dogbrush Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 (edited) This is an interesting one - received as a Christmas present last year, this has been waiting for me to get it cracked open but the time has now come!The kit is presented complete with a "dam" and a bouncing bomb, all ready to pose in a "moment of strike" configuration diorama which will no doubt present it's own challenges as I am tempted to go one step further with this & model it with the dam walls breaching & water running through... should be interesting!Anyway, I'll start with the sprue shots whilst I figure out where to start with this beast!! Edited August 31, 2013 by dogbrush 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nick32 Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 Looking forward to this one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnHull Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 will be tracking this one, love the kit, although i love the box art just that little bit more! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted July 27, 2012 Share Posted July 27, 2012 As I've got a few Lancs in the pipeline, I'll be watching this build also. Good luck on it, dogbrush! Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 (edited) Very interested in seeing how this goes. I've got this kit put away (along with a crew, some AM resin and PE) all ready for when my ability start to match my ambition. I love the look of the finished kit with the lanc thundering over the dam. My lanc has some really horrid mould lines around the upper turret position and then there all those rivets… Edited July 28, 2012 by Neal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbuna Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 This should be a very interesting build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broady Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I've looked at this kit but at the moment I can safely say way beyond my ability. Will look forward to more pics and tips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flankerman Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I visited the Mohne dam a couple of years ago - and took a few photos. Not exactly wartime shots - but they may help with colours, details etc....... Good luck with your build... Ken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I visited the Mohne dam a couple of years ago - and took a few photos.Not exactly wartime shots - but they may help with colours, details …… Good luck with your build... Ken Ken, Those are some great shots. I've seen loads of discussion about how inaccurate in terms of scale and detail the kit dam is but it aways seems to give the right feel for the Lancaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbrush Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 Thanks for the photos Ken, some great shots there! I went there when I must have been five years old although I remember very little! I've been pondering the whole detail/scale thing with the dam model and if I was going to go for complete accuracy, you wouldn't see the two pillars at all (unless the model was several metres wide!). I've got plenty of time to think this through as I work on the Lancaster anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted July 28, 2012 Share Posted July 28, 2012 I'll be following this one too as I'm halfway through a lancaster myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbrush Posted July 28, 2012 Author Share Posted July 28, 2012 No pressure then... And so it begins! Before I get underway a couple of moans about this kit (or warnings for anybody attempting it). 1. Painting instructions - the guide refers to numbers only which is fine apart from nowhere in the instructions does it tell you which colours the numbers are. It does come supplied with 8 mini pots of paint, numbered but that's about it. If you're not using humbrol paints then you need to refer to the humbrol wall chart to work out what is going on! 2. the parts in the instructions are numbered but with no clue as to which sprue they are on. This potentially means you're searching all 5-6 sprues to locate each part (and there are 120+ parts so imagine the fun!) Okay, on with the build! We start with the front nose-gunner, comprised of the twin cannons, it's pivot mounting, the front (clear) window section & a rear housing. It's designed so it can rotate left/right & up/down which is a nice touch. Looking at the sprue for the twin guns we seem to be missing a gun. Looks like some kind of injection moulding issue here... fortunately, the part next to it looks identical & is not required elsewhere in the kit. It does look like it's encased in carbonite but some trimming with a knife should sort that out! It went together quite well so I presume this is just a one-off manufacturing issue which missed quality control at Airfix. I'll leave the painting of the transparent piece until it's fixed to the main body of the plane 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbrush Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Next step is the rear gunner. Again, not much detail here & no intention to add anything as all will be more or less hidden. It's a shame that Airfix didn't provide any crew for the gunner positions but I'm not overly concerned as you really won't be looking in the windows in it's diorama setting! Some shocking flash on the four rear guns, really fiddly to clean up as they are so small & fragile. Like the front guns, they are designed to pivot & rotate and once put together it all seems to fit well! Comparing to reference photos, the rear gunner is missing a couple of windows on the sides but more or less looks authentic! The instructions call for painting the framing on the front & rear turrents in "29 - dark earth" but from the photos I've seen it looks like they're done in black so that's what I'll be going with. Next step is to start with the pilot & interior so I'll put these turrets aside for now! