Czech Master Resin 1/72 Westland Wyvern By Tom Gloeckle

The Westland Wyvern was another of those interesting designs that was a product of post-war aerodynamic experiments to advance technologies using both new and old concepts. A very powerful turbine engine that needed a very large propeller to translate that power to speed, Westland realized that such a large, conventional propeller would not work. The solution was to use a large reduction gear mechanism hooked to a contra-rotating propeller. The result, a very large airplane with a very odd looking nose. The Wyvern could carry bombs, torpedoes, and rockets, a very formidable weapons platform. It also appeared to have the capability of being a dive-bomber as it was equipped with under wing dive brakes. The Wyvern's only military action was during the Suez Crisis in 1956 with 830 Naval Air Squadron aboard HMS Eagle. Czech Master Resin has just released a very fine 1/72nd scale kit of what I have dubbed 'the food processor with wings.'

Initial Impressions

CMR have pushed the envelope with this kit. The parts are molded in the usual honey colored resin, though the landing gear is in a very unusual black resin. The detail is nicely engraved, and very little to no flash evident anywhere. But the most impressive part of the kit is the fuselage molding. The fuselage moldings are very thin, in fact, as thin as any injection molded kit I've seen. The nice part about this feature is that it reduces the weight of the kit, and therefore reducing the stress on the resin landing gear. The wings are molded as a single part, with exception of the wing stations, dive brakes, flaps, and speed brakes.

The instructions are very comprehensive for an all resin, limited edition kit. They consist of exploded, multi step diagrams that make construction fairly straightforward. There are several photos and diagrams from tech manuals to support construction. There are also comprehensive four view diagrams to show decal location and the different markings included on the very nice decal sheet.

On the whole, a very attractive and exciting kit. I was ready to dig into this kit. It had all the promise of being as nice or nicer than other kits I've built from CMR.

Cockpit

The cockpit consists of a well-detailed tub, ejection seat, instrument panel, and separate control column. I started by gluing the instrument panel and control column into the tub, since they were going to be painted the same color. I left the ejection seat out, as it would require more attention. The tub assembly was then given a couple coats of Mr. Surfacer. This provides a nice smooth surface to work with and something for the paint to bite into rather than bare resin. Always prime resin or the paint will never stick. I used Testors Acryl Aircraft Interior Black mixed with a little flat white. This is a good representation of post war British cockpits, and it keeps from looking like a black hole. I then did a little weathering, very little as the British kept these planes well maintained, with a silver Prismacolor pencil. When that was done I moved onto the ejection seat.

The seat is painted the same black, with restrained weathering. The seat pad was painted dark earth with buff seat belt harnesses. The seat fit into the completed cockpit tub with little fuss. The tub was then fitted into one of the fuselage halves. A dry fit proved that there were no problems at all with the cockpit.

Fuselage

As I stated early, the fuselage is very thin, but not so thin that there's flexing or warping. Very impressive indeed. There is some clean up involved, but nothing too extreme. There are pour lugs on the tip of the tail on both halves. These will have to come off completely, as they will interfere with assembly. I also recommend thinning down the trailing edge of the rudder, as this will improve the look of the model greatly. There is some very fine flash around the apertures for the exhaust that will need a little tidying. In the assembly of the fuselage was where I first encountered one the few problems with the Wyvern.

The reduction gear housing must be trapped between the fuselage halves however; there's no real positive locating place. There's a ridge of resin toward the nose that one would think is a place to mount the housing. This is wrong because if that is used glue against, then the housing is the wrong angle and too far back. Just ahead of the ridge is a small trough cut into the fuselage. I used this as the place to locate the gear housing. It wasn't the perfect solution, but after two attempts, I got the gear housing where I thought it belonged.

Before putting the fuselage halves together, remember to trap the tail wheel gear well in place. Missing that little detail could make for nasty surprise later on. The fuselage halves were fitted together. There was some filling involved, especially around the lip behind the reduction gear housing. I was impressed, as the fit was much better than some injection-molded kits I've done lately. Are you reading this Pavla?

Wings

As said earlier, the wings are molded as one piece, but the flaps, and dive brakes are separate. While the wing does require some clean up on the leading edge, the trailing edge is very thin.

The navigation lights on the wingtips are solid, and could stand to be trimmed away and replaced with clear plastic. I chose not to do this for the sake of time. The fit of the dive brakes fit very well and required little trimming. The flaps are an interesting feature as they are quite unique. This style of flap is called ìYoungmanî, no doubt after the engineer who developed them. The actuators not only lower them, but also extended them away from the wing surface. I assume that this improved the carrier landing capability of the Wyvern. An odd feature that is included in the kit as an option to being raised. One of the actuators went AWOL somewhere in the process, so I had to make one from sheet plastic.

