+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Vickers Type 287 was a British 1930s light bomber built by Vickers-Armstrongs at Brooklands near Weybridge, Surrey, for the Royal Air Force. The Type 287 was originally built as a private venture and designed as a single-engine monoplane with a very high aspect ratio wing, and a manually operated, retractable undercarriage. It used the same geodetic design principles for both the fuselage and wings that had been derived from that used by Barnes Wallis in the airship R100. As it was not known how the geodetic structure could cope with being disrupted by a bomb bay, the Wellesley's bomb load was carried in two streamlined panniers under the wings.
The RAF ultimately ordered a total of 176 of the two-seater aircraft, with a 14-month production run starting in March 1937, and it was introduced into service the same year.
While it was obsolete by the start of the Second World War, and unsuited to the European air war. By the outbreak of the Second World War, the Wellesley had been phased out from home based squadrons, with only four examples remaining in Britain, but remained in service with three squadrons based in the Middle East. The Wellesley Mk. I bomber was successfully used in the desert theatres of East Africa, Egypt and the Middle East, where it was used until 1942.
While the Wellesley was not a significant combat aircraft, the design principles that were tested in its construction were put to good use with the Wellington medium bomber that became one of the main types of RAF Bomber Command in the early years of the European war.
The GR Mk. IV (Type 301) was a late special development for the RAF Coastal Command. It was actually a stopgap solution - during the first three years of the Second World War, Coastal Command and the Admiralty fought a continuous battle with the RAF and Air Ministry over the primacy of trade defense in relation to the bomber effort against mainland Germany, a strategic tussle which conceivably could have cost the Western Alliance the Battle of the Atlantic. The Air Staff and Bomber Command enjoyed the backing of Churchill and the maritime air effort struggled to receive the recognition it needed. On the outbreak of war, the Coastal Command’s order of battle listed just 298 aircraft, of which only 171 were operational.
Owing to the starvation of resources, even as late as March 1943 the Atlantic supply lines were being threatened. This situation arose as a direct result of the lack of very long-range aircraft. The Wellesley, even though basically outdated, offered a quick and proven basis for a radar-equipped maritime reconnaissance aircraft, especially for the Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres, as these were regarded as less risky than the battle of the Atlantic or over the North Sea.
The Wellesley GR Mk. IV was a heavily modified version of the Mark I, built from existing airframes that were returned to Great Britain for conversion at Weybridge and Chester. A total of 28 aircraft were modified in early 1942.
The GR Mk. IV featured an ASV Mark III radar with a radome under the fuselage and additional mast antennae on fuselage and wings. The crew rose to three, as an operator for the ASV radar joined pilot and navigator/gunner, was placed behind the pilot.
In order to improve survivability the aircraft's defensive armament was considerably improved: instead of a single .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers K machine gun in the Mk. I's rear cockpit, a powered dorsal turret, equipped with four 0.303 in (7.7 mm) Browning machine guns, was installed. The Brownings were electrically fired and insulated cut-off points in the turret ring prevented the guns firing when they were pointing at the propeller disc or tailplane.
The wing-mounted .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine gun was retained, as well as the capability to carry up to 2,000 lb (907 kg) of bomb ordnance in underwing panniers. These were modified to carry up to four 450 lb (200 kg) Mark VII depth charges and an array of flash bombs for night missions, as the GR Mk. IV could not carry a Leigh Light.
In order to keep overall performance up despite the additional equipment on board and the extra drag created through radome and gun turret, the original Bristol Pegasus XX 9 cylinder radial piston engine with 925 hp (690 kW) was replaced by a 14 cylinder 1.525 hp (1.121 kW) Hercules VI powerplant.
The complete front of the engine had to be modified in order to take the heavier and much more powerful engine, similar to the Type 289 and 292 long range conversions of the basic Wellesley. As a further means of keeping the performance up, parts of the original steel fuselage structure were replaced by light alloy elements.
All GR Mk. IV's were sent to the Mediterranean theatre in summer 1942, primarily for defensive tasks, e. g. defending supply lines. The aircraft also took part in Operation Torch (initially called Operation Gymnast), the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, which started on 8 November 1942.
By 1943 Coastal Command finally received the recognition it needed and its operations proved decisive in the victory over the U-Boats, and when more powerful Vickers Wellington aircraft became available, the Wellesleys of Coastal Command were withdrawn or deployed to Greece, and performed various support duties during the RAF interference in the Greek Civil War. By 1944, the last aircraft had been retired.
