New Merlin powered marvels

Welcome to this latest edition of our Workbench blog and all the news, updates and modelling exclusives from the fascinating world of Airfix.

Our latest blog brings together the heady combination of classic British aircraft and beautifully produced scale representations of them, as we provide you with the latest updates from two projects which will be joining the Airfix range for the first time a little later in the year. Firstly, we look at the stories behind the scheme options which will accompany the first release from our highly anticipated new de Havilland Mosquito B.XVI tooling, both of which are so appealingly different that our choice is going to be a difficult one. Next, we have the latest of our ever popular exclusive box artwork reveals, as we show readers what will be gracing the box top of the forthcoming third release from our 1/72nd scale Vickers Wellington tooling, a kit which will also see the introduction of a new frame of parts, allowing an unusual version of the aircraft to be modelled. In fact, there is a strong link between these two aircraft, something we will discover during our respective update features.

We will be ending with another British aviation classic, this time one modelled by one of our talented readers who, not content with beautifully building and finishing his latest modelling project, managed to do something very special with his first ever diorama build. You will not be disappointed when you see pictures of Martin Wainwright’s beautiful Jet Provost T.4 build and it might just have you attempting this post war classic yourself. That’s the blog menu discussed, now let’s get started on the all-important modelling main course.

From flying furniture to air war winner

One of the most distinctive aircraft of the Second World War, the de Havilland Mosquito was the pride of the Royal Air Force and the nemesis of the German forces, both in the air, on land and at sea

It is sometimes difficult to comprehend that an aircraft which would go on to be regarded as one of the finest aircraft of the Second World War, had to initially fight for its very existence because its parent company was required to continue producing Tiger Moth and Dominie light transport biplanes for the Royal Air Force without interruption. Indeed, as development of the new de Havilland DH98 was taking place during some of the darkest days the British people had ever lived through, including the Dunkirk evacuations and the Battle of Britain, it was only by official intervention at the highest level that Rolls Royce Merlin engines were made available for the project. Whilst de Havilland were turning out their biplane designs by the hundreds and repairing all manner of damaged aircraft for the RAF, their sleek new twin engined high speed reconnaissance bomber was about to post performance figures which would eclipse most single engined fighter aircraft of the day.

With Britain feeling the full force of Germany’s war machine and de Havilland’s Hatfield factory in full production on existing aircraft types, the design team behind the new DH.98 (an aircraft which would later be name the Mosquito) relocated their endeavours to nearby Salisbury Hall, where they felt work on their new high-speed bomber/reconnaissance aircraft could carry on with little outside interference, particularly from roaming Luftwaffe bombers. Design and construction of the prototype began at the end of 1939 in a newly constructed hangar on land behind the Hall, however, despite making significant progress, the Ministry of Aircraft Production inexplicably cancelled the DH98 project the following June. Already convinced his new aircraft would be something special and one which could make a significant contribution to the war effort, Geoffrey de Havilland announced to his team that despite this setback, development would continue as planned, with the new aircraft proceeding as a private venture, but importantly, without further delay - Britain would soon learn the importance of his foresight.

Another remarkable feature of the new aircraft was its ingenious method of construction. Knowing that the use of aircraft aluminium would divert material from existing aircraft production and further irritate the Air Ministry, de Havilland utilised existing manufacturing techniques and an ingenious method of using balsa and plywood laminated sheets over specially designed moulds to produce the fuselage halves, with the wings also being made almost entirely of wood. Rather than resulting in a design which was less durable than an aluminium aircraft, the Mosquito possessed incredible strength and would not only allow the aircraft to post impressive performance in the air, but would also prove strong enough to allow further development of the airframe, making this a true multi-role aircraft.

Towards the end of October 1940, the prototype DH98 W4050 was complete and looking resplendent in the hangar at Salisbury Hall, only for her to be dismantled and transported the short distance by road to the main Hatfield site for flight testing. Once in the air, the aircraft showed great promise and despite the inevitable teething problems often associated with the flight testing of a new aircraft design, the Mosquito was clearly an exceptional aeroplane. Vindicating Geoffrey de Havilland’s decision and presenting the Air Ministry with an unexpected, yet not unwelcome surprise, the  new aircraft was capable of attaining greater speeds than their much vaunted Spitfire, despite being twice its size. Throughout flight testing, it would also prove to be extremely stable at all speeds and held great promise for future development - immediately placing an order for the new aircraft, thought turned to how best to use this impressive performer.

