I so wanted to make
the deadline for the ARC What If? GB with my two models, but failed
miserably!
I've only managed to complete one so far - something I've called the Westland
Scorpion that's made from Me262 and Gloster Meteor parts and bits from the
spares box. I've imagined Westland being ordered to stop work on
developing the Welkin, but the Whirlwind would still have been produced in
limited numbers to give the RAF experience with 2-engined fighters. As
Westland had proposed a jet development of the Whirlwind in reality, maybe
Westland could have been told to come up with a new design while sticking to the
Whirlwind's basic tried and tested configuration - which the Scorpion has.
Click on
images below to see larger images
No amount of ballast got
the model to sit on its original nosewheel, and the prop I'd fitted to the
rear fuselage (Canberras were often seen with them) annoyed me. The
solution? Make it a tail dragger! Not very innovative perhaps, but
the Me262 prototype wasn't a nosewheel job either, and the Brits had the
tailwheel Attacker, so what the hell! Also I decided the timeline
would be mid-WW2 (the British accellerated jet development in the 30's and
the Scorpion entered production in 1942 ahead of the more advanced Meteor
(which would have axial engines instead of the Scorpion's centrifugal
jets) and away we go. Maybe jets over Dieppe?
Anyway I hope you
enjoy it! More on the build can be seen at http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=172788
Regards,
Hugh Janus
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