¹⁄35

Westland Wyvern

painting and decaling

I painted the whole model with Sky (H90) and let it dry thoroughly. Then I could mask for the second colour (picture 12). Instead of Extra Dark Sea Grey, I choose the slightly lighter Dark Sea Grey as the contrast would have been too stark (picture 13). I got some overspray and had some touch-ups to do, but nothing major (picture 14). After this painting session I let it dry for at least three days before I clear coated the model with Humbrol Clearcoat. I then left the model for another day to dry before I could begin with the decals.

Trumpeter gives you three nice options, but I decided to do an aircraft with Suez-stripes AND those big nose numbers (picture 15). I found such a machine in the 4+ book, ac number 378/WP337. The nose number was easy enough to do, but the serial wasn't possible to be cobbled together. I decided to use the serial for no. 278/WN325, so my model isn't quite accurate, but both aircrafts served aboard the Eagle, at the same period. Close enough for me!

The options in the kit seems to be accurate, but the inner part of the spinner should be Sky, not Extra Dark Sea Grey on the options provided. Decal no. 23 isn't shown anywhere, but it should be used on the centreline tank on 278/WL879 "Dennis the Menace". I could find no use for the decals no. 32, so I just left them off. Most Wyverns had a small anti-glare panel in front of the windshield. Trumpeter forgot to include this on the decal sheet. I used a spare anti-glare decal (for a Hasegawa A-4B Skyhawk I was building at the same time), which I cut to shape. In my opinion Trumpeter's decals are the weakest part in this kit. They are very thin and very brittle and sticks within seconds on the model and can't stand much handling without tearing apart. This is no problem concerning the smaller decals, but it can be a bit problematic with the bigger ones such as the stripes. They are also printed out of register, not much, only a fraction of a millimetre (0.1-0.2mm), but it's enough for the white undercoat to show trough in the edges on the dark portions on the model. The white undercoat is rather thin so the decals are a bit translucent too. This caused no problems where the decals went over a single colour, but it bled trough on the fuselage stripes and the upper wing British cockades. I used some white discs (Tamiya Spitfire) from my spare decal box, cut to fit the cockades. I could not do anything about the fuselage stripes, though. It's important to place the big decals (The stripes) as correctly as possible at the first try. Luckily this is quite easy if you do it this way:
- Before dipping the decals in water, make sure you cut out the slot in the rear end and the gun port cut in front on all wing stripes.
- Begin with the lower wing stripes and use the slot and gun port cut as a guide for placement, making sure the stripes are straight.
- Let the decals dry thoroughly.
- Now you can attach the upper wing stripes, using the slot and cut in the same manner as earlier, and lining up with the lower stripes will make sure it's straight.

Trumpeter has supplied the decals for the upper air brakes in separate parts, but not for the flaps on the underside. If you (temporarily) glue the flaps in the up position and attach the decals, you can cut the decal and reposition the flaps later. This is how I did as I wanted the airbrakes closed but the flaps down (picture 16). I used Micro-Set and Sol liberally to get the stripes to settle, only Set was needed on the smaller decals. All decals snuggled down very nicely when dry and look almost painted-on. I got some silvering on a few wing stencils, mostly due to the surface not being glossy enough. Ensure you have a really glossy surface on the model, work slowly and do not rush, is the best advice I can give on the decals. I used three days to get all decals on the model, there are more decals then you might believe. I decided to paint the finlets, as they should have the same Maroon colour as the spinner. I believe they are way too light and red on the decals (picture 17). After wiping off every residue from decal solutions and fingerprints I let the model dry for a day.

I used a wash (black paint and white spirit) to enhance the deeper recesses, and a "sludge wash" (Tamiya acrylic Nato black, white, water and detergent) all over the airframe. Exhausts were sprayed with Alclad II "Jet Exhaust" (this is a turboprop ac after all) lightly along the sides. I tried to keep the aircraft fairly clean as they were never old on carriers. The Wyvern served in the navy for only 4 years and this is the group commander's mount (one yellow diagonal stripe on the finlets). A nice clear satin coat sealed in the decals and washes. From this point it was downhill all the way!

Now I could attach all those small parts and I started with the landing gears. The struts fit a bit loose in the holes, but are easy to align at the correct angle. Be aware that the inner gear doors should be closed on the ground, not open as Trumpeter shows. Just cut off the mounting lug and they will fit fine after a little sanding. I had to enlarge the holes for the rockets, but this was an easy task and then they fitted very well. The rocket stubs are Sky, the racks and rockets are matt black. Note that the he wing tip lights have red (port) and blue (starbrd.) covers, while the formation lights (rear) are clear. After fitting all the antennas and some other small parts, it was only a few touch-ups and removing the canopy masking before the model was ready to take its place in the cabinet (pictures 18 to 23).

The Wyvern is a large aircraft and pictures 24 and 25 will give you an impression on how large it really is!

conclusion

My first impression of this kit was very good and it still holds true! Fit during the whole build have been between very good and excellent! Only drawback is the decals that require some experience to cope with, and Trumpeters dubious colour-recommendations. Everything else would be nitpicking. This was is a very easy and fast build, almost as easy as the Tamiya Skyraider or P-47 Thunderbolt. I can recommend this kit to anyone but the absolute beginner (Lots of parts, Wing fold option, and tricky decals) and it represents very good value for money. Thanks to Trumpeter for doing the Wyvern in 1/48, can we please have a Gannet next?


Essential reference: Westland Wyvern, 4+ Books