exbrat

As you see from pic below some decals have been applied, most of which are from the Airfix set. I have not applied the serials or others unique to the Lincoln under construction because stupid me printed on clear decal film and not white as I discovered when I went to apply one on the side. If there's two ways of doing something I nearly always choose the wrong one, well so it seems. As I progressed with the 'standard' decals I noticed a couple of errors. I'm sure these must have been pointed out to Airfix and noted on here more than once, but I thought I would highlight them just in case someone doing a Lanc for the first time might like to be warned before hand. The wing roundels are shown as item 9, but are 1. (not applicable anyway to the Lincoln). The dinghy stowage (red box, item 7) is shown as being on the left wing, whereas the panel lines are on the right wing. I cannot make out where item 13 is located, assume on the wing near the outline, back to referance books. Items 27 and 28 are on the decal sheet, but cannot see where they should be placed on model. As you see the home made astrodome is in place. I am still hoping that Revell will come up with their version of the cockpit canopy. Thus far I have fought shy of attempting exhaust stains on upper wings, I have seen how others have done this but ......... I might chicken out. That's it for now, hopefully next post will be on RFI. I must complete before 26th June (read my first mail) Cheers, John (exbrat)

Yet another fantastic one Mike and well presented as usual. How's the Valiant doing or is it still in the box? John (exbrat).

Best of luck JohnT, a very commendable tribute. Knew Tommy Watkins at Honnington, first class gentleman. Will follow this build with interest. John (exbrat)

I have recently printed some artwork onto 'Experts Choice' inkjet paper, the results of which look OK. Make sure you follow the instructions and allow the ink to dry, couple of hours at least and then a couple of coats of Liquid Decal Film. The acid test will come when I transfer them to my model, which will not be too long now. Have a look at my '1/72 Lancaster to Lincoln conversion WIP' to see how it goes. Hannants, naturally, stock these items if you cannot obtain them locally. Experts Choice also do a laser paper, but I assume that, like me you have an ink jet printer at home? Hope this. together with other replies is of use. Cheers, exbrat

Been a while since last report. Maybe you think I have binned it........ don't tempt me!! They say the camera doesn't lie, but these pics don't tell half the story. My attempts at scribing leave a lot to be desired, and my masking. Look carefully and you will see more than one bleed from one colour into t'other. The canopy is just sitting in position as I am hoping the good folk at Revell are going to send me their Lancaster version, which I have been advised is better than the Airfix. It will also give me a chance to improve the masking. Hope the rather snazzy background won't put you off. Who was that said "it's b*****y sight better than the model"???? Hopefully the next set of pics will be on RFI. As usual comments, good/bad/indifferant welcome. Jason, have you made a start yet, if so let's see some WIP? John (exbrat)

Hello Callum, What more can I say, all previous posters have said it all. Hope my Lincoln looks half as good. Best wishes, John (exbrat)

Yes, a very good looking aircraft, as portrayed in this excellent model, very well done. exbrat

You're at it again then Andy, your builds are fantastic, as are many others. Your early statement "...bugger accuracy" set me thinking (better go and lie down). Why did I bother with the Flightplan Lincoln conversion set, I could have built the Lanc OOB, painted and decaled it accordingly and called it a Lincoln. Do you think any one would have noticed???????? With any luck it will be finished soon, definitely this year. Keep up the good work. John (exbrat)

Fabulous Tom! You certainly crack on with these builds. Hopefully my Lincoln will soon be finished. There's no way I can compete with the likes of you and many other medellers on this site, but at least you all encourage me to do the best I can, so thanks for that. Look forward to seeing the Mk 3 Shak. Best wishes, exbrat (John)

