Popular Post woody37 Posted February 7, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted February 7, 2016 On the 12th August 1941, a force of 70 bombers including 9 Manchesters with 6 from 207Sqn based at Waddington and the other three from 97Sqn took off on a deep penetration raid to Berlin. The Manchesters were carrying mixed loads. Some carried the 4000lb Cookie whilst the others carried 5 x 1000lb GP's. One of the aircraft L7380 (EM-W) which was later captured on film by the Germans having crash landed on sand banks in Holland had to turn back over the North sea due to poor performance and tail flutter. It landed successfully back at Waddington after dropping its bombs on the port at Emden. The other 8 continued on. Over Holland, L7306 of 97Sqn was attacked by a night fighter but successfully evaded it by taking cover in cloud. With all gunners on look out for further fighter activity, Mike Lewis flying L7422 (EM-V) was flying with another Manchester in front of him. Suddenly, he noticed tracer striking the Manchester. Immediately, there was a large pink flash, clear evidence that the Cookie had exploded disintegrating the aircraft. The remains were seen failing away in a shower of yellow flame as the fuel tanks exploded landing around Kolham. Mike Lewis learned that the Manchester was L7381 piloted by his good friend Mike Smith who was on his 50th mission. L7381 had been brought down at 01.25am by Oberleutnant Ludwig Becker flying a Do215 having been tracked by his Liechtenstein set. The remains of mike Smith were found in a ditch still strapped in his seat. The only consolation that could be taken is that the crew suffered an instant death. The crew were recovered and laid to rest in the cemetery near Hoofdweg at Kolham, but were subsequently relocated to the Canadian war cemetery at Holten. The build is the new Airfix Lancaster II with the Blackbird Manchester resin conversion. Having been inspired by the book 'Avro Manchester - The Legend Behind the Manchester' by Robert Kirby (where most of the research above was taken from), I wanted to do a tribute to one of the many tragic accounts covered in his book. I decided on L7381 that fitted the bill in that it had the wavy demarcation scheme and of course had the three tails of the early Mk.I. Part way in to the build, I decided to do a diorama that involved the 'fateful' cookie that led to the demise of Smiths crew that night. The engraved plate was picked up for a fine sum of £1.75 off Ebay which you can't grumble with. The ground equipment was taken from the Airfix Bomber Re-supply set. Whilst there are no known photo's of L7381, there are plenty of L7381 to which I used for reference. Robert Kirby introduced himself in the build thread and pointed out a mistake in the build in that I used the narrower 28' tailplanes where as all but the first 20 Manchesters used later 33' unit that was standard on the Lancaster except for the three tail configuration. Take note of this if you are thinking of building one, for me, they are too secure to think about changing, so I'm playing ignorant! I want to get some more ground crew, so will add them at a later date to the diorama, but for now want to clear the bench. I'm not going to go in to detail about the build as it's covered HERE, so I'll get on with the pictures. Thanks again, for all the people who have followed and contributed throughout the build Thanks for looking Neil 132 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ForestFan Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 That's a bit good! Excellent execution all round 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janremco Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Great diorama. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 That is just brilliant Neil, damn near perfect. I love the diorama base too, and the 2 guys preparing to work on the engine. I enjoyed the build thtread too, you've got another winner here. Cheers John 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Very nice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foghorn Leghorn Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Now that's a beaut! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elger Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 really, really awesome. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 That is simply amazing Neil, From the model to the diorama, the inclusion of the fateful Cookie and the nameplate it is all simply perfect and a wonderful tribute to the crew! This has to be one of the best models ever to grace Britmodeller to date,.........brilliant job, Cheers Tony 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyh Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Excellent! Weathering looks fantastic. Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galgos Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Beautiful, thoughtful and skillful work as ever Neil, a real cracker. Max 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mancunian airman Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 All round perfection on a board . . . . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach82 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 A superb dio Neil. Beautifully built and weathered and perfectly displayed. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcdonnell Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Hello,Neil - In one word - "Magnificent!" All the best,Paul. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nigel Foster60 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 That is just some of the best modelling I have seen, excellent. Nigel 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Alan Bardell Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Thats great work! I love it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobinsonh Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Absolutely stunning - this is an award winner in my book. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alpha Delta 210 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Absolutely sensational diorama. Everything looks spot on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Truly stunning work, very nice job on the scheme and finish . The cam looks great, as does the final reveal.. really enjoyed folllowing the build,. Great work and great dio 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich G Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Excellent work, I love these types of dioramas, and yours has been done very well. Rich 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stringbag Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 An absolute masterpiece Neil. Looking forward to seeing this one in the flesh. Chris. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Radleigh Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 It looks stunning as it is, but it really does look better on a small dio. Superb Neil! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HL-10 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 A work of art! So impressive, just stunning 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham T Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Lovely build & a great, if sad, story. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FZ6 Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Looks great Neil, Regards, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimB Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 A beautifully built model, brough to life by the story. The weathering looks just right and the rest of the diorama is nicely restrained. 10 out of 10, if not a bit more! Regards Tim 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now