# Trumpeter Westland Wyvern!



## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

This is the 1/48 Trumpeter kit of the early Wyvern S.4.
Big. Ugly. Airplane! With lotsa crap sticking out of it! :lol:


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## walsing (Aug 22, 2010)

Extremely nice build and one heck of an interesting plane. Looks like British Navy. Whats the story behind it?


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## Rondo (Jul 23, 2010)

She's a beaut! Both the build and the design. Kind of has an over the top anime look. Perfect.


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## GunTruck (Feb 27, 2004)

Sharp!


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## djnick66 (May 2, 2008)

Great build. I always loved the Wyvern.

It's a British version of what the US came up with in the Douglas Skyshark. a Turboprop attack bomber.


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## Just Plain Al (Sep 7, 1999)

Nice build of another unusual subject, beautiful build John.


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## agentsmith (Mar 27, 2005)

Great job on an odd looking airplane!


Agentsmith


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Tanks, kidz. 

I love that the British stuck an oblique recon camera on practically every airplane they made for a while there. What the heck, right?

The kit included a detailed camera, but I knew you wouldn't be able to see it in there, so I left it out and painted the inside of the windows.


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## StarshipClass (Aug 13, 2003)

Fascinating plane! Definitely strange looking. And a short service life, too, but a lot of models suffered from that back then--a lot of transition going on back then. I like those later post-war prop planes that maxed out the capabilities of that type plane though they were, of course, on their way out by then. (The very early production jet planes also hold a fascination for me.)

Great job as usual on all the details. It deserves to be seen in all its ugliness.


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## mmdm4 (Jan 30, 2013)

Very nice build, reminds me of an ancestor of the A-10. Wouldn't have wanted to be an enemy on the ground and look up to see one of these overhead, looks like it carried everything but the kitchen sink!


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## surfsup (Apr 19, 2009)

She has turned out beautifully John.....Cheers mark


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## Sgthawker (Apr 20, 2012)

Quite the unusual bird here. Nicely done and great photography!

Is that a torpedo hanging on there in the middle of all of those rockets?

Any idea what gain there is from the small vertical fins on either side of the horizontal stabilizers?


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## Jafo (Apr 22, 2005)

I like it. What are those things sticking out backwards under the inner flaps, RATO units??


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Yup, RATO.
And yup, a torpedo. This thing was apparently meant to do EVERYthing! :lol:
No idea what the finlets were for.


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## scooke123 (Apr 11, 2008)

Ugly yet beautiful at the same time! Very nice work all the way around on this one!!!
Steve


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## Cro-Magnon Man (Jun 11, 2001)

An ugly duckling of a plane, but beautiful work and great photography there, John, I can count ever rivet on the tail!


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

...


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## Ace Airspeed (May 16, 2010)

The Wyvern was a very interesting airplane and you did it justice, John. 

Great build all around! :thumbsup:


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## SJF (Dec 3, 1999)

Superb job on a goofy plane, John! 

Sean


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Goofy's a good word for it!


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## Tarkas (Jul 23, 2013)

John P said:


> No idea what the finlets were for.


Longitudinal stability. See also the Nimrod MR2, the Boeing SCA and a whole lot of other aircraft that I can't remember just now. Basically, the original design either wasn't stable enough to begin with or it has become a problem due to growth, modifications and/or people hanging more and more stuff off it, and it needs more fin area.

One approach is to increase the area of the existing fin(s), as was done for aircraft like the two-seat Harriers, the P-51D and the late-model Spitfire Mk VIII/IX _et seq_, Another is to add small(-ish) extra fins, such as I _think_ was done with the Lockheed Constellation and the F-14, and certainly has been with many another aeroplane. Yet another, favoured if modification is preferred to re-design -- which tends to imply that the aircraft has been in service for a while or that the customer is tight with money for a proper rework -- is to add finlets, usually to the tailplane, which I believe is what happened with the Wyvern.

BTW, excellent model, John. Any particular reason why only one wing is folded? Just curious...

Phil


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## Sgthawker (Apr 20, 2012)

*Nice explanation!*



Tarkas said:


> Longitudinal stability. See also the Nimrod MR2, the Boeing SCA and a whole lot of other aircraft that I can't remember just now. Basically, the original design either wasn't stable enough to begin with or it has become a problem due to growth, modifications and/or people hanging more and more stuff off it, and it needs more fin area.
> 
> One approach is to increase the area of the existing fin(s), as was done for aircraft like the two-seat Harriers, the P-51D and the late-model Spitfire Mk VIII/IX _et seq_, Another is to add small(-ish) extra fins, such as I _think_ was done with the Lockheed Constellation and the F-14, and certainly has been with many another aeroplane. Yet another, favoured if modification is preferred to re-design -- which tends to imply that the aircraft has been in service for a while or that the customer is tight with money for a proper rework -- is to add finlets, usually to the tailplane, which I believe is what happened with the Wyvern.
> 
> ...


Very well explained, thanks for taking the time to pitch in on the (sort of) topic! :thumbsup:

Jed


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## John P (Sep 1, 1999)

Tarkas said:


> BTW, excellent model, John. Any particular reason why only one wing is folded? Just curious...
> 
> Phil


Compromise. I like showing the detail of a folding wing, but having both wings folded is like having a photo of a person with their hands over their face. Folding one lets me show that aspect of the airplane, but still lets you see what the airplane looks like without a wing folded.


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