Introduction

The following introduction is as supplied by Revell of Germany.
Popularly known as the ‘Wimpey’ after a portly cartoon character, the Vickers Wellington was one of the most famous Royal Air Force bombers of World War 2. A maximum of 21 RAF squadrons were equipped with the type in early 1942. The only British bomber in production throughout the war years, 14 Wellingtons participated in the first bombing mission against a German target at the start of the war and nearly 600 participated on the first ‘thousand bomber raid’ against Cologne. The criss cross geodetic structure allowed them to absorb considerable damage and still return home. The 400 Merlin engine Wellington Mk II’s built were designed to take advantage of the greater power available from the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and to ease production pressure on the Bristol Pegasus engines used in the Mk I variant. The Wellington Mk II was armed with four Browning 0.303inch machine guns and could carry 4,500lbs of bombs.

Contents

Packaged in one of Revell of Germany end opening boxes you will find a single re-sealable plastic bag that contains;
6 grey sprues
1 clear sprue (packed inside another sealed bag)
A decal sheet
An instruction booklet
An advisory notice

Review

First Impressions
This release from Revell of Germany looks very promising from an in-box point of view. The parts are cleanly moulded, with no flash of note and fairly small gates between the sprue and the moulded parts. The ejector pin marks are small as regards physical size, but they are pronounced and numerous; not overly concerning as they are inside of the parts on most occasions. The mouldings are also free of flow lines and sink marks. So far so good.

InteriorFor a 1/72nd scale model I am quite pleased with the detail included for this area. The geodetic structure is replicated throughout the interior of the fuselage, I feel that this is over scale and over pronounced, but on this occasion I do not see this as a fault but rather a nice inclusion as it could have been left plain. The cockpit detail is limited, but again good considering the scale and will provide a nice starting point for anyone wishing to add further detail. The instrument panel has been provided with raised dial and switch detail or if preferred this could be removed and the included instrument decal used instead. The wall behind the pilot has good detail on both faces and is something I did not expect to find. Having looked at this area closely I am only surprised that Revell of Germany did not include a bomb bay due to the effort they have gone to with the interior. As the cockpit canopy opens above the pilot although not offered as an option in the model, those that wish to detail the cockpit further do have an option for displaying their efforts.

FuselageHaving already mentioned how good the detail is on the interior you will be pleased to know that the rib detail is as good on the exterior. I have also noted that while some surgery is required to open the ‘V’ windows at the rear of the aircraft as an option, there are quite a few options included in the kit allowing several variants to be built, of course the instructions stick to the Mk II. As an example of the this the glazed area above the wings, also has a shaped fillet to close the area up if wished, but not mentioned in the instructions. I am again pleased with this area of the model.

Flight SurfacesThe details replicated on the wings and tail fins looks to match my reference, but the geodetic detail again looks over emphasized and is detail that I cannot see on my reference; with that said the detail is nice and I cannot say it is wrong, just that I cannot pick it out in my reference. None of the control surfaces are moveable and while this is not important to me I suspect it may be to some.

WeaponsThe front and rear turrets of the model are again well detailed for the scale, but I am not keen on the three part clear portion of each turret that needs to be assembled, cementing clear parts to coloured plastic has enough chance of going wrong without tackling three parts in this scale. The machine guns are not bad, having good body detail and barrels that ok, that being said, if you want to further improve the turrets there are 1/72nd scale turned brass barrels available from Master and they will really lift the area I believe. The introduction provided by Revell of Germany mentions the Wellington was armed with four guns, but if you opt to open the ‘V’ windows there are two more guns included.

Engines and PropellersWhile this model relates to the Wellington Mk II with Merlin engines, there are 8 propellers and 4 cowlings included with the kit; a few more offerings in the pipeline I guess. The Merlin engines themselves cannot be seen on the model, but Revell of Germany has done a fair job with the radiator detail and shape of the cowlings; I spent quite a lot of time comparing the cowlings to my reference material and something looks ever so slightly off on the bottom rear; however this was using a Mk I eyeball and would also not be the first time that reference used is out.

UndercarriageAll three wheel wells are nicely detailed having been moulded in two halves, but this has resulted in a join seam that will be impossible to fill, at least certainly where the rear wheel well is concerned. The wheel struts look good and a fair match for the real thing, the scratch building of brake lines will of course further lift the level of detail. The wheel detail is good, but the tyres are a little bland.

Decals The decals included with this model look acceptable, but are a little on the thick side judging from how they feel when running my fingers over them. The decals cover two aircraft, which are;
No 104 Squadron RAF Driffield, England, August 1941
No 405 Squadron RCAF Pocklington, England, August 1941
The carrier film around the decals is minimal with the letters being an exception.

InstructionsThe instructions are provided as a loose leafed booklet. The stages are clear and so easily understandable. The instructions also call out detail painting as construction proceeds.

Conclusion

I do not know if this is an all new model, a re-release or an older model with new mouldings; however whichever the case maybe the small gates indicates to me that it is not a particular old model if it is a re-release or an older model with new mouldings. I am tempted to say it is an all new set of mouldings with Revell of Germany having a few other finishing options in the pipeline. I really like what Revell of Germany offers with this model and feel that they have done a good job with this release. a model that offers a lot of kit bashing opportunities should you wish to utilise the spare parts in the box; perhaps a Mk II viewed from one side and something else viewed from the other.

Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For details visit www.revell.de/en, @RevellGermany or facebook.com/Revell

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