Matchbox – PK-133 (40133) – Westland Wessex HU 5/HAS 31

Description:

Westland Wessex HU 5/HAS 31

Unassembled plastic model kit in 1/72 scale of a British Westland Wessex utility helicopter, a licensed develop of the U.S. Sikorsky H-34.

Matchbox first released this kit in 1987, as other Matchbox kits tooled around that time, it featured raised panel lines and a quite high number of parts and complex build for the brand, though detail is still very basic in several areas like cockpit. Several modellers reports problems to detach the smaller parts from the sprue. In 1987, only a Frog kit was available for the same topic, this remained as the best option till 1996 when Italeri tooled their own Westland Wessex which probably still the best kit around.

Matchbox kit has an optional nose part for the HS 31 variant, an specific Royal Australian Navy anti-submarine variant. The HU 5, is a Royal Navy service troop transporter. The Australian HS 31 is very similar to the British HAS.1, sadly Matchbox didn’t included torpedos or pylons to attach any kind of weapons.

In 1991 Matchbox released a variant with a different decal sheet (see Matchbox – 40136 – Westland Wessex HU. 5). The original release had two markings, one Royal Australian Fleet Air Arm and one Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm.