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Tamiya 1/48th Lanc


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With the interior of the Lanc pretty much completed, a trial fit to make sure it all works. I've cut one of the side panels out of the canopy to have the pilot's window in the open position so that he is giving the "thumbs up" to "Joe" who's standing ready by the trolley acc! (Joe's not finished yet by the way. :closedeyes: )

pilotposngood2.jpg

finishedtrolleyacc.jpg

Max

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I'm using the Belcher Bits resin engines on the Lanc., the Tamiya ones aren't that accurate. The Belcher Bits ones need some cleaning up and the exhaust shrouds some thinning at either end.

belcherdetail.jpg

belchersprayed2.jpg

I marked the mating edge of the engine nacelles with tape and then cut generously forward of the line, ready to carefully cut back to ensure a good fit. The Belcher Bits instructions recommend firstly gluing the assembled nacelles onto the wings before cutting off the forward section but I'd rather work on individual items and then fit. Hope my confidence isn't misplaced!

firstcutsparebest_edited-1.jpg

Max

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looking more beautiful each time you take the next step. I'm glad I painted my internal ladder yellow now! .Shape-wise mine is 'essence of ladder' rather than the lovely replica that you've fitted into yours.

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Sorry - cannot resist it - the handrail down to the BA compartment - I will rise to Max's bait (as he knew I would) - the fact that on one Lancaster - e.g. DV 372 - it was yellow does not mean they all were!! Anymore than because some wore the alleged gas patch, or some had the windows painted out, or in some cases blanked out, all did!! Some rails were yellow and some were black - fact!! But also it does not matter if you choose yellow or black unless there is unchallengeable evidence that the Lancaster you are modelling did have a different colour from the one you choose.

Oh, and Max the colours of the dials on the FE panel you have shown are different from the ones in DV372.

handrailyell.gif

Yellow??

ckhandrailbl.gif

Black?

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This is a "test" fit of the Belcher Bits engine nacelle to the Tamiya aft end, it seems pretty good.

goodfit.jpg

The engine nacelles will be put into place once the aft sections have been fixed to the wings, so with that build sequence in mind, I'm doing the undercarriage and wheels:

undercart.jpg

ucfirstfit.jpg

undercarriage.jpg

The lead wire is for the brake lines.

Max

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I'm at the "closing up the fuselage" stage, so a couple of shots before the big event. Too late I see that I've forgotten to paint the white "extension" to the nav's seat support, but it won't show so not too many worries!

navstation.jpg

office.jpg

reardoor.jpg

Max

Edited by galgos
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I've made quite a lot of progress today, having joined the fuselage yesterday and spent the evening sanding out and/or filling any join lines. The camouflage has been completed, with just a few bits to tidy up where edges of masking tape were. The "black" is Vallejo ModelAir 71054 Dark Grey Blue. I'm using "Miracle Masks" for the squadron code letters of PO-L outlined in yellow, since I'm not aware of any decal producer who makes 1/48th scale letters with the yellow outlining, so I've started putting a few coats of Klear in that area as preparation. I'm not using the Tamiya windows because they're far too thick, I'll either be using clear acetate or "Kristal Klear".

fuselagelength.jpg

The sides look a bit brown in these pictures but that's due to the flash on the camera, not the paint!

cockpitoff.jpg

The cockpit is just resting in place to see how it looks. The DF loop and pilot will be added before too long.

cockpiton.jpg

The open main door, step and flare shute.

reardoorflareshute.jpg

I put the wings on temporarily last night - I hadn't until that time fully appreciated just how big and heavy this model is. I'll be adding the decals to the wings and fuselage before I glue the whole lot together - it's a damned sight more manageable that way!

Max

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I've been doing some work on the gun turrets. The things supplied with the kit looked more like matchsticks than .303 Brownings so I sent for some beautiful turned brass ones for all three turrets.

brassguns2.jpg

Since it seems as though most rear gunners opted to cut a section, or all, of the perspex from the turret to improve their ability to spot nightfighters, I decided to do the same. With a section open, and the accurate barrels, adding some detail to the turret was essential - all based on contemporary photographs.

rearguns2.jpg

Max

Looking good! May I ask where you got the turned brass gun barrels from?

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Looking good! May I ask where you got the turned brass gun barrels from?
i'm away from home for a few days and can't remember to be honest, but I'll let you know on Wednesday! ( Hopefully!) :-) Edited by galgos
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Gruffy, the Browning gun barrels came from:

http://master-model.pl/index.php?option=co...p;limitstart=20

I'm getting ready to do the squadron code letters and serials on the fuselage and the aircraft letter which is repeated on the tailfin. As mentioned before, I'm using Mal Mayfield's Miracle Masks to achieve the 5 Group late-war practice of outling the dull red letters in yellow to aid recognition during the increasing number of daylight ops that were done. I've applied the Tamiya "C" type roundel to the fuselage:

fuselageC.jpg

and will be applying the masks:

masks.jpg

Understanding the procedure for using them is probably (hopefully) going to be more difficult than actually using them, but I think I've got it!

I ordered a sheet of "B" type roundels for the upper wing surfaces because the Tamiya ones supplied were far too small, as can be seen here:

Broundels.jpg

Watch this space!

Max

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I'm starting to apply the squadron codes using the Miracle Masks - since I've not done this before I'm experimenting with the single "L" on the fin.

The first stage is to "weed" the sheet - ie get rid of all the bits in between the masks:

weeding.jpg

Then I transferred the mask to the fin. The material, though thin, is resilient and can be picked up and moved until in the right position. It is sticky but easy enough to work with:

maskapplied.jpg

I used a cotton bud to "burnish" the edges to make sure the mask was firmly in place.

Next the "mask" was masked to avoid overspray:

maskmasked.jpg

And then the base colour applied. I had to mix my own colour because Vallejo don't do anything similar. I used a mixture of mahogany (71036), yellow (71002), Italian red (71085), white (71001) and a touch of USA grey (71047):

firstspray.jpg

The final stage is to put the central part of the "L" onto of the base colour then spray with yellow. Hopefully it should all look fairly authenticate because the codes were added at the squadron and applied over black:

Anzac120.jpg

Max

Edited by galgos
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The first code completed - I had to do a little touching up where the masking tape took off some of the black paint near the top, and I see a cat's hair that needs sanding off at the bottom!!! Apart from that I'm rather pleased and feel confident enough to go on with the codes on the fuselage now.

finished1.jpg

Max

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The fuselage sides masked up ready for spraying the dull red coat:

fuselagemasked.jpg

but the results are not as good as I hoped for!! Problems with register of red/yellow (my fault), the white patches are where a white "undercoat" (applied with a brush!) that I found necessary for the yellow to show, seeped underneath the masking - all along the raised panel lines of the fuselage. And then of course on removing the masking there was damage to the roundel AND some over-spray!! Doh - lots of fiddly corrective work to do!

beforetouchup.jpg

Max

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