Trumpeter 1/72
Westland Wyvern S.4
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History
Westland's last fixed-wing airplane was an oddity caught in the ever-changing
design requirements of World War II and the rapid advances in aviation
technology of the post-war years. The Wyvern began life as a piston aircraft,
but eventually made its service debut in 1954 as a turboprop-powered naval
strike fighter. Due to developmental and reliability problems with its
engine, the Wyvern took 7 1/2 years to go from first flight to operational
service, and by that time the turboprop naval fighter concept was considered
obsolete. Consequently, the Wyvern S.4 (the only production version) served
in small numbers (70) with the Royal Navy only from 1954 to 1957.
The Wyvern S.4 was well liked by its pilots, who considered the aircraft
to be a good weapons platform and enjoyable to fly. In 1956, Wyverns of
No. 830 Squadron flew combat missions during the Suez crisis.
The Kit
Trumpeter's Wyvern is very well molded without any defects; the engraved
surface detail is excellent and sized just right for 1/72nd scale. Separate
wing control surfaces and folding outer wings are included. However, the
separate folding wing tip panels are not correct-these were seen only
on some pre-production aircraft.
The locator tabs on the horizontal stabilizers are apparently engineered
to fit to the fuselage without dihedral, and these will have to be modified
by the modeler to correctly display the very prominent dihedral.
A wide selection of ordnance is provided, including rockets, 1000 lb.
bombs, a pair of drop tanks, and a torpedo. The instructions are confusing
about placement of the large pylons for the drop tanks or bombs - they
should be on the fixed portions of the wings, not the folded portions
as shown. A pair of optional JATO rocket bottle clusters is also included
(Trumpeter calls them RATOG).
The tires are molded separately from the wheels and have raised "Dunlop"
lettering on them - an unusual feature in this scale.
The cockpit looks well-detailed for the scale and has side wall panels
as well as the floor, front & rear bulkheads, rudder pedals, control
stick, and a multi-part ejection seat. The instrument panel is molded
in clear plastic with tiny recessed circles for the main instruments.
An acetate film section is supposed to go behind the panel, but this doesn't
look convincing because the panel is too thick to show the gauges.
As for other clear parts, the two-piece canopy is the later style with
the back portion meant to be partially painted over with the upper fuselage
color. Two clear camera windows are provided to fit into openings in both
the left and right sides of the fuselage. (One of these was usually blanked
out on operational Wyverns.)
Color call-outs in the instructions are for Gunze Sangyo Mr. Color/Aqueous
Color and the modeler is left to decipher these. However, a helpful full-color
marking and painting guide is included on a separate page. Decals are
provided for 3 Wyverns, including one machine of No. 830 Squadron with
the colorful yellow and black Suez campaign stripes (the modeler must
paint the stripes as shown in the painting and marking guide.)
Conclusion
A definite thumbs-up to Trumpeter for producing this little gem. A few
small glitches to correct but I didn't see any serious pitfalls. I would
like to see Trumpeter release its Wyvern in 1/48th scale as well.
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