Armstrong Whitworth Whitley Mk V
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Kit Review
This is another new tooling from Airfix and who but them would produce a kit of such as this!
Inside the box you will find two clear sprues (separately bagged within the main bag) and four in the usual light grey-coloured plastic. Surface detail is via engraved panel lines, there are no other engraved details but the bulk of the wings etc are fabric covered, so this is done with raised ribs and looks quite effective. Assembly is achieved in 70 stages, so that gives you an idea of the complexity. It all starts with the forward fuselage and cockpit, which is made up of floor, bulkhead, seat, central console, control column, instrument panel with rudder pedals and lower bulkhead. The radio operator's desk and radios are a separate part and whilst the instrument panel and various consoles on the sidewalls plus a map for the navigator's table are all supplied as decals, there are none for the radios and the parts lack any moulded detail. This is probably because once in situ and the fuselage halves are joined, you won't see it anyway? The next five stages continue building up the detail in the forward fuselage, including the navigator's table, flight engineer's seat etc. Stage 14 sees the assembly of the rear fuselage, which has a break line following that of the transit line break on the real thing, so it's at a rakish angle, with the upper decking separate and the floor is also included as a separate part. The lower section of the centre section is a separate component and into this goes the fore and aft spares, complete with the sections forward of the bomb bay and the walkway between these two spar bulkheads. Good locating lugs ensure a strong joint for the lower outer wing panels, then the one-piece upper sections can be added. Attention now turns to the engine nacelles and wheel wells, with the engine bearers separate (albeit no engines themselves, the bearers need to be there as they are visible up inside the wheel wells) and the mid-bulkhead for the undercarriage. The engine nacelles are made up from two halves, with separate engine firewalls and oil cooler rear flaps. The cooler matrices are separate, as are the two intakes on each side of the nacelle and, as expected, the exhaust stacks. Now the main sub-assembles come together, with the engine nacelles added to the wing, then the forward fuselage and finally the aft section. The landing flaps are separate and can be posed up or down. The tailplanes have separate elevators and the vertical fins have separate rudders. The front and rear bomb cells have nicely moulded 250lb GP bombs complete with separate racks and you can pose the doors open or closed. The tailwheel is separate from the yoke (hooray!), making painting a lot easier and the main wheels are 'weighted'. By now you are at stage 59 and the assembly of the gun turrets is next on the agenda. These are nicely moulded, with good structural detail and about the only thing some may do is replace the gun barrels with some from Quickboost, just for better detail. The fairings either side of the rear turret are separate and because the turret is built as a sub-assembly on its base, it can be installed as a whole after you complete all the painting stages. The front turret is made up in a similar manner, although it is held in place by the angled glazed panels in the nose, so these too can be added at the end making life a lot easier. The final details are the canopy (you get two versions, with or without an astrodome), DF loop, aerial masts, propellers, landing light cover, pitot and the crew access doors and ladders under the nose and in the port side of the rear fuselage.
Colour Options
The kit comes with two decal options
• N1380, DY•R, flown by Sqn Ldr J.C. MacDonald, No.102 Sqn, RAF Driffield, March 1940 in a Dark Green/Dark Earth over Night scheme
• Z9226, ZA•K, No.10 Sqn, RAF Leeming, December 1941 in an overall Night scheme
The decal sheet is the usual style from Airfix, so it has perfect register and colour but the all the images have a satin sheen and the carrier film thus may become visible within the codes once applied on the likes of Z9226. The sheet includes the decal for the instrument panel etc, plus some W/T stencils, but no others.
Conclusion
Superb, not just the kit but the subject, who would have thought we would have a mainstream kit of the Whitley! The engineering approach of this kit shows how Airfix use the physical nature of the real thing to determine how they break down the kit, which is a sound approach and allows for good detail.
An excellent product and one every RAF collection should contain. Let's hope the Coastal Command version is not too long in arriving.
As with all new Airfix kits, buy it, build it (straight away), enjoy it!
