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Lerxst
Andy Ball (Lerxst)
GB

Polish Wellington, RAF Syerston

Comments

72 10 August 2019, 15:55
Stefan Schacht
nice start, coumt me in.
10 August 2019, 17:37
Andy Ball
Cheers Stefan. I hope I don't keep you waiting too long!
10 August 2019, 17:39
Slavo Hazucha
Very nice detailing and woodwork, watching
10 August 2019, 17:43
Andy Ball
Hi Slavo, as you probably know this Airfix offering has terrific detail for this scale. So far, I've added one stretch-sprued detail (from reference pictures at Brooklands), and the Airwaves RAF 'belts, (as surprisingly Airfix don't incorporate them). I may add Air-master's 0.303 metal barrels as the ones on the kit could be improved. Thank-you for your kind comments too.
10 August 2019, 17:58
Stephan Ryll
Looking good so far Andy 👍
12 August 2019, 15:21
Cuajete
Well done so far.
12 August 2019, 18:52
Andy Ball
Thanks Stephan and Cuajete, so kind,.....advanced the build today, and the engineering on this is superb. Nearly got the two fuselage halves together- just a bit more tidying to do then we'll crack on with the rest!
12 August 2019, 21:44
Andy Ball
Progressing nicely now, both sides closed, all flight surfaces have gone together well too. A few photos to show the detail before it's buried...
13 August 2019, 21:49
Slavo Hazucha
Really nice - hope the clear parts are good enough to allow at least a few un-twisted peeks inside!
14 August 2019, 05:15
Maciej Bellos
Following!
15 August 2019, 20:31
ForestFan
I don't live too far from Syerston so will be checking in!
15 August 2019, 20:35
Andy Ball
@Slavo, the transparencies are thin and clear, but alas will not totally resolve visibility-perhaps Airfix need to do a transparent fuselage edition?. @Maciej I hope I do justice to these guys who flew in her- the Poles were a brave breed in WWII, I have total respect for their achievements. @forestfan, I guessed from your moniker you're a Notts person! We have some WWII aviation heritage here in this county!?
15 August 2019, 21:23
Guy Rump
Looking great so far, the interior is excellent. Shame you have to close it up and hide most of it.
19 September 2019, 19:59
Nikolaos Kouzinis
Excellent job Andy. The interior fantastic, especially the net metal corp needs many courage to paint it, Bravo
19 September 2019, 20:05
Maciej Bellos
Yes Andy, the Polish pilots played an important part in the Battle of Britain and later on in the war. I haven't studied the bomber squadrons (shame on me), I only have a basic view on how the fighter squadrons fared. Eitherway, the RAF was a joint effort of Brits, Canadians, Aussies and New Zealanders, Poles, Greeks, Czechs, French, South Africans, American volunteers and many many more from other places in the world. Forgive me for not mentioning all of them.
19 September 2019, 20:17
Daniel Klink
Hi Andy, great interior details and very nice progress so far!! Will follow this 👍
27 September 2019, 09:53
Łukasz Gliński
I have to watch this, how come I missed it?
27 September 2019, 16:49
Slavo Hazucha
Great progress Andy, I am looking forward to what you'll unleash on the outside of the plane! 👍
28 September 2019, 06:02
Oleg Smilyk
Thats looks promising!
28 September 2019, 06:55
Andy Ball
@Guy, Nikolaos, Maciej, Daniel, Łukasz, Slavo and Oleg: thank you collectively for the interest and nudges!...I hope to put some exterior shots on soon. Progress is a little haphazard with my Spitfire side projects going too. I also had an issue with the varnish prior to decals- dried a strange white, so re-sanding, re- spray and re-varnish.
28 September 2019, 19:56
Mark
Lovely work Andy, love the work on the geometric frames.
5 October 2019, 14:27
Andy Ball
@Mark, thank-you for your comment. I am trying to gently sand the paint to reveal a contrast on exterior framework. It's an experiment, and hoping it'll pay off.
7 October 2019, 09:48
Dave Flitton
Lovely work, can't wait to see the finished product!
