Special Hobby Whirlwind

[Peterpools]

Thanks Rob, feels great to being able to do what I've been able to all these years. It's sad, we never realize how lucky we are to be able to enjoy what we do, until we physically can't anymore. I just don't take anything for granted and enjoy everything to the fullest.  I'm looking at building the GWH P-40B Flying Tigers next and have been doing a lot of research, especially on the colors. My plan now is to continue doing the free hand cammo and see how it goes.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Chris, so very much appreciated.

Always new adventures and obstacles to overcome. Besides all the issue with a limited run kit, I finally realized I need to look a bit ahead and see what's down the road. Normally, I completely agree I would never, ever think of painting the fuselage band first but what threw me for a curve, was there no way to mask the stripe where it physically touched the vertical stabilizer.  I must have looked at it a million times and nothing registered until it was too late.  

I'm so lucky I have incredible doctors and my wife Diane nursed me back to health every step of the way. It's a long journey and thank goodness all worked out well. I have another Petscan at the end of the month, where I'm checked to make sure the cancer has not returned. Fingers crossed as always.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks John

Making progress and hopefully it will be smooth sailing the rest of the way. Somehow, every time I say this, something else seems to pop up and Murphy stops by for a visit.

 

[Peterpools]

DECALING DONE

Finally enough progress for an update with the decal application done, test fitting the props and hubs and the Alclad Kleer Kote Semi Matte top clear coat is done. It’s time to move onto the main gear – I’ve been putting this off as long as possible – as at this stage I don’t have that much confidence in them – hopefully I’m worrying about nothing.

Finally trimmed out and flying straight and true. A rare day for sure in the saga of the Whirlwind build. Decals are by Cartograf, absolutely perfection in color and registration. Perfect!

Prep work was two silky smooth coats of Tamiya LP-9 Lacquer Clear Gloss thinned out with Mr Color Self Leveling Thinners. First coat at 50/50 and the second coat was 60/40, thinner to paint. I did manage to scratch the left upper engine cowl with the air brush quick disconnect fitting and a bit of repaint was needed- done and finished.

No issues at all as the decals went down perfectly using the Micro System. While the Whirlwinds skin was super smooth, the decals adhered perfectly and I didn’t encounter any slipping or sliding as I did with the Tamiya’s decals on the Spitfire. l careful removed all the clear carrier film around each of the six large fuselage letters, applying them individually – wanting to minimize any chances of the carrier film showing when viewing on an angle to the camera.  

 Care needs to be followed on applying the roundels on the undersides of the wings, as the port and starboard are not the same. I am assuming that RAF practice of the day specified different roundels on black and Sky underwing wing surfaces.

Lastly, one last clear gloss to seal the decals and then the final clear coat of Alclad Klear Kote Semi Matte ALC312.

I tried something new for me – a bit of light weathering adding some light brown in the green and visa vera. Might try some oils at the end. I also notices a bit of the canopy framing peeled when I removed the masking, so that’s another fix plus painting the front office sill.

 

 

[Spitfire]

Looks great, just right to my way of thinking.

Cheers

Dennis

[Peterpools]

Thanks Dennis, much appreciated.

At this point, I'm close to the home stretch and ready to tackle the landing gear which seems to be the most finicky part of the build. Once the gear assembly is and installed, all that should be left is finishing up the loose ends. 

 

[BlrwestSiR]

The Whirlwind looks great Peter. Glad to hear the decals went on without a hitch. 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Carl, finally something that was enjoyable and went without a hitch. Hoping to build. paint and install the gear over the next few days and then the home stretch. Can't wait to get going on the P-40.

 

[KevinM]

That's looking quite the part Peter Nice looking Crate!!

[GazzaS]

Great job on those decals, Peter.

[Peterpools]

Thanks Kev

Yup, a good looking crate, tough as nails and except for the decals has been a fight all the way. I've been working on the main gear and who ever deigned it kit wise, I'm convinced went out of their way to make this portion of the build as finicky and troublesome as possible.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Gaz, finally something on the kit that was relaxing to do.

 

 

[Landlubber Mike]

Wow, that looks really great Peter, nice job!  

[Bomber_County]

Peter, just catching up again, the camo came out perfectly as ever and the decals looks as if they have been stencilled. Will there be any weathering? Congrats on another stunning build…..

[Peterpools]

Thanks Mike, greatly appreciated.

Finally in the home stretch and truthfully can't wait for the Whirlwind to cross the finish line as it's been a struggle from the start. Looking forward to my next build at this point; the GWH P-40B.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Phil, very much appreciated.

I'm not really a weathering guy but I am planning on doing a bit of bleaching and maybe some grime in the panel lines. Right now I'm struggling with the landing gear as I feared - just way to finicky and it could have been designed to be installed a lot easier. Hopefully by Friday I'll be adding all the small, end of build parts and ready to move on.

