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Tiger Force Lancaster B.VII (FE) - No. 467 Sqn. RAAF


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Hello David.

 I thought you have retired, watching old ww2 movies and shoot a comment from time to time on this forum. And hie you are,  coming back with an interesting topic. I have in my stash Hasagawa's Lancaster too. Right now I'm working on two other projects, so I won't be joining this GB. Good luck.  

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4 minutes ago, Franz75 said:

Hello David, I thought you have retired.. 

Not quite Franz, actually I thought I’d been fairly active on BM of late, although have only posted my builds within GB Galleries rather than RFI’s. I was initially not planning on joining this Lancaster GB, however like my modelling subjects I probably change my mind more often than I change my underwear!! 
 

Hope you’re keeping well.

Cheers.. Dave. 

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17 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

I probably change my mind more often than I change my underwear!! 
 

Wot, more than once a week?

Just popped in :bandit:

 

Good luck with your build El Presidenta

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Wot's this? we are on Page 2 already and I still haven't shown a proper progress update... how slack of me? 

 

Update #1 - Lots of prep work! 

 

It's been a long while since I've built a model kit that has more than two engines and looking at my completed models as I type this, it's only last years Frog Canberra that even qualifies for that! So for me, this is a journey of patience and believe it or not quite a bit of new research as I'm coming to the conclusion that you only start to 'fully' know a particular aircraft subject once you start to build a model of one. I honestly thought I'd knew my way around a typical Lancaster, however this build has so far unearthed a few new items that I hadn't realised or come across before. 

 

The good news is that I've managed to source a set of Lincoln style wheels and thanks to @Rafwaffe a set of Lincoln style tail fins which are still heading my way. Tiger Force (and from what I can make out) Grand Slam Lancasters were powered by the Merlin 24 engine and this unit worked best with 'tropicalised' style engine radiator intakes. The kits engine intakes represent the typical smallish aperture, almost forward chin jutting type, however Mk. VII Tiger Force Lancs were fitted with these later styled bulbous tropical intakes. It would appear that no AM manufacturer produces these items, so I decided to have a go myself modifying the kit's parts. I first sanded the intake chin front parallel to the prop back plate, then drilled and cut the aperture open as far as possible. The trusty round file and sand paper did the rest. They are still not 100% perfect, however painted a glossy black will hopefully hide the little imperfections that exist between all four modified units. 

 

I've also cemented those pesky windows in place, sanded smooth and rescribed some of the lost fuselage panel lines. I haven't quite applied any paint as yet, however that will hopefully not be too long down the track. Best be off. The intake photo below is courtesy of Wing Nut Wings and helps show the intake differences. http://www.wingnutwings.com/ww/productdetail?productid=3193&cat=6

Cheers.. Dave 

 

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30 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Wot's this? we are on Page 2 already and I still haven't shown a proper progress update... how slack of me? 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

 

  

Yes Dave thats so unlike you !

:giggle:

Good luck with the build mate

cheers Pat 

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Thanks V-P. All four intakes are now done and I’ve experimented with one radiator insert, although not sure if I’m happy with the final look of it. I do agree, a resin cast would be a good idea, however I wouldn’t have any idea how to go about doing this either? I’ve painted the internal cockpit and fuselage walls and applied some primer over the sanded over fuselage windows. I was really unhappy with my first sanding effort, so have just gone over these again. Hopefully they’ll be better this time around? 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

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On 13/03/2020 at 10:31, Rabbit Leader said:

Thanks V-P. All four intakes are now done and I’ve experimented with one radiator insert, although not sure if I’m happy with the final look of it. I do agree, a resin cast would be a good idea, however I wouldn’t have any idea how to go about doing this either? I’ve painted the internal cockpit and fuselage walls and applied some primer over the sanded over fuselage windows. I was really unhappy with my first sanding effort, so have just gone over these again. Hopefully they’ll be better this time around? 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

Great to see you with a kit in hand, Dave, giving it your usual attention to detail. This is shaping up to be an engrossing build so best of luck with it and I'm looking forward to the distinctive paint scheme and markings you've set upon. Is there room on your desk for this one too? All the best. Mike.

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Very nice work on the intakes Dave. Looking forward to more of this!

 

As for sanding the fuselage windows - a pretty tedious job and I wasn't satisfied with my first effort either. I wonder how much time we've all collectively spent on these windows in this GB?

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Cracking job on that intake mod, it looks like it came in the box that way. I find using p38 car filler to be the best for filling window gaps in as there’s no shrinkage to deal with. Nothing worse than invisible windows slowly reappearing !

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8 hours ago, Ventora3300 said:

Is there room on your desk for this one too?

No Mike, so I've migrated to both the lounge and (at times) dinner table which pleases Mrs. RL no end. Nice to hear from you after all these months and I hope you and your family are all well whilst we try to get through this horrible worldwide mess. 

2 hours ago, zebra said:

I wonder how much time we've all collectively spent on these windows in this GB?

Good question Julian and isn't it funny how we always want the version that requires some type of modification? I was only looking at my Matchbox Lanc and thinking if it could make a possible Manchester build... Hang on, no fuselage windows on that thing! 

2 hours ago, woody37 said:

Nothing worse than invisible windows slowly reappearing !

