Jump to content

RCAF Maritime Air Command lancaster Mk 10 SAR


Recommended Posts

Time to start this one fro the GB. I got the kit bundle from Don Gerrard (Dong) a few years ago, waiting for this GB I guess.

The kit is the 1/72 Lancaster kit by Revell Germany. Ill be building it as an RCAF post war Lancaster Mk10 SAR (Search and Rescue) using Belcher Bits decals and resin wheels.

Now on to the build. First thing I had to do was to open up a few new window positions at the rear of the fuselage. I marked the outer edge of the windows with masking tape, then drilled into the corners. I then used a hobby knife to cut the holes open, finally using files and sanding sticks to shape the window openings. I used some unused canopy parts to make the new window panes.

P1020514.jpg

P1020515.jpg

P1020516.jpg

Next, I filled in the windows along the upper sides of the fuselage since Canadian built lancasters didnt have them. Im keeping the interior detailing to a minimum since I dont thing much will be seen through the greenhouse canopy anyways. Just some simple drybrushing to bring out the raised detail in the fwd crew cabin and wheel wells.

P1020519.jpg

P1020518.jpg

P1020517.jpg

P1020522.jpg

Next I started closing up the fuselage and then attached the wings. The fit so far has been pretty good, not Tamiya like, but better than I am used to from Revell. The wings fit so tightly onto the spars that glue was not needed to hold them on. Just a bit of Tamiya super thin was needed to join the wing to the wing root. Now I let it sit for a day before I putty the seams.

P1020523.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Hah, I'm going to do the two Maratime Reconnaissance ones from the same scheme.. (edit oh wait, you already knew that), its a cracking scheme and a great build... how are you going to do the Natural metal finish?

Link to post
Share on other sites
Hah, I'm going to do the two Maratime Reconnaissance ones from the same scheme.. (edit oh wait, you already knew that), its a cracking scheme and a great build... how are you going to do the Natural metal finish?

the Natural metal finish on this one will be various shades of Alclad. I've been experimenting a bit over the last year with a few different models, time to try it for real now.

Great choice. The one I did last year is te centre piece of my collection!

I suspect it will be. I picked it because of the very colorfl markings, it will definitely stand out.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I've been trying to find some pics of the actual aircraft Im doing, KB889, not having much luck so far. I was wondering about the weathering. I did find a picture of another maritime Patrol aircraft parked on static display and it looked pretty grungy. Another thing I was wondering about was some of the other colors on the fuselage. The paragraph that BelcherBits put on the sheet below the profile is all I have to go on. They describe the airframe being overall natural metal with a white top, and the day glo red fuselage band. The other SAR Lancs had the lower fuselage painted in a grey color (possibly aircraft grey) and the horizontal stabs painted red except for the actual elavators. I may have to use artistic licence on a these unless I can find a decent picture of '889.

Link to post
Share on other sites
I've been trying to find some pics of the actual aircraft Im doing, KB889, not having much luck so far. I was wondering about the weathering. I did find a picture of another maritime Patrol aircraft parked on static display and it looked pretty grungy. Another thing I was wondering about was some of the other colors on the fuselage. The paragraph that BelcherBits put on the sheet below the profile is all I have to go on. They describe the airframe being overall natural metal with a white top, and the day glo red fuselage band. The other SAR Lancs had the lower fuselage painted in a grey color (possibly aircraft grey) and the horizontal stabs painted red except for the actual elavators. I may have to use artistic licence on a these unless I can find a decent picture of '889.

Found a pic or two '889 , one while derelict being worked on in Oshawa in the elements. Almost the ultimate in weathering jobs. The other in happier earlier times.

from 'Lancaster Photo Album' by Neville Franklin. send me a PM and I will scan if interested.

At least it appears that is is not an extended nose Lanc.

Tony

Link to post
Share on other sites

Charlie: I have a couple of Lancaster pics in the SAR finish; White top, Grey underside of fuselage, red spinners, red wing tips and horizontal tail, all control surfaces are doped aluminum. Over-the-wing behind the engines are very dirty and the bare aluminum areas are quite sad but you have to keep in mind that these aircraft were WW2 left-overs that had originally been painted and in the process the aluminum was acid etched which would remove the alclad coating leaving the metal suseptable to corrosion.

There is a ull side view of 889 in SAR finish in Patrick Martin's book Aircraft Finish and Markings 1947-1968

HTHs

Barney

Edited by Barneydhc82
Link to post
Share on other sites

There's a couple of photos of KB889 while she was on display at the Age of Flight Museum in Niagara Falls before she went to Oshawa.

http://www.bombercommandmuseum.ca/photos_l...otos_kb889.html

Your Lanc's coming along well. I built one a few years back as KB904 in the first Lancaster SAR scheme, circa 1948 (notice the different roundels on the wings).

