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Johnha

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Everything posted by Johnha

  1. Some interesting info on Lancaster escape hatches and safety equipment here (apologies if this is common knowledge): link Every time I see photos of PA474 in flight, both hatches appear to be open/missing, anybody know why? John.
  2. As I understood it, in the Lanc the bomb aimer doubled up as front gunner - I read somewhere all he had to do was standup to reach the triggers. I presume he may have been in the turret on take-off?
  3. Nice. I have one of these somewhere, I didn't get round to building it as I felt it would be too small for me to do well. John.
  4. There were huge variations of the civil/military Landies - to some extent dependent upon the differences between series II, IIa & III and into which service/role they were procured for. I had an ex-MOD IIa 109 - twin underseat tanks with internal fillers (the 'civilian' filler location behind the drivers door was covered with a blank). Mine had the 'Rover' type rear axle/diff (and suffered several broken half-shafts to prove it). Both the military 109 and Lightweight chassis had a bolt-on gearbox crossmember of a different profile (rather than welded) - I assume military 88s probably had also. My 109 and the series IIa Lightweight (headlights next to the grill not in the wings) both had a flat rectangular cab heater below the instrument cluster (rather than the round type mostly associated with civil series IIa Landies). For civilian vehicles, the Haynes manual covers those from 1958 to 1985 - in that context, the terms 'early' & 'late' are pretty vague. John.
  5. I seem to remember reading it was a pair of Carousels (redundancy presumably) from the VC-10, installed ('lashed down' was probably the term used) in the bomb aimers blister. John.
  6. Presumably that's a speedometer on the strut of the DH60, showing about 100mph?
  7. The Tallboy Lancs initially carried all three turrets, it was only for the very long range Tirpitz raids that the mid-uppers were removed (1200 miles there, 1200 back) as they needed additional fuel tanks. These were probably the longest range/heaviest payload combination the Lanc achieved (close to 24hrs in the air - surprising there weren't a significant number of engine failures). For normal Tallboy ops, 12000lbs was well within the usual payload of a Lanc. Later when they operated in daylight, there may have been no need for the mid-uppers as the fighter threat was much reduced. Sorry unintended quote...
  8. I bought the Airfix one in the 90's, at the time I hadn't a clue what to do with the interior and didn't get round to building it. Apart from the simple cockpit it's a vast empty space with lots of windows along each side.
  9. I've just caught the tail end of this, stunning build which I'll work my way through before deciding what to do with mine. I have three of the bloomin' things (original Dambuster/Grand Slam, Motorised Grand Slam & 2012-ish BI/III) waiting for enough time, patience and ability to kick-in. Quite where I'd put them is another question... I particularly like the interior (didn't realise so much of the cockpit would be visible under the canopy) and after reading this know I'll have to move the w/o windows (was hoping to avoid that). Superb photography too. John.
  10. I do like that Canadian SAR livery - possible option for my Tamiya when I get a chance...
  11. IIRC sometime in the '90s I recall reading a magazine article which detailed a Manchester conversion (not sure from which Lanc) which involved cutting slices/sections from the Lanc wing to fabricate a Manchester wing (unless I've dreamt it?). It had cross-sections/details of the Vultures and details of the third fin for those to be scratch built. Probably one of the mainstream UK magazines from the time?
  12. Spotted this on the BBC's website: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-56130157 Hopefully one day they'll get her airborne. John
  13. Looking forward to following this, four of them flew over my school at lunchtime in the '80s on their way back north having had some upgrade work done locally. Splendid sight & sound.
  14. I'll be following this, hopefully to pick up some ideas for interior detailing. I have an Airfix Sunderland which I haven't built mostly because I have no idea what to do with the very empty interior. John.
  15. Bit late to this. I heard a similar story back in the '80s, the rumour was apparently related to a Lanc/Halifax tail gunner where the tail 'spun' down like a sycamore seed...
  16. I think I built one of those (probably Airfix), I remember it because the under-wing stores seemed to be all drop tanks (4 at least), when sat on it's wheels there was hardly any ground clearance.
  17. I'll be following this with interest. I have Tamiya's Dambuster/Grand Slam and BI/III kits (waiting for my skills to improve before I tackle them). I quite like the sleeker lines without the mid-upper turret and the cammo paint job (and also the Lancastrian). Although I am curious if/when the 'Lincoln' rudders made it to post-war Lancs (as per PA474 in the book cover above)? John.
  18. I really like the look of the ASR version, pleased to see it expertly done in camo. I built the old kit many years ago and have the new one in a cupboard. I seem to remember having lots of trouble with the undercarriage doors and how to paint the fairing between the canopy and turret. I still struggle to work out how someone decided a turret fighter would work, but have enormous respect for anyone who flew in one (particularly the gunner who doesn't look like he'd have an easy escape route if needed).
  19. No offence taken, that's all _very_ ancient history, well forgotten. If anyone can help with colour schemes for Perry Miniatures War of the Roses Infantry, I'd be grateful for any advice...
  20. Mine was an Airfix 1/72 Henschell (126 I think - canopy but open at the rear?), can't remember much more about it. My Dad was instrumental in showing me what the various glue/don't glue symbols meant and very particular about making sure props would spin once the cement had dried. Next was an Airfix 1/72 Spitfire & Bf110 dogfight double - I bought another a few decades later and still remembered the horrendous fit of that Bf110 nose cone.
  21. Hi All, I'm John from Lancashire. I joined a while ago but before I could say hello something went awry if life which has occupied much of my time since. Lockdown has led to the space I had planned for a workbench being turned into home office space so I'm looking at setting something 'temporary' up. I've been modelling since the late 70's with various gaps in between, mostly WWII & Cold War military aircraft (mostly 1/72nd with some 1/48th). I was brought up on Airfix & Matchbox (3-colour era) with some Revell and Heller but later branched out to Tamiya, Academy and others. First kit was an Airfix 1/72 Henschell (126 I think?) followed by a Spitfire & Bf110 'dogfight double', most obscure, a 1/72 Soviet kit of a Yak 1/9 bought in Hungary in the mid-80s. Biggest failure was the Revell U-47 submarine cutaway (far too much 'empty space' for me to fill). Having lurked a bit, I'm really impressed with the work displayed on this forum. The attention to detail and research that goes into your work is amazing. I have a Tamiya 1/48th Lanc that's waiting for my skills to improve to do it justice (the older one - no doubt with the ill-fitting nacelles) and various other projects to keep me busy and while I work up to it. Another challenge is a vac-formed (my first) DH Fox Moth, so I'll be seeking advice for that at some point. John.
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