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Tamiya 1/48 Lancaster B.III AJ-J "Dambusters"


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I've got a couple of the infamous Tamiya 1/48 Lancasters: New & Old.

Decided to make a start on the old one first, this will be a rendition of the John Maltby's AJ-J "Johnny"

ED906 The 5th Upkeep drop that actually broke the Mohne DAM


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I've come up with some ideas and mods to make this 30+ year version up to today's high standards. Although I have to say, despite what i've read that this is a fantastic injection moulded kit. As good, if not better than a majority of what you see today.

For example when you put the 2 interlocking wing spars together, the fit is perfect. Also there is absolutely no join lines or seems, when placed up against the root too.

The engine nacells are a slightly different story, compared to the rest of the kit this seems to be the only bits that need some work afterward but still not bad!

I'm using the correct slick tyresfor this version, drilled nose vents + Seat belts and the Today's Decal sheet from Tamiya.

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More to follow.......

Edited by Silverstone 2
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Have done some work on this a week or so back. Build started of relatively quick and simple after the 32nd scale A-10.

But soon i realised how much more could be done to really make this example stand out.

The interior:

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After dry brushing the metal frames and spraying the walkway, It was obvious more need to be done to bring the detail out more.

Seat Belts.....

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Wings and main undercarriage are all complete also, along with the horizontal/vertical stabilizers and the 2 Merlins are complete, minus painting.

I've devised a method so that the 2 Merlins will be visible along with placable and removable cowlings

More to follow....

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Great start. This is one of those classic kits that I must build sometime, I have had one in the stash for years and have collected variuos extras for it but never quite got around to building yet. Hopefully I will get some inspiration from watching your build.

Andrew

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Good start , built this one a few years ago myself.

A couple of pointers , 1 the throttle levers in the kit only have three when there should be four. 2 One of the windows on the port side beneath the canopy

is in the wrong position and needs moving. Have you thought about using the Eduard coloured detail set ? this will make a hell of a diffrence to the apearance of

the cockpit ? One more thing as regards decals the upper wing roundels in the orignal kit are far too small , dont use em

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  • 1 month later...

Been a while, Some progress recently:

 

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Looks big when you slot them together:

 

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Lots of carefull filling and sanding to be done on all assemblies, This kit requires a lot attention to fine detail to get it looking tidy.

 

Not sure what the newer fit is like? Can't imagine it's much different though?

 

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Although i wish I was working with light grey styrene!

 

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Masks atke a lot of patience too:

 

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Fuse together now, did leave some join lines that needed attention, for sure!

 

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more effort required for the dorsal blanking plate, I fear.

 

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Sloted the assemblies together, to get a look an idea of the finished size, very pleasing:-) the shape is just magnificent, 1/48 scale is a very good size for the Lancaster.

Can't believe this is the first Tamiya lancaster i've made.

 

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Some airbrushing to follow, when the weather gets a bit warmer, 1/144 747 SCA in progress also on the civil threads.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Quite a lot of progress on AJ-J now, All sub-assemblies complete too.

This particular Tamiya Lancaster, has taken alot of time and fine tuning to get right. A great deal more than i had envisaged! Not sure how much easier the modern version is?

But worth it, as after all it's a lancaster and it's shape alone is amazing to the eye. I've not had it easy though as along side I've been working on the 747 SCA, which too has taken enormous amounts of time and effort to get looking the way I want.

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Painting has commenced using Model Master's enamels. Very pleased with the results and the preshading has shown through at just the right level for what I hoped for.

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I've added the shutes on the tail gun now and finished the two RR Merlins also.

I'm making the exhaust stacks removable. So this will enable the cowls to be removable, depending how it wants to be displayed: On/Off

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Still alot of masking required to stay in place until the final Flat varnish layed is applied.

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Decals now going on:

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Micro SET and Micro SOL time for the Black wing-walk lines.

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Next the weathering........

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  • 1 year later...

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