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1/48 Lancaster B.III (Special)


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Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. My ones definitely didn’t fit through the holes. I didn’t cut them wider though, fitted my ones in reverse to the instructions. Seemed to word. As for the fuel cells I’m not sure, I re did the little tanks as they looked flat to me but everything else looked ok. Do you want a pic of the UC? I have some good shots if that was the colours you were talking about.

 

great work. It’s a real trial building this one isn’t it. 

 

Johnny boy. :worthy:

Edited by The Spadgent
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  • 2 weeks later...

Lots of work so far but not much to see.

Got the landing gear together and painted (minus the wheel, which will be fitted after painting). I ended up using alfoil painted green to represent the visible bit of the fuel tanks (I know they're not black or red/orange, as per most post-war restorations but I found a couple of pictures which show this green was used over the top of the red/orange bladders on other aircraft, so I'm going with that).

 

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Went in reasonably well but the inboard nacelles are horrible - they're too narrow for the gear and will need a fair bit of filling to look acceptable. I noticed the instructions have changed over the years - mine say to install the gear from the bottom but the newer version says to install it from the top before joining the wing halves. Doesn't make any difference - the nacelles are the issue!

 

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Onto the engines. The new mould sprues are much better than the old ones and the exhausts are well represented like this:
 

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I wanted to put the shrouded versions on (as per the raid aircraft), so had to mount them further into the nacelle by cutting away the inside of the mounting surface. Look pretty well the way I wanted:
 

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Trial fit of the shroud over the exhaust - just what I was looking for!

 

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Not much progress for a while now - my wife and I are off to the Barossa Valley next week for our wedding anniversary, then I'm off interstate for a couple of courses. More progress next month.

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1 hour ago, The Spadgent said:

Nice bit o’ progress. Get ready for masking. 🤹‍♂️ 

Thanks, Johnny. Just attached the radiators and prop attachment points. Must say that the engines don't seem to be the horror story many have claimed - maybe the new moulds are better than the old ones? Still a bit of filling to do, though. Lots of masking on mine - I have the side windows all fitted as these were earlier production aircraft (they were eventually deleted on late-war machines). Thankfully the Big Ed set has the masks included!

 

1 hour ago, The Spadgent said:

Have a great time away and happy anniversary. 

Thanks again. We had a great week away - tasted and drunk enough wine to last us for some time now (lots of new purchases at the cellar door, too). Don't know how she's put up with me for so many years!

 

More work on the Lancaster when I return from course.

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The undercarriage legs on the Tamiya Lancaster seem to be somewhat of a conundrum. The 1970 first issue, which I got for my 17th birthday in September 1975, have you build and fit the legs and wrap the nacelles around them yet the latest version has you installing the gear after the nacelles are fitted yet the parts are the same. Most odd.

Edited by avro683
Grammar!
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19 hours ago, avro683 said:

Most odd.

Very. Regardless of how it's assembled, it still doesn't fit properly! Filling and sanding again...

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Thanks for asking, Johnny!

 

This seems to be one of those kits where you do a lot of work without much being evident! I've made a new rear hatch to suit the larger dimensions I made and fitted both. Also added the last of the exterior etched brass bits to the underside and the mass balances and bellcranks to the flight controls. The tailwheel is also ready for painting.
 

 

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Engines have been assembled and fitted and the exhaust shrouds fitted. I've deliberately left some join lines unfilled as they are where the panels join on the real aircraft anyway.
 

 

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On my last visit to the Australian War Memorial a couple of months ago, I noticed the rear wingtip lights on their B.I Lancaster were quite different from what the kit depicts. Photos of other B.I/III aircraft show this to be the norm, so I've started scratchbuilding that, too.

 

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Hopefully this weekend I'll get the first coat of Mr Surfacer 1000 on to see how she looks. Lots of masking needed before that. If Johnny's efforts are anything to go by, I may need to head to my LMS to pick up some more ModelMaster enamels - one bottle may not be enough! 