An icon of the aviation world, this stunning artwork shows the Mosquito up where she was most at home, flying at high speed amongst the clouds

De Havilland DH98 Mosquito prototype W4050 would not only go on to prove the concept of this high speed bomber, but would also serve as a flying test bed for many Mosquito improvement and equipment trials during its operational service, helping to ensure that the ‘Wooden Wonder’ became one of the most effective multi-role aircraft of all time and an icon of the aviation world. During the first half of 1943, as this aircraft continued to explore how the Mosquito could be made even more effective, it set an impressive level speed mark of 439mph, making this famous Mosquito the fastest aircraft in the world. Despite all these significant achievements, W4050 was deemed to have reached the end of its useful life by the end of the same year and was scheduled to be scrapped. Ending up back at Salisbury Hall as an instructional airframe for apprentice technicians and engineers, the announced closure of the site in 1947 resulted in an official instruction to take the aircraft out to land adjacent to the hangar and burn it! Thankfully, a forward thinking company official understood the historic significance of the aircraft and ignored this order, arranging for sections of the prototype to be stored at several locations around the country, determined that it should be preserved for future generations. This historic aircraft is now a prized exhibit at the impressive de Havilland Aircraft Museum, which is located on the same site were this aircraft was constructed almost 82 years ago.

From an Airfix modelling perspective, the Mosquito is perhaps one of our most important model toolings, with the first 1/72nd scale kit triumphantly joining the range back in 1957, to the delight of millions of modellers all over the world. Since then, the Mosquito has taken its place in many an Airfix range and has also been produced in 1/48th and 1/24th scale, as the modelling world continued to have an insatiable appetite for scale versions of this most famous aeroplane. As one of the new tooling projects announced at the start of this year, our latest 1/72nd scale Mosquito kit pays its own respects to prototype W4050 and its development work by presenting us with the final major bomber variant of the famous de Havilland Mosquito, the B.XVI. Utilising all the latest design and manufacturing technologies available to our team, we are delighted to confirm the project is advancing apace and it is now time to look more closely at the two scheme options which will accompany the initial release from this new tooling.

Scheme A - De Havilland Mosquito B.XVI ML963/8K-K, RAF No.571 Squadron, No.8 (Pathfinder) Group, Oakington, Cambridgeshire, England, September 1944.

Once the impressive capabilities of the Mosquito had been recognised, the aircraft would be pressed into service performing ever more challenging roles, all of which it executed with ruthless effectiveness. With its ‘non-essential material’ construction, the Mosquito soon earned its famous nickname of ‘The Wooden Wonder’ and was not only the pride of the Royal Air Force, but quickly became coveted by their enemy. Impressed by the performance if this new, fast bomber, the Germans tried hard to develop an aircraft with similar capabilities, however, despite numerous attempts to produce their own Moskito, none of these efforts came close.

In order to discover the secrets of the RAF’s speedy twin, the Germans would even lay elaborate traps for unwary Mosquito pilots, attempting to lure them in to heavily defended areas with the promise of a juicy target, only to unleash a barrage of anti-aircraft fire, hoping to bring a Mosquito down relatively intact, on German held territory. During one such attack, a small force of Mosquitos were sent to bomb a suspected V-1 rocket site in the Pas de Calais area, but Luftwaffe anti-aircraft batteries were waiting for them and opened up as soon as they were in range. The nimble Mosquitos were still difficult to target and all but one managed to escape unscathed from the trap, but the aircraft which was hit is the main Mosquito of interest here. 