16 October 2019, 15:55
Andy Ball
I now declare her finished. Dedicated to the Polish crews here at RAF Syerston.
19 October 2019, 16:40
Maciej Bellos
Well done Andy and thanks!
19 October 2019, 17:13
Andy Ball
@Maciej, the pleasure's all mine!
19 October 2019, 17:49
Łukasz Gliński
Lovely result, btw. this is 305th Sqn plane 👍
19 October 2019, 18:14
Andy Ball
@Łukasz: indeed it is, they came to the base after the Canadians and before the Lancasters. Do you know the word "Elzunia"?, is it Polish?
19 October 2019, 18:24
Spanjaard
Very nice
19 October 2019, 18:39
Łukasz Gliński
It's Polish indeed, but explaining it is a bit complicated. I'll have a try in steps 🙂
1. Elisabeth translates into Polish as Elżbieta (to be read as 'aelzhbee-etah' more less)
2. Then to sound nice and sweet you can denominate (is it a proper wording?) it to Ela, Elusia, Elka, Elżbietka, Elunia, Elcia and Elżunia of course
3. Now take into account we are talking about 1940s, today probably nobody would use anything else than Ela/Elka or Elcia in case of little girls; the other sound a bit archaic to me nowadays
I also found an English equivalent here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clever_Elsie, never heard of 'Elsie' name before 🙂
PS. 'Ż' used to be written as 'zh' by English speakers or 'j' by the Francophones.
19 October 2019, 20:17
Guy Rump
Great result Andy, very impressive 🙂
19 October 2019, 21:06
Daniel Klink
Your Wimpy is a real stunner Andy 👍 Wonderful Details and great Job man Congrats 👍
19 October 2019, 22:15
Andy Ball
@Guy thank you for stopping by and your comments- means a lot!
20 October 2019, 18:32
Andy Ball
@Daniel: those comments are welcomed from someone who's knocking them out of the park at the moment !
20 October 2019, 18:33
Andy Ball
@Spanjaard: many thanks matey!
20 October 2019, 18:36
Andy Ball
@Łukasz: grateful for the Polish lesson! "Elsie" she is, then!????
20 October 2019, 18:37
Łukasz Gliński
Seems to me that this is the closest equivalent, but I have stumbled upon 'Elsie' for the first time ever 🙂
20 October 2019, 21:01
Andy Ball
@Łukasz "Elsie" was a popular name in UK, say, in the 1930-1960's. Fallen out of fashion now, perhaps I will crack a miniature bottle of champagne on the side of her to christen her! ????
21 October 2019, 07:25
Greg Baker
Are you sure this is 1/72 scale? I think it's 1/48 and mislabled....
21 October 2019, 09:03
Andy Ball
@Greg: thanks for the compliment!, but you raise a broader point perhaps?...72nd is now getting more detailed, more advances -no doubt in the recording of the machines with CAD -and ultimately the molding technology is opening up a new era for us 'brail-scalers'.
21 October 2019, 10:12
Spanjaard
There are some really small kits out there, with great details, even in 1/144! P51D from Plaz now by Edward, comes to mind....
21 October 2019, 14:56
Andy Ball
@Spanjaard: that's good to know, as I was thinking of opening a third interest area on commercial planes: most of which gravitate to the 144th. I guess we're all benefiting from improving technology!
21 October 2019, 15:54
Cuajete
Very nice, Andy. Well done. Congrats!
21 October 2019, 21:01
Andy Ball
@Cuajete: many thanks for the comment!
21 October 2019, 23:44
David Januska
Oh my, how could I miss such a treasure. Really nice one am perfect result. How was the built? Is the kit so good as was written?
22 October 2019, 11:33
Andy Ball
@ David: not one single piece of filler. The 2 rear fuselage 'v' shaped (to mask the transparencies) sat a little proud and had to be sanded down, and a little CA was used to blend the join if I'm honest, but otherwise I think this is a 'game-changer' for the scale and Airfix. I'm building their Do-17z at the moment, and the few years' difference in molding philosophy is notable. Build one, you won't regret it.
22 October 2019, 12:39
Andy Ball
And thanks David for the comments too!
