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Lancaster ASR III/GR III +++FINISHED+++


Valenstitch

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Well, here is my first participation in a group build! Having been "Furloughed" by my employer, the "Leg Iron" decided there  was alternative employment available "around the house", thankfully, the council has closed the tip and all non essential shops have also put the shutters up, which left little to do but show her the email from work which stated "You are not to carry out any work"! Awesome!

 

So here she is, my entry in the Group Build! The venerable Revell Lancaster! I`ll only be using the stencils from this decal sheet. spacer.png

 

Lots of nice grey plastic, I have an Airfix Lancaster in the stash but I am saving that for conversion to a Lincoln (Once Blackbird models have the conversion back in stock!). I am quite impressed with the quality of detail in this kit, which I picked up for £15!

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This box of bits has been sitting in the stash for about a year, the Freightdog ASR III/GR 3 conversion, new wheels, Lincoln rudders, a whole heap of intakes, two vacform domes and a hoofing great airborne lifeboat!

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And finally some decals, there are two Maritime schemes in this set.

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So without further delay, lets get this show on the road! Cockpit assembly took very little time, although there are a few ejector pin marks that needed filling, I think that even with the huge expanse of canopy very little is going to be visible once the fuselage is buttoned up.

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I chopped the lower wing at the bend line just outboard of the inner nacelles to correct the dihedral 

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The outer wing was then glued in place, but not down the cut line, the cut extends into the leading edge back as far as the nacelle join, when everything is cured, I shall slip a shim into the gap in the lower skin and this will push the wing tip up and increase the dihedral!

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The cockpit is assembled, It is a little basic, but I will add a few bits and bobs, trim wheels and the like, and somewhere for the flight engineer to park his backside! I will not however be putting any charts or maps on the navigators table. You might get away with that sort of behaviour in the French air force, but in the RAF, such things as Maps ,Charts and Logs are controlled documents, collected by the Navigator from the Navigation section prior to  sortie they would be returned to the Navigation section once back on Terra Firma and following debrief, before the Navigator headed to the Officers Mess for a skin-full of pop to calm the nerves which have just taken a jolly good eight hour hiding from the boyish antics of  "Biggles" in the drivers seat 

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So a productive first day, all "Win Column" so far!

 

Ta for lookin` no G!

Granto

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Bravo on mentioning the navi's maps and charts. Too many modellers sticking those map decals on the chart tables of unoccupied aircraft.

 

I shall be watching your build.

 

 

 

Chris

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One of my pet hates dogsbody/Chris! Along with piling the back decks of tanks with boxes and covering it with a tarpaulin, leading to a boiled engine and an interview without coffee with the C.O and REME at best, or a fouled traverse and an enemy call-sign popping caps into your rear end and a roll-call with the Almighty!

 

Granto

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2 hours ago, dogsbody said:

Bravo on mentioning the navi's maps and charts. Too many modellers sticking those map decals on the chart tables of unoccupied aircraft.

 

I shall be watching your build.

 

 

 

Chris

Bit of artistic licence, these are plastic kits after all, not a live aircraft awaiting inspection! 

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Yes you are right about the maps. Those that didn't return them would be in big trouble.  A family friend had a few and told me if he had been caught with them he would have been pulled up rather sharply.  However,  he was in the desert Wellingtons. 37 squadron

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I had hoped for some more significant progress after another day of dodging covid19 in the shed, however, you Judge for yourselves

 

 

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I wasnt too happy with the cockpit, the Gee box was in the wrong place from what I could tell, so I moved it to the rear corner of the pilots deck and added another box, the pilot got a trim wheel and some document holders, a compass on the instrument panel, the navigator got a large navigators square and will end up with a lamp as well, the wireless operator got a morse key, I`ll fish out some seat belts from the spares box to finish it off. 

 

 

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I didn't like the Navigators seat, so I chopped the moulded plinth off and put a pole, floor to ceiling next to the bulkhead, then a quick bit of bracing and the seat went in a slightly more accurate location.

 

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So just the Navigators lamp and some seat belts and I can shoot some primer in here!

 

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The flight Engineer got a drop-down seat, and a hand rail on the wall for the Bomb Aimer!

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The fuselage windows were fitted and then filled, and a window was cut in the hatch on the starboard side.

 

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The hole was glazed with scrap clear plastic which I will sand back and polish.

 

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Two windows this side, so I cut a larger hole to cover the pair, masking will take care of that!

 

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Shims glued in the lower wing surface cuts, then cut back and sanded.

 

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And finally tape applied and a smear of filler applied to smooth everything down! So all told, progress of a sort, and Hannants are open for mail order again, so I`ll get a set of canopy masks on the way!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

 

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That’s a great lot of work going on there and all your improvements and additions are very well done. This is shaping up to be quite an excellent build already. Nice progress.