I see it's been a while since I added a progress report, and a certain member has urged this model be finished soon (just because he banged together a vacform Hendon in record time!!!), I thought it best to show all interested parties that some progress has been made. The props and spinners have had a lick of paint. Though the latter are a nightmare with the need for blue and white bands, still not sure how to do this, any ideas gratefully received. Perhaps not too visible in the following pics, there are still one or two dips and humps need to be sanded or filled, but I'm slowly getting there. The main wheels have been painted and are stored in a safe place, now, where did I put them????? The eagle-eyed among you (General!) may observe that one of the windscreen anti-ice gizmos is missing. It fell orf, but saved in another safe place. Unlike one of the rudder balance thingys that was readily gobbled by the dreaded carpet monster, so another needs to be made. Rebecca aerials/antenna (getting technical now, those things on either side of the nose that look like the old ITV aerials, if you remember them) are made and stored safely. These and other small items will have to wait until painting finished, cannot risk them being eaten. I have printed the decals I need for serials, Squadron badge etc., so I haven't exactly been idle since the last report. Hope all UK readers are enjoying the usual grotty/cold/wet weather we are having this Easter weekend. And for those further afield no gloating about sunbathing in warm temps thank you. Cheers for now, John (exbrat)

What can I say? All suitable comments have been made by previous posts. The designers at Fairey certainly didn't intend those fins to fall off did they? Yes, another excellant model Andy, look forward to seeing the Valiant. Are you using Ali's 'mod kit' in this build? John

Recalling the use of Window when I was with 199 Squadron Lincolns at RAF Hemswell 1954-56. Window came in two types, one was shaped similar to a reel of insulation tape, I believe this was called 'rope', when released it opened into a long strip used to confuse the CH type of radars. The second type consisted of small strips of foil used to confuse the centemetric radars. Both types of window packed in card of approx nine by three inches (that's a guess) were then fitted to bands of material. Six of the aircraft were fitted with motorised dispensers, the idea being that the window packs were preloaded into a hopper, fed into the dispenser and at the flick of a switch the window would be fed through the unit at a rate selected by the operator out of the aircraft via a chute, dispersed into the wind, radar blotted out, job done. Well that was the theory, if you can follow the description. In practice what usually happened was that the bundles were fed down the flare chute at the rear of the aircraft because the dispensers were so unreliable. The large boxes of window were loaded onto the aircraft usually by NCO aircrew who had nothing better to do, probably playing cards in the crew room. The bundles were removed from the strips in preparation ready to be thrown overboard, sorry dispensed. I did hear that on one occasion due to the exercise being cancelled the whole lot was dispensed through the rear crew door, some of the window being of the 'rope' variety managed to wrap itself around some power lines, blacking out part on Lincolnshire. Hope that is of interest, cheers, exbrat

You've done it again Mike!!! An excellent modeller, photographer and now story teller, or do you have access to 'secret CIA files'? Be careful when you answer the next knock on the door!! Where's the Valiant? John

First off, yes Bill the bulgey thing in the centre of the Moth mainplane is the fuel tank, similar to other biplanes. Jason, had a good laugh at your expense ref the initial attempt at the Demon, agree those wings do look a trifle out of alignment!! Howabout taking some pics of your Lancaster to Lincoln conversion, you said that was not going too well when you put it to one side? I see that you are keeping an eye on my conversion progress, it might be complete by Easter, but I am not saying which year! No, I owe it to the the Weller family to complete it soon, seeing as they have an unusual interest in it. Happy modelling all, John