22 October 2019, 12:39
David Januska
Well Andy, thank you. I must say I admire your wood work, it seems like it is real wood. I have the same one in my stash, so I think the building is getting closer 😉.
22 October 2019, 13:38
Andy Ball
@David, drop me a note when you're thinking of starting...I'll offer any support you need, but you probably won't need it!
22 October 2019, 17:44
MICHAEL WOODHOUSE
Great build especially interior as I have found out on my own kit extremely fiddly painting the Geodetic. You feel obliged to paint it all but most lost to the eye when closed up unfortunately. I am up to the camo stage and hopefully match you own finish. The kit is very good as you say but I had trouble closing it up perfectly probably due to all those interior bulkheads fighting the joints!
1 November 2019, 17:59
Andy Ball
You're right Michael, the geo- mainly disappears, but when you're doing the 'photo-build' thing, you feel obliged!, jiggle those bulkheads...it will fall together. My only slight out-of-line was the crew hatch ventral-aft of the bomb aimer, and watch the 'V' s on either side of the fuselage, they stand a wee bit proud. Otherwise you'll have plenty of fabric-detail to highlight.
1 November 2019, 18:25
MICHAEL WOODHOUSE
You may have said earlier but did you free hand the Brown/Green Camo upper paint finish - difficult to say from photos but looks good. I have a new airbrush which might at last give me the potential to do this well.
3 November 2019, 19:33
Andy Ball
@Michael: apologies for not replying sooner. I did mask them once the dk.brown was down. I also did some 'free-hand' airbrushing on patches that I wasn't happy with. That effect 'softens' some of the demarcation between green and brown. I use the excuse that maybe they would have repaired battle-damaged Wimpies leading to a less-defined green/brown finish! Bizarrely, I find the RAF upper sides difficult to reproduce as they seemed so keen to have a solid boundary between their colours. Best of luck with your airbrushing!
11 November 2019, 17:45
Greg Baker
Man... that's really a beauty
11 November 2019, 23:07
MICHAEL WOODHOUSE
Thanks for info - yes I did the same using paper masks for top camo - should have left the black until last as would have made the masking much easier - also didnt prime the black area and have had some paint pull off when removing masking - its like russian roulette!
12 November 2019, 19:59
Andy Ball
@Greg, thanks for the message- you're no stranger to knocking 'em out the park yourself too! I've seen your work!
12 November 2019, 20:31
Andy Ball
@Michael: I had an issue with my gloss varnish (Humbrol), it came out lumpy and dried milky, further adding to the spraying woes! I think black's always a good starter colour!
12 November 2019, 20:33
Łukasz Gliński
Andy, thanks a lot for another lesson on English idioms, lovely example! 👍
12 November 2019, 21:10
Andy Ball
@Łukasz: "you line 'em up, and I'll knock 'em down"! ????
12 November 2019, 23:02
Łukasz Gliński
That would kill all the fun of discovering them in their natural environment 😄
13 November 2019, 08:48
Munkyslut
Cockpit detailing is brilliant, well impressed!
13 November 2019, 09:03
Andy Ball
Cheers Monkeyslut!, that made it all worthwhile doing it!
13 November 2019, 15:55
Slavo Hazucha
Nice work Andy! Kind of sorry to have all that interior beauty behind bars, but we all know it´s there!😉 And the exterior that hides it turned out so nice that it´s all good 👍
2 December 2019, 11:10
Andy Ball
Ah Slavo, many thanks for your comments and good to hear you again. I'm stuck in a bit of a doldrum: new job eats into model-build time, and the area I make them in, (a brick lean-to on my house), makes for cold evenings in there. I will get my mojo back soon...gotta finish the Do-17z and Bf109-G6.
2 December 2019, 16:25
Robert
great all the details... 🙂
unfortunately mostly hidden when closed 🙁
3 December 2019, 21:27
Andy Ball
@Robert: sadly yes, but I'd be uncomfortable with them omitted!!, (actually, you can see most of them by taking out the front and rear turrets, plus through the bomb-bay)
6 December 2019, 17:40
Chaz Gordon
Outstanding detail in 1/72nd, glad I'm not the only painter of detail that will be forever hidden. But hey, that's what photo albums are for.
