Scale Model Aircraft and Armor
What's New
Gallery
Reviews
Field Trips
Wing Tips
Hall of Shame
Links
Store
Westland Scout AH.1 Mk.1
Observation, Liaison and Light Attack Helicopter


Serial XT-626
666 Squadron Army Air Corps
British Army
1990


Airfix

This model added to kgwings.com on June 28, 2013

Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
In 1959 the British Army Air Corp placed an order with Saunders-Roe (SARO) for a prototype batch (designated P.531-2) of helicopters to replace the SARO Skeeter. The first of these prototypes was flown on 4 August 1960, and in the following month the Army ordered 66 aircraft as the Scout AH Mk.1. Within a year Saunders-Roe had merged with Bristol, Fairey and Westland to become Westland Helicopters.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model

Between 1963 and 1968 about 150 Scouts were built, including 2 deliveries to the Royal Australian Navy, 3 to the Royal Jordanian Air Force, 2 to the Bahrain police department, and 2 to the Ugandan police department.

Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
The Westland Scout formed the backbone of the British Army Air Corps throughout the 1960s and 1970s and remained in service until 1994.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model

The Scout was employed for a long list of duties including light attack, anti-tank, passenger or freight transport, liaison, search and rescue, training, and casualty evacuation.

Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
In the anti-tank role the Scout could carry four guided missiles (the Nord SS.11) sighted by the roof-mounted AF.120 developed by Avimo/Ferranti.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model

Scouts armed with SS.11 anti-tank missiles were used to great effect during the Falklands campaign “Operation Corporate” taking out an Argentine 105 mm Pack Howitzer battery dug in to the West of Stanley Racecourse that was firing at the Scots Guards.

Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
Airfix originally released this kit in 1966 (the year after I was born!) so it's not surprising that some of the details are not exactly state of the art. Having said that the overall shape of the kit is good and with a bit of TLC it builds into a convincing Scout.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
The Airwaves turbine engine is a great improvement over the simplified Airfix engine although still missing lots of complex plumbing visible on the real aircraft.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
I added a few scrap bits of styrene and spare parts to try to fill in some of the missing details on the engine deck.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
Pastel chaulks were used to simulate the bronzing effect on the exhaust nozzles.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
This is my first attempt at making home-printed inkjet decals and they were not exactly a complete success. They were impossibly fragile and unstable. Hopefully my next try will be better.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
At this early stage of construction it's easy to pick out the Airwaves white metal detail parts. You can see where I cut away one of the rear cabin doors. Notice how poorly the canopy roof fits. You can also see the optional pintel mounted machine gun which would have hung out the open door.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
I used masking tape to create seat cushions, harnessess and buckles. Scrap styrene and wire was used to create instruments, foot pedals and seat framing. Note that I've broken the missile boom while being bent into proper shape.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
More stryrene and wire was used to represent some of the missing framing and plumbing around the engine and main rotor.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
Here the interior is painted and a base coat has been applied to the exterior. I hand painted a mix of Future Floorwax and Green-Blue Water Color on the inside of the canopy, then carefully drilled out an opening for the AF.120 missile sighting unit.
Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
Although my finished kit is a bit rough around the edges, I'm pleased with how this old classic Airfix kit turned out. It's not the easiest of builds, but it's a must for the serious helicopter collector.



Airfix Westland Scout AH.1 1:72 scale model
Airfix
Kit: Airfix #01042-9
Airwaves
Aftermarket: Airwaves #SC72084
1:72 Scale Model
Scale: 1/72

Assembly:

The kit consists of approximately 43 parts molded in medium green and 3 transparent canopy pieces. There are several different boxings of this kit, mine came with a single page black and white assembly instruction sheet inside the box with painting and decal diagrams (in color) on the back of the box.

My kit had a minimal amount of flash to be cleaned. Fit is generally good with the exception of the very poor fitting canopy transparencies. Sanding, shims and putty are all required on the canopy or a better option may be to heat smash a new canopy all together.

All doors are molded closed, however they can be cut away easily to represent many Scouts in service (which would also resolve half of your transparency problems).

Cockpit details are highly simplified but generally correct in position and shape so they are not difficult to customize and improve.

Engine detail is very simplified and greatly improved by replacing with Airwaves aftermarket white metal parts. The landing skid assembly is actually well done but fragile, you may benefit from adding it last.

Nose weight is required to keep the kit from tail-sitting so I placed a large amout of lead shims under the flight deck until it sat right.


Aftermarket Parts:

The Airwaves Weapons Set consists of white metal parts that are soft and fragile. Many parts were bent and had to be gently straightened or broken and glued into correct shape. I used Loctite Super Glue gel to attach the parts to the kit and to each other. Parts are included to mount 4 x SS.11 anti-tank missiles, or a pintel mounted 7.62 (L8A1 GPMG) machine gun in the rear cabin, or two skid-mounted forward-firing 7.62 (L8A1 GPMG) machine guns.
Decals:

Markings are provided to build brown/green camouflaged XP885 or XP890 of the British Army Air Corps circa 1965, or a Royal Jordanian Air Force Scout also circa 1965.
I wanted to represent a post 1973 green/black Scout (note: all tail rotors were painted black and white after this date) so I created my own decals using Testors Custom Decal System kit #9198. This was my first attempt at using this "system" and I was not entirely impressed with the results. I'm hopeful that with more experimentation I will be able to create a more stable decal next time, these were extremely delicate and frail. The artwork was created in Adobe Illustrator and printed on a Canon MP240 inkjet printer.
Painting:

The interior was airbrushed overall with acrylic Tamiya XF-82 Ocean Gray 2 (RAF) with then a black pastel chalk wash applied by brush. Exterior was airbrushed overall with acrylic Tamiya Dark Green 2 (RAF) and Tamiya XF-81 Nato Black, with an AK Interactive AK-076 Filter for NATO Tanks applied.
Customizations:

I used masking tape to create seat cushions, seat harnesses, and door padding. Plastic rod was used to create hardware on the back side of the instrument panel. Plastic half-round and thin wire was used to create the foot pedal controls. Strip styrene was used to create engine. main rotor and seat framing. Guitar wire was used to strengthen horizontal pieces of landing skids. Custom inkjet decals were generated (see "decals" section above). Collective was borrowed from another kit. Stretched sprue was used to create windscreen wipers.
Value:

This kit has been out of production for many years but is still fairly easy to locate and almost always dirt-cheap (I paid $3.00 US for mine), hard to pass up for most modelers.
Recommendation:

This kit is not particularly easy to build with poorly fitting canopy "glass" and some very simplified details, however the overall shape is accurate, it can usually be purchased for only a few (US) dollars and it's the only Westland Scout available in any scale. If you're a fan of rarely seen helicopter kits and you don't mind having to do some customizing it's a small investment for this important part of aviation history.

www.kgwings.com



Home
| What's New | Gallery | Reviews | Field Trips
Wing Tips | Hall of Shame | Links

               Search www.kgwings.com

Copyright © KgWings.com

Frisco, Texas, USA

Copyright ©1997-2023 All Rights Reserved

Powered by DFW Design Source