yeehah1 Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 14-11-06 Finally got around to starting this one....lot's of resin goodies, meant for the Hasegawa kit...let's see if I can squeeze them into the lovely old Airfix B1 Special. I have scribed panel lines into the fuselage, wings and tail section, using the SAM Publications Lancaster datafile and the Hasegawa Dambuster kit as reference. I haven't scribed ALL the panel lines and I have kept ost of hte raised panels and all the rivets on the Airfix kit. It seems appropiate: the scribed lines represent the overlapping panels, the rivets represent the rivets (lovely logic there). I know, the purists will be horrified, but well, tough! Let's see how this goes, eh? Liam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
roym Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 I'm just thinking how many kits I could get for the price of all the aftermarket stuff you got there! Looking forward to seeing this done up! Roy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Strewth Liam! That is a swag of resin goodies there. You will need to reinforce the wings and fuselage to hold it all! MikeJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted November 14, 2006 Author Share Posted November 14, 2006 14-11-06 Well, there are only four resin sets there. I won't be using some of the control surfaces resin, only whats needed for the dropped flaps, and the tyres are wrong too (Sugar's Blues had smooth tyres), so maybe the left-overs will go into the Hasegawa kit. What I don't understand, is why these resin makers make all sorts of resin goodies for a good kit (the Hase Lanc) which really doesn;t need improvement, and make nothing, so to speak, for the Airfix kit, which does??? Anyways, this will be fun. :D Liam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ratch Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Is the Hasegawa Lanc better in outline than the Airfix? I always thought it was the other way round :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Hurrinut Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Is the Hasegawa Lanc better in outline than the Airfix? I always thought it was the other way round I,m with Ratch on this the Hasegawa Lanc appears, to my eyes, to be a bit bulbous at the front and the engine nacelle sides slant in towards the fuselage, when they should be perpendicular to the ground. Also more importantly, me being from Yorkshire, if you shop around you can get four Airfix Lancs for the price of a Hasegawa one!!!!! Richard Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted November 14, 2006 Author Share Posted November 14, 2006 I,m with Ratch on this the Hasegawa Lanc appears, to my eyes, to be a bit bulbous at the front and the engine nacelle sides slant in towards the fuselage, when they should be perpendicular to the ground. Also more importantly, me being from Yorkshire, if you shop around you can get four Airfix Lancs for the price of a Hasegawa one!!!!! :D Richard Heh heh! Yup, the Hase Lanc looks lovely, but my heart will always go to the Airfix Lancaster. One thing I noticed tonight : the Hase Lanc's wheel wells are narrower than the Airfix ones. Odd. Liam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Honeybee Posted November 14, 2006 Share Posted November 14, 2006 Hi Bugger all wrong with the Airfix Lanc, it just needs a 'pit. Which we can now have with the CMK resin bits. Down to my last three so will be on the lookout for more at the Nats Paul Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 14-11-06 Another oddity...did some dry-fitting tonight (monday) and it seems that the Hasegawa Lanc's bomb-bay is longer than the Airfix one....which means some resin bits will need trimmed to fit. Liam ( i feel the expression, " Seemed like a good idea at the time" swimming into focus) :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Julien (UK) Posted November 15, 2006 Share Posted November 15, 2006 (edited) Hate to tell you but not many recessed pannel lines on a lanc. Pannels overlap and the real thing is rivit city. Re Airfix v Hasegawa, the Hasegawa rear fuselarge is the wrong shape, the engines toe in to much and for the cockpit the escape hatch is on the wrong place. Any one looking for more Airfix kits, Heratige aviation had a box full at brampton, kits are bagged but no boxes, they were going for £6.50 so you can basically get 5 for the proce of a hasegawa kit! hopefully he will be selling these at the nats as well. Looking forward to see how this looks when your done. Julien Edited November 15, 2006 by Julien (UK) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted November 15, 2006 Author Share Posted November 15, 2006 Hate to tell you but not many recessed pannel lines on a lanc. Pannels overlap and the real thing is rivit city.Looking forward to see how this looks when your done. Julien 15-11-06 Yup, I know about the "recessed" panel thing and the rivets...but although I followed the Hase Lanc as a guide (as well as the SAM Datafile), I didn't scribe every panel line. Thing is, it will look ok and those who buy the Hase kit don't exactly bemoan the recessed panels nor have they filled them in. I kept all of the rivets and most of the raised panels. Today was sanding day in preparation for the resin stuff. More to do. This one will take some time. (going to start a b17 meant as a present for my nephew, but it's not Airfix.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