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Some great Lancaster work going on here with your build as well  as The Spadgent and Corsair Corp builds - I really like your cockpit work and flaps - unbelievable that that speaker would land smack bang on your fuselage😖 - you have however done a good recovery and have it back on track - very useful builds for anyone wanting to tackle this kit - fabulous

CJP

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Its certainly been an extensive (re)build and you have shown great skill and fortitude to overcome the issues.

 

I just know its going to finish as one that will be highly rated and revered.

 

Looking forward to seeing more

 

Ian

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, after many coats of Mr Surfacer 1000 and lots of sanding in between, I think we're ready for paint.
 

 

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I will probably start painting today before assembling the major components. Let's see how distracted I get...

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Not according to plan but the Dark Earth is on and I fitted the wings today.

 

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The wings need a little bit of filler before I do the Dark Green camouflage (probably early next week after I make up some masks).

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So; now the wing gaps are filled and I've touched up the offending areas. I've also fitted the main gear doors as this makes masking easier. New masking has been applied to the main gears and I've painted RAF Dark Green to the fuselage area under the canopy. Next, I'll refit the cockpit interior details that became a problem earlier (front and rear crash pads and the pilot's seat headrest) and glue the canopy in place.

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On 8/19/2018 at 11:53 AM, Bell209 said:

So; now the wing gaps are filled and I've touched up the offending areas. I've also fitted the main gear doors as this makes masking easier. New masking has been applied to the main gears and I've painted RAF Dark Green to the fuselage area under the canopy. Next, I'll refit the cockpit interior details that became a problem earlier (front and rear crash pads and the pilot's seat headrest) and glue the canopy in place.

The pilot’s headrest was omitted from all of the dams raid aircraft so if you haven’t fitted it yet you needn’t bother. They were required to get rid of as much excess weight as possible!

Edited by avro683
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So, managed to get the black on yesterday and, although it still needs some touch-ups before the clear coat, it's looking pretty good (apologies for the poor quality shot).

 

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I also fitted the turrets and detail pieces like pitot probe now as I want the clear coat to match all the surfaces. I'll fill and retouch the front turret fairing and fix a small area under the right wing I spilled paint on but it will soon be ready for clear-coating. A two week pause now while I go home and catch up with the family.

 

Now, where did I leave my Westland Scout project...

Edited by Bell209
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  • 4 weeks later...

file.php?id=17842

 

Almost there now. I had intended to use the XtraDecal 617SQN set for the roundels and fin flashes as they looked closest to the correct colour but they're so thin, the large overwing roundels folded up and then tore. Damn. So, using a combination of the KitsWorld General Markings, the 617SQN markings and the XtraDecal serials and squadron letter sets, I managed to get something on. Painting them on (the bigger ones at least) would have been a better option. I also need to get more black walkway lines from my LMS tomorrow as I don't have enough.

 

Apologies for the photo quality - the lighting in here is rubbish!

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After much deliberation, I've taken the Kitsworld stencils off the top surfaces - they just don't look right. Most of them are crisp, fine fonts which look like standard Microsoft fonts (Arial?), not the sprayed-on stencils used in WWII. I'll leave the lower ones on as they are closer to what they should be. I've ordered some Techmod decals as these look to have what I want and also have the black walkway decals I need. Trouble is, these are coming from Hannants, so the whole project now slows again. 

 

Ah well, back to the Tornado for a while.

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Realised today I still hadn't fitted the flaps, so I did that tonight. after making a 60 degree template to set the right angle.

 

Turns out my hours of trial fitting the rear part of the inner nacelles was in vain - the left one wouldn't fit into the forward part of the fairing after I'd attached it to the flap. About half an hour's worth of scraping the inside of the forward section and the outside of the rear and it finally worked. Of course, the CA adhesive has caused the Future clear coat to fog! If it doesn't come clear tomorrow I'll have to paint the flaps and rear nacelles again. 🙄

 

I also have still to add the actuating rods to the flap sections and tonight painted up some 0.4 mm rod ready to cut into sections.

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