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Avro Manchester, scratch conversion Airfix 1/72


JWM

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Hi,

I want to show today still some kind of rarity from my shelves - Avro 679 Manchester. (BTW: I am still surprised that there are apearing new Lancasters but no regular kit of Manchester or York. The same with Wellingtons and Warwick...).

I made the scratch conversion of this model in ... 1998. A couple of years from now.... This time it was my the most advanced project on scratch conversion. I hope all will agree that the best available Lancaster in 1998 was that one by Airfix, the 8th series one - so this was chosen by me as the "base". It was a late variant, so beside doing "new" (smaller) stabilizers, additional vertical tail, deeply reshaped wings and Vulture engine I had to make smaller front canopy (moulded and glued from two parts - the flat part is glued in :) ), lower astro dam and smaller tyres... However - still I like the result, I hope you will enjoy it as well :).

The machine is L7284 from 207 Sq RAF, winter 1940/41, UK. She served until 1943, I think - but not all time in 207 Sq. Finally she was scraped out.

This is the second member of Lancaster family I am posting - the first was York, which I posted in August or September. :). Still there are two Lancs to show, waiting on shelf...

Please have o look - and I hope enjoy it- any comments welcome

Regards

Jerzy-Wojtek

P.S.

In Krakow there was no nice weather today for making photos, neither iside nor outside - it is -1C and fog. - so the photos are in mixed artificial and day lights one is with flash - sorry for this. Some noising appears sometimens. But I did not post any photos for more than week, please excuse me...

 

manchester DSC02885manchester DSC02878manchester DSC02876manchester DSC02874manchester DSC02875manchester DSC02873manchester DSC02871

 

 

 

 

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Well she certainly looks like a Manchester. Nice conversion job! I agree that there should be injection-moulded kits of the Manchester and York. Even though the Manchester wasn't built in large numbers nor a success, it did lead directly to the Lancaster. The York was an important aeroplane in its own right.

Regards,

Jason

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Thank you very much Jason, Keith and "Nomore shelfspace" for your comments.

The only similar conversion I've seen was one from a 1960's Airfix Magazine, using a Lancaster fuselage, a square foot of balsa and a pint of "dope and talcum powder"

Perhaps I've seen this also, but in early 70-ties, when I was "young teen-ager" :) - I do not remember what it was exactly but a bit older collegue had few Airfix Magazines and we studied conversions with my brother - both deeply moved. The collegue is now producing in his small company own resin kits of trucks, my brother is a professional historician of airplanes and only for me it is still just a hobby....

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Thank you Miggers :) -

Maybe you ought to introduce your collegue AND your brother to Britmodeller too.

My brother was alredy logged and active at BM two years before me. :) And collegue - I do not know - I lost contact with him :)

Cheers

Jerzy-Wojtek

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Thank you Woody - was it Manchester recently posted? It triggered me to post my old conversion.

I wouldn't know where to start on making scratch built engines like you have, brilliant

The engines I made first as "boxes" made of 1 or even 1.5 mm plastic card, to which tubes as bottom double coolers were added. . The boxes were I think 3 vertical plates with proper shpes (of transections) and small plates separating them. Then I was adding humbrol filler (body putty) rounding it and then sand, then filler, then sand.... Finally details like air intekes and exhaust pipes... The propellers I made spinning! :) Similar technique I done doing scratch conversions of Ju 86R and Wellington Mk VI (both presented alredy at RFI since August)

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