Icabod

Sorry about late reply, the day job is interfering with modelling. Yes there are some decals but none of the one I want to build. I am forcing myself to plod on with this model right now. I have been away 'incapacitated' for 6 months during which time I determined to clear the shelf of shame before progressing things I wanted to do and I am currently doing just that. This Sanger Halifax is going to be finished asap as it seems to be going on for ever and the warping of both of the outer wing sections was soul destroying. (I used 8 Swg piano wire as a spar brace when making the wings but I didn't take it far enough and both wings has severe wash out at the tips now). Image below shows the current state of play along with the carved engine painted grey on its mould mount and a resing cast which I am modifying for a different radiator for the next build. The engine was carved because I badly screwed up the fitting of the Sanger vacform parts. If I use Sanger parts on the next Halifax build I will cut the wing for the outer engines rather than the engine moulds. Fitting the engines to the taper was not so easy and proved my downfall.

Thanks for the comments. The engines are resin made from a carved master I made plastic card, glued together and profiled and scaled from the Aerodata plans. There are no donor parts at all. The canopy and nose glazing are from the Sanger vacuum parts, the top and rear turrets are vac formed from masters made from plastic card scaled from the Aerodata plan. A resin master was then cast from the carved turrets to be used as the vac form mould. I tried vac forming direct from the plastic card masters put the clear sheet heat stuck to the moulds ... yuk.. I have some bits and bobs to finish off from the shelf of doom and then I plan to get back to the finishing this Halifax and completing another based on this experience.

Finally getting back to it after a fairly bad bout of illness which left me unable to model (or doing anything else) until the middle of last month. I plan on getting back to my Halifaxes over the next few weeks but in the mean time got distracted to finish a 2 year old father's day present from my children. Currenly assembled awaiting painting and twiddly bits. Finish is Humbrol metalcote, buffed up to different levels to break up the boring silver. Finished article will be 'Bit O Lace' in memory of the first B-17 I built, the old Airfix kit back in the 1960s.

I think that Halifax looks superb. Something you should be very proud of. 👌

I would like to see the pictures. I haven't managed to do anymore modelling since my last post. Old issue cropped up and I am bed ridden for another week at least.

The Halifax is finally coming together now. The rear turret mould was made and a resin blank created for the turret rear as you can see below. I also took the opportunity to carve and mould some observation blisters for the next Halifax I am in the process of building. The vacuum glazing cloudy/white owing to the protective film I left on while vacforming. Assembled turret profile looks like this.. Whole thing currently looks like this: Once assembled I also noticed the wings had warped after 12 years in the garage loft. Lots of washout on both wing tips. Engines exhausts and the carburettor air intakes to fit on the outer engines plus lots of the fiddly bits and port hole glazing.

It was great to hear from you again but sorry I cannot see any images at all and I would like to to see them especially considering the problem I had with the engines. I haven't done much with Halifax no 1 which in now assembled with with wings attached and I have left it at home while I am away as all the things it needs doing to it now are too dirty/smelly for a caravan. Disappointingly I also realised that the port wing has warped over the years and developed a decided twist. Clearly my internal bracing wasn't good enough I spent the weekend carving and moulding different rear turrets but I still haven't been happy results. I am now certain the Sanger shape is more accurate than the Aerodata. The turret is flat on top and the curve at the back is created by the solid entrance section which is flush with the rear fuselage. The turret also bulges around the guns. I also ran out of clear styrene. I spent today working on the lower wings of the next Halifax creating the internal bracing to prevent the next ones from warping., as you can see from the photo. The leading edge section is fitted because the wing tops and wing bottoms do not align correctly and the new LE profile will not be wavy. I will cut the outer wing panels at the dihedral rib line and attach them first. This will also allow me to work on the wheel wells from the top and bottom. Halifax no 1 has no wheel well details. The brown marks are the remains of the packing tape that had been used hold the vacuum panels together. (it was purchased in 2008) Th tape had deteriorated to the extend that all that was left was the glue.

Many thanks for the feedback 'OldModeler and I look forward to sharing builds. Your nacelles look fine but take care fitting them to wings. That's when I screwed up big time. On my next build I will cut into the wing leading edge to fit the nacelles rather than try cutting the outer nacelle to fit the wing leading edge taper. This is my 2nd Halifax build so far, unlike the first one currently being finally assembled this one is being built based on the experience of the first. Just the internal formers assembled so far with the a start made on what will be some internal cockpit detail from the flight engineers office forward. I learnt from the first build that the fuselage will twist very easily hence the top longeron and rigid 2mm formers. I agree the Elvington Halifax has is somewhat of a hotch potch in some areas but I suspect the rear turrent is a BP type E. These are a couple of photos from Elvington's dedicated 'turret' display hut showing a Boulton Paul Type 'A' top turret and an un-restored Boulton Paul Type 'E'. Looking at your turret picture I would suggest it is more accurate than mine and I think it is the curve of the non glazed back section coupled with the fuselage curved raised rear (to accommodate the turret height) which gives the curved appearance of the actual turret. A trip to Elvington with ruler will sort it and I should be able to get there this month. (Only 20 miles away). The turret top looks flat on these photos, at least they do to me. I found this advertisement in an old (1944) Aeronautics magazine which has a nice drawing of how the BP four gun turrets are fed with ammunition, something which is not very apparent looking at photos. Finally if you need any bits that I may have spare let me know. Glad to share what I have.