6 December 2019, 17:49
Andy Ball
@chaz .... "we suffer for our art?!????"...
6 December 2019, 23:34
Patryk S.
Congratulations on a great build!
16 December 2019, 18:00
Andy Ball
@Patryk thankful for your comments
17 December 2019, 18:14
Mark
Superb work Andy, a fitting tribute.
19 December 2019, 21:37
Andy Ball
@Mark, thank-you, it's a great kit!
19 December 2019, 22:03
Gary Kitchen
Andy- a fabulous reference for me. I think this airfix kit blows the trumpeter one away for internal fittings (needless to say your build was fab) I think the exterior of the trumpeter looks like a match for the geodesic/stretched skin look. Also happier with my red dope now Ive seen yours which was tonally darker but I wasn't too far off. 👍
8 September 2020, 05:58
Andy Ball
@Gary: thanks for popping by. I'm really impressed with yours and Trumpeter's kit- I guess the next MkIII in town?, I'm not sure the red-brick dope went everywhere, (note pilot's station area), and I think you've started the tedious interior aluminium cross hatching too?, that should make it really "pop"
8 September 2020, 07:31
Bernd Grün
Very Impressive build. Congratulation!
14 October 2021, 12:51
Micky
Superb work my friend!! Interiors are impressive. Paint job outside is very good as well showing the stress in the wings. Last but not least is the historic reference that you always put on your models. Congrats!!
14 October 2021, 13:28
David Taylor
Smart Andy.
14 October 2021, 14:10
Robert Podkoński
Cool model!
14 October 2021, 14:13
Andy Ball
@Micky: It's all credit to Airfix's attention to the geometric design, you merely bring it out with a bit of subtle highlighting over the "Night" (black).
As you probably know my 2 Lancs are still on their constructive-journey: once complete that's my homage to 4 RAF Syerston machines- perhaps Grog's Shot crew was trained here at 5LFS?, who knows!?
15 October 2021, 10:57
Andy Ball
@David and @Robert: again, thanks both for your interest. Promise I'll have a peek at your work shortly!, I'm in a bit of hiatus at the moment as my "studio" is being built. I really am itching to get back at this crazy hobby soon!
15 October 2021, 10:58
Micky
Looking forward to the 2 Lancs completed! It is a hell of a job!
15 October 2021, 12:30
David Taylor
How is the big Spit doing.
15 October 2021, 17:21
Andy Ball
@Micky: there's no economies of scale in building two that's for certain!
15 October 2021, 22:11
Andy Ball
@David: paused. Hiatus whilst I get my studio built! But I have to finish it…it's personal! 😉
15 October 2021, 22:12
Mark
That, is very, very, nice work. 👍
15 October 2021, 22:29
Andy Ball
Thank you Mark. Appreciate you taking a look.
1 November 2021, 07:31
David Taylor
Another stunner out of the stable.
1 November 2021, 16:07
Alex Rodionov
Nice job. I like it much. 👍
1 November 2021, 18:29
Łukasz Gliński
Have you noticed A., that the Merlin variant will have the same Sqn markings included OOB? 😮
Vickers Wellington Mk.II (Airfix A08021, 1:72)

A08021
 
1 November 2021, 18:30
Andy Ball
@Łukasz: I think that's when they left Syerston and moved to Lindholme and got Mk II's? What you realise is how much turnover there was in equipment, locations, and sadly crews, in such short periods of time.
1 November 2021, 22:20
Andy Ball
@Alex and David: I appreciate so so much those comments and hope your modelling is going from strength to strength!
1 November 2021, 22:22
Łukasz Gliński
You made me re-read my sources A. 🙂
Mk.II is said to be used between VII'41 and VIII'42, than exchanged for Mk.IV.
That means you're perfectly right 🙂
2 November 2021, 11:34
Curatorm
Very nice!
2 November 2021, 11:49
Andy Ball
My word Łukasz, if I've made you check the history of the Squadron I am humbled! I don't suppose you know what happened to Elzunia?