pingu1 Posted November 16, 2006 Share Posted November 16, 2006 (edited) 15-11-06 Thing is, it will look ok and those who buy the Hase kit don't exactly bemoan the recessed panels nor have they filled them in. I kept all of the rivets and most of the raised panels. Well, yes - if the panel lines were to be a problem for them, they almost certainly wouldn't have bought the Hase kit in the first place. There always has been the Flightpath etched set for the Airfix Lanc, which provides all you need - and more - to make a fully detailed model, using the Airfix kit as a starting point. Get your Lanc for less than £10 - which is easy, one of mine cost me, in effect, £2.50 - and even with the Flightpath etch and a sheet of aftermarket decals, you're still paying less than the RRP of the Hase kit. Cheers, Chris. Edited November 16, 2006 by pingu1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted December 4, 2006 Author Share Posted December 4, 2006 03-12-06 Righto! Got some more done to Sugar. Resin bits went in with only a tiny amount of trimming. I had to make the poles in the middle of the table as I lost the resin ones....and the resin guns as well. DOH! I am not one for super-detailling, so there'll be no wres and tubes hanging of fthe walls. Once the fuselage halves are joined, there's not a lot to see. I copied the center-support included in the Hasegawa kit. Given the weight og resin in the wheel-wells, I reckon the wings will need all the help they can get. Currently working on the turrets and, based on the size of the photetch bits for them, I will be shortly going blind. Liam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted December 4, 2006 Author Share Posted December 4, 2006 03-12-06 I should point out that I cut the base of the nose turret out of the nose of the Airfix kit and reattached it to ape the Hasegawa kit. Looks better .... Liam (my god! I am scratchbuilding!! ) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 05-01-07 After a bit of a hitatus for the Christmas ( and to start a Tamiya Skyraider), I have gotten more work done to Sugar's. And, while it doesn't look like I moved mountains, it certainly felt like it as there are a number of tiny jobs to do to get 'er done! This shows the fitted nose turret after the fuselage halves have been joined. The photo-etch makes this work beautifully and i am glad I did the cutting and relocation of the original turret floor as supplied by Airfix This is the rear turret, before it got painted and fitted. It seems to be a tad wide and I am going ot have to trim it a littel for the canopy to fit. The small, key-hole like shapes that represent the gun mounts I had to make for ALL the turrets in order to use the relevant phot-etch bits. They are present on the Hasegawa kit, but not hte Airfix one. I cut of fall the gun barrels and the plan is to re-attach them AFTER I place the turrets and have her painted. But we all know what they say about plans...... :blink: This is the turret for the mid-upper position. I basically had to create this one, using the lower part of the mid-upper in the Hasegawa kit as a reference, obviously cutting it a bit lower to suit the lower turret. I cut a floor panel with plasticard and some ribs to form the tube, then covered the lot with Milliput. After attacking it with nail polish remover ( it basically "melts" the Milliput and thus helps you with the sanding by removing most of the need for elbow grease!!). Left it for 24 hrs to dry, then sanded smooth and painted. Hole cut for the mid-upper position. The turret looks a bit off-kilter when I test fitted it, so it'll be Milliput to the rescue. More in a second .... Liam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 05-01-07 Right then..... Exhausts were next. Sugar's Blues had unshrouded exhausts. The Airfix kit has shrouded exhausts, but htey are solid moldings. So, I cut them off with my newly accquired razor-saw and then cut the holes out to recieve the exhaust stacks, kindly donated by the Hasegawa kit! A pice of plasticard cut ot the appropiate size was glue in the back of each hole...as I wouldn't find it funny when the stacks fell through into the nacelles, never ot be seen again ( and I HAVE done that!!) Here's a look at the mid-upper position , with the turret in place. I have fitted the wheel-wells and am working on the undercarriage housing and the resin flaps on the big beautiful wings. I'll post images over the weekend. Thanks for looking :blink: Liam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 just realised that I can't spell for sh"t! :blink: G'night Liam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Col. Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 just realised that I can't spell for sh"t! G'night Liam Never mind mate, you can certainly build a good model :blink: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted January 6, 2007 Share Posted January 6, 2007 Looking good Liam. Nice work! MikeJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted January 8, 2007 Author Share Posted January 8, 2007 08-01-07 And the progress update for today is as follows!! A shot of the underneath showing the flaps and thingies. The resin kit is particularly good for this area as there is nothing on the Airfix Lanc for this area. I do intend to drop the flaps, but that's as far as I'll go. I haven't used the resin replacement for the outer section, preferring to go with the kit pieces ( parts 118 and 122). A closer look at the lovely resin goodies. A bit of trimming is needed to get these parts to fit comfortably and they do need to be sanded thinner. I also had to trim a teeny section of the resin where the wing root attaches to the fuselage to get the two wing halves to closer enough so that they would fit into their attachment points