Taking flak hits on both sides of the aircraft, a huge chunk of the starboard outer wing was blown away, in addition to the aircraft losing its port propeller and spinner, as well as damaging its port main undercarriage. With the damage to either side of the bomber appearing to leave the Mosquito in a state of damaged equilibrium, the pilot skilfully nursed the aircraft back across the English Channel and landed safely on one wheel on the grass runway of a relief landing ground. Testament to the strength of the Mossie, despite the damage suffered by this aircraft, it was initially intended that it would be repaired and returned to service, however on closer inspection, it was found that the damage was too severe and she was written off.  

Full scheme details featuring the Mosquito which famously ‘skip-bombed’ the railway tunnel at Bitburg at the start of the Battle of the Bulge

RAF No.571 Squadron was formed at Downham Market on 7th April 1944 and was to operate the de Havilland Mosquito XVI as part of No.8 Pathfinder Group in a highly specialised role. Selecting only the finest pilots, this unit was to use Mosquitos to carry out independent raids against strategic German targets using the 4,000lb ‘Cookie’ bomb. Retaining a position within the night light striking force, Pathfinder Mosquitos not involved in ‘specialist’ missions would revert to the main task of guiding heavy bombers to their targets, work which was still highly demanding and required both piloting and navigational excellence to be possessed by all crews. Underlining the effectiveness of Mosquitos and their crews in these demanding missions, by the end of hostilities, of the 2,681 Mosquito sorties flown by the men of No.571 Squadron, taking part in 259 strike raids, only eight Mosquitos were lost. Although every loss was clearly a tragedy, this represented an impressively low 0.3% loss rate for the squadron.

One particularly impressive mission which perfectly underlined the effectiveness of the Mosquito and some of the difficult missions their crews were assigned was undertaken by the aircraft featured as our lead scheme option with this new kit. Taking off from RAF Oakington in the early hours of New Year’s Day 1945, Mosquito ML963 8K-K ‘King’ had been loaded with a single 4,000lb ‘Cookie’ delayed action bomb and the crew’s mission was to skip-bomb the weapon into the open mouth of a railway tunnel! Over the past few hours, the Allies had been coming to terms with a strong and determined German counterattack in the Ardennes region (Battle of the Bulge), a breakout which was threatening to derail the Allied offensive. In response to this, Allied bombers had pounded railway marshalling yards in the region the previous night, in an attempt to cut German supply lines and stall the enemy advance.

The final part of this plan was to task RAF Mosquitos with destroying 14 railway tunnels in the area, ensuring that anything not destroyed by the bombing would not be able to deliver its supplies to the front lines, effectively starving the ground units of fuel and ammunition. To achieve this, the Mosquitos would have to approach their target tunnels at a height of between 100 and 200 feet above the tracks, before releasing their bomb in a manner which would send it into the tunnel itself, something which would require great skill and faultless judgement. The crew of ML963 executed their run perfectly, delivering their ‘Cookie’ as intended and destroying the railway tunnel at Bitburg.

It is thought that this rather impressive Mosquito completed 84 missions with the squadron in total, 31 of which were flown all the way to Berlin. She was also the subject of a famous series of colour air to air photographs taken by celebrated photographer Charles E Brown in September 1944, just a few months before her Bitburg Tunnel exploits. It was thought that the aircraft was made available for this photo sortie as she had just undergone repairs at Hatfield and was scheduled to perform an engine test flight. In honour of her photographic fame and the incredible mission she undertook on New Year’s Day 1945, one of the beautifully preserved Mosquitos at the de Havilland Aircraft Museum has been finished in these markings, with a 4,000lb ‘Cookie’ bomb strategically displayed in front of her.

Scheme B - De Havilland Mosquito B.XVI ML957/HS-D, RAF No.109 Squadron, Wyton, Cambridgeshire, England, 1944.

Originally conceived as a high speed bomber for the Royal Air Force, the final major bomber variant of the de Havilland Mosquito was the B.XVI, with deliveries to front line squadrons taking place during 1944. This was a development of the earlier B.IX variant and one which had been optimised for high altitude operation, incorporating a new pressurised cabin. Another unarmed version of the Mosquito, the B.XVI could carry a 3,000lb bomb load, however, all but the first 12 aircraft from a total production run of 402 machines incorporated modifications to allow a 4,000lb ‘Cookie’ or blockbuster bomb to be carried internally, a weapon which possessed devastating destructive capability. Combining the power of these fearsome weapons with the legendary speed and bombing accuracy associated with Mosquito operations allowed Bomber Command to keep the pressure on the enemy throughout the latter stages of WWII. Interestingly, these huge bombs were exactly four times the weight of the original bomb load this exceptional aircraft was designed to carry, which further underlines the strength of the Mosquito’s laminated wood construction techniques.

