I need help!
I have been looking forward to this for weeks, however now I look at her and something is just not quite right, but I cannot put my finger on it :think: 14 quid is also a bit steep, if I have doubts, I would welcome some comments here...........
Sketchy is right there were more bars coming down behind the windscreen.
There doesn't seem much wrong externally, its the VC which looks nothing like the real thing, even down to the colour (as far as I know ours is pretty much standard and is all black). That can be sorted but there are too many others for me to want to buy it:
-the collectives are wrong
-the cyclic doesn't look right
-the centre console isn't right (those levers look more like turbine ones and the rotor brake handle is missing)
-no co-pilot/navigator/etc instruments
-pilot instrument layout is wrong
-no strip of switches (lights etc) along bottom of panel along top of centre console
As far as I know the S-55 was very similar to early whirlwinds but as with all aircraft I suppose the exact layout varied with the different operators.
I guess from the photos that James has linked to on the Simshed forum on this beastie, the extra weight that was talked about on the Whirlwind, might have been down to extra instrumentation! I cannot find any photos of anything like this model, but I would also assume one of the hobbies formost panel experts (Phil), has more information than me on this. The Brit spec must have called for dual instruments in a standard pattern, James also has issues with some other items, but as he has a 'pet' Whirlwind in Yorkshire, I left mine http://www.tangmere-museum.org.uk/media ... lwind.html back in the UK.
I think the basic mistake was to add a British variant in the pack, the model is based on the US S-55 as far as l know.
As for panels, l think theres probably very few a like, l've already seen three different versions touted around, so.....which one do you add ?, which ever one you add will be wrong for a generic pack l'm afraid.
The only other option is to make specific models for each individual variant and then alter the VCs and panels to suit, and we all know that is not going to happen dont we.
Theres actually two types of windscreen, those with reinforcing bars and those with out, though, those with out have quarter lights as far as l can see, there may have been later large widow variants with out reinforcing bars, l dunno, some one with more time and energy will have to chase that one down.
As l said at the begining, leave the British one out and its a fair representation of a US S-55, l dont think the model is wrong, just a poor choice of textures, and thats not Franks fault.....because someone somewhere would have painted it and being as it would have been 3rd party all would have been fine and forgiven, but because it shipped with it then its a major fubar.
