Italeri's 1/48 scale
Westland Wessex HU.5

by Roberto Mantuano

Italeri's 1/48 scale Westland Wessex is available online from Squadron

After many years with the Wessex from the Revell, sadly with many errors I taleri recently released a beautifull model for a good replica of this helicopter. It is not perfect but far better of the former.

First,on the box read “Wessex UH5” but the Wessex is HU5, not UH5!

The plastic is very good,with photoectched parts and a mesh for the grills.

The build is not difficult,only a bit of attention for the nose, a smear of putty for the seams, and the model is ready for the painting.

The 4 options are all very attractive. I chose the Royal Navy rescue version, the one with the nose and the center body red. I have used the Lifecolor LC 06 for the red and for the RAF blue gray a mix,2 parts of the UA 047 Glossy Sea Blue and 1 part of the UA 109 Gloss Extra Dark Seagray. The match is near perfect compared with many photos that i have found on Airliners.net.

When all was dry, disaster struck! The decals,from Cartogra went on beautifully but are totally WRONG, at least for this version. Almost all are or oversized or undersized. The stencills are ALL oversized, for all the versions. I have recovery many decals from my spare box, are not all perfect, but better than the Italeri ones.

In conclusion, this is a very good model, with good interior and really attractive options, but the decalls, Italeri has failed badly here!

However, this has not discouraged me from building another one. This time I will made the Falklands option, hoping that the decals are better, but Aztec has a Wessex sheet in their catalogue and I already have that sheet. I am sure that is better that the Italeri one!

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Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2012 by Roberto Mantuano
Page Created 18 October, 2012
Last Updated 18 October, 2012

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