RAF No.109 Squadron reformed at Boscombe Down in April 1942 and would be instrumental in the development and implementation of the OBOE electronic navigational aid system, which would prove so crucial during the night bombing campaign. In August 1943, the squadron moved to Wyton to take its place in the ranks of No.8 Group and their Pathfinder operations - after spending many months as an experimental unit, they would embark on their first bombing mission on 20th December 1943, using a version of the navigational equipment they had helped to develop.

Pathfinder operations during WWII were as hazardous for their crews as they were essential for the night bombing campaign and would make a telling contribution to increasing the overall effectiveness of raids. Calling on the services of some of the most battle-hardened and experienced crews, the force began by using aircraft which were taken from the main bombing force, using such aircraft as Wellingtons, Stirlings, Halifaxes and Lancasters, but it was perhaps not until the introduction of the de Havilland Mosquito in the role that the force truly came into its own. Using the very latest equipment and techniques, pathfinder Mosquitos accurately market targets for the main bomber force which followed in their wake, using a combination of flares and incendiaries to illuminate the target area. Indeed, even when the weather conditions were so bad that the heavy bombers could not operate, pathfinder Mosquitos continued with their onslaught, continually harassing the enemy with precision attacks by both day and night.

An exclusive first look at the box presentation which will herald the release of this new kit which is already destined to be something of an Airfix classic 

This beautifully presented Mosquito is finished in a typical RAF night pathfinder scheme, one which helped to make these some of the most elusive Allied aircraft operating over enemy territory. Perhaps more than any other Allied aircraft type, Luftwaffe airmen prized a victory over a Mosquito simply because of the havoc they were causing and also because they were just so difficult to intercept. Mosquito ML957 was reported to have been severely damaged by flak during a raid to Essen on 8th April 1944 and whilst her crew did manage to nurse their aircraft back to the UK, they were forced to crash land at RAF Bradwell Bay in the early hours of the following day. Whilst both of the Canadian airmen were able to walk away from the incident, the Mosquito which brought them home safely didn’t fare quite so well and was written off, salvaging what they could for spares and burning the rest.

As far as our new Mosquito tooling is concerned, the Airfix team are as excited about it as modellers appear to be and we are not going to have to wait too long now before we can get our hands on one. Still scheduled for a late summer release, the next stage in our development overview of this project is to bring readers an exclusive first look at fully built advanced production models from the kit, something we hope to be in a position to do in just a few edition’s time, but until then, we hope you have found this scheme discovery edition of some interest. There is absolutely no doubt that both options are real ‘crackers’ and with each being quite dramatically different, how on earth are we going to choose one over the other? Thankfully, we can put off making that decision for a few weeks yet.

Unusual new powerplants for the Wellington bomber

We definitely know how to treat Workbench readers - our latest box artwork exclusive shows this RAF No.305 Squadron Wellington II operating over enemy territory and attempting to avoid the attentions of German flak and marauding nightfighters

Although the Vickers Wellington bomber can’t claim to be either as fast or as nimble as the Mosquito, it certainly does qualify as a classic British aeroplane in its own right and one which was arguably one of the most important aircraft available to the Royal Air Force during the early months of the Second World War. Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Wellington’s manufacture was the use of hundreds of Duralumin W-beams to form an intricate metal lattice-work fuselage construction on to which wooden battens would be screwed, with doped fabric applied as the aircraft’s outer skin. This method of construction was developed by famous British engineer and inventor Barnes Wallis, who had perfected this design for use in the construction of airships and the earlier Vickers Wellesley light bomber. As the Wellington was being designed around strict weight limitations from the outset, it was decided that this geodetic construction method would be the most appropriate way to proceed.