IMG_9475_small.jpg

I also modified the kit even further by completely filling in the kit-supplied mid-upper turret plug and made a new patch out of 0.005" styrene in the correct late Mk 10 location for the mid-upper turret (further forward, since it was fitted with the Martin 250CE instead of the Frazer-Nash FN50).

IMG_8145_small.jpg

:whistle:

Edited by rcaf_100
Link to post
Share on other sites

Wow, lots of great info comingv forward, thank you very much everyone. :) Some nice pics and painting guides were sent to me by Snowbird3a and RCAF_100, between those and the info given to me by BarneyDHC82 and Phantom's build, I should have enough to go on with my build. A few details missed on the Belcher paint guide besides the incomplete paint references were the barrel shaped radome under the fuselage, that should be easy enough to do and windows at about the midway point along the sides of the fuselage. Now that I have the fuselage closed up, I'm not sure if I can make the cut outs for those windows without damaging something else, so Ill have to leave those be. maybe Ill scribe the window frame and paint the inner portion a contrasting color to make it look like the opening was plugged in. Also not sure about repositioning the plug for the upper gun turret hole. I have a few ideas about that.

Last night pics, I spent the evening fitting the bomb bay doors and building up the nacelles. The aft bomb bay bulkead had shifted forward a bit and interfered with the bomb bay doors. I had to shave away some plastic and do a bit of sanding to get those in place. The inner nacelles looked really fiddly to install in the instructions but actually went together pretty well. I test fitted them and they stay in place without glue or tape.

P1020525.jpg

P1020524.jpg

And for fun, I compared the size of the Lanc and a CF-104, both kits are 1/72 scale.

P1020527.jpg

P1020528.jpg

P1020526.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Need a little input guys. I think I figured out the best way to represent the different position for the turret plug on the upper fuselage, Ill just scribe a circle in correct position for the Mk 10 using the kit turret fairing as a template, Ill then putty the seams of the original plug and scribe new panel lines as needed. That should be fairly easy.

After studying the pictures sent to me by Tony and Barney I realized that I should not have puttied over the windows just forward of the wing root. I used the kit windows as a plug, then puttied over that with Tamiya gray putty. How could I remove the putty so I could have a clear window again? Also, wondering if there is a way to install a pair of windows at the mid point of the fuselage?

Link to post
Share on other sites
Need a little input guys. I think I figured out the best way to represent the different position for the turret plug on the upper fuselage, Ill just scribe a circle in correct position for the Mk 10 using the kit turret fairing as a template, Ill then putty the seams of the original plug and scribe new panel lines as needed. That should be fairly easy.

I thought of that on mine too, but it was a royal pain in the butt trying to scribe a circle on a curved surface.

That's why I went with the styrene patch using the kit turret plug as a template.

The patch on the actual aircraft overlaps the hole (ie: not flush) so it's not that bad if you use thin enough styrene. I sanded mine down a bit so the edges weren't as pronounced.

You can see here that the patch and the plug are the same diameter:

IMG_8144_small.jpg

Don't forget the stiffener strips on either side of the patch too.

They overlap the lower edges of the patch, but I just ran a razor blade across the overlap and removed the styrene on the patch below the stiffener strip. I hope this makes sense. :lol:

Here's one of the stiffener strips on FM104 as a reference:

stiffenerstrip.jpg

<_<

Edited by rcaf_100
Link to post
Share on other sites

I have found at least 1 clear photo of KB889 taken from the starboard side, the picture is small but it definitely shows no window present at the mid section, or maybe the window was painted over. Still not sure about the port side. Oh well, if I omit them both, I`ll be at least half right. I did manage to punch out the windows that I had previously puttied over. I sanded them down, then polished them up and re-inserted them, that looks better to me now.

P1020537.jpg

I also took some of Shane's (RCAF_100) advice regarding the patched over turret hole. Once I had puttied and sanded the seams, I cut out a disc of sheet styrene and thinned it out before placing it in position where the turret hole would have been on the Mk10 Lancasters. Once the glue had taken hold, I sanded some more til I was happy with the thickness of it. Tomorrow Ill tackle the re-inforcing strips.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Would anyone know the approximate dimensions of the radome cylinder on the belly of the SAR Lancs, diameter and length please. Would I be correct in assuming its about the same diameter as the openiong in the belly on the Revell Lancaster?

As seen in this picture... http://hsfeatures.com/features04/images/FM104_ref1.jpg

Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...