Search the Community

Lancaster B.Mk.I Part 1 (For Hong Kong Models) 1:32 Eduard BIG ED In the race to bring us a 1:32 Lancaster, HK Models brought us the first one that many a modeller have bought, and some of us even have a place to put it once it's built! Detail is good, but it can always be better with a little Photo-Etch (PE) and so forth. In case you're unaware, Eduard's Big ED sets are a great way to purchase all the sets you want for your model whilst availing yourself of a bulk purchase discount that can be quite tempting. The set arrives in a large cardboard envelope with the Big ED branding and a sticker in the top left that details what's inside. Within the envelope the sets are all still individually packaged to protect the frets from shuffling past each other and getting damaged until you're ready to use them. Inside that sturdy envelope you get the following sets: 32436 Radiators 32938 Cockpit 32939 Seatbelts (STEEL) JX225 Masks Cockpit (32938) Arriving on a single large nickel plated and pre-painted fret, you get a complete set of new layered instrument panels and flight engineer consoles, plus radio boxes, throttle quadrant, seat adjustment parts, and a few other small black box faces to round-out the set. Seatbelts STEEL (32939) These belts are Photo-Etch (PE) steel, and because of their strength they can be etched from thinner material, which improves realism and flexibility in one sitting. Coupled with the new painting method that adds perceived extra depth to the buckles and other furniture by shading, they are more realistic looking and will drape better than regular brass PE. As well as the pilot's four-point harness there are an additional seven sets of lap-belts for the rest of the crew, including the swing-like seats for the gunners. Radiators (32436) This bare brass set contains radiator upgrades for both sides of all four rad cores, the front of which will be seen from the big intake, plus the little auxiliary intakes on the sides of the nacelles with stand-off brackets that have pre-etched fold marks. Masks (JX225) Supplied on two sheets of yellow kabuki tape, these pre-cut masks supply you with a full set of masks for the canopy, with compound curved handled by using frame hugging masks, while the highly curved gaps are in-filled with either liquid mask or offcuts from the background tape. On a canopy like the Lanc's, this will be a big time-saver. In addition you get a set of hub/tyre masks for the wheels, allowing you to cut the demarcation perfectly with little effort, as well as a whole host of smaller masks for the wingtip lights, landing lights, gun turrets (another big time saver) and other smaller glazed parts. Conclusion With a kit as large as this, I think we all feel a little pressure to do the best job we can, so these sets will be just the ticket to improve your model in a simple manner with a discount on buying them separately. Review sample courtesy of

AVRO Lancaster Code Letters & Numbers 48x24x6 (ED-32123) 1:32 Euro Decals by Fantasy Printshop There are a couple of Lancasters in 1:32, or at least there will be soon. We've already seen the HK Models B.I kit (reviewed here), and Wingnut Wings should be releasing theirs later this year with an amount of luck and a fair wind, and that's a statement that's something I never thought I would type. Two 1:32 Lancaster kit in injection moulded styrene. What's the modelling age beyond platinum? Euro Decals have this new set for those that want to go "off-book" for their subject matter, or for those that may have accidentally screwed up their kit decals. We all know that decals aren't immune to coffee, tea and other liquids, as well as our human fallibility, so these things are known to happen, and probably happen to us all at least once in our modelling lifetimes, whether we care to admit it or not. Arriving in a clear ziplok bag with a printed front insert, the set we were sent to review includes two sheets, one a little larger than the other in terms of area, but you have different purchase options on their site. The larger sheet contains letters, while the smaller one has the digits, all of which are printed in dark red, as was common for the bomber force. You get two of every letter in two different styles with rounded or squared off radiuses (radii for the Latin speakers), which is also the case for the digits, but you get three of most of them in three different styles with only the 8s and 9s having 2 each. There are even two question-marks for your use if you need them. The carrier film is cut close to the printed areas, and the inside areas are filled with carrier film, but this is cut back in a curve at the openings such as the Cs and Js, and should hide away nicely with a few coats of clear gloss and maybe a little sanding to hide the edges. They are scaled to the 48" x 24" x 6" standard that is prescribed by the Air Ministry to the chaps with paint brushes, and taking the micrometer to the decals confirms that they are up to snuff, although scaling in inches was a bit of a novelty. The cover page shows a trio of different Lancs including a Dambusters adapted airframe and a Rose turreted example, but these are illustrative purposes only, as the tail flashes, airframe serials and other markings are outside the remit of this sheet. Conclusion Fantasy Printshop's decals are a known quantity and will go down without fuss with the aid of some decal solution (they recommend Microsol & Set), so if you're in the market for some additional decals for your behemoth Lanc, then look no further. The good news is that you can buy the sheets individually, or as a pack of four, so if you only need a few letters/digits it'll save you some shekels. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Below please find a photograph of a Lancaster GR.3 I'm trying to reproduce. It's still some time before I get to the painting stage (I've got the wings on the fuselage, but the fuselage still needs some work - I know, I should have waited until the fuselage was done before attaching the wings, but I couldn't wait!). However, it's never too early to think about how I'm going to reproduce this wonderfully-filthy machine. I have my questions and comments added to this picture and I would definitely like anyone else's input regarding this. The overall scheme is simple - just the typical postwar maritime scheme of Medium Sea Grey over White. It's the dark areas that confuse me - exhaust stains, deliberately painted black, or the white overcoat worn away to show the black paint from the original Bomber Command scheme (I assume they just painted over that scheme, instead of stripping it off, then repainting it - those postwar years were somewhat austere). Thank you very much in advance for any help! Best Regards, Jason

Well since everyone else was doing one i felt left out ;-) actually me and me and my best mate are building the same(ish) kit he bought a straight forward tamyia lanc i bought the Dambusters version.will post as i go.Also fitted a "edwardo" dash kit so far so good here's some pictures , Ohh and just to add a bit more interest i decided to wire up the props with micro motors AND am going to wire up the "UP KEEP" Bomb to make it spin , it will either work out good or i will destroy a £100 kit lol Not sure if this will upset people but i decided to go with cockpit green even thou Tamyia say use "Panzer Grey" or Black Drilled out upkeep for pully and dowel, Now the more observant of you might have noticed i wired the batt and motors up BEFORE i hooked the wings and fuselage OOOOOOHPS have to cut n shut together