Although considered a traditional, if not old fashioned method of construction, the geodetic structures used on the Wellington made it relatively light in weight but endowed it with great strength and whilst it undoubtedly posed challenges for companies engaged in manufacturing the Wellington, the inherent strength of the design would prove crucial when the aircraft entered the air war. Capable of withstanding significant battle damage, numerous RAF Wellingtons managed to bring their crews back home, when other bomber types would probably have failed to do so, often exhibiting gaping holes or exposed areas of lattice beams in their wings and fuselage. By adopting this more traditional method of manufacture, the Wellington was found to be much less susceptible to battle damage when compared with more modern aircraft using stressed skin designs.

With its in-line Rolls Royce Merlin engines, the Mk.II variant of the Wellington looked very different from the aircraft powered by the more usual radial engines

Another modelling staple of many an Airfix range, the Wellington has been a firm favourite with modellers since it first appeared in 1959 and whilst it was a rather impressive kit for that time and has no doubt been built by many thousands of Workbench readers over the years, it was definitely in need of an upgrade. Our newly tooled Wellington kit was announced at the beginning of 2018 and as soon as modellers had the chance to inspect it, they knew we had done something very special with this Bomber Command classic. The launch of the current Airfix range included the news that the third release from this impressive tooling would come with an additional parts frame, allowing modellers to build a rather unusual version of the Wellington, one of only 401 machines which were powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin engine. We are sure that many of you are looking forward to getting your hands on one of these beauties, so we are delighted to be providing this latest update from the project, where we can exclusively reveal the new artwork which will grace the packaging of the kit, whilst also looking a little more closely at the two scheme options it will be supplied with.

Scheme A - Vickers Wellington Mk.II Z8339/SM-N, RAF No.305 (Polish) Squadron, Lindholme, South Yorkshire, England, June 1942.

As Britain’s most effective bomber at the time, the Mk.II variant of the Vickers Wellington was initially proposed as early as 1938 and was an attempt to equip the aircraft with more powerful engines. The main powerplant adopted by this particular variant was to be the Rolls Royce Merlin X, an inline V12 engine which utilised a two-speed supercharger, engines which gave the Wellington Mk.II a very different profile from aircraft fitted with the more usual radial engine powerplants. As the new Merlin X engine was not available to designers until early 1939, the first flight of the Mk.II variant did not take place until 3rd March 1939 and from a performance perspective, it would not all good news. Although the engines did produce more power than the original Bristol Pegasus units, they were also quite significantly heavier and resulted in the Mk.II Wellington giving with one hand, but taking away with the other. It was capable of achieving greater speeds and operating at higher altitudes, but it also had a reduced bomb carrying capability and could not match the range of its predecessor. 

Finally entering service at the end of 1940, the Wellington Mk.II would be produced in much smaller quantities than variants which came before and after it and from a total wartime production of 11,462 Wellington’s, only 401 were of the Merlin powered variant, less than 4% of the total production run. With the exception of the different powerplants, the Mk.II was basically identical to the Wellington Mk.IC, which was the first major production variant of the bomber, of which some 2,685 would eventually be built.

Full scheme details for the lead scheme to be included with the next release from our 1/72nd scale Vickers Wellington tooling

Formed in late August 1940, No.305 Squadron was made up of a majority of Polish aircrews, who had managed to escape the German Blitzkrieg against their nation, only to have to evade them again later in France. Originally equipped with the obsolete Fairey Battle light bomber, they later converted to Wellingtons and began night bomber operations from April 1941. In July of the same year, the unit moved to RAF Lindholme in South Yorkshire, from where they would operate the Rolls Royce Merlin powered Mk.II variant of the Wellington. After two constant years of operation supporting Bomber Command’s night bombing offensive, the Squadron converted to daylight bombing operations, having traded their British bombers for American made Mitchells. Their time with the Mitchell would prove to be short lived, as after just sixteen operational missions, they would exchange the ‘Magnificent Medium’ for an even more effective aircraft, the de Havilland Mosquito. They would use the Mosquito to continually harass the enemy until the end of the war, operating from several forward airfields on the continent following the D-Day landings. 