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neal Posted July 29, 2012 Share Posted July 29, 2012 Nice start, I had a look at my kit and it's plagued by the same flash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbrush Posted July 29, 2012 Author Share Posted July 29, 2012 Nice start, I had a look at my kit and it's plagued by the same flash. Thanks Neal, it's not a bad kit & not too difficult to put together so far, strange about all the flash though - airfix are normally quite good about quality control in my experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbrush Posted July 30, 2012 Author Share Posted July 30, 2012 On the main interior now. First thing I wanted to tackle is the crew. All two of them.... a pilot & an engineer and identical twins apparently. The last figures I painted were Zvezda & Revell. The facial features seem to be lacking a bit with this kit, I tried a few times to do some shadows & highlights on the facial area but I could tell from the start that the detail isn't really there. Not overly concerned as from a distance you can't really tell but I've seen better figures! The best I could do is "robocop" on the left and a slightly bearded "Scott of the Antarctic" on the right! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted July 30, 2012 Share Posted July 30, 2012 I like the look of those pilots they're really well painted. I elected to give my two a bomber jacket and gloves a piece 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbrush Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 I like the look of those pilots they're really well painted. I elected to give my two a bomber jacket and gloves a piece They look cracking Dan! Good thinking about the bomber jackets - I really didn't think it through, I think I'll do the same!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matthies Posted July 31, 2012 Share Posted July 31, 2012 Dogbrush, you've got your rear turret guns upside down. The inner two guns should be lower than the outer two. matthies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbrush Posted July 31, 2012 Author Share Posted July 31, 2012 Dogbrush, you've got your rear turret guns upside down. The inner two guns should be lower than the outer two.matthies. Nice spot, thanks matthies! I'll see about fixing that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broady Posted August 12, 2012 Share Posted August 12, 2012 Hello dogbrush, how's the build going on? Did you change the clothing on the figures? I'm really looking forward to your next installments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbrush Posted August 13, 2012 Author Share Posted August 13, 2012 Hello dogbrush, how's the build going on? Did you change the clothing on the figures? I'm really looking forward to your next installments Hi Broady, I've been away on holiday but I'm back now so cracking on! Been having a look around a 360 panorama I found of the cockpit (and watching the 1955 film, "the dambusters" ) so adding minor detail like colour but not much else. First coat of the light green is going down, will add a navigators table I think but not much else! Meanwhile the pilot & engineer sit around waiting for some dam-busting action! http://www.pan3sixty.co.uk/360_full_screen_panoramas/panorama_of_the_month/2007_october/flash 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theplasticsurgeon Posted August 13, 2012 Share Posted August 13, 2012 (edited) Wow - those moulds have deteriorated over the past few years! I don't remember flash like that on this one - hope it helps you dogbrush. I've got the plastic bits for that kit again in my stash - which is fine as it's planned to become a Lancastrian. Let me know if you need any of the weaponry parts. Other stuff: The bomb was smooth, so I wrapped mine with a layer of selotape before painting it - yours might be in the middle of a gigantic splash though. For an in flight pose, try perspex disks rather than the props. Edited August 13, 2012 by theplasticsurgeon 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted August 14, 2012 Share Posted August 14, 2012 (edited) Nice work on this build-keep it up! Edited August 14, 2012 by Vulcanicity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogbrush Posted August 14, 2012 Author Share Posted August 14, 2012 I've got the plastic bits for that kit again in my stash - which is fine as it's planned to become a Lancastrian. Let me know if you need any of the weaponry parts. Other stuff: The bomb was smooth, so I wrapped mine with a layer of selotape before painting it - yours might be in the middle of a gigantic splash though. For an in flight pose, try perspex disks rather than the props. Thanks theplasticsurgeon, I might give the perspex disc trick a go! Not sure what I'm doing with the bouncing bomb yet - gonna be a compromise between realism & effect I think! Nice work on this build-keep it up! Thanks Vulcanicity Not much progress tonight, just decided to add a teeny tiny bit of detail to the flooring. It seems that the riveting is quite obvious but the kit part is completely smooth so I got the old adhesive foil out & put some rivet-lines in with a pin Not sure what to do next, keen to close it up as soon as I can to focus on the exterior detail! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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