on the fuselage. Acloser look at the interior of the wheel wells. They are nicely done! The props have been assembled and will be painted in due course. She's beginning to look like a Lancaster now. Liam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted January 19, 2007 Author Share Posted January 19, 2007 19-01-07 A lot done! Here's the latest update. Silver undercoat courtesy of Holts Dupli-color Auto Spray, Chrome Aluminiun, acrylic formualtion. View from above, the Lanc is mostly assembled. No landing gear yet, bomb-bay doors not attached, and no guns yet...they'll be last. The bomb-bay set is truely lovely...it's nicely detailed, but some pieces re very delicate. Care must be taken. Next up is the cammo. The idea of the silver is a primer coat but also I hope that after she's painted and decal'd, I'll very gently scrape some very fine grit sandpaper over the Lanc, hopefully removing just enough of the top-coat to show a little of the silver/rivet detail. Anybody got any suggestions as to how I can do this without ripping the decals asunder? Also, when the Lancaster is on the groud, does the tail-wheel compress? Or is it a retractable wheel that they bring up in-flight? Thanks in advance Liam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted January 27, 2007 Author Share Posted January 27, 2007 (edited) 27-01-07 Latest update. Mixed feelings this time. Although you can't see it under the tape, I completely mucked up the rear turret. I used super-glue to fix it in place and, although well-dipped in Future/Klear, the glass fogged. There's no sense in replacing it as it would only happen again, but I am gutted as the build had gone so well up until then. Live and learn. Also, as you'll see later, if anyone decides to do a Martin-turret Lancaster.... and you use aftermarket turrets, make sure the apertures for the machine guns matches the width of the of the gun emplacement. I didn't and had to widen the apertures, which really doesn't look too swell. Wish there was a way to hide it, but, oh well. And, they say things come in three's...and so it came to pass that I noticed on some web photos that the Martin turret had what looked like a reinforcement plate attached around and underneath it. The photos are old, in black and white and the top section is not very clear. http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/collect...e&id=KM2167 I assumed it had a rectangular shape to it and scratch-built a bit of styrene to represent this, painted it, weathered it, Future'd it. Imagine my horror when I found out it had a "H" type shape to it like so..... I found an image in "Lancaster:RAF Heavy Bomber" by Living History Series, World War II, photographs by Dan Patterson, on page 58/59. It shows what I refer to as the reinforcement plate below the mid-upper turret and it can clearly be seen to have an "H" shaper to it. Bugger! :D So, out with the scalpel and a-cutting did I go.... It's not painted up yet, but you should be able ot see the shape clearly enough to see what I mean. The rest of the Lanc is done, except for placement of the bomb-bay doors and props, which will be done tomorrow. Tonight, I paint! ;) Liam Edited January 27, 2007 by yeehah1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
yeehah1 Posted January 29, 2007 Author Share Posted January 29, 2007 29-01-07 Annndddddddd we're done! The .50 cals are made from a paper clip cut ( roughly ) to size using the 050 cals in the Academy 1/72 Liberator B-24J as reference. The antennea wire is some really handy stretchy/elastic string I picked up at Telfords in Nov.2006. This stuff is fantastic...superglue to one end, stretch to finish point, superglue and cut to size....wonderful. No fuss, no muss. All the little touch-up jobs done and dusted. I know that there are a few small bits I haven't put on that maybe I should, but I am done. Time to move on and get me spot in another G/B and to maybe finish that F/A-18E I started months ago...... Thank you all for the encouragement, the advise, the history and all the information that helped me put this together. It's not without flaws, it'll win no competitions ( even though it started soooo well) but there were a few "firsts" for me...first all-kit rescribe, first bunch of scratch-building, first use of stretchy-chord for antenna, first vac-form canopy. It may be too subtle to show in the pic, but after I sprayed the underneath black ( covering the silver undercoat), I VERY gently rubbed the black paint off with a very fine grain sanding stick, revealing hte silver underneath, highlighting the rivet-detail, which really makes this Airfix kit sing! It's what the Hasegawa Lanc lacks, I think. The rivets give the Airfix kit it's character and overall, makes it polish up into a fine, beautiful kit. Wife loves this one....but still won;t let me put it on top of the telly! :) And that's it. Thanks for watching and so on..now it's off to see if I have a kit for the JASDF G/B ( have to do SOMETHING while I am waiting for the Monogram G/B! :wacko: ) Liam Quote Link to post Share on other sites
madmike Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Liam Lovely work on this old classic kit. I will show Lori the build thread tonight as she loves the Lancaster. MikeJ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ericp Posted January 30, 2007 Share Posted January 30, 2007 Nice build, Liam ! You know what, I actually liked the all-silver stage in your build the best ! Maybe one day I'll do a Lanc (perhaps modified to a Lancastrian) in full silver, have a Tamiya kit waiting patiently in the stash. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.