Vickers Wellington Z8339 took off from RAF Lindholme just before midnight on 19th June 1942, taking her place in a force of 194 RAF bombers sent to strike the coastal town of Emden. The raid was made up of Wellingtons, Halifaxes, Stirlings, Hampdens and Lancasters, however, the main strength of the force was made up of no fewer than 112 Wellingtons. Records show that the main force were some way off the target and whilst most reported accurately bombing the town, they actually struck Osnabruck, some 80 miles to the south.

The raid would not be as costly as some, but would still suffer the loss of nine bombers, including Wellington Z8339. It is thought that she was the victim of nightfighter ace Herbert Lutje of 8./NJG.1 and his Messerschmitt Bf 110F-4 G9+AS, who intercepted the bomber almost immediately as she turned for home. The aircraft came down near the Dutch town of Heeten in the early hours of 20th June 1942, with all but one of the crew tragically being lost.

Scheme B - Vickers Wellington Mk.II W5442/BU-V ‘SRI GUROH’, RAF No.214  (Federated Malay States) Squadron, Waltham, England, March 1942.

One of the many fascinating facts relating to the wartime service of the Wellington was not about the exploits of a heroic crew, although there were undoubtedly plenty of these, but the speed at which one could be produced. As a nation galvanizing propaganda exercise, workers at the Vickers Armstrong factory at Broughton were invited to show just what Britain could do and build a new Wellington in a record breaking time during their ‘Workers Weekend’. As you may well imagine, everyone was keen to do their bit for the war effort, particularly as a government film unit was in place to document the attempt. Following a super human effort, the workers easily broke the existing record which was at that time held by an American factory and as Wellington LN514 rolled out of the factory in October 1943, they had produced their bomber in the impressive time of 23 hours and 50 minutes. It is reported that the test pilot was taken completely by surprise at the speed of the construction and had to be roused from his bed in order to undertake the test flight. With the entire factory staff looking on, the new bomber took to the air for the first time only 24 hours and 48 minutes after the first parts of the airframe had started construction.

RAF No.214 Squadron would be equipped with the Vickers Wellington bomber from May of 1939 and would have the distinction of serving the entire war on operations with Bomber Command. From June 1941 and for the next twelve months or so, the squadron would operate the Rolls Royce Merlin powered Mk.II variant of the Wellington, one of only a handful of units to operate this type during WWII, however, from April 1942, they would exchange their twin engined Wellingtons for Britain’s first four engined heavy bomber, the Short Stirling, a type they would operate until the end of 1943.

In September 1941, the squadron was honoured to be adopted by the British Malayan Federation and had ‘Federated Malay States officially incorporated into its title. The federation donated significant funds to raise, equip and support the squadron, support which was very much needed at this stage of the war. To mark the squadrons new association, several of their aircraft were decorated with related artwork, such as Wellington W5442, which was known as ‘SRI GUROH’.

Wellington Mk.II W5442 ‘SRI GUROH’ which flew in the markings of RAF No.214  (Federated Malay States) Squadron

On the evening of 9th March 1942, Wellington W5442 took off from RAF Waltham at the start of a raid to Essen in Germany - they were only using this base because the ground at nearby Binbrook was too sodden to support the weight of fully laden bombers. The bomber suffered flak damage over the target and with the situation being quite serious, they set course for home. The shell burst had damaged the port engine, causing generator and hydraulic failure, which meant that the bomber’s turrets could only be traversed manually - they were still working, but only slowly. With the aircraft beginning to lose height, it attracted the attentions of a patrolling Junkers Ju88C nightfighter which was lurking in the shadows. Piloted by Oberleutnant Alois Lechner of E/NJG.2 from Gilze-Rijen airfield, he was confident of scoring an easy victory and manoeuvred his fighter into a firing position under the stricken bomber, before unleashing a torrent of cannon and machine gun fire into its unprotected belly.