 

[rkranias]

Happy to catch this one Peter.  Great fixes, even the repeats , on this.  I have this kit and been mulling it over to bring it to the bench after my He100.  I've always liked this aircraft.   Of course, I have all the AM stuff available.

 

SH has the gift of supplying plenty of angst with their builds. 

 

I agree on those instructions.  When I built SH Tempest the landing gear and wheel well assembly instructions drove me batty.  I ended up replacing several landing gear parts with aluminum slide fit tubes.   I'll keep a close attention to those instructions and test-fit, test-fit, test-fit.

 

You build is coming along beautifully.

 

Keep 'em coming! (😉)

 

[JohnB]

Looking mighty fine Peter. Crisp and clean!!!

[belugawhaleman]

Loooking great Peter!

[Peterpools]

Hi Rick

Thanks for checking in. SH's Whirlwind sure has been a test of will and even considering it's a limited run kit, it's just so hard to understand why they seem to over complicate the things. I've been frustrating myself to no ends working on the landing gear (the last assembly hurdle) and after reading how much the Tempest gear was a mojo killer, seems the same set of designers/engineers figured out how to do the same with the Whirlwind. They just seem to have a knack over overly complicating assembly steps. 

After you finish the He100, would be a treat to see you tackle the Whirlwind ... I'll surely be on board for the journey.

 

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks John

Fun part is over - painting and decaling and now it's back to the grind. The biggest plus, I can finally see the finish line.

 

[Peterpools]

Thanks Paul, much appreciated. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there.

 

[Peterpools]

END OF THE ROAD

BINNED AND ON IT’S WAY TO THE

LANDFILL RECYCLING FACILITY

I’ve struggled and fought this kit since almost the very beginning – terrible instructions, vague part location and sloppy fitting parts. Except for the decaling which was a pleasure as it was a Cartograf gem, the kit was without question one of the worst models I’ve tried to build since returning to the hobby nearly ten years ago. I gave it my best and failed.

Well over a week ago, I started on the last assembly: the landing gear and it was the same frustrations, day after day. It didn’t take very long to lose any desire to even sit at the bench. Finally, after using a lot of poetic license and John's cuss factor, I had the gear in place.

The gear doors were painted and ready to go and after snapping two of the small door hinges, which was my fault, I just couldn’t for the life of me get the doors on. Then, I spilled some Extra Thin on two of the doors and knew I would have to strip and repaint them. That was it, I flipped out.

Frustration, anger and a total dislike of the kit, overcame me. I completely lost it, tossed the kit into the bin with such force, it snapped and broke into a zillion pieces. I actually felt relief knowing I would never have to touch or look at it again. Nothing will ever tempt me to buy another Special Hobby kit. For whatever the reasons, I guess my skills at nearly 75 just aren’t there to deal with this type of kit.

Being plastic, our plastic recycling day is every other Wednesday morning and the Whirlwind is now  in our recycling bin and will be gone for good.

My nerves are shot and my mojo completely gone. I was looking forward to starting the P-40 but I just need to walk away for a good while, as I have no erg or desire to sit at the bench and build at all right now.

[Spitfire]

Whoops, sorry to hear this after all the work that you put into it.

Cheers

Dennis

[GazzaS]

1 hour ago, Peterpools said:

END OF THE ROAD

BINNED AND ON IT’S WAY TO THE

LANDFILL RECYCLING FACILITY

I’ve struggled and fought this kit since almost the very beginning – terrible instructions, vague part location and sloppy fitting parts. Except for the decaling which was a pleasure as it was a Cartograf gem, the kit was without question one of the worst models I’ve tried to build since returning to the hobby nearly ten years ago. I gave it my best and failed.

Well over a week ago, I started on the last assembly: the landing gear and it was the same frustrations, day after day. It didn’t take very long to lose any desire to even sit at the bench. Finally, after using a lot of poetic license and John's cuss factor, I had the gear in place.

The gear doors were painted and ready to go and after snapping two of the small door hinges, which was my fault, I just couldn’t for the life of me get the doors on. Then, I spilled some Extra Thin on two of the doors and knew I would have to strip and repaint them. That was it, I flipped out.

Frustration, anger and a total dislike of the kit, overcame me. I completely lost it, tossed the kit into the bin with such force, it snapped and broke into a zillion pieces. I actually felt relief knowing I would never have to touch or look at it again. Nothing will ever tempt me to buy another Special Hobby kit. For whatever the reasons, I guess my skills at nearly 75 just aren’t there to deal with this type of kit.

Being plastic, our plastic recycling day is every other Wednesday morning and the Whirlwind is now  in our recycling bin and will be gone for good.

My nerves are shot and my mojo completely gone. I was looking forward to starting the P-40 but I just need to walk away for a good while, as I have no erg or desire to sit at the bench and build at all right now.

Peter,

     I'm sorry to hear that the kit pushed you over the edge.  I know that what hurts the most is the effort invested.  Take a break and have a rest.  It's not your fault that the kit was bad.