Classic Airframes - Westland Whirlwind

By Bradley D. Chun IPMS #33945
Copyrighted 1998

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Manufacturer: Classic Airframes
Address: P.O. Box 577580
Chicago, IL 60657-7580
Kit No. 415
Scale: 1/48th


The Westland Whirlwind was designed by W.E.W. Petter, in response to the 1935 specification F35/37. The F35/37 was originally supposed to be a single-engined day or night fighter. Westland’s design eventually led to the Whirlwind, a superlative fighter with a brief career. The first prototype flew on October 11, 1938, and production began in January 1939.

The design incorporated a number of features that were considered "firsts" in British aircraft development. The quad cannon arrangement in the nose of the Whirlwind made it deadly in the ground attack role against the German rail system. The Whirlwind’s long range also made it an effective escort fighter. The Whirlwind eventually saw service as a fighter bomber with the attachment of bomb racks. The Whirlwind would distinguish itself as a ground attack aircraft in Europe until the arrival of the Hawker Typhoon in 1943.

The Whirlwind entered service with 25 Squadron, a night-fighter unit, in May 1940. Three aircraft were taken on, but were shortly thereafter withdrawn and replaced by the Bristol Beaufighter. 263 Squadron then began receiving Whirlwinds in July 1940, and became operational in October 1940, after many problems. The first victory came in January 1941. The only other unit to be equipped with the Whirlwind was 137 Squadron, and they became operational in October 1941.

The Whirlwind had good flight characteristics, as its performance at low altitudes was superior to some single seat fighters. The Whirlwind proved itself to be a very competent dogfighter at low altitudes, capable of holding it’s own when confronting fighters like the Luftwaffe’s Bf-109, and deadly Fw-190. On one sortie in particular, four Whirlwinds, of 263 squadron, engaged Luftwaffe fighters, in which they were out-numbered five to one. The Whirlwinds shot down three Bf-109s without a loss. The Whirlwind really came into it’s own by wreaking havoc along the German rail
system, shipping lanes, airfields, and anything else that dared move on the ground.

June 1943 saw the replacement of the Whirlwinds in 263 squadron with the arrival of Hurricane IVs. Also, 137 Squadron’s last Whirlwind sortie was October 1943 as it was replaced by the Typhoon. In June 1944, the Whirlwind was declared obsolete, and unfortunately, none survive today.

The Whirlwind was powered by two Rolls-Royce Peregrine engines. Numerous developmental problems plagued the Peregrine engine, thus delaying the delivery of the Whirlwind, because of the shortage of engines. The Peregrine engines developed 885 horsepower each giving the Whirlwind a top speed of 360 MPH at 15,000 feet. The Whirlwind flew at 270 MPH when fully loaded, and carrying two 500 lbs bombs. Armament consisted of four Hispano Mk. 1 cannons, each with a 60 round magazine. Wing mounted bomb racks, capable of carrying 1,000 lbs bombs were subsequently fitted to the Whirlwind.

Less than desirable high altitude handling and problems further complicated by the Peregrine engines, and its availability, eventually led to the Whirlwind’s demise. Of the 400 aircraft ordered, cancellations allowed only 114 Whirlwinds to be delivered.

The Whirlwind had the distinction of being the RAF’s first twin-engined single-seat fighter. It was well liked by both its pilots and ground crew. Its sleek, elegant lines are admired by aviation enthusiasts, and was at one time considered a contender for the position that would be occupied by the Spitfire, and Hurricane.

With much anticipation, I bought the recently released Classic Airframes 1/48th scale Westland Whirlwind limited-run, multi-media kit from my local hobby shop. This is the first time the Whirlwind has been offered in injection molded form. The only other kit that I’m aware of is the Cooper Details 1/48th scale, multi-media, vacuform kit.

The 2 piece box, is graced with a print, by Don Greer, of a Westland Whirlwind, P6984, No. 263 Squadron, with a Ju88 banking away from it, on the box top.

Upon opening the box, the modeler will find an instruction sheet, a bag containing the gray, injection-molded parts, two vacuformed canopies, a bag containing resin detail parts, a bag containing the white metal landing gear, a photo etch fret, a painting and marking guide, and a decal sheet.

The instruction sheet is a simple 8 *"x14" tri-fold sheet that contains a brief history and specifications of the Whirlwind, universal instruction assembly symbols, paint reference guide, parts layout diagram, and 13 step assembly process. The instruction sheet is very well laid out and will greatly aid most modelers while building this kit. (This is afterall, a limited-run injection kit.) There are some areas that aren’t thoroughly covered though. These include the placement of some of the seat harnesses, and prop pitch. The instructions, in steps nine and 12, show the main landing gear legs as four separate parts, per assembly, but in fact are only two parts per landing gear assembly. Ironically, one side of the instructions, in my example, was printed upside down.