The attack further damaged the Wellington and injured some of the crew, meaning their position was now extremely perilous. Even though the Junkers nightfighter had moved away, the situation got even worse for the crew as ground anti-aircraft batteries opened up on them, setting the aircraft ablaze. The pilot gave his crew the order to abandon the aircraft and three of them managed to take to their parachutes. The remaining three were still in the aircraft when it hit the ground near Beverwijk in Holland. It was later reported that one of the three still on board was a 19 year old gunner who was on his first combat mission and was so petrified that he was stuck rigid with fear, unable to leave his station. This heart-breaking story underlines the horror of the night air war and the unimaginable bravery shown by every member of Bomber Command during WWII.

Yet another exclusive, as we bring you a first look at the full box artwork which will mark the release of this impressive new kit

Our newly tooled Wellington kit is a stunningly faithful scale representation of one of the most important bombers of the Second World War and the chance to model one of only 401 Merlin powered variants of the aircraft will be of interest to many. It will definitely produce a really interesting addition to any model display in which it is placed and will look quite different to the more numerous radial engine powered Wellingtons. A08021 Vickers Wellington Mk.II is still scheduled for a late summer/early autumn release, but as we still have one more stage in its development to bring Workbench readers (a fully built and finished production sample), we will provide a definitive release update at that point. For now though, this stunning new model is available to pre-order through your usual model supplier, or on the Airfix website.

Just a series of controlled mistakes

Although a beautiful model build, Martin Wainwright has intentionally finished his Jet Provost to look a little less than pristine

One of the absolute joys of putting the Workbench blog together each fortnight is having the opportunity to regularly feature model builds created by our incredibly talented readers and to see how different modellers put their own individual stamp on the hobby. Anyone who has been lucky enough to attend a model show will attest to the fact that modelling is clearly a form of art and how some people just appear to have more of an insight than the rest of us. How many times have you marvelled at a model build and just said to yourself, ‘how on earth did they do that?’

The modelling talents of Workbench reader Martin Wainwright have already featured in a previous edition of our blog, but the sight of his latest build had us reaching for the phone once more, contacting him to ask if we could include it in the next edition of our blog. Happy to oblige, Martin told us that he has actually been away from modelling for quite a while, as he works for the NHS and it has just been such an incredibly busy and challenging time for him over the past few months. His recent return to the hobby started with a visit to his local supermarket and picking up one of our Starter Sets he found on sale there - our Hunting Percival Jet Provost T.4 in Red Pelicans Display Livery. Although he thought the model came with a really attractive scheme option, he thought this would be much too easy an option and he wanted to do something a little bit different with this build, something he had not previously seen in a magazine, or featured on an on-line forum. As he had been away from the hobby for a while, he really wanted to challenge himself, to see what he could achieve with the kit, his spares box and things he could find around the house, in effect challenging him and not his wallet.

Right from the outset, Martin had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve with this build. Although the Jet Provost is a delightful little kit, he wanted to make this one appear a little ‘unloved’, an aircraft which was in its post service days and was suffering a little at the hands of time. His inspiration was two fold - firstly, a Fairey Gannet he remembers seeing at Errol Airfield between Perth and Dundee, one which was in quite a state of distress and secondly, a Jet Provost he remembers seeing displayed near Bristol Airport. The look he was going for was something we have probably all seen, an aircraft just sitting at the side of some B road somewhere, slowly falling into a state of disrepair, with most people only half noticing it and driving past without stopping. At the same time, he also wanted this to form part of a display diorama and incredibly (when looking at the finished build images), this would be the first time he had attempted a diorama build. Clearly, he would be taking on quite a challenge.

Once Martin had made his build decision, that’s when all the fun started. Right from the beginning, he discovered that few companies made decals for Jet Provost kits and as he would need something more standard RAF flying training than display team from a scheme perspective, he began to scour the internet for a suitable subject Provost. He discovered that an aircraft with a similar code to one included as a decal option with the A02107 Jet Provost kit, the third release from this tooling, would serve as the ideal subject for his build. If he could obtain a set of these decals, combined with what he had in his own spares box, he would have what he needed. A quick call to Airfix Customer Services had the required set of decals speeding their way to Martin and the project was a definite go! When the decals arrived, all he would have to do was to cut the end 9 off the serial and apply it upside down, making the 9 a 6 - this would transform the serial from the incorrect XR679 to the XR676 he was looking for…. simple really!

