1/48 Westland Sea King HAS.1 build review

[Ratch]

I have airbrushed a little pre-shading. 

Now I’m waiting for paint to be delivered.

[Clive-363967]

Looks good, coming along nicely, looking forward to seeing it finished, must say interior detail superb, glad airfix included full interior

[Ratch]

It's an excellent kit Clive.

I chose Vallejo Model Air 71300 Glossy Sea Blue as my approximation of BS381C 633 RAF Blue-Grey.

I have masked up for the next colours.

[Ratch]

I removed the masking on the quarter lights and airbrushed them with a mixture of Vallejo Game Color 73201 Black Wash and Vallejo Model Color 70936 188 Transparent Green. I masked and airbrushed the exhausts and wheel floats with Alclad Magnesium and Jet Exhaust.

[Ratch]

I have brush painted the wheel wells and aerial masts in white, yellow on the rotor tips and red undercarriage linkages. I also brushed the aerial blades and underside panels with Vallejo Model Color 70977 125 Desert Yellow, then the radar housing with Humbrol Acrylic 91 Matt Black Green.

[Ratch]

The tyres were brush-painted anthracite. 

I then airbrushed the rotor blades with black. 

I painted the navigation lights on the undercarriage sponsons, red on the port side, and blue on the starboard side. It was then sprayed with Klear. I have since started applying decals using Humbrol DecalFix.

[Ratch]

Another decal session.

It may not be obvious, but a lot of stencils have been applied.

[Ratch]

The instructions seem to indicate that decals 47 & 48 go over the folding part of the tail. If I have interpreted this correctly, they would be better printed in two halves, like those for the open doors on the F1 Tanker in the WWII USAF Bomber Re-supply Set.

I cut mine to position them correctly. 

All decals were applied using Humbrol DecalFix. To protect the markings, I airbrushed a mixture of Klear with a little Matt Varnish added. 

When dry I could remove the masking. 

[Ratch]

I returned to construction and fitted the remaining clear parts. I then fitted the doors, followed by the tail rotor. I had already assembled the rotors in their folded position. I added the wire that runs down the port side of the fuselage, fixing Aeroclub Rigging Thread with cyanoacrylate. The main rotors merely slot into the engine. I have not fixed them so that they can be removed for transportation purposes.

To conclude, this is a delightful kit to build. It is well engineered and thoughtfully designed. I expect the three variants offered in this first boxing will expand in the future. The door is certainly open for further variants to be kitted. I also expect aftermarket to provided masks, alternative decal markings and possibly additional parts too for the less prevalent types.

[Ratch]

Westland Sea King HAS.1 XV666, No.826 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Naval Air Station Culdrose, Cornwall, England, 1970. 

Thanks for looking.

[Pretty Mediocre Modeller]

Nice job Ratch!

Looks like a great kit, I'm tempted. Airfix are certainly loving the Fleet Air Arm fans out there in 1/48 scale lately.

[SD45elect2000]

Nicely built, paint work is great!

Randall

[Ratch]

Thanks gents, this is probably the best Airfix kit I've built.

[null_null981707818191]

I've very much enjoyed following this build. Space (and cost) limits me to 1/72 scale, so it's really interesting to see what detail can be achieved in 1/48th scale. Mind you, looking at the number of stencils you had to apply, perhaps it's a good thing it wasn't in a smaller scale! Thanks for sharing your progress and of course the finished aircraft.

[Ratch]

i'm glad you've enjoyed the journey. Not too long ago I would have agreed with you about 1/48 aircraft, but having built a few now, I can see the attraction. Of course, if you want a collection of many aircraft then quarter scale is probably not the way to go. But if your interest is in a particular aircraft then why not try 1/48. Much more detail in the larger scale.

[Ratch]

Paints used:

11 Metallic Silver / Vallejo Model Air 71063 Silver (Metallic) / Revell Aqua 36190 Silver Metallic ~ wheels

Humbrol Acrylic 19 Gloss Bright Red ~ undercarriage linkages

Humbrol Acrylic Dropper Bottle DB0024 No. 24 Trainer Yellow – Matt ~ instruments, main rotor tips

Vallejo Model Color 70965 51 Prussian Blue FS35052 ~ cabin walls

Humbrol Acrylic 27 Matt Sea Grey ~ seat frames, Observer’s radar / tactical display console, Aircrewman’s sonar display, Sonar Type 195 frame

Vallejo Model Color 70992 160 Neutral Grey ~ bulkhead, upper walls/ceiling of load bay

Humbrol Acrylic 33 Matt Black ~ handset, pee-pipe

Vallejo Model Air 71057 Black RLM22 RAL9004 FS37038 = rotor blades

Humbrol Acrylic 53 Metallic Gunmetal Grey ~ exhausts

Humbrol Acrylic Dropper Bottle DB0056 Aluminium – Metallic / Revell Aqua 36199 Aluminium Metallic ~ bare metal surfaces, Sonar Type 195 body

Humbrol Enamel 64 Matt Light Grey ~ arm rest on seating, rear bulkhead

77 Matt Navy Blue / Vallejo Model Air 71300 Glossy Sea Blue ~ airframe

Humbrol Acrylic Dropper Bottle DB0085 Black – Satin ~ instruments

Humbrol Acrylic 91 Matt Black Green ~ Sonar bay

Vallejo Model Color 70977 125 Desert Yellow ~ hull panel, aerial blades

Humbrol Enamel 103 Matt Cream ~ Sonar Type 195 head

125 Matt US Dark Grey / Vallejo Model Color 70868 163 Dark Seagreen RAL7015 FS36118 ~ interior walls, console, interior canopy framing

130 Satin White / Vallejo Model Air 71001 White FS37925 RAL9016 RLM21 / Vallejo Model Color 70919 2 Foundation/Cold White ~ wheel wells, tail rotor tips

Humbrol Acrylic 174 Matt Signal Red ~ fire extinguisher

Humbrol Acrylic 191 Metallic Chrome Silver ~ pee-pipe cup

Vallejo Model Color 70936 188 Transparent Green + Vallejo Game Color 73201 Black Wash ~ quarter lights

Alclad2 ACL-111 Magnesium ~ float panels, exhaust panels

Alclad2 ACL-113 Jet Exhaust ~ exhaust pipes

Revell Aqua 36109 Anthracite Matt ~ tyres

[Clive-363967]

Job well done, great build review also, followed it with interest 👍

[Ratch]

Thanks, Clive. A pleasure to build.

[paul71]

a cracking build ratch enjoyed watching this ( even though I've fell behind with it a bit this past few weeks) it might be one to consider in the future

paul

[Ratch]

Thank you Paul, definitely one to consider.

[Ratch]

For Andrew