Another phase completed. The wings have been fixed and the undercarriage secured. The original build of 2011 or so was originally intended to be a wheels up model and so I did not cut out any of the wing wells. To fix the undercarriage I retro fitted some plates as per the Sanger instructional drawing such as it is in the nacelles and drilled them exactly in accordance with the measurement. The undercarriage fitted perfectly. This is my first vacuum kit to date and there is a lot wrong and there are things I will do differently in future but overall it does look like a Halifax. I have the wings to clip as the Sanger kit has the MKII extensions built into the wing. I am still undecided about the rear turret. I carved a blank from the Aerodata plans and it definitely has the curved appearance shown on the plan but when compared with a photo I found on the internet of the real thing it may be that the Sanger moulding is more accurate and the Aerodata plan is wrong. This is the blank from the plan.. and this is the photo snipped from the internet.. I shall have to go to Elvington to look at the real thing to be sure.

Change of pace today I got tired of framing the turrets and I still don't like the rear turret shape. I think I will carve a new one from the Aerodata plan at some point. For now though I will plod on with the one I have already done. Spent today cutting the propeller hubs off the engine castings and fitting the Sanger blades, started work on the tail wheel and fitted the tail plane and fins. Tailplanes were secured using the rod and tube method to ensure they are aligned correctly. Tape is just stopping them rotating while the glue set. The photos show something that is finally looking a bit like a Halifax now that the props are on, albeit loosely put together. Engines need to be scribed I see. Model is being built in a static caravan... hence the strange background. The plastic boxes and the old FM Halifax box contain all the bits and tools, totally self contained. 😀

Further overall progress to date is shown in the pictures below. The new turrets are complete and are awaiting framing. Nose section has been reworked to reflect the correct Mk of Halifax with old windows filled and new ones drilled. ( I hope to build a Mk 1 next) . Nose glazing is fitted and is awaiting blending in properly. Scare gun is fitted albeit without the barrel. The Sanger gun is abysmal so a replacement was found in the 'bit' box. There is some bomb aimer panels fitted for the internals but this shot didn't show them, not that they are that visible anyway. Here is a close up photo of the nose glazing before painting and finishing showing the gun mount.

Sadly I am already aware. I copied the framing from the previous builds of the FM Halifax and only afterwards did I realise that there were two internal struts between the bulk heads. I have tried to replicate the struts used to support the scare Lewis gun in the nose as you can see in the picture below. I note from your comments that you are have prepared the Merlin engine nacelles supplied in the Sanger kit. I failed with them completely which is why my the model sat in the garage loft for the best part of 12 years. I have another Sanger Halifax on build as the same time as this one and on that one I intend to cut the wing leading edges a fit proper firewalls cribbed form the Aero Data plans in order to get the engine angles correct Fortunately the Aerodata plans show this quite well.

In the end I couldn't go ahead with the Sanger Mid Upper and Rear turrets, the shapes are all wrong. I made a new mid upper casting block from an FM turret which was too thin to use and finished the rear turret cast I started some time ago. I then vacuum formed some replacement turrets. They now need the insides making and the framing doing but the shapes are much much better plus I have the rear turret cast for the next Sanger Halifax I intend to build, a very early Mk 1. The Sanger type C mid upper turret is more realistic. Picture below is the moulds and the new glazing mounted on the new frames.

A few more photo showing work done over the weekend to the framing and the turret interiors completed. Picture below is the rear turret showing the interior. It needs the gun apertures cutting out and the framing doing. I am still no happy with the overall shape. Over views of the fuselage work so far. Mid Upper turret framing to be completed of course. Canopy and the nose are now framed. The frame between the cockpit and engineer stations is too large because the engineer glazing was short. (0.5cm). I am not going to correct it.

Well the Platinum Jubilee gave me a bit more time to plod on. I decided to crack on with the turrets. I have looked up the Boulton Paul Mechanisms as best I can and have assembled the basic layout. There is still a fair bit of detailing to add but the skeleton allowing the guns to elevate are constructed along with the turret bases and rear. The shape of the rear turret isn't that accurate and I am not sure, at this stage, whether to leave it or sort it. This picture is the rear turret skeletal components with the 'Quick Boost' .303 Browning 'Lancaster' barrels loosely pushed into the barrel sockets. The next picture is the bits made so far assembled, unglued for trial fitting. Last two pictures are the turrets placed into the fuselage to keep me enthused with the project....