Photographs of the actual Jet Provost T.4 XR676/52 can be found on the web, wearing its iconic Royal Air Force No.3 Flying Training School livery, however, further investigation revealed that this aircraft appears to have been scrapped at No.27 Maintenance Unit at RAF Shawbury in 1971, but this was just a point of reference - this project was all about imagination.

Once Martin had everything he needed, it was simply a matter of making the build match what he had in his mind, but as this was the first time he had attempted a build of this kind, it was always going to be a something of a case of modelling trial and error. Although he is extremely happy with how it eventually turned out, there were several occasions during the build where he just had to try something, saying to himself, ‘What would happen if I did this?’ Some of these things worked out, whilst others had to be cleaned off and attempted another way. He had to study pictures of Jet Provosts preserved outdoors in various museums to see how they had weathered and where they had started to look a little tatty. If you look closely at the pictures used to illustrate this feature, you can see how he has carefully applied moss and grime to the model, impressively replicating how this has bled down the fuselage due to the effects of gravity, just as it would on a real aircraft in this condition. Similarly, the cockpit and canopy weathering is really effective and you can’t fail to be impressed at the attention to detail Martin has shown throughout this build, trying to ensure that his Provost looks just a little bit forgotten about.

Martin requested a spare set of decals produced for our A02107 release, specifically because one of the two aircraft covered had a serial which was close to the one he intended to model - all he had to do was to turn the end nine into a six

Adding to the overall feel of a little piece of forgotten aviation history which was slowly falling into a state of dereliction, the diorama base itself was impressively produced to look a little neglected, as if it had been left untended for quite some time. The trees are a little rough looking and the grass looks overgrown and left to its own devices, using colours which lend themselves to enhancing the overall effect. The path edge is similarly untended and whilst the fence is clearly there to stop scale people from getting a little too close, even though it appears its services may not have been required for quite some time.

When it got to this stage, Martin was really pleased with the effect he managed to produce, but at the same time, he felt as if something was missing. When he remembered visiting aircraft museums in his youth, especially smaller ones in more rural locations, the exhibits would invariably have a plaque in front of them, containing information about the aircraft you were admiring. This was exactly what his diorama needed to finish it off. Scratch building the frame and its supports, the information panel itself was made by shrinking down suitable Airfix profile artwork and adding a representation of some text, the final piece in this diorama jigsaw. If a dilapidated former RAF jet trainer was the effect Martin was looking for, then we are in absolutely no doubt that he must be delighted with this effort, which really is a modelling thing of beauty. He wanted this build to tell a story and to be something different from the usual pristine builds most of us would usually go for. Modestly describing his first diorama build as a bit of a mishmash and a series of controlled mistakes, Martin told us that in his opinion, this could have all gone horribly wrong at any stage, but how in the end, it all seemed to turn out ok.

We would like to thank Martin for sending us these fantastic build images and for spending the time to talk through the build with us. We are certain that a great many Workbench readers will enjoy seeing how his dilapidated modelling vision became a stunning reality. Indeed, if any other readers have ever purposely finished one of their models in a less than pristine state, we really would love to see them and would ask if you would be good enough to send us a picture or two. As usual, please use our workbench@airfix.com e-mail address for all correspondence. 

We are afraid that’s all we have for you in this latest edition of Workbench, which we hope you found an enjoyable read. As always, if you have any suggestions for particular subjects you would like to see covered in a future edition, please do drop us a quick line, using this workbench@airfix.com link to contact us.

In between new editions of our blog, the Airfix conversation continues over on our Airfix Forum Workbench thread, with further discussions taking place on our official social media platforms - Airfix Facebook, Airfix Twitter and Airfix Instagram – please do get involved in the discussions and let us know what you think about Workbench.

Whenever you decide to visit, the Airfix website is always the place where you will find all the latest model availability information, previous editions of our blog, a selection of modelling tips and much more.

The next edition of Workbench is scheduled to be published on Friday 23rd July.

Thank you once again for your fantastic support.

The Airfix Workbench Team