sprue

Lovely model I'm very tempted to get one. Now if Italeri's Stirling is half as good that would also be a winner. Nice paint job BTW and the treatment of the panel lines is excellent. Can't wait to see it finished. Mike

Hi Neil This is looking good, I'm well impressed. By the way ED937 was the last of the modified Lancasters to arrive at Scampton on May 11th and was allocated to Maudsley as a replacement because of an earlier accident. Various sources quote that the mid upper removal and other modifications were initially done at the Avro factory but to speed things up bearing in mind a pressing appointment the modifications were made on the squadron. Myself I would guess that ED937 was modified in a hurry and repainting the mid upper turret area was not a priority. The late delivery would also suggest that ED937s flying hours were extremely low so I would hazard a guess that her paint work would have still been very fresh. It's anyone's guess!! I do like the model and your transparency painting technique. Can't wait to see it finished. Mike

OK so there’s talk of an Italeri 1/72nd Stirling. On past experience that could be sometime, any-time or never. Meantime it’s back to work and I have been scribing the wings, tail-planes, fin and rudder. Pretty soon I’ll be starting on the fuselage…more scribing! Till the next

I've just heard that Italeri are bringing out a new tool 1/72 Stirling and as this one has only got this far I might shelve it and save the WEM etched sheets for the new tool thus saving an awful lot of work. I must say the knowledge of a new kit on the horizon has almost killed the enthusiasm to continue with this one. Mike

At last the re-scribing has begun. I’ve made templates for the wing tanks and ailerons from plastic card held in position with double folded electrical tape. In experiments I’ve found that electrical tape is sufficiently robust to allow a scribing tool to pass along it without mishap. It also readily bends around corners and contours. Till the next

Hi Neil This is an interesting thread not only for the model which is lovely but the snippets re the Lancasters which come to light. I think this is AJ-C ED817 which was the 2nd prototype but wasn't used on the Dams Raid. I can't be sure but it looks as if the /G is missing from the serial number. If this is ED817 the well used look is explained by the fact it was a trials aircraft and therefore flew many more hours than the operational ones many of which were only delivered almost at the last minute. It also seems to have an anti-shimmy tail wheel that suggests this photograph might have been taken long after the raid when anti-shimmy tail wheels became standard either as a modification or production line standard. Anyway I'm enjoying your build. Mike

This shows the internal rib detail being added to the gear doors using lead wire. Port wing with the landing light detail added and the undercarriage doors awaiting a coat of paint. In this view the landing light cover has been fixed and masked off but a little more work with filler is required to make things neat. Hopefully re-scribing can commence soon. The undercarriage painted while the wheels await masking for the tyres to be airbrushed. Till the next. Mike

I’ve been working on the undercarriage the main legs have been replaced with plastic rod and lead foil from wine bottles. The mud guards have been reduced in thickness and extra details added in plastic card. I was thinking of adding more detail in the undercarriage bays but once this lot has been installed you can’t see all that much so I won’t bother. The front gear door has been fashioned from lead foil while the main doors have been reduced in thickness and will be re-scribed in due course Till the next. Mike

Hi Neil Nice job so far. Re an earlier post I think looking at photographic evidence the leading edge cable cutters were probably primer red as they were fitted at the last moment. All in all an exceptional build that catches the look of the Lancaster very well. Looking forward to seeing her in camouflage. Regards Mike

Now Xmas and the New Year celebrations are over its back to the workbench. Here’s the latest update. This shows the work done to the wings and tailplanes which is a good deal of sanding using wet and dry with a sanding block and plenty of water. Sometimes the plastic becomes too thin and has to be reinforced with filler. At times I was tempted to build these items from scratch so as to avoid what seems to be the constant problem of the plastic becoming too thin and unworkable. This shows the wing tip navigation lights made from scrap clear sprue, installed and sanded smooth ready for masking prior to undercoating and painting. This last view shows the work done to improve the undercarriage as the kit parts are badly moulded and lack definition. I’ve used plastic rod and foil from wine bottles. In the end I opted to use the kit engines, I know some haven’t but I think with careful dry brushing and adding a little detail once enclosed in the engine nacelles they will be good enough. Depending on which drawing you refer to the propellers are either just right in length or 2 mm too long? I’ve left them as is but cleaned up. Till the next. Mike

