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Airfix Lancaster BII - 72nd scale - FINISHED - 15 Mar 18


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While waiting for replacement decals for my Hornet build, and after completing my concurrent Sabre build, I started this kit.  I didn't take a photo of the box art but you can Google it.  I was going to build this kit for 'The Heavies' GB but things went sideways for a bit.  I then took the opportunity to build it for this GB.  I started building late last week and I have to say that this is, so far, one of the nicest kits I've ever built.  IMO it rivals any Tamiya kit for fit, finish, surface detail and ease of assembly.  Paint call outs are for Humbrol enamels.  Go figure.  The plastic is soft but easy to work with.  The panel lines are very nicely done.  The only drawback is that there is no ordnance supplied.  You have to buy that separately in the 'Bomber Re-supply' kit.  Ya...no!

 

I just took photos this morning of the work completed so far.  The only fir problem I've had to date is closing the fuselage halves.  A bit of sanding was needed for the floor / main spar parts but everything closed up nicely.  Airfix has done a nice job with adding a couple of spar and stringer parts in the wheel bays to add some realism there.  Nice touch and again the fit was really good.  There's an option to pose the bomb bay doors open or closed.  They include bulged doors that would have accommodated the Tall Boy / Grand Slam bombs.  You can also pose the flaps up or down.  Decals are provided for the instrument panel and the flight engineer's panel.  There's also a rudimentary map decal for the navigator's table.

 

I'll be using kit decals for RCAF 408 Squadron's EQ-Z for 'Zombie'.

 

408 Sqn stone carin at the RCAF Museum in Trenton, Ontario.

 

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The kit.

 

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Regular bay doors

 

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Bulged doors

 

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Flaps - down with 'V' notch

 

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As usual, comments and constructive criticism is always welcome and thanks for taking the time to look in.

 

Mike

Edited by AX 365
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Thanks guys.  I've decided to go with the dropped flaps option.  The landing gear build up well enough.  They go together in a manner very similar to the Revell of Germany kit.  The major exception is that the main gear legs drop into the bays form the top and are glues in place that way.  Tabs on each leg fit into slots in the stringer and main spar assembly.  The hole in the top of the wing / cowling is covered with a plug.  Very ingenious.  One thing that could be engineered a little better is the tabs on the gear doors to mount them to the nacelles.  No photos yet but I'll post a few more in the next update.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

Mike

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  • 3 weeks later...

Some progress on this Lancaster since my last update.  I was working on this one while working on a couple of Sabres at the same time.  This is the first time I've ever had two kits on the go at the same time.  I don't think I'll be doing that again anytime soon.

 

The gaps and issues around the nacelles as identified in the post above have been rectified.  I've also painted the props and engines.  The yellow blade tips are brush painted.  Too much muss and fuss to mask and paint such small areas.  It looks okay so that's fine with me.  The engines are MM Flat Black.  I might drybrush a bit of a metallic colour to give a bit of depth but there won't be too much visible so that decision remains to be made.  I've also sprayed the cowls black and masked the exhaust collector rings and lightly sprayed some Alclad II Copper.  I also masked the canopy.  I had some E-Z Masks for the Airfix Lancaster but they were a poor fit.  The top and front gun turrets have been masked, primed and installed.  The rear canopy has been mostly masked and partly primed.  Still a bit more masking to do there.  Once it's masked I can spray the flat black.  The turret simply falls into the slot at the back of the fuselage so I can add it once the painting is complete.  I've also applied liquid mask to all the side windows.

 

The next steps will be to spray the entire model flat black.  I'll then mask the flat black and spray the green and brown camo.  Not sure how much I'll get done between now and Dec 27 but we'll see.  Hopefully I'll be able to finish before the deadline.

 

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Thanks for looking.

 

Mike

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Bristol Hercules exhaust collectors were not copper. They were steel that was heat-stained.  In fact, on night flying Bristol-powered aircraft, the collectors were over-painted with a black, stove enamel type paint, to hide the hot, glowing collectors from German nightfighters.

 

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Chris

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3 hours ago, AX 365 said:

Thank you Chris.  I may paint them gloss black then.

 

Mike

 

I'd got for a semi-gloss. You could try flat black, then rub it a little with your finger. the skin oil will shine it up a little bit.

 

 

Chris

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No pics but I just finished painting the flat black undersides.  Top colours have been sprayed and are under masking tape.  Mr. Hamfist has struck again and broken the tiny barrels off the nose turret guns.  I have salvaged / saved them and will re-attach them after the decals and flat coat have been applied.  I might make the deadline but time is at a premium between now and the witching hour.

 

Mike

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Don't rush it and ruin it. She'll get done in her own time.

 

I knew the collectors were stainless steel (Copperish is one of the tones they'll stain to) but I've never heard about painting them black. I'll have to file that in my data heap. Maybe a little chipping of the black showing through stained stainless would look cool...

 

 

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9 hours ago, Grey Ghost 531 said:

Don't rush it and ruin it. She'll get done in her own time.

 

I knew the collectors were stainless steel (Copperish is one of the tones they'll stain to) but I've never heard about painting them black. I'll have to file that in my data heap. Maybe a little chipping of the black showing through stained stainless would look cool...

 

 

 

Yes it would. Also look for pictures of late model Halifaxes and Wellingtons. These would most likely had the collectors painted black, too.

 

 

Chris

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Thanks guys.  It won't be finished by deadline time tonight.  Still too many things to do.  I do hope to have it completed by Friday though.

 

Mike

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Well, I finally finished it last week and took some photos moments ago.  It's a definite three footer.  There are FUBARs that I have omitted or strategically photographed so they're not too evident.  A nice kit but quite a few self induced bugger ups towards the end.  It looks like 408's Z - Zombie and it's good enough for me.

 

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Thanks for looking.

 

Mike

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