Now that would be a horrible image to witness. Not quite P38, however a good dose of CA I'm sure will do the trick here. Thanks for the intake comments, let's see how they end up. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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Hi Dave,

 

Resin moulding can be quite simple once you have obtained a suitable mould material. However I have run into a slight problem over here as the car accesories shop I used to get my relatively cheap resin from has for some reason stopped selling the hardener - still sell the resin though and I have found another supplier for the hardener - ruddy silly to my mind. An alternative apparently is Milliput with the right mould material. @AdrianMF seems to get good results with that as he explained in one of the Frog builds last year.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited by PeterB
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Update #2 - Internal bits 

 

Just a quick update in between work and trying to understand this current madness that's quickly taking over the world.  

The internal bits of my Hasegawa Lancaster have been cemented, painted up and now ready for closing. I've left the pilots seat off for now and will install that after a little bit of additional detail and painting. Like most Lanc kits, Hasegawa's cockpit floor also makes up the Lanc's long bomb bay. The underside is beautifully detailed and looks great painted and highlighted. Unfortunately the internal upper deck flooring is covered in large hideous holes, so I fashioned a suitable piece of plastic card and strip to cover what will still be visible through the canopy. Besides that, I've not added anything else although do admire all the well detailed cockpits that have so far been completed during the STGB so far. Here's a few pics of mine, don't worry about those sink marks they'll never be seen (with my eyes anyway!). 

 

Cheers.. Dave

 

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Hi Dave,
Hasegawa has a very basic interior.  I had bought a PE set for it.  I know that the 1/72 scale is small, but I like full and reach interiors.   And I can hear my wife: " You won't be able to see it after closing the fuselage" 
Research is an exciting part of modeling. Dave is right, you can learn a lot about the plane you are about to build. Modifications are a tricky part too. But without it, our hobby is a boring one. 
I like Lancaster. I saw her passing low many times in my life. Every time it was an unforgettable experience hearing these Merlins specific noise. 
I had attended University in Hamilton Canada, Hamilton is a home of one of two flying Lancaster in the world.  

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8 hours ago, Mancunian airman said:

Thats an interesting colour scheme you have there Dave in your Lanc cockpit  . . .

Is it not right? I was going by the instructions and colour call outs from the new Airfix kit. Anyway, she’s all buttoned up now, so no turning back. 
Cheers.. Dave 
 

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Nice to see you @Johnson (well you know what I mean?). This Lanc will be the largest kit in my collection, so I’ll be very relieved when Its eventually finished. Might then be tempted to build one if my three Shack’s after that.. still don’t know how I ended up with all of those? 
Cheers and more updates soon.. Dave 

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Nice, neat work so far Dave.

It's only in recent years I discovered Hasegawa did Lancasters', been away that long out of the hobby. Don't seem to be generally available, and probably very expensive.  I have two of the new Airfix tools, one of them a Dambuster one.  I have a few other projects on so don't think I'll start one for this GB, I'll just keep looking in on these builds.

 

Davey.

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8 hours ago, DaveyGair said:

It’s only in recent years I discovered Hasegawa did Lancasters',

Nice to hear from you Davey. Hasegawa do quite a few Lanc boxes and their kits are quite nice however not without faults. When time (and money) permit, I’ll try to track down an Airfix Dambuster as I really want to do P-Popsy. I used to work with the daughter of Jack Leggo who was ‘Mickey’ Martin’s Navigator for a good chunk of the war. This has always been one of those many ‘Bucket list’ projects I’ve had for years. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

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12 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Nice to hear from you Davey. Hasegawa do quite a few Lanc boxes and their kits are quite nice however not without faults. When time (and money) permit, I’ll try to track down an Airfix Dambuster as I really want to do P-Popsy. I used to work with the daughter of Jack Leggo who was ‘Mickey’ Martin’s Navigator for a good chunk of the war. This has always been one of those many ‘Bucket list’ projects I’ve had for years. 
 

Cheers.. Dave 

Actually, after I typed my previous post I had a look on 'the 'bay', there were quite few BI/BIII's for sale, all considerably more than the Airfix kit. There was one different one, the 'Rescue Unit' special version, looks nice in the NMF Canadian markings, so I'm having a punt on that, probably go way beyond I want to pay though 🙄

Just wondering if Jack Leggo told his daughter much about his service career, or something he wasn't willing to talk about, like a lot of ex-servicemen.

 

Regards, Davey

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9 minutes ago, DaveyGair said:

Just wondering if Jack Leggo told his daughter much about his service career, or something he wasn't willing to talk about, like a lot of ex-servicemen.

I worked with the lovely Lizzie Leggo about 25 years ago. She was getting on a bit then although took every opportunity to kick her heals and enjoy herself. I recall she was the one who told me about her old man when she found out I knew a bit about warplanes. I probably should have quizzed her more back then but for some reason time was spent talking about other matters. 
 

Anyway, I’ll build a Dambuster and a 455 Squadron Hampden in both their honour one of these days. 
Cheers.. Dave 

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Hello, I'm wondering about the new Airfix Lancasters, are they good? Better than Hasegawa and Revell?  Some people are complaining about large panel lines on Airfix kits. 

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