After bad experiences with the Trumpeter SM79 and Fw200, I promised myself I wouldn''t buy this! But one look inside the box was enough to change my mind! There are still a couple of areas I have my doubts about but, basically, we''ve got a quarter scale Wimpy at last! - and it''s pretty darn good!

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!

I was given a chance last night to have a look at this model. First impressions are that it has been worth the long gestation - apparently Trumpeter were stung by the adverse comments over the S.79 especially, so they took their time to get the Wellington right.

The downsides? Well, the wing geodetic structure is heavy and will need some work to reduce it to scale and I don't really trust the rubber tyres. And those pin marks will be a pain. The decals are a let down, especially as Trumpeter have given a 75 (NZ) Sqn. aircraft as an option.

At last a more than passable 'Wimpey'! I'm hoping there will be later Marks in the pipeline.

Jeff W.

There is a small set of Wellington details photos here

http://ipmsstockholm.org/magazine/2001/01/stuff_eng_detail_wellington.htm

You can just get a glimpse of the interior in a couple of them.

Great review Rowan. Big isn't it.
I saw this kit in Modelzone and started drooling, but before i got to open the box to look inside ( the first stage of buying it ) my daughter kicked me in the shin, announcing "that I'm bored". I would never have been able to sneak it past the Beloved anyway :-).
I will get one though, i will have to bide my time :-)8 :-) .
Andy

Hi Antoni

Thanks for the link. I've seen those photos previously and they've encouraged me to get up to Hendon to try to get us our own walkaround pics when I get a chance. As you say, the glimpse of the interior is intriguing - the colour looks like bare-metal geodetic structure with an external coat of red-oxide primer seaping through the fabric. Some of the on-line builds I've seen suggest painting the interior of the fuselage red-oxide - which I think would be too strong. Apparently, there are colour photos of the interior in the 4+ publication, but mine is still in the post - I'll post more as and when I get it.

All the best

Rowan

Looks good Rowan,
It's kits like this that make me wish I had a larger apartment.

Hi Dave

Me too! :-) :-) Common sense said I shouldn't have bought it, because I really just haven't got the space to build anything this big - but since when did common sense have anything to do with modelling?!

All the best

Rowan

I doubt that they would paint most of the interior as it would add considerable weight for no good reason. Red dope was used to shrink and seal the fabric and only needed on the outside.

Hi again Antoni

My thoughts precisely; and as if to back us up - guess what was waiting for me when I got home... yes, the 4+ Publications book!



I've hardly started to digest the detail in it - suffice to say, it is phenomenal! - and I'd say to anyone who's goung to build the Trumpeter kit - Don't even think of starting without getting hold of this book. If ever there was an essential reference - this is it!

The colour section of the interior is superb. In some places, there's no red-oxide visible at all, in others it soaked through quite strongly (but I'm still convinced this is the result of an external coat):



Now - just to throw confusion on whether Mk.1Cs had ventral turrets, the book states that they were fitted on early machines of this version! This contradicts every other reference I've read and, although the book says this, none of the photos it includes show it.

What is does include is artwork of T2835/AA-C (the second decal option) showing it without the ventral turret and Medium Sea Grey codes.

All the best

Rowan

Thanks for this Rowan, I can't wait to get mine. It will be a while as all my modelling tokens are used up but my LHS promised to get one in for me when they were available, I just hope that he will keep it for me Who will be the first to enter one in the MOM.
Mal

Here's a Wellington project for you Merlin

http://www.roman.biskupin.wroc.pl/dyw300zdj.html

Page down and find the 14th and 15th photos of BH.Z. Microstrip or will you wait to see if Eduard produce a PE set?

Hi Antoni

I'll certainly try to review whatever sets Eduard release. There's no chance of me tackling the Wellington this year - I only bought it as a new release to keep us up-to-date in the Reviews department.

With so many builds piling up, it'd be sheer disaster if I were to start the Wimpy just now, hard as it is to close the box and put it out of reach; I already tempted fate badly by just test-fitting parts! :-)

All the best

Rowan

.. you've just answered my question - a build would have been nice ...no doubt it'll feature in one of the mags ..
my local model shop (Hythe Kent models ) has one on the shelves - its taking up an awful lot of room - I was briefly tempted to liberate it ...
thanks for the refs ..

Hi Neil

I'd love to build the Wimpy straightaway, but there just aren't enough hours in the day. Of course, there nothing to stop someone else submitting a full-build Review...

All the best

Rowan

Well, I just got the model today. I got it off ebay, the starting bid being 10 bucks! I won the bid at something like 35.00, with an additional 9 dollars for shipping.

But, enough of that.

This will be a few firsts for me. My first British bomber, and my first Trumpeter kit.

And looking at the kit(I went through the kit before I came here to read the review and get a feel for the reactions of others), I find that I have a lot of ground to cover before I start clipping parts from sprue and embark on the path to a completed model.

Being that the engines are radials, they are in front, and very exposed. And I like to pay particular attention to the engines(mostly from the fact that a lot of my experience as an A&P had to do with engines, so it kinda rubbed off). A couple months ago, I bid on a Pegasus manual on Ebay. And won the bid. At the time, I wasn't sure when I'd be getting a model that had a Pegasus, but at the time, it seemed like a pretty good idea to have it on hand, just in case.

Well, that time is approxmately now, since this Wimpy has a pair of Pegasuses(Pegasi?), so now I'll be able to give the engines a tad better detail than just building it right out of the box.

As to the rest of the model, let's just say that I have my work cut out for me with respect to getting more information.

But still, at first glance, a very nice kit.