2 November 2021, 12:33
Andy Ball
Merci Curatorm, I'm appreciative of the comment and 'like'
2 November 2021, 12:33
Łukasz Gliński
Unfortunately not 🙁
2 November 2021, 13:28
Andy Ball
@Łukasz: R1123 may have been moved from 305 squadron to an OTU as it crashed in 1942 at RAF Wymeswold (not far from Syerston) killing 2 (non-Poles). There is a good account of 305 Sqdn losses on the web too.
2 November 2021, 13:45
Christian Bruer
Very nice work 👍
3 November 2021, 16:01
Andy Ball
Cheers Christian! Thanks for looking
3 November 2021, 20:24
Nikolaos Kouzinis
Bravo Andy. Great job
25 November 2021, 15:28
Guy Rump
Lovely job Andy! 👍
25 November 2021, 17:50
Gary Kitchen
Great finish Andy. 👍
25 November 2021, 21:09
Mark K
Very nice indeed!
25 November 2021, 22:09
Charlie Spitfire
lovly i resently made this kit and i had a lot of truble with the cris cross patturn so good on you for makeing it look good and to reashoure me that i painted the right places
26 November 2021, 01:25
Robert Podkoński
What more can I say here - really good work, Andy, congrats! I must also say that weathering is perfectly adequate, IMHO.
26 November 2021, 05:49
Charlie Spitfire
did you put in all of the interior parts
28 January 2022, 00:06
Andy Ball
Thanks dear mates for your comments- and apologies for the late acknowledgments. @Robert: yes, just a subtle one for me, I think the geodesic design needs a slight highlight to give some depth-Airfix did a good job there.@Charlie- used all the pieces - we obsessive modellers do that sort of thing with no logic!!
30 January 2022, 09:07
Charlie Spitfire
same with mine why would you not unles you like fast building
30 January 2022, 23:38
Andy Ball
@charlie 💯
10 February 2022, 13:44
Charlie Spitfire
i love looking back at the instructions and know that every little detail is inside the model even if you cant see it my wellington was a game changer for me as it was by bigest model but not for long i am thinking of getting a Lancaster soon
10 February 2022, 17:56
Andy Ball
Thank-you Sebastian!
17 September 2023, 08:24
Andy Ball
.....and thank-you Jan, too
18 September 2023, 11:12
Andy Ball
Vincent , thanks..like your P-38J!
18 September 2023, 13:28
Andy Ball
Petr, appreciating your interest!
19 September 2023, 11:08
Andy Ball
Thank-you Jan… dedicated to our brave Eastern European lads who may have seen Nottinghamshire countryside as their last landscape…
19 September 2023, 22:46
Andy Ball
and again, thanks Neil!
31 October 2023, 12:52
Andy Ball
Pleased you paid a visit Edgars!
31 October 2023, 12:59
Pietro De Angelis
Beautiful work, congrats!
31 October 2023, 13:25
Andy Ball
Appreciate that comment Pietro!
and
thanks Gábor
1 November 2023, 11:42
Andy Ball
Thanks Edward, appreciate the visit!
22 November 2023, 12:33
Andy Ball
Thank-you Rolf Rolf, again!
25 November 2023, 13:08
Andy Ball
JK 👍
25 November 2023, 15:28
Andy Ball
Thanks Rando!!
27 November 2023, 11:56
Andy Ball
Thanks Gary, the visit is appreciated
10 January, 23:40
Andy Ball
James C and Axel, I'm thankful for the visit!!
13 January, 20:55
Andy Ball
Thanks Skyhiker and others for your visits.
20 January, 13:54
Jennifer Franklin
Very nice work.
23 January, 12:34
Andy Ball
Thank-you again, Jennifer!
5 February, 15:13
Andy Ball
Sebastian- thank-you, it means a lot from a great model maker such as yourself!
5 February, 19:58
Andy Ball
Marcelo, many thanks for your appreciation- means a lot
18 February, 18:01

Project info

50 images
1:72
Completed
1:72 Vickers Wellington Mk.IA/C (Airfix A08019)1:72 Vickers Wellington Mk IC (Techmod 72135)1:72 WW2 RAF ACCS (Airwaves AC7221)1+

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