This is another new tooling from Airfix and who but them would produce a kit of such as this!
Inside the box you will find two clear sprues (separately bagged within the main bag) and four in the usual light grey-coloured plastic. Surface detail is via engraved panel lines, there are no other engraved details but the bulk of the wings etc are fabric covered, so this is done with raised ribs and looks quite effective. Assembly is achieved in 70 stages, so that gives you an idea of the complexity. It all starts with the forward fuselage and cockpit, which is made up of floor, bulkhead, seat, central console, control column, instrument panel with rudder pedals and lower bulkhead. The radio operator's desk and radios are a separate part and whilst the instrument panel and various consoles on the sidewalls plus a map for the navigator's table are all supplied as decals, there are none for the radios and the parts lack any moulded detail. This is probably because once in situ and the fuselage halves are joined, you won't see it anyway? The next five stages continue building up the detail in the forward fuselage, including the navigator's table, flight engineer's seat etc. Stage 14 sees the assembly of the rear fuselage, which has a break line following that of the transit line break on the real thing, so it's at a rakish angle, with the upper decking separate and the floor is also included as a separate part. The lower section of the centre section is a separate component and into this goes the fore and aft spares, complete with the sections forward of the bomb bay and the walkway between these two spar bulkheads. Good locating lugs ensure a strong joint for the lower outer wing panels, then the one-piece upper sections can be added. Attention now turns to the engine nacelles and wheel wells, with the engine bearers separate (albeit no engines themselves, the bearers need to be there as they are visible up inside the wheel wells) and the mid-bulkhead for the undercarriage. The engine nacelles are made up from two halves, with separate engine firewalls and oil cooler rear flaps. The cooler matrices are separate, as are the two intakes on each side of the nacelle and, as expected, the exhaust stacks. Now the main sub-assembles come together, with the engine nacelles added to the wing, then the forward fuselage and finally the aft section. The landing flaps are separate and can be posed up or down. The tailplanes have separate elevators and the vertical fins have separate rudders. The front and rear bomb cells have nicely moulded 250lb GP bombs complete with separate racks and you can pose the doors open or closed. The tailwheel is separate from the yoke (hooray!), making painting a lot easier and the main wheels are 'weighted'. By now you are at stage 59 and the assembly of the gun turrets is next on the agenda. These are nicely moulded, with good structural detail and about the only thing some may do is replace the gun barrels with some from Quickboost, just for better detail. The fairings either side of the rear turret are separate and because the turret is built as a sub-assembly on its base, it can be installed as a whole after you complete all the painting stages. The front turret is made up in a similar manner, although it is held in place by the angled glazed panels in the nose, so these too can be added at the end making life a lot easier. The final details are the canopy (you get two versions, with or without an astrodome), DF loop, aerial masts, propellers, landing light cover, pitot and the crew access doors and ladders under the nose and in the port side of the rear fuselage.
Colour Options
The kit comes with two decal options
• N1380, DY•R, flown by Sqn Ldr J.C. MacDonald, No.102 Sqn, RAF Driffield, March 1940 in a Dark Green/Dark Earth over Night scheme
• Z9226, ZA•K, No.10 Sqn, RAF Leeming, December 1941 in an overall Night scheme
The decal sheet is the usual style from Airfix, so it has perfect register and colour but the all the images have a satin sheen and the carrier film thus may become visible within the codes once applied on the likes of Z9226. The sheet includes the decal for the instrument panel etc, plus some W/T stencils, but no others.
Conclusion
Superb, not just the kit but the subject, who would have thought we would have a mainstream kit of the Whitley! The engineering approach of this kit shows how Airfix use the physical nature of the real thing to determine how they break down the kit, which is a sound approach and allows for good detail.
An excellent product and one every RAF collection should contain. Let's hope the Coastal Command version is not too long in arriving.
As with all new Airfix kits, buy it, build it (straight away), enjoy it!