Time for a progress report, yes, have actually made some, as follows: After much poncing about with the wings, with various colours of plastic, resin, Milliput and filler I thought it was best to give them a coat of primer if only to see what needs further attention. I then had a brainwave to make some trestles from gash fret on which to rest them for ease of spraying (rattle can). Seems to have worked OK as you see from the following three pics. Question time. What does the Fairey Hendon have in common with an Avro Lincoln (well almost)? I don't mean wings, fuselage, engines etc. something more subtle which I only saw when I looked at The Generals' latest WIP. The Hendon uses similar mechanisms to actuate the aileron to that used on the Lincoln to actuate the aileron trim. By sheer cincidence Andy and I used the same method to reproduce both, i.e. a small piece of plastic card and wire. Refer to Andy's WIP of yesterday. The following pic shows the result after one coat of primer. On close inspection I am somewhat surprised to find that there dosen't seem to be an awful lot to do, says he hopefully. But with the wings now of uniform colour it will make life more easy. Now you ask, what the hell has he included a pic of a freshener for? His workshop must smell or this exbrat guy suffers from BO. Wrong on all counts guys, I just want to show you what things that are around the house come in handy for this model making lark. Remember the trifle containers that produced the astrodomes? As you see this gizmo has holes of various shapes which I think will be very useful when I come to paint the spinners. Those of 199 Squadron had a band of white/blue/white/blue, and I hope these 'holes' will enable me to mark the bands as required. That completes the current WIP for the 1/72 conversion. Somewhere earlier in my ramblings I think I mentioned the 1/48 conversionthat I started yonks ago and looked for a thread titled 'Work In Naff All Progress', but not being able to find one I thought I would put a couple of shots of the state of the build here by way of conclusion. Now this is a big 'un. Inspired by various folk I will endevour to complete it one of these days, but WD131 comes first. By the way the 1/48 will be WD122 also of 199 Squadron. Having spent over half of my RAF service on the same Squadron, OK we changed number to 18 to all intents they were the same to me. As you see she has some gammy legs, canopy missing, in process of masking. That's it for tonight then folks. Constructive comments more than welcome and for those of you contemplating building a similar model get cracking, no use waiting for Airfix, look how long it took for them to produce the other love of my life, the Valiant, so fingers out. Cheers for now, exbrat

Good Evening, The radio equipment is a T1154, this being the transmitter used by the signaller in combination with the R1155 being the receiver. Look at any book on the lancaster and you will see pictures of these installed at the signallers' position. Cannot think of a reason as to why it is in the picture. Good luck with the project. exbrat

Thanks Vulcancity but I am satisfied with the DIY results for the astrodomes. And the side windows have been replaced Tom, so onwards and upwards. Thanks to all for the kind remarks and offers of help. exbrat

Another update to show what I hope are better home-made astrodomes. I think I may have become a bit paranoid about these, but having seen the excellent results other modellers achieve I am attempting to at least do my best. So, after consuming a dozen more trifles (pass the sickbag), well one, to be honest, and tried other methods to produce more 'domes, I reverted to the method used before and produced a couple that I think are usable, at least better than t'others. The following pics show the one I will use for the canopy, in answer to your query Callum, while another will sit atop the fuselage in place of the mid upper turret. As you see I have started to mask the canopy. You will also notice that the side window has come out, as has the other one, in spite of them being inserted before the sides were joined, now I have to figure out a way of inserting them, possibly through the enlarged hole for the canopy 'dome. These little problems are sent to try us!!!!! Jason, I hope this and other Lincolns you see on this site encourages you to either dust down your original or start again.

