1:72 Wessex HC.2 Air intake grill for Airfix

Clear Prop Models 1:72 Westland Wessex HC.2 — air intake grill (for Airfix)

This is not a model of a helicopter but an accessory — a fine air intake grill for the Westland Wessex HC.2 kit in 1:72 scale from Airfix. According to the manufacturer Clear Prop Models the part is made by 3D printing (printing in photopolymer resin), which today allows a mesh with openings and ribs right at the edge of visibility — something a classic injection mold in such a small scale can manage only as suggested relief.

What the accessory solves

The Wessex HC.2 carries its turboshaft engines in the front of the fuselage and the incoming air is protected by a grill right above the nose. It is a prominent and much-photographed feature directly in the line of sight of the model. The plastic version from the kit is solid for production reasons, with the structure only suggested; the printed part, by contrast, has an open structure with real depth. The difference shows at once even though the area is very small — it is details of this kind that set a nicely built model apart from a model that will hold up in a competition.

Use and procedure

• The part is very small and fragile — work over a tray and take the grill off its supports carefully.
• Wash it lightly in lukewarm soapy water before painting and let it dry thoroughly.
• Cut the remains of the print supports off with a thin saw or a scalpel and level the area with fine abrasive paper used wet.
• Glue it with super glue (cyanoacrylate); plastic cement does not hold on resin.
• Paint with thinned paint through an airbrush in thin coats — a heavy coat would fill the tiny openings.

Who the set is for

For more advanced modelers who are building the Airfix Wessex HC.2 and are after the highest possible level of detail. Handling such a fine printed part calls for patience and precision, and in return you get detail that cannot honestly be made any other way in this scale.

The accessory is supplied as an unpainted part. The base kit, glue and paints are not included in the package, unless stated otherwise.