bay with open or closed doors and superb gun turrets. The geodetic structures are nicely rendered inside the whole fuselage, also on the wings and tail fin, subtly restrained with very convincing fabric texture on the outside.
Another great option is that the cockpit side windows are included closed or open to show off the lovely detail in there (two different canopies are included so no surgery is necessary). If you are brave enough you can also cut out the opening of the canopy’s roof hinging window sections (not provided as separate parts) – in order to show even more cockpit detail. All clear parts are perfectly transparent and extra thin. A third, slightly different style of canopy is included, for another late variant in a future release. Twin clear parts for the landing lights are also provided under the port wing.
You can also build the later Mark 1C with the painted over long fuselage windows and waist gunners glazing plus two guns - though the instructions don't mention this (the two waist guns are provided – both marked as E29)
Airfix acknowledges that many of the above-mentioned parts, fitted inside the fuselage, will not be easily visible (to be exact: will be almost invisible) on the completed model and can, therefore, be left out of the construction if preferred. These parts are highlighted in green at the first cutaway step (see photo at left) and throughout the instructions (red indicates the final location of parts at subsequent steps).
The instructions break assembly down into 101 steps in 19 pages. A big A3 size separate sheet is also included with colour profiles and two camouflage options. Almost 30 of these steps are devoted to the fuselage interior detail!
Both wings attach securely to the fuselage through a sturdy main spar, so there is no problem to get the correct dihedral. Separate control surfaces (except flaps) can be optionally positioned in up or down position. A boarding ladder behind the bombardier window is also included combined with an open or closed crew door.
The characteristic sectioned, triple-cell bomb bay doors are provided in the open position, moulded integrally to the fuselage halves (very practical), but you can optionally remove them using the X-Acto knife and close this compartment with a single-piece bay door section (part numbered as D1 on the sprue - but, again, not in the instructions - anyway it's too big to miss it!). Six (6) Medium Capacity (MC) 500lb (227kg) british bombs are included (usual wartime colour: Humbrol Matt Bronze Green No.75. Mostly prewar or early war period: Humbrol Light Buff No.7).
The landing gear is nicely detailed with correct struts and weighted wheels with perforated spoked outer hubs. For ease of assembly, open landing gear doors are provided moulded with the nacelles and separate parts are included for the closed doors option.
The representation of the Bristol Pegasus nine-cylinder, air-cooled radial engines is very successful, complete with extra thin propeller blades, propeller reduction gearboxes, engine mounting ring frames and flame suppressing exhaust pipes. It will only be necessary to add hoses, wiring and some other small details to get a realistic result. Fuel jettison pipes are included (Step 94) as separate parts (D22, D23) under both wings.
All in all, the Airfix Wellington kit is complete, both in terms of interior and exterior details, and the realistic representation of the fabric surfaces over geodetic structures makes it the best 1/72nd scale Wellington so far. Highly recommended!
You can order the Wellington kit online here.
Οptional camouflage colours: The instructions state Humbrol enamel codes but if you prefer acrylics: Mr.Hobby/Gunze H333 is nice for the Dark Earth, H73 for Dark Green (mixed with a small amount of H304 Olive Drab to enliven the green) and undersides Mission Models MMP-305 NATO Black, mixed with a small amount of MMP-040 Tire Black. Lots of light/dark grey & rust/burnt sienna pastel powders can be used on the exhaust staining and wing/fuselage undersides, (various panels can be lightened using base colours mixed with Flat White).
Useful links:
https://motorboken.se/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Haynes-H5230-page-4.jpg
About Sergeant Pilot James Allen Ward and the intriguing box artwork…
More about the infamous “Elsan” toilet…
The old Airfix Wellington…