The locating points for the weapons are a little on the vague side. They are simply represented as lightly engraved circles. Not the most positive reference.

I added the inboard landing gear door at this time as these were closed except during the gear rotation process, and the gear wells were the same color as the underside.

Before adding the wings to the fuselage, ensure that L shaped block is added to the inside of the wing as this is related to locating the exhaust. Fit of the wing to fuselage is quite nice, though it does require sanding and putty work on the underside. On the subject of putty, I always like to bring up the subject of putty on resin kits. I recommend using an automotive style glazing putty instead of standard modeling putty, as they will adhere much better and will not shrink, crack, or flake off. This type of putty can be purchased at any auto paint store.

The horizontal stabilizers have a tab on each unit to assist in mounting to the fuselage. The tabs overlap to help in getting the rather radical dihedral correct. This is somewhat successful, but it still requires some fiddling with and references material to get right. There are little winglets that fit on the stabilizers, ensure that you get them located correctly, the top ones on the top and vice-versa. Also ensure the winglets are at a 90-degree angle to the stabilizer surface. There are some very tiny T shaped antenna that are mounted to the underside of the stabilizers, leave them off until the very last. Clean and putty the stabilizers in preparation for painting.

Canopy

The canopy is probably the most disappointing part of the kit. It's simply a basic bubble with very little surface detail. Cutting it out is as always fraught with a certain level of trepidation, particularly when there is a marginal demarcation line. Fortunately CMR provide a spare canopy in case you mess up. The canopy is also molded in one piece, and when introduced to the fuselage is a poor fit. I found a better fit when the windscreen is separated from the canopy. It's also nice that provides a better opportunity to look into the cockpit. One of the things that CMR missed was a small windshield wiper located on the front of the windscreen. I may add this from some spare parts I have later.

Landing Gear

These were the only parts that were not molded in tan, but a rather odd and very hard black resin. At first glance, they look far too thin and too brittle to support the weight of the model. But I can assure you, they most definitely will. The unnerving part is that the leg that attaches the wheel to the strut is almost translucent! I thought I would break it the second I started clean up on the part. Nope, they stood up to a far amount of handling, which is good since these bits have some thick and rather cantankerous flash to deal with between the struts. I had some trouble with the length of the retraction arm as I installed it after painting and the inside gear door is closed, thus impeding a positive location under the door. The gear doors are very nice, not overly thick, though the inner main gear doors may require a small amount of trimming to sit flush when closed.

The Odd Bits and Pieces

One of my favorite parts of this kit, oddly enough, is the exhaust pipes. When you look at them on the pour blocks, you'd swear you were looking at macaroni, which VERY thin, and very strong. How does CMR do that? You'd think you'd touch them and they would crush! When painted and installed they look very nice. There are also two very tiny 'T' shaped antennae that are mounted under the horizontal stabilizers. Care must be taken with this, not they are difficult to work with, just very easy to lose!

Weapons

What an airplane this must have been bombed up. This kit has absolutely no shortage of weapons. Included in the kit are 16 rockets, two bombs with three bomb racks, a torpedo, and two drop tanks.

Because of time constraints, and an inability to make up my mind, I wimped out and opted for the two drop tanks. I now have lots of lovely munitions for other projects. Also included in the kit is a set of RATOG bottles for extra heavy bomb load. The rockets are very delicate and will require some care. The down side to all this is that the location points for the weapons is very vague; especially the torpedo, which almost looks like it, flushes up against the fuselage. The bombs have separate tail rings, and all the parts are beautifully molded to CMR standards.

Decals

The decals are thin and beautifully printed with perfect registration. Here comes another tough part of the kit, which one to do? Markings are provided for three aircraft. One from No.764 NAS, another 830 NAS with the yellow and black Suez Crisis stripes, and the plane I chose which was from 813 NAS complete with 'Dennis the Menace' riding a torpedo. All three aircraft are in the standard sky and extra dark sea gray. I used Tamiya acrylics for the sky and the new Aeromaster acrylics for the gray. All the decals went down well over Future and reacted well to Micro Sol and Set.

Conclusion

What a great model this was! By far CMR's best effort to date. They are truly the standard by which all resin, and some injection molded companies, should be measured. This is my third kit I've built from them and by far the best. I look forward to building another one, if Chris will let me. Thank you Chris for giving me the opportunity to build the Wyvern, what a treat it was!