Wow, Algernon have gone back to the CafeReo days of pulling a surprise Special!
Rumours had been circulating of a Westland Wyvern Special, but now here is the proof!?
Frustratingly, its the same aicraft that is provided as a decal option for the Miniwing.cz kit!?
WP337/J/378 – No. 830 NAS, HMS Eagle, "Operation Musketeer" (Suez), December 1956.
Did Algernon do no market research? (well, obviosuly not or else the Ju-87G would not be the same as Can.do "Rudel" Stuka!?)
Miniwing Wyvern Review >> here <<
Damiya Wyvern Review >> here <<
Miniwing vs Damyia Review >> here <<
Also, alternate item colours seen for the first time! that USAAC(?) looks fun too!!
With thanks to Wey for the original image!
Wow, I never knew Algernon would throw us collectors a curve ball like that. I've always liked the Wyvern for its odd looks, and this is definitely a welcome addition for the *erm* right price. :-)
ReplyDeleteI wish the livery was much cleaner tho, like in the ff. pic:
http://www.clavework-graphics.co.uk/aircraft/westland_wyvern/Wyvern_831NAS_1.png
I guess the plane modeled has some sort of history?
its the one of the same options that figures in the Miniwing kit decals!!?
ReplyDelete(go figure!?)
bd99, it must've been a significant plane for it to be modeled frequently. Must've had some success in the Suez Crisis.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, if I may peer into my crystal ball, I foresee a Dive Bomber vol. 2 with Vals, more Stukas (albeit with a different mark) and perhaps the Wyvern would be part of the regular release. One can only hope.
whilst the iarcraft is notable as one that recurrs from many manufacturers in many scales, it doesnt appear to have a pilot assocaited with it? (maybe more research is required?).
ReplyDeletemaybe somewhere it is the only example of its type in a museum to get measurements from?
I think the only example in the uk is actually one of the early prototyps at teh "Fleet Air Arm" museum at Yeovilton,UK
http://www.fleetairarm.com/
It's another of those unusual selections that this company has come up with. Remember that Algernon Product when still in its Cafe-Reo guise gave us the TSR-2 in the Big Bird 2 series. What was the link was between this experimental Cold War strike aircraft and the three "standard" items - the He111, G3M Nell and P-61 Black Widow?
ReplyDeleteNot complaining though. Whilst I'm not a big post-WW2 fan, I do like the Wyvern. Now comes the question. How much will this "special" fetch on evilBay?
Eh...pity they didn't do an RAAF Shrike.
ReplyDeleteBTW, you need a "none of the above" option for your surveys too.
Was the Wyvern a dive bomber? An A-36 Apache would have been a cooler choice....or the Vengeance :-)
ReplyDeleteI was hoping to do a repaint to an Aussie Shrike. They don't look that good though....might stick to the Anigrand one. The Wyvern looks pretty crook too.
@Anon
ReplyDeleteYour always welcome to submit a themes and candidates for a survey!!
Regards
BD99
Thanks for asking, BD!!
ReplyDeleteBi-plane II
Stearman
Jenny
Staggerwing
????
Private Jets I
Lear
Sabreliner
Jetstar
????
Civilian Twin Prop
(where to begin!!)
I like the Wyvern. Has a place for those of us that will never see the kit completed.
Wasn't the Skywarrior part of a WWII Big Bird set? The off-theme specials hold a certain appeal, to me.
Sounds good, 144hack.
ReplyDeleteHere would be my dream series.
Flying Wing 1 series++++
XP-56 Black Bullet
Armstrong Whitworth 52
Gotha 229
Katsudori
Secret Item: XB-35 Northrop
(it could fit in a regular box for Gashapon , if you segment the wing panels)
Research Flyers Series 1
Bell X2
Bristol 188
Tsybin RR1
Nord Griffon
Secret plane: Avro (Canada) Arrow
1930's Twin Engine Series 1
Boeing B-9
Dornier-17
Martin B-10
Mitsubishi KI-1
Secret plane: Bristol Blenhiem
Russ
I can't find any report of a Wyvern ever being used as a dive-bomber. It was a carrier-based strike aircraft, pure and simple. So, yes, a Vultee Vengeance would have been an appropriate choice if Algernon had decided to keep to the theme. And 378 "J" is not special ... just popular with model manufacturers, apparently.
ReplyDeleteBruce's comment about the Shrike does again raise the issue as to why these manufacturers don't also release the items as unpainted kits. Yes, I know that selected trading minis did start their lives as kits or ended up as kits. Indeed, the He111 from the Big Bird 2 series was released as a pair of kits through RLai Systems - the same corporate entity as Cafe-Reo - albeit initially as a "Japanese conference special". So why not some of these other items? It would make it a helluva lot easier than pulling trading minis apart and using a blend of twenty-three different organic solvents to remove the decals and paint.
144hack, you're spot on re: the Skywarrior. It was the "special" in the Big Bird 3 set, which comprised Ki-21 Sally, Do-217E and B-17F. In fact, the only Big Bird set without an offbeat special was the very first set - comprising three B-24's and three G4M2 Betty's. The special was yet another G4M2 with an underbelly parasite Okha. And a few of your suggestions for potential models have been cast in resin by Don Schmenk (http://userpages.bright.net/~dschmenk/Dons_Custom_Models/Welcome.html). Apart from the Staggerwing (a fave of mine after seeing a restored example at several Aussie airshows), he has done a fair number of civil types, most of which he has flown since retiring from the USAF.
Russ, some really good ideas there. You've shrewdly included a Japanese representative in two of the three series you proposed, but you'll have to find an oriental option for the Research Flyers set. Suggestions? I really like the Flying Wing theme, although Anigrand have probably stolen a lot of the thunder there. And I reckon you're on the mark regarding the XB-35 fitting in a gashapon box. Who thought we'd see the Emily released this way? Could we see the Sunderland or Coronado appear this way?
And what about a "Very Big Bird" set with an Me323 as one of the items? Anything's possible now ...
Maybe twin engine medium bombers/attack planes..
ReplyDelete-Boston/Havoc(P-70)..so used and many camos (desert,OD/Grey,US/UK,Russian..)
-If the Beaufighter is ready to be released in resin..why not the Blenhein/beaufort?
-ITalian SM-79 or russian Pe-2 or Tu-2
-German Me-210/410
-the japanese Kyushu Q1w Tokai
Yeah, there is still pretty sweeping scope for:
ReplyDeletea) Twin engined subjects
b) Soviet subjects
c) Italian subjects
d) British subjects
Combining a) with any of the other 3 is also good! Perhaps we should suggest they do a set of Soviet aircraft captured by the Japanese! At least then we'd be a chance of getting some covered....
:-)
Bruce,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fabulous strategy! Get all those Allied items we want under the banner of "aircraft captured by the IJA/IJN". And we can also add those Luftwaffe types evaluated in Japan. Check out the list at http://www.j-aircraft.com/misc/foreign.htm for some of the aircraft we could then see in the scale. You can add the He119 to this list. Only two VVS aircraft, the LaGG-3 and I-16, though I vaguely recall a Petlyakov Pe-2 in Japanese insignia.
We could get a Buffalo, Mk2 Hurricane, Curtis Wright Demon and Falcon captured in NEI. Pretty sure I've seen a couple of other Russian types in IJA livery....certainly a Po-2 and maybe an early Yak-7 from memory.
ReplyDelete