Westland Whirlwind

My second helicopter build is Airfix’s Westland Whirlwind from 1975, or more accurately a repackaged kit from 1966. These are like hens teeth to find and when you do, they are deemed such a collectors’ item that sellers can ask potential buyers to part with £40-£50 for their unmade kits. I finally managed to locate a slightly used one from a seller in Madrid! It came in a very tatty box and a missing a set of side windows. Although P&P was as much as the model, it was still a fraction of what collectors seem to be willing to pay and I guess if they knew I was going to actually build it, they'd be horrified!

My completed Westland Whirlwind model kit

The model itself was very simple, with fewer pieces, even with the missing window glass, than expected. On the subject of glazing, the front screen was of such poor fit that, as with the Sycamore, I wished I'd had some filler to hand. The two pilots, which amusingly were formed from identical moulds, would have suffered quite a draught had the life sized helicopter been fitted with such an ill-fitting screen! To address the missing near side co-pilot windows, I fashioned a new set out of some clear acetate. This was such an improvement over those supplied, that I even cut another set for the pilot. Unfortunately the doors for the troops to access the helicopter were moulded shut, so my plan to create a diorama with soldiers deplaning into action will have to wait. While, I could have cut the door out, the thickness of the plastic would not only have lacked realism but probably also blunted my knife!

My 'lightly used' model from Madrid!

The sum of the parts of this model

Transfers well past their best before date!

Ignoring the painting instructions on the box, I went for a colour scheme of RAF 155 Squadron used in Malaya during the mid 1950s, and specifically the one illustrated on the cover of David Taylor's book, The First Helicopter Boys. I had to make use of my personal supply of spare transfers, not only because the ones supplied were well past their best before date but also because 1970s decal printing was obviously going through a bad patch. So, the RAF roundels came from a Javelin aircraft, the letter L from an American navy jet and the serial numbers were those not used in last week's Sycamore build! As the picture on the book’s dust jacket was the only colour photo of that colour scheme that I could find, I naturally assumed the stripes on the tail were white, I also ignored a picture of another model makers' efforts where they had oddly, or so I thought, had gone for yellow. On further a study of the book's photo, you may notice that the roundel lacks any red and blue. Also, within the book there is a back and white version, which I’m now thinking may be its original form, and can only assume that colour on the dust jacket version was added to the photo post development using one of those editing apps! Anyway, I prefer the white stripes ... it's just a shame I could not find the letter "M" in my spares box!

The inspiration for the colour scheme

Here's a bit of background on the Whirlwind and its operations in Malaya and Borneo. 

In 1950, Westland Aircraft purchased the rights to manufacture Sikorsky's S-55 helicopter, however, conversions to meet British standards meant that their Whirlwind did not fly until August 1953. The Royal Navy were the first to receive delivery when 10 Mk1s entered service to perform a search and rescue role. Two more versions, the Mk2 for RAF and the Mk3 with an upgraded engine, were released before 24 specially configured Far East Mk4s were delivered to RAF squadrons in Malaya.

My Westland Whirlwind of 155 Squadron, Malaya

The use of the Whirlwind in Malaya was to dramatically change the outcome of the Emergency. They were used for a multitude of purposes: in the search phase; in moving ‘stops’ once the Communist Terrorists (CTs) had been encountered; dropping the SAS - newly reformed in 1953 - deep into the jungle and then bringing out dead or captured CTs and documents urgently required by Special Branch; carrying supplies to build and equip the new villages established to win hearts and minds amongst the indigenous population; and evacuating sick and wounded members of ground patrols. While the noise of an approaching helicopter undoubtedly warned the CTs, the psychological effect on men who had been hiding in the jungle for five or six years, constantly being hunted and harried, was a weapon that lowered moral appreciably. In an offensive role, unlike the Americans in Vietnam a few years later, the helicopters were not used to strafe villages or populated areas, but to lift troops into the jungle either to positions from which the could attack likely Communist bases or to occupy 'stops' in ambush. 

Also available in red! A picture from the later Borneo conflict

Westland Whirlwinds on a mission 

One very important lesson learned in Malaya was that the firepower of Government forces needs handling with skill and care, a lesson often ignored in subsequent campaigns. A thought provoking comment I read again recently in E.D. Smith's Counter-Insurgency Operations: 1 Malaya & Borneo, a book I've had in my library since it was first published in 1985, states: "Guerrilla forces are seldom destroyed by large concentrations of fire; gunships and body counts do not win counter-insurgency campaigns because bombs and shells showered down with impunity may destroy several villages and kill dozens of terrorists but in the long term the explosives will terrorise and alienate many more members of the civilian population." 

While it is difficult, and may be unhelpful, to compare the two conflicts, the choice of air power used by Americans in Vietnam differed considerably with that of the British in Malaya. It does make one ponder: had the advice General Gerald Templer, the architect of Britain’s military strategy in Malaya, shared with the American leaders very early on in their Vietnam engagement been taken, how different may the outcome of that conflict have been? 

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The model

Make: Airfix

Model: Whirlwind

Scale: 1:72

Item Code: 02056-9
Released: 1975 | Rebox (Changed box only)