Three sprues of injection molded grey parts contain all of the major airframe parts. The 32 parts comprise of the fuselage halves, tail wheel strut and doors, tail surfaces, center wing section, upper wing halves, propeller blades, lower wing halves, nacelle halves, and landing gear bay bulkheads and landing gear doors. Surface detail is recessed, and nicely scribed. Unlike most limited run kits, there was minimal flash to be found on all of the parts. This is due to the fact that most of the injection gates are smaller than most limited run injections I’ve seen. The injection-molded parts are sensibly engineered, and with the limited amount of reference available, it could have possibly had some help from the previously released, now out-of-production, highly sought after, Cooper Details Whirlwind vacuform kit.

Two vacuformed canopies are included in this kit. This has become a standard that this modeler likes. One does not always have a steady hand, and some modelers like to have their canopies in the open position to show off the detail in the cockpit. The detail is nice on the canopies and the canopy frames should pose no problem when it comes time to paint. The canopies can definitely benefit from a dip in Future, or some polishing, as they do appear to be a bit cloudy.

As with most limited-run injection kits, the inclusion of resin detail parts has now become the norm. Classic Airframes is no exception to this rule either. Included in a small bag are 54 resin detail parts. These resin parts include the cockpit details, instrument panel, seat, batteries, optional bomb racks, main and tail wheels, exhaust openings, propeller spinners, and cannon barrels. None other than Roy Sutherland, of Cooper Details mastered these resin parts. Unfortunately, the resin parts definitely weren’t cast by him. For example, the molds used for the main wheels were definitely passed their casting/usage stage. The resin that has partially filled the inside of two of the four spokes, on the main wheels. The resin will have to be carved out with the tip of a brand new X-acto
blade. The edges of the spinners have small pinholes in them and will require filling, and the control column will have to be removed with great care so as not to destroy the ring. Four of the five resin cannon barrels provided have pinholes at the muzzle, these will require filling with "super glue", and the muzzles re-drilled. Do not read me wrong, the resin parts in this kit are really nice, but after checking my Cooper Details’ Whirlwind kit, I was a bit shocked to find that the Classic Airframes resin parts weren’t up to the standards, of the masters, from which they were cast.

As no surprise that there are other parts mastered by Roy Sutherland of Cooper Details. Classic Airframes also includes the white metal landing gear in its Whirlwind kit. There are four parts that make up the two landing gear assemblies and not eight as the instruction diagrams point out. The landing gear struts were cast in the Czech Republic, and look as good as the ones found in the Cooper Details’ kit. Just a few mold part lines to remove, and they’re ready for paint and assembly.
A brass photo-etch fret is included in the kit for some of the other finer details. These parts include the seat harnesses, battery tray, canopy details, radiators, levers, and boarding step. The photo-etch parts are this kit are what can be expected from a company as Eduard. I was hoping that there would be some photo-etch landing gear door hinges, but there weren’t any to be found. After checking the instructions, there is no mention of them. I guess the modeler will have to make these from scratch.

A very nicely printed painting and marking guide is included. It represents the color profiles, for the kit provided decals, of the two versions the modeler has a choice of building. The first profile shows the box-art cover Whirlwind, P6984, No. 263 Squadron, 1941, in a dark green/dark earth over sky camouflage, that has the port wing underside black. The second profile is Whirlwind, P7102, 137 Squadron, 1942, in a dark green/dark sea grey over medium sea grey camouflage, with sky spinners. Microscale printed the decals, and I could find no problems with registration. The white on the roundels and fin flashes appear thick enough, that once applied, the underlying color(s) should not show through. The decals are really very nice, and some of the other major manufacturers should take notice.

Overall, there are 32 injection-molded parts, two vacuformed canopies, 54 resin parts, and 30 photo-etch parts in this limited-run kit. Jules Bringuier and Classic Airframes can be complemented on producing a really nice limited-run, multi-media, injection molded kit of the Westland Whirlwind. Although there were a few problems with some of the resin parts, and the polishing of the canopies, most modelers can overcome these few obstacles and build a nice 1/48th scale representation of the Whirlwind for their display shelf. Of course, modelers suffering from AMS will no doubt add the missing details from scratch. For those not fortunate to purchase one of the Cooper Details Whirlwind kits, the Classic Airframes Whirlwind kit is a nice substitute. I highly recommend this kit to any British aircraft fan, and any modeler who has experience with building multi-media, limited-run, or vacuform kits.

Brad