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"To Remember The many" The Tamiya Lancaster 1/48 Welcome Dear Brit Modellers to my next endeavor into plastic. let me explain what is going on. A month or so ago I had a message in my inbox from @isaneng asking whether I would consider building either XV298 or PA474. He is a flight engineer who has in his own words "Crashed one and fly the other with pride" I have never been asked this before and as anyone who has ever followed any of my builds you must know that in actual fact I know very little about air craft and I'm learning while building. ( its fun that way ) As serial numbers mean very little to me I googled them and found out that one was a Hurcules and the other was the one or the two remaining flight worthy Lancaster bombers. Needless to say I was agog. I have always wanted to build a Lanc since I was a boy. My old man flew back from the Suez Crisis in an Avro York and he always tells the story of the engine setting on fire just after they took off and had to head back for repairs. I know it wasn't quite an Lancaster but It was close. Shocked and a little bewildered I looked at the Tamiya Lancaster I had bought for my 40th by my folks. It's HUGE and I needed a nudge in the right direction to start it and I think this was it. I got back in touch with Rich and he explained that he is a Air engineer for the BBMF, I said I had a Lancaster in the stash and would build it next as this seemed like the nudge I was after. He asked if I could make the "Phantom of the ruhr" as that is how PA474 was painted when he began flying with her. Kindly he offered to buy the decals but I couldn't let him do that. (very nice offer though) Well over the past month while I have been finishing off my lightning I couldn't think of anything else but the Lancaster and bought a whole bunch of goodies to make her as good as I can possible make her. hopefully I can do her justice and I hope you will join me on possibly my longest build yet. I think this one is going to be for the long haul. I'm going to be quite accurate but I won't get bogged down in little details if it means I stall. I have read many, many build threads on this kit and I'm aware of some of the problems. I can't fix them all but I'll try my best to make a worthy effort. I bought the Haynes Lancaster book as a reference manual, I had no idea that PA474 was the main reference point for the book which gave me a little shiver. The photo in the Tamiya instructions is of PA474 and the kit was first released in 1975, the year I was born. The stars were aligned, Here we go. All I needed was a name for the build, flicking through the book this morning I stopped on the last page and saw this. I lay the book down to take a pic in the upstairs room and that familiar and wonderful morning light came streaming in almost giving acceptance to what I was about to undertake. So please join me if you will on a bumpy ride of wonder trying to make a worthy dedication to those brave souls who never returned, to the ones that did and to the ones that keep the legend alive today.

"To Remember The many" The Tamiya Lancaster 1/48 RFI Good evening fellow Britmodellers, let me present my longest build to date, it’s been Seven long months and a lot of blood sweat and Tears to get this iconic bird over the finish line. If you followed the WIP you’ll be aware of the back story so I won’t re tread old ground. If you’re interested in the WIP you can find it here. I’ll keep this short and sweet and get on with the pictures. I hope you enjoy the shots. I wished I had a brighter day to take them but as autumn looms so does the light. c'est la vie. That’s all folks. I know there’s a lot but I figured I could endulge in this centenary year. I’ll run through what was used. Tamiya Lancaster 1975 1/48 (revised version) BIG ED (Photo etch) interior exterior bomb bay. masks belts etc. Tamiya Acrylic paints. Windsor and Newton oils. Flory washes. Tamiya weathering pigments. jewellers wire. Plasticard and various plastic rod sizes. Haynes manual. The BM hive mind. @isaneng‘s invaluable insight and research pictures of PA474. @corsaircorp‘s Lancaster engine and wing parts that reside in the nacelles. I do hope I have done justice to this wonderful part of our history. The many will never be forgotten. Thank you all for taking time to view this dedication to PA474 and all the brave souls. “The Many” John.