elger

Early Griffon indeed longer than a single stage Merlin (Spit I-VI); not necessarily longer than a 2-stage Merlin (Spit IX, VII, VIII etc). I think that from shortest to longest noses (O-A in the drawings) you'd have: 1) single stage Merlin 2) early Griffon 3) 2-stage Merlin 4) late Griffon I think that the length of an early Griffon nose is about half way between single and 2-stage Merlins. I'm curious what you'll find out measuring the real thing!

I don't have the answer but it's a really interesting question! I've been pondering about it though, and I think that whatever the answer is depends on two scenarios: Scenario one: Coastal Command Halifaxes are repurposed bomber aircraft. As such, the aircraft's bomb bays and gear bays are painted black at the factory to match the aircraft's undersides. Then there are two questions: 1) are they repainted when the aircraft were picked up by Coastal Command and 2) if they were repainted, in what colour? White as per the undersides? Scenario two: Coastal Command Halifaxes are diverted on the production line and the bomb bays and gear bays are painted per coastal command instructions. The bays are the same colour as other Coastal Command aircraft. Gear legs do look to be white in photos, at least. Looking forward to your next build! Happy Christmas!

The photo on this site would suggest an astrodome http://www.kitsworld.co.uk/index.php?CONTENT=34&UNDERLINE=sub

I think you're making a mistake here because I think you're comparing your Seafire fuselage to the wrong mark; I don't think you can draw a conclusion regarding the length of your Seafire nose based on this drawing. What's more, the early Griffon marks noses (Spitfire XII, and this Seafire you're working on) are supposed to be shorter than late (2-stage) merlin noses (i.e. IX) as well as later Griffon Spitfire marks (XIV, XIX etc). The nose of a late Merlin Spitfire and late Griffon Spitfire is supposed to be longer than the nose of a XII or early Griffon Seafire like the one you're working on. Unless I'm misinterpreting what you're trying to do?

small update. Decals are on, currently weathering it. The Airfix decals were very good, except it was a little disappointing that there's no provision made in the wing roundels if you have the gun bays open. I measured the required space and carefully cut it out. The leftover parts were placed on the hatches.

It is indeed! If you look at the photo of the aircraft it's possible that it had the fuselage band repainted.

Finished painting. I first painted the yellow id markings on the leading edges. Then I primed it black and painted the dark green. I masked the dark green with blue tack and then painted the ocean gray. The final colour was the dark sea gray for the underside. I've given it a clear coat and will give that some time to cure before I apply the decals. thanks for looking!

Great build! The aircraft was indeed a Vb but I do think it had the DH spinner (not the Rotol).

it's an observation blister of sorts. Discussion here: https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/lancaster-squadron-leaders-marking-question.11475/

The non-pressurised version would also have had a side door. Early versions (perhaps not limited to pressurised/non-pressurized) had fish tail exhausts and also 4-spoke wheels.

Holy cow that's superb!

what?? an update? It's been a busy few weeks, not in the least because of taking care of a little project namely getting married... Anyway, to business: the detail of the Brassin guns is really nice, but they're too small. I cut the barrels in half to extend them (the cut won't be visible in the fairings) The fit of the cowl panels was tricky. Some fairly large seems, which had to be filled and sanded and filled and sanded and filled and sanded. However, it is now, dare I say it, ready to be painted? As always, thanks for looking!

Excellent. Love the weathering!

This article explains how to do it. They use masking film but thin, somewhat translucent masking tape will also work just fine http://largescaleplanes.com/articles/article.php?aid=2482

You could perhaps paint the code letters. I did this myself with my 1/32 HE 111 1H+EM. The scale makes it quite doable - all you have to do is find the right font and make templates. Painted the fuselage area white first, masked the white E; then painted the entire airframe black and masked 1H and the M. Then painted the camouflage colours.

The 17 and 215 are actually pretty much the same. However, the 217 should be considered an entirely different aircraft all together and the cockpit is quite different from the 17/215 series. PE parts for a 215 are not going to be compatible for a 217, except for perhaps generic parts like rudder pedals and seat belts but it would be a bit of a waste to buy a detail set for just those parts I think.

the fuel jettison pipes were deleted on later marks (from the Mk II on even)

I'm fairly certain Revell is correct. Here's a photo of an early B.III taking off: As far as I was able to figure out, the Halifax had 4-braces in the support frame. This was the clearest picture I've been able to find: This is also how Airfix had the frame of the Hercules engines configured with their Lancaster B.II kit. This is what I did with my 1/72 Revell kit, made with stretched sprue:

it would make sense given they've produced the Do 17 family, JU-88. The artwork posted here is the same as the Revell 1/32 H-6 kit though.

Thanks! The wheels are from Barracuda btw - also great stuff.

Finally some progress. The weather has been too nice since August but I had a whole week off this week and finally managed to make some progress. For some reason finishing the wings took a long time. I got the Eduard Brassin set for the guns. They are very nicely detailed and fit well overall, although I did had to cut off some material of each at the point where it fits through the slots in the gun bay but that section won't be seen anyway. The 20mm rounds are from the Brassin set, but the boxes from the PE detail set. I've also all but finished the main wheels. Pretty happy with how these turned out. Weathered with Vallejo pigments. I can now start thinking about putting the fuselage together: Last glance at the interior Thanks for looking!

Very nice!

Beautiful Thunderbolt!

Fantastic!

Wow especially the glass disks look very realistic!