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Lancaster or B17..?


nick32

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HI, i'm a recent returnee to model building. I have just finished the new 1:72 Mustang and im about to start the Airfix 1:72 BF109.

I'm looking ahead as to which model to build after the BF.

Now, i have a list of planes that i want to build (eventually!) and the Lancaster and B17 are on it.

I'm looking at the offerings from Revell. My question is, which of the two would be better for a relative novice to attempt? Does one build any easier than the other?

Am i missing out any other worthwhile versions from any other manufacturers? The Revell ones appeal because of their fairly low price.

Thanks for reading,

Nick

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Revell B-17 and Lancaster are indeed the best of the bunch. But be careful not to buy the "old-tool" boxings, which are ancient...

Their new tool B-17s and Lancasters are both relatively easy builds. Don't mind number of parts, this is never an indicator of how good or bad a kit is... I guarantee they will be easier to build than most of e.g. Amodel fighter kits (which have under 20 parts...)

Regards,

Aleksandar

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Thank you Aleksandar.

Sorry if its a silly question, but how do i know if the kit i am looking at is the new tooling?

Thanks,

Nick

Revell B-17G is kit no 04283 with boxart showing a Silver aircraft with a Green rear fuselage.

Revell Lancaster is kit No 04300 - the one in my stash came from M&S, so there are different boxes.

Having seen this model built, I think the outer wind dihedral looks wrong.

You are overlooking the Airfix Lancaster, which builds up like this:

Airfix_Lancaster_3.jpg

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This is the current Revell Lanc:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Avro-LANCASTER-Mk-I-III-NEW-boxed-and-sealed-/400319196402?pt=UK_ToysGames_ModelKits_ModelKits_JN&hash=item5d34e22cf2

Builds up very nicely OOB,with aftermarket wheels,gun barrels and the few modifications

detailed within these pages,it builds into an impressive replica.

The current Revell Dambuster Lanc:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Avro-LANCASTER-B3-spec-617-Sqn-The-DAMBUSTERS-RAF-Scampton-LINCOLN-1943-1-72-/200814755790?pt=UK_ToysGames_ModelKits_ModelKits_JN&hash=item2ec17dffce

The above comments will apply to this one too.

The current Revell B-17:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Revell-1-72nd-scale-B-17G-Flying-Fortress-/261091496261?pt=UK_ToysGames_ModelKits_ModelKits_JN&hash=item3cca441145

Not built one or seen inside the box,but the BM Massiv have done a few and it looks

very impressive.

A search on BM should turn up WIP or RFI threads.

Welcome back to the fold BTW.

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I am building the revell B-17 at the moment, if you look in the work in progress you can see my build, and there are other revell b-17 there as well.

its a very nice kit.

I also have the Revell Lancaster to build too, it looks a nice kit as well.

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I'm personally not a fan of the revell Lancaster; the deepish panel lines where rivet lines are supposed to be are kind of a turn off as are some somewhat glaring inaccuracies.

I'd recommend the airfix kit if you go down that route. Its a bit more difficult, but offer a great learning experience. Furthermore the airfix kit is cheap and have less accuracy problems. \

Edited by -Neu-
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I have a passion for the Lancaster and have to agree with Neu about the Airfix Lancaster being the better kit.

While the Revell one has a very good interior and an engine you can choose to display, there was so much that let it down for me. To start with the panel lines don't match up to the real aircraft and they have put panels where there should be fabric, there's the straightness of the wings, front turret, I could go on :shutup:

The other reason I would suggest the Airfix kit is that I think it's the easier of the kits to build. The Revell has a lot of options for small details (such as cockpit windows, types of pitot tubes, props, etc) which are great for building different aircraft but I think they may be a little confusing for someone new to the hobby, but perhaps that's the challenge you're after as you said you're returning to modelling? (I hope that isn't coming across as arrogant or condescending because I don't mean it to!! :blush: I've based that on my own experiences and I'm easily confused!).

The Airfix kit has it's own faults but I think it builds up as a better model than the Revell one straight out of the box and with luck you can get them off ebay for less than the Revell ones.

As for the B-17, I have one stashed but haven't built it yet so perhaps I'm not in the best position to comment on it, but from what I've seen of the kit I would say it's about as complex and challenging as the Revell Lancaster with plenty of interior detail. I don't really know about the accuracy though so I'll leave that to those who know better than me (which is pretty much everyone! :dunce: )

Hope that helps,

Danny.

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Thanks guys, a great response, and its certainly given me a bit to think about.

I think i will go for the Airfix Lancaster, and the Revell B17.

Next problem is sneaking the boxes past the wife ( :ninja: ) and where to display them when they are built!

Thanks again,

Nick

:)

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