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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I think the polishing phase has worked out ok!

I`ll mask these up inside and shoot some primer I think!

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the Wireless Op got a new box of electronic wizardry and a stanchion to hold the edge of his now overloaded desk up 

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And the poor old Navigator got his promised angle poise lamp!

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Other than seat belts I think we`re good to go!

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Mask and prime? Why not!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

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That's some nice detailing work on your Lanc and I look forward to seeing the rest of it. A lot easier build I daresay than the Mach2 York. I built a Matchbox ASR3 in all over  Dark Sea Grey in 1990, won the best Model on our Branch display we had at Finningley that year.

 

Edited by Mr T
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I really don`t know how I used to manage going to work as well as doing all the stuff I am doing now! I`ve heard all the bitching and moaning going on regarding social distancing, this is mana from heaven for me, the "Leg Iron" is off my back, I`ve nothing to do but model to my hearts delight! My sympathy for those that are suffering, but by eck, I`m enjoying myself so far! Obviously if I end up on a ventilator I might not be so chipper, but lets look on the bright side for now! I shot some primer this afternoon, in between cooking the dinner and walking the hound.

I had to use black Stynylrez, I prefer grey but I have run out! So with a bit of luck I can get some interior green on top of this tomorrow!

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I masked off the bomb bay because I want a good bond to the flight deck, I`m not going to put anything in here anyway, there`s a lifeboat going underneath!

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I am always concerned when I shoot Stynylrez, it looks gopping when I spray it, and the temptation is always to quickly clean it off and respray it, but it always seems sort itself out.

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there was even time before I put my dumplings in, to crack on with the nacelles, internals fitted....... 

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I had a good look at the fins and rudders, they are quite delicate

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The aftermarket rudders are even more delicate, and they`re designed for the Airfix Lanc, it might be more trouble trying to mate them than adapting the kit parts.......I`ll sleep on that one I think.

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Last job of the day was to blank off the exhaust ports on the inner nacelles, I am not going to use the kits two merlins, so I need something to support the exhausts when I come to fit them! I also assembled the bulkheads that go into the nacelles, the thin tube frames were very fragile, so I glued them in place without cleaning them up, when they are dry tomorrow I can give them a once over with less chance of breaking them.

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So, still winning!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

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Here we go again then, more self isolation rambling! I was going to try and get some interior green shot yesterday, but I have recently been experiencing some issues with airbrushing acrylics, mainly paint clogging, spattering and the like. I think the majority of the issues are related to the age of my paint, rather than my airbrushes and equipment. I normally take weeks if not months on a build, so the paint spends a lot of time on the shelf, which is not good for paint. So harking back to my paint spraying training some forty years ago, I decided to splash out on some paint filters, they look like coffee filters, but with a 10 micron mesh in the bottom, a tenner for 100 from Amazon, this morning I decided to try them out, I gave my chosen colour, Tamiya XF 71 cockpit green, a jolly good stir with my battery powered paint stirrer, mixed in the appropriate amount of X20A thinners and then filtered it into my airbrush. Worked a treat!

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The cockpit green went down on the black primer nicely. You cant see it here but I got some nice subtle preshade variation on this! 

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The fuselage looks a different colour, but it`s not been photographed in direct sunlight unlike the cockpit. There`s a nice bit of preshade here too!

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The resin rudders fitted the kit fins very well in the end, despite being intended for the Airfix kit. They are the wrong way round in this shot! But you get the picture!

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The fit of the fins onto the tail-plane is excellent as well. I took the paddle bladed props off the sprue, and gave them a good clean up.

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What I did manage yesterday, was the assembly of the engine nacelles. The join was ok, but there was a bit of cleanup required, and a smear of filler. This morning I rubbed that down and fitted the nacelles onto the wings.

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The fots are a bit blurred, but the fit is excellent again. I am quite impressed with this kit, for a third less than the Airfix kit and one third the price of the Hasegawa Lanc (if you can find one!) its a bargain!

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I made sure my nacelles hung vertical on the wing with it`s altered dihedral. Once all this is dry, I can prime the undercarriage bays and radiator openings.

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So, still winning.........on the model making front anyway, the letter from my employer detailing my "Furloughed" status was a little unsettling, but what the hell, I`ve got a shed full of stash!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

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Some more build progress to report! I haven't been "sitting doing nothing" as the "Leg Iron" so wittily put it, I have been methodically pottering! I have done a bit of titivation to the interior, but I think thats about it.spacer.png 

 

It`s very dark when the interior is all closed up, I did a test fit of the canopy and very little will be seen besides the pilots seat and the immediate surrounding area.

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So the interior will add more atmosphere than accuracy, but it has come out ok, it`s had a Flory wash and a bit of aluminium dry brushing.

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So with a bit of luck I`ll go for button up this arvo!