Hi Woody It's coming along nicely. I built the Tamiya 1/48 version last year and did a lot of research for it, the link is here if it helps http://www.relishmodels.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/612-tamiya-dam-buster-lanc/ I notice you chose black for the cockpit, there was a lot of discussion on the RAF Commands forum and the outcome was that British built machines were all green interiors while Canadian built machines MkXs were black and also had various detail differences introduced because of service experience. I think this sometimes explains why various bumps and blisters and escape hatches appear in locations other than some scale drawings. Also some later machines were modified on squadron and had cockpits painted black. Preserved machines are often modified or rebuilt to modern standards not the original makers specification hence caution has to be applied when looking for details. Don't forget the wing leading edge balloon cutters which although phased out on Lancasters were hastily reintroduced for the dams raid, also the tail wheel should be the original plain round profile not the later anti-shimmy type which were subsequently introduce to all Lancs as a modification. Another conundrum was the flight engineers seat, the Canadian version is quite different to the British pattern. I'll be interested to see which colour you choose for the mine as discussion around that seems to suggest four possibilities. 1. unpainted 2 primer oxide red. 3 Black 4 green. On my model I chose red oxide as this was the colour reported by the Germans from a recovered mine the morning after the raid. Nice job so far. Best wishes Mike

Hi John I've just posted the series as you suggested. Regards Mike

All in good time as once the heavy duty sanding is finished I'll be re-scribing and beefing up the WEM P.E. which looks too flimsy. I don't want to risk damaging the work so far. Thanks for looking. Mike

This shows the interior of the port wing with the starboard wing closed up. I’m a great believer in detailing only those parts that can be seen. Hence only the wheel wells will receive more additions later on when the heavy duty sanding is finished and risk of damage is reduced. The kit ailerons are useless and are glued in place with tube cement as were the wings glued together as a strong joint is required to resist the heavy sanding. Milliput was used as the filler and as you can see it sands to a smooth finish. Most of the raised detail has been taken off and rescribing can begin once the blemishes have been taken care of. Till the next, and Happy Christmas Mike

Here’s the base coat of black and interior green and it’s time to add details to wheel wells and landing lights. Till the next Mike

Yes you're correct the WEM P.E. is very thin and the instructions are not all that clear. On another forum someone has given me the heads up that the galley supplied by WEM is in the wrong place but moreover was only found on the Mk V . The wing bomb cell parts are inconsistently numbered in the instructions and the parts sheet which leads to a lot of head scratching. However I think I've worked it out. Thanks for looking. Mike

I'd keep the model fairly clean as most of the practice flights were carried out with borrowed aircraft as most of the modified ones weren't delivered until late April or just a few days before the raid; and even then they were subject to lots of modifications on station which kept them from flying.That aside you're doing a lovely job. Regards Mike

In this update I decided that the WEM P.E. looked too flimsy and needed beefing up to look better inside the wheel wells. I’ve also put in plastic card bulkheads to stop see through issues and extra stringers inside the well roof. The oil coolers are tacked in with double sided tape to check fit issues. The photos are before and after shots. Once the wings are closed up I’ll add more stiffeners to the P.E. to give a better look and feel of heavy engineering. Thanks for looking Mike

One last update for today; I’ve completed the P.E. undercarriage bays and most of the wing cells. As you can see the P.E. is very flimsy and tomorrow I will have to add some stiffeners and bulkheads to avoid see through issues and structural weakness. Till the next and thanks for looking. Mike

A short update today that includes a before and after of the kit wing cells, and the assembled oil coolers. Till the next Mike

This is my winter project – the Airfix Short Stirling in 1/72nd using the White Ensign interior and exterior P.E. sets. I decided to start with the wings which have been sanded vac form style on a piece of wet and dry to reduce the thickness of the mating surfaces and trailing edges. First P.E. section is the wing bomb cells and here they are partly assembled and will soon receive a spray of matt black and then the remaining details such as the release gear and the steady arms will be fitted. Those that are used to Eduard P.E. will find WEM parts more of a challenge as they rely on stiffening pieces as seen here where as a lot of Eduard P.E. is self bracing by the use of multiple folds – there is not too much of that here and without bracing pieces some assemblies will flex. Thanks for looking Mike

What a belter!! Mike

Can anyone tell me if this could be made into a FAA machine and if so which version? Mike

Hi Dan The decals are home made from clear decal sheet airbrushed the appropriate colour and then you cut into strips and apply to the canopy. It's a technique that was popular many years ago and then along came low tack masking tape or even pre cut masks. As for progress its finished and can be found in "ready for inspection". Thanks for looking Mike