It's been a while since my previous WIP. Not that I have made much progress, but see what those of you who followed the previous posting have to say on what has been achieved over the past few weeks. Having done what seems to be much scribing, sanding, filling, rescribing I couldn't resist putting all the main lumps together to see what it looks like. I guess it looks something like a Lincoln! Added some plastic card and filler to extend the rudder trim tab. The one area that has really caused me some pain and still is and that relates to the astrodomes that were fitted to the Lincoln, WD131 in particular had an additional one fitted in place of the mid-upper turret. Mark (Canberraman) and Callum (Forlornhope) went to a great deal of trouble to assist, in fact Callum sent me some items that might have been of use all the way from Australia, for which I am really grateful. I also read via Google several methods of DIY including one involving the use of a toaster and vacuum cleaner. I didn't even consider that option, but one I have tried with limited success and much easier is as follows: 1. Find suitable clear plastic, e.g. a lemonade bottle or similar. I found that the plastic from the bottle didn't begin to melt when placed over the cooker ring, only my finger heated up, so that was abandoned. Next up was a strawberry trifle that just happened to be in the fridge and coming to it's use by date. So that was consummed, only because I wanted the plastic, well someone had to! 2. Assemble tools, i.e. a piece of wood of suitable thickness and a drill hole of required diameter. Visit to our local plumber supplies shop and a very helpful assistant suggested a 'pipe cap' that fitted in the drilled hole might be of use. A 'probe' fashioned from a paint brush handle was made to complete the tools and as you see a mini stapler used to secure the plastic to the wood. 3. When assembled it was only a matter of holding the thingy over the heat source (oven ring) and when plastic started to melt push the probe into the orifice (hole) and wait to cool. 4. The following are some results, not very good pics I'm afraid and I am not really satisfied with the results, so any suggestions will be gratefully received. I think a 'pipe cap', or whatever with perhaps a more pronounced dome shape with a corresponding more accurate 'probe' would do the trick. I do not have the skills or means to manufacture such precise items. Just for the hell of it I have carefully positioned the best of the bad bunch on top of the fuselage as follows. It doesn't look too bad, the camera never lies, who's kidding who? As you see from the background I have found a picture of a Lincoln, I had forgotten all about, which happened to be with 199 Squadron. In fact this aircraft was modified and replaced WD131 the aircraft I am modelling. It's stay with 199 was short-lived due to the following calamity, which occurred when the Squadron had been granted a 72 hour weekend break. It was not uncommon for aircraft of the other Squadrons to undertake a cross country navigation exercise and at the same time land at a suitable airfield to deliver passengers near to home for the weekend. 199 very rarely did this, except for the 'boss'. So the 'boss' was persuaded on this occasion to authorise flights to West Malling, for the London area, Horsham-St-Faiths, for East Anglia, Acklington for the Geordies and Turnhouse for The Jocks. The aircraft scheduled to land at West Malling could not do so due to the strong cross winds and diverted to Abingdon in Oxfordshire, not very accessible to London! The Horsham and Acklington aircraft landed OK, but with some airsick passengers, due to the turbulent conditions. 657 arrived at Turnhouse, but having to use the shortest runway to land, overshot the end and finished up in a ditch (picture in 'Lincoln at War). Thankfully all the crew and passengers were safe, but the aircraft was written off. The pilot on this occasion was F/Off Erye, who was unfortunately killed in a take-off accident at Khartoum, in the Sudan, while piloting a Hastings. All the passengers in this aircraft survived, vindicating the RAF use of rearward facing seats in their passenger aircraft. That's it for now. Not sure what the next step is, but will look forward to receiving some helpful comments. exbrat (John)

Hello F32, Through another source I am in touch with the person who made this model. As you rightly observe, he does not visit the BM site very often. Thanks for your response, John

Among the excellant pics of excellant models, one in particular caught my eye, IMG 3882, Valiant WZ365 of 18 Squadron. I would very much appreciate a mail from the person who produced this for reasons that will become obvious if he would be good enough to do so. Thanks for the pics, exbrat (John, Brandon)

Just heard a couple depart Lakenheath!!! Then I woke up!!!! exbrat

Hello Oggy, Endorse what others have said, so welcome back to the modelling world. I recently restarted with the Airfix Valiant, which I am reasonably pleased with. Now in the process of converting a Lancaster to a Lincoln in 1/72 having given up on a 1/48 conversion some while ago. No doubt like me you are new to this scribing lark, treating with floor polish, micro pads, brass etching, etc., etc. I am receiving much encouragement from folks on this web site, as it appears you are, so stick at it and I'm sure you will be pleased with the final result. One word of warning, beware the carpet monster!! Best wishes, exbrat

Another stunner Mike! Have you purhased a Valiant kit yet, if so where is it in the production line? Be interesting to see how this looks when airborne, you might like to add some chaff (window) being dispensed, there's a challenge for you. BTW, assume the move went OK? Best wishes, John G

Hello Deon, No, the Flightpath set does not include any undercart parts, so assume they must be the same. However when I get round to that area I intend to look at some how strengthening them, as they may not support the additional weight. The same applies when I return to the 1/48 conversion I stared eons ago, when the left unit collapsed. Have you a copy of the Manchester/Lanc/Lincoln book, that should answer your question. Best of luck with the build, let's have some pics. Cheers, John (exbrat)