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The back of the radiators and the lower internals of the engines have been sprayed black and assembled, and the resin intakes fitted, they have had a swipe with some Mr Surfacer dissolved putty and been cleaned back. I don`t know yet weather or not to assemble the undercarriage before paint, Its all a bit vague in the "manufacturers opinion" literature or assembly instructions if you`d rather , it`s a nicely detailed but overly complicated assembly in my opinion, and the contact points are so small it is going to prove susceptible to damage I`m sure.  

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The resin rudders have been fixed, they have had a swipe of putty as well and are awaiting clean up.

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I had a look at the turrets next, all a bit basic, and this Coastal Command version has no guns fitted which leaves the turrets looking a bit empty, so I decided to put some guts in the turrets, just to fill them out a bit, the rear turret on the left here, got some empty trunions and a bit of framing, the front turret is following a day behind!

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Here is the rear turret from the side, the internal diagonal frame is quite prominent in photos of the turret, and with the turret framing being white this should be nicely visible! We`ll see!

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Still winning!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

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Well today is just flying by!

Here is a view of the rear turret with the transparencies dry fitted, the internal framework is visible as intended!

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I mixed a drop of acrylic red paint with some PVA so I can see where I have applied it, I can then use it to mask the location points of the undercarriage. I can take a quick fot on my phone to use as a reference, so that once sprayed with paint I can just pop the pva off with a cocktail stick and get on with glue without spending ages cleaning up!

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Same deal for the props!

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Fuselage all closed up! The Revell kit comes with a turret blank included! You can see how dark it is in the cockpit, it`s like the black-hole of Calcutta where the wireless operator is!

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The Bomb doors come as a single piece that you can split if you want the Bomb bay open, if not it is a nice structural piece for the bottom of the fuselage!

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The last two pieces to go on the wings before paint, very fragile again, so they`ll get cleaned up once they are dry!

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All going in the win column!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

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Sunday, end of week two of social distancing.......almost, and more progress to report!

Tape removed......I have a reasonable bond of fuselage half's, there is a bit of filling to do, but I couldn't resist a dry fit..............Happy with that! Even if it is a bit of a squeeze!

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I cleaned up the seam and gave it some filler

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The front turret got a couple more bits, I`m going to attempt the curved pierced braces that go from the hoop to the trunions, and that`ll be that for the internals there!

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Obviously this won`t be going in the win column! The transparency on the left was the original that came with the kit, I managed to balls it up! So I had to raid the stash for a spare! I dipped it in Vallejo clear gloss, but there was a bubble in the gloss, otherwise it was perfect, but in cleaning it off i rendered it "Buggered"!  I had another Revell Lanc in the stash, and that gave up it`s rear turret clear parts, I have a set of vac-form canopies somewhere for a Lanc, with a two gun .50 cal rear turret, I was intending to build the other Revell Lanc as a Mk VII so that is a win but not in the context of this build! 

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So I`m off for an afternoon of gently rubbing my fuselage! Winning again!

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

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Excelent stuff, mate. I picked up a Freightdog set last week and eill be using tnat with an Airfix Lanc at some point, to produce a French MR.7. Your build will be a good reference even though it is a different base kit. Nice work.

 

Martin

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I decided I didn`t like the front turret enhancement, so I ripped it off and started again!

This time I used a bit of styrene rod, two holes drilled into the base of the turret and the rod ends threaded through, I glued one end, and once set I adjusted the height of the hoop and glued the other end.

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I cut two sections of tube and fettled them to fit in the slots for the guns, these would be part of the trunion/mounting for the guns if fitted,  I glued them to the turret base using the transparency to hold them in the right place. I cut two braces from rod and glued them to support the hoop, then I removed the transparency, and cut away the interior portion of the trunion leaving a "C" shape with the curve to the front.   

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There is a prominent curved brace that goes from the hoop to the trunion/mount which I cut from some thin scrap card and glued it in place once I had added a couple of thin slices of rod that were drilled with lightening holes. Then I fitted the back of the turret and shot it with black stynylrez I think it looks a bit closer to the real thing now!

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The Prop spinners got a coat of red and the exhaust stubs were readied for primer.

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The fuselage transparencies were masked and fitted where necessary 

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The air conditioning scoop went on, this is part of the Freightdog set.

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And finally for the day, the tail wheel leg was fitted with a few degrees of lock to port on. Oh and the Strike camera/ Flare chute was mounted as well.

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So amongst all of the doom and gloom out there, I`m still winning...........

 

Ta for lookin` no G

 

Granto

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Lovely progress, looking forwards to seeing the paint on, a nice change from green, brown and black. The intakes on the revel kit aren't well shaped, I got round it by lining them with some thin plasticard strip and filler when I used it to make a dambuster. Let me know if you want me to find the photos.

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