General characteristics:
Crew: 3
Length: 39 ft 3 in (11.96 m)
Wingspan: 74 ft 7 in (22.73 m)
Height: 15 ft 3½ in (4.67 m)
Wing area: 630 ft² [11] (58.5 m²)
Empty weight: 6,760 lb (3,066 kg)
Loaded weight: 11,048 lb (5,011 kg)
Max. takeoff weight: 12,500 lb (5,670 kg)
Powerplant:
1× Bristol Hercules VI, rated at 1,675 hp (1,250 kW)
Performance:
Maximum speed: 228 mph (198 kn, 369 km/h) at 19,700 ft (6,000 m)
Cruise speed: 180 mph (157 kn, 290 km/h) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m) (57% power)
Range: 1,220 mi (1,963 km)
Service ceiling: 25,500 ft (7,772 m)
Wing loading: 18 lb/ft² (86 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.08 hp/lb (0.14 kW/kg)
Climb to 15,000 ft (4,600 m): 17.8 min
Armament:
5× .303 in (7.7 mm) Vickers machine guns, one fixed forward in the right wing, four in a dorsal powered turret
Up to 2.000 lb (907 kg) of bombs in underwing panniers
The kit and its assembly:
Honestly, this kit conversion was inspired by an idea from fellow users (NARSES2 and pyro-manic) at whatifmodelers.com, who suggested a Wellesley in Coastal Command service. I have always liked these aircraft's elegant livery with a dark top side, white undersides and a very high waterline - and using THIS on a Wellesley, which traditionally carried Dark Green/Dark Earth uppers and Night (Black) undersides, would certainly look cool.
But it would certainly not remain a standard Mk. I bomber for sure, and as I cooked up a story I found the idea of a re-engined, radar-equipped reconnaissance aircraft pretty convincing - the Wellesley's long range and payload (the thing could carry more than it weighed itself!) made it an excellent choice.
The basis is the vintage Matchbox kit, which actually has some nice features. The geodetic surface is fine and not over-emphasized, just the landing gear is rather poor - I decided to drill open the landing gear wells and add some interior, as the kit offers OOB offer neither a well nor any detail. Inside, I glued parts from a plastic cookie box - not intended to be realistic, I just wanted to have some depth and structure.
As further means to enhance the overall look I also lowered the flaps, which was easy to realize.
Engine conversion to a Hercules (from a Matchbox Wellington bomber) was straightforward, as the Wellesley kit not only offers the original Jupiter engine of the Mk. I. bomber, but also an alternative, streamlined engine cowling for the Type 292 Long Range Development Aircraft. This offers a nice adapter for the Hercules – and with the bigger propeller and a spinner, this changes the look of the Wellesley a lot.
In order to beef up rearward defense I decided to implant a powered gun turret - a quadruple .303 turret from a Boulton Paul Defiant. The turret was taken from a Pavla kit and consists of styrene and resin parts, plus a vacu canopy. The gunner is a personal addition, I think it comes from a Matchbox Privateer, from one of the optional dorsal turrets.
Mounting the Defiant turret in the fuselage was tricky, as the turret is relatively wide, almost the same diameter as the Wellesley’s. I placed it where the original navigator cockpit with the rearwards-facing Vicker K is located. I carefully opened up the fuselage around that opening until the turret would fit, and then added covers made from styrene strips so that the whole thing would look a bit organic and streamlined. Inside, the turret sits on a styrene axis, so that it can be inserted/taken out at will. Very handy during painting, and the construction makes the turret 360° turnable.
Otherwise, the interior was taken OOB, as there’s hardly anything to identify once the canopy is fitted. The latter would remain closed, anyway.
The radome under the fuselage was a late addition: originally I had planned to add antenna masts for an ASV Mk. II radar, but then found the ASV Mk. III radome from the aforementioned Matchbox Wellington kit. As the Wellesley did not have a bomb bay, that space between the landing gear was just perfect. And while it would not be necessary I still added some antenna masts (scratched from heated sprues) under the wings and on the fuselage flanks - it just looks cool... ;)
Painting and markings:
The interior (cockpit, turret, landing gear) was painted in classic Interior Green (Humbrol 78).
On the outside, rather simple, classic Coastal Command colors were used: Dark Sea Grey and Dark Slate Grey on the upper side, with the pattern taken from the RAF Wellesley, and white undersides with a very high waterline and white leading edges on the wings.
Painting started with the lower sides – I used spray paint from the rattle can, since the large areas are hard to paint, esp. with white. Consequently I rather used a very light grey (RAL 7047, Telegrau 4), since pure white would be too bright/ by tendency. The color pictures I consulted for reference suggest that these machines would easily tend to become dirty, much room for weathering! After basic spray painting, the “white” areas received a counter-shading and dry-brushing with Humbrol 196 (RAL 7035, Lichtgrau), which is slightly more yellow-ish and lighter than RAL 7047.
After that had dried up, waterlines and leading edges were masked with Tamiya Tape, for the upper colors. Humbrol 27 and 224 were used as basic enamel colors, as they are the darkest tones for the job. Later, these were treated with Modelmasters’ 2056 and 2059, in order to weather the upper surfaces and work out the geodetic structure – similar procedure as for the lower surfaces.
The kit received a wash with black ink and serious dry-brushing in order to work out the wonderful surface structure - basically with some Humbrol 64 (Light Sea Grey) all around - no pure white has been used on the kit at all. Dirt, soot and stains were added with grinded graphite and thinned Humbrol 224.
Decals were puzzled together from the scrap box, from various RAF aircraft. Even though I took 179th Squadron Wellingtons as benchmark, I decided to add a full three-digit code with dull red letters – it adds an eye-catcher to the aircraft’s flanks, and the letters come from a MIcroscale aftermarket sheet.
The respective Wellingtons only had scarce markings and just single-letter codes (the full squadron code, "OZ", had obviously been omitted?).
In the end, not a major conversion, but the different paint scheme and the more massive nose change the overall look of the Wellesley considerably. I am quite happy with the result.
