September 2019
Westland Sea King HAS.1
© www.gengriz.co.uk
Westland WS-
819 Naval Air Squadron, RNAS Prestwick, 1977
Fujimi 1/72 with some minor scratch mods & Modeldecal markings
The Sea King HAS Mk.1 made its first flight in May 1969 at Yeovil, with 700 Squadron taking delivery of its first production aircraft in August 1969.
Fifty-
Armed with Mk 44 acoustic homing torpedoes and Mk.11 depth charges for use in shallow waters, the Sea King was a step improvement on the Wessex with
This is my second build in a row of a Fujimi Sea King kit. Although the box art
shows an RAF Sea King HAR.3, full parts and decals are included to build a torpedo
armed RN HAS.1 of 824 Sqn in HMS HERMES with a five-
The kit’s internal layout is not correct (I assume it is an USN layout), but without the door open you cant see much, so all I have done is rearrange the kit parts to approximately their equivalent Westland position. I also blacked out the port Observer’s window as this normall has a dark blind pulle down to improve visibility of the radar and sonar screens.
Except where otherwise marked, pictures © by gengriz.co.uk
almost double the weapons payload and twice the range/loiter time. RN Sea Kings could also carry a single WE177A Nuclear Depth Bomb for use against submarines.
RN Sea Kings undertook a very different role from those of the US Navy, operating as independent ASW screening units at some distance ahead of their Task Group. often in pairs with one using its dipping sonar and the other attacking contacts. In this role, a hunting pair of Sea Kings was effectively a fast moving and agile equivalent of a Frigate at some distance ahead of a Task Group.
Although quickly superseded at sea (on Aircraft carriers and the Tiger class ASW
cruisers) by the HAS.2, the original HAS.1s remained in active service with shore
based units until the late 1970s. 819 Squadron at RNAS Prestwick (HMS GANNET) in
Scotland was one of the premier RN front-
With regular incursions by Soviet submarines into the Clyde approaches as they sought
to detect and follow the RN SSBNs out on patrol, the Prestwick-
Prestwick’s aircraft also fulfilled a Search and Rescue and more general patrol/constabulary role across the West of Scotland (including the Highlands & Islands areas) and north Irish Sea. With a massive geographical area to cover, they quickly became the UK’s most busy SAR unit, a role that continued (in latter years, as a detached flight of 771 Sqn) until the RN disbanded its SAR force in 2015.
Copied from Last Month: Until the relatively recent release of Dragon, Revell and
the newer Airfix Sea King kits, the Fujimi kit was the best option available. It’s
a little simplified in detail, based on the US SH-
The real thing -
The real thing -
More Sea Kings (and many more helicopters) on my Helicopters pages
The real thing -
The kit’s Torpedoes consist of reasonable interpretations of two Mk.44s and two Mk.45s. For this early aircraft operating in the Clyde, I have gone for a full Mk.44 load, taking two additional Mk.44s from last month’s RAF Sea King build (and keeping the Mk.45s for a later build!). I have also added some new antenna and the distinctive port side wire aerial from sprue and lycra thread.
Although the kit decals are acceptable, I have again used a Modeldecal set for all
but the generic markings, with the distinctive anti-
More Sea Kings (and many more helicopters) on my Helicopters pages