Thanks for that.

A bit more done today after work, turret bases made and roughly assembled. The mid-upper turret looks more like a hat box than a turret but the framing when done should round it off a bit. Rear turret showing process of making the bases. The big roundy bit is to set rotation diameter so I get the position right and the turret which isn't round will rotate without getting stuck in the rear fuselage. It will be trimmed down when finished. Finally a summary photo of the progress to date. This is give me the will to carry on. The next bits are going to be fiddly with thick fingers... grrr.... Anybody get any advice on interior turret construction would be welcome. My plan so far is to copy the stuff I can find in existing kit instructions downloaded from Scalemates.

Back this weekend and managed to sort the nose section out with filler. This photo shows the nose after the Isopon (dries hard in 30 minutes or so) roughly sanded to shape. The nose glazing is held on with Bluetak to check the line up. Next picture shows the whole fuselage before priming. After final sanding smooth with 4000 grit, whole fuselage was primed with Tamiya spray primer and further sanded and painted again. Masking has been removed to check on the cockpit blending and encourage me to continue. Nose former has been opened up ready to make up some kind of bomb aimer flooring and gadgetry. Next immediate job will be to rescribe all the lost panel lines . Sanger's lines are somewhat overdone but I am not going to correct them. 😒 After that the framing and the turrets.

Worked on the nose section over the last few days. Sanger have chosen to mould the shorter fuselage for a Mk I/II with the extended nose section where the turret would have been complete with the nose glazing of the MkIII i (does that make sense) I would have preferred a moulding of the extend fuselage and cutting away extend section. It would have been easier. The way Sanger has done it means I have to work out how to represent the interior where the bomb aiming mechanism would be. My solution was to make formers to take the supplied glazing, then cut the glazing and make another former to accept what would be the actual true glazing. Cutting the Sanger vacform section was fraught, and cut very very slowly. These are the glazed parts I have left after the cockpit was fitted. Note the size of the bomb aimers glazing. The masked area is the true size of glazing needed. The resin turret is one I have carved as a former for either a home mould replacement of to shape the turret framing. Images below show the former being tested fitted on one side to the glazing and on the other to fuselage. Below on the left is the 1st former being moulded to the fuselage. At this stage the former insides are still solid. The glazed section is dry fitted to testing. On the right is the blended former with the interior cut out leaving the outer frame. On the left is the heart in mouth separation of the front glazing from what will be solid fuselage. On the right is the fuselage section with a front former mated to the 1st former shown above. Tomorrow all being well I will slap some Isopan on the fuselage section and blend the whole lot. Final job will open up the front former and build a bomb aimer position before finally fitting the front glazing. Below is a dry fit to give some idea of how it will look (hopefully).

I built two of the FM Kits both which went to the ATC. It was the arrival of the FM kits which put the Sanger kits (a mk1 and a mk iii) on hold after the engines incidences were wrong.

Some more work done over the weekend. Vacform cockpit glazing cut out and test fitted. They needed a thicker divider than expected. Pictures show the Isopon clag lathered around it to blend it in (fit was where it touched), later photos show the Isopon sanded to shape. Photos also show another Sanger HF fuselage just cut out for comparison. The rear turret area show the discrepancies of the two fuselage halves. Interesting the glazing on the 2nd kit is bigger than the original. New glazing measure 5cm when put together, the old glazing which I used was only 4.5cm, hence the thick cross piece. Sanger kit on build in a Mk I/II, 2nd one is a Mk III and bought a couple of years later. Both are over 12 years old though. Any comment are advice with these vacform kits will be appreciated. Above is the canopy area covered in with my favourite large area filler, Isopon. (Easy to slap on, cheap and very easy to sand/polish with great paint finish) . Above photo shows the rear turret area filled and fitted with a base for the turret turntable along side an untouched Sanger fuselage showing the very poor rear turret area. Plastic is too thin to work properly. Above and below is the canopy area. Port and Starboard. Once the whole fuselage is primed I will remove the maks and start the framing. Rear turret area cannot be finshed at this stage until the turrent is cut our and test fitted. The rear fuselage will then be shaped to the turret. Side glazing is plastic from the blank CD used a CD protector in a box of RW CDs. Glues great and crystal clear.

Actually she isn't. The Engine nacelles, the area behind the cockpit are filled with lead. The Revell instructions advise locations and quantity to be used but in order to get it to sit on the wheels I need 1.5 x the amount quoted. The model is very heavy.

Finished this a couple of weeks ago. Too big to fit on my bench so its no whanging from the ceiling. Kit was re-scribed and finished with Humbrol Aluminium Metallic buffed to create the finish. Poor fit of the canopy was the only issue, it needed a fare bit of filler to blend in correctly. Short video

Is this better. Not sure how to increase the size. When I click them they open up on photobucket

You should be able to click the photos to go to the photo location and zoom in