1/48 Tamiya Lancaster

[Will14m]

Hi everyone.

 

Spitfire and hurricane done.

 

 

Now for the Lancaster that will sit above these Two.

 

Flight deck and interior done.

 

 

 

I used a bit of artistic licence here with the addition of a trim wheel 🙂…Unfortunately when I tried to put the Two halves together the radio operators seat hit it so it had to go 😒

 

Next the left and right fuselage all completed except for a final touch up and a matt varnish. I also tried to put the pilot and radio operator in their seats but they are far too big and so I had to leave them out, a shame given the time I spent painting them.

 

Comments please, but please be gentle, I haven’t done any builds since I was in my teens and I’m now 60, eyes aren't what they used to be, not to mention the shakes. The hobby has re-kindled itself due to Corona (the virus not the beer).

 

 

 

[exdraken]

Oh yeah, that looks promising!

[spitfire]

Looking good, this was one of the kits that re kindled my interest in the hobby so I have a soft spot for it (and several in the loft !)

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Rob K.]

Nice start 👍

[jackroadkill]

That's a very promising start - if she turns out as good as the fighters she'll be a peach!

[LorenSharp]

Looks good so far Will14m! You are off to an auspicious start This will be fun to follow. Carry on Sir, Carry on.

[Bell209]

Nice start! There have been a few recent builds of this kit here. Please do have a look at the lessons we learned so you don't have to learn them yourself! 😄

[Will14m]

Fuselage undercoated; I would like some advice on pre-shading please.

 

 

Both the bottom half of the fuselage and the underneath of the whole aircraft is black, how should I carry out panel line pre-shading? I have Two thoughts, first is to pre-shade in white so it shows through the final black coat and second is to pre-shade in black but then use a dark grey rather than black for the topcoat? Thoughts please.

 

[Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies]

Honestly, I would kick panel line preshading in to the weeds. There are a few examples of specific aircraft which show that sort of effect, but most do not. If you just want to break up the monotone colour then there are a whole bunch of better techniques out there which can include marbling (a form of preshading but ignoring panel lines and instead creating a small, tight, high contrast blotchiness prior to a light finish coat), black basing, multi-layer toning using the salt method, as above but using hairspray, post shading, filters etc.

 

You'd probably not want dark panel lines and light centres any more after getting the hang of any of the above

 

Just my 2p

[Will14m]

1 hour ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

Honestly, I would kick panel line preshading in to the weeds.

Hi Jamie, your 2p worth is very welcome, looks like a visit to YouTube is required. 🙂 Which method would you recommend for a novice on the airbrush? If you have any links to other resources also that would be appreciated.

[Greg Law]

I like to do black basing with a white or light grey marbling over it. Then thin layers of the finish colour building it up until you have the effect you want. This can work with the dark colours. If you control the marbling so you can still make out the panels you get the best of both methods. The thing to watch out for is over doing the final coats or you loose all the effort you put into the effects.

 

By the way excellent Spitfire and Hurricane. 

[Will14m]

5 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

I like to do black basing with a white or light grey marbling over it. Then thin layers of the finish colour building it up until you have the effect you want.

Hi Greg. So for the black finish on the lanc would I black base it then marble with white and then the final coat(s) with black again, or should I lighten up the final shade of black to more of a very dark grey? My thought is I would just defeat the object by simply going over with a top coat of the original black?

[Greg Law]

You use multiple very thin coats of the black top coat. Building it up until you just see a shadow of the marbling.  About 20% colour to thinner. Use low air pressure of about 20 psi. I think Tire black is a good colour. 

Keep the marbling small and tight.

[Will14m]

20 minutes ago, Greg Law said:

You use multiple very thin coats of the black top coat. Building it up until you just see a shadow of the marbling.  About 20% colour to thinner. Use low air pressure of about 20 psi. I think Tire black is a good colour. 

Keep the marbling small and tight.

Thanks Greg I'll give it a go.

[Greg Law]

16 minutes ago, Will14m said:

Thanks Greg I'll give it a go.

I suggest you do a bit of practice.  You will find that when you do the marbling it is best to used thinned paint. 20% paint to thinner and low pressure 20 psi. But practice until you have paint and pressure quantities that work for you. You will find the airbrush may stop at times because the nozzle end gets blocked. Use a little thinner on a paper towel to wipe it down from time to time.

[Phartycr0c]

Will if I may,

 

Lancasters have a LOT of real estate when it comes to their paint schemes and the harshness of a pure black just doesn't look right and makes the plane look toy like and lacks depth using black as a camo colour is just too harsh, irrespective of how you build up the paint layers. .

 

In a similar vein I wouldn't paint a F117 or SR 71 blackbird in pure black.

 

Below are three photographs of my 1/32 HK Lancater build which hopefully demonstrate the how you can achieve a depth to the black. 

 

 

 

 

 

I used Tamiya XF 85 rubber black as an undercoat then went over it with a very thin coat of  XF 63 Nato Black finally lightning the nato black with a drop of any lighter grey using it to highlight random panels.

 

I subsequently used Flory Grey wash all over the area, allowing it to dry then removing it with a damp paper towel. The wash lightens and picks out the panel lines beutifully. 

 

The whole lot was then sealed using a very thin coat of klear before an oil wash to complete the weathering where necessary.

 

The photographs  depict the paintwork as black but I can assure you in daylight it appears more of a very dark grey. 

 

If you need any more info let me know.  

 

 

[Marklo]

I’ve seen it where a black/dark brown or brick red mix is used to get a scale black (about  a 4:1 mix) The preshade can be then be black or use a lighter mix to post shade/ modulate the black.

[Will14m]

8 hours ago, Phartycr0c said:

Will if I may,

 

Lancasters have a LOT of real estate when it comes to their paint schemes and the harshness of a pure black just doesn't look right and makes the plane look toy like and lacks depth using black as a camo colour is just too harsh, irrespective of how you build up the paint layers. .

Thanks Phartycr0c. With an impressive build like that you most certainly may.

 

There are so many different methods available to me I think I’m going to buy a cheap kit to practice on and see what works best for me before committing to the Lanc. I’ll be honest, the idea of black basing and marbling whilst good for lighter colours I’m not sure will work well with black. I was leaning toward post shading with a dark grey instead having watched more youtube videos last night.🤓

 

I do like your method(and results) with the two blacks and a post shade with dark grey. One question, should I remove the grey undercoat I’ve already done, or leave it on? If the former, what is the best way to remove it?

[Will14m]

2 hours ago, Marklo said:

I’ve seen it where a black/dark brown or brick red mix is used to get a scale black (about  a 4:1 mix) The preshade can be then be black or use a lighter mix to post shade/ modulate the black.

Thanks Marklo.

 

So many options, but all suggestions are gratefully received.

[Phartycr0c]

1 hour ago, Will14m said:

 

There are so many different methods available to me I think I’m going to buy a cheap kit to practice on and see what works best for me before committing to the Lanc. I’ll be honest, the idea of black basing and marbling whilst good for lighter colours I’m not sure will work well with black. I was leaning toward post shading with a dark grey instead having watched more youtube videos last night.🤓

 

I do like your method(and results) with the two blacks and a post shade with dark grey. One question, should I remove the grey undercoat I’ve already done, or leave it on? If the former, what is the best way to remove it?

The cheap test kit makes perfect sense. It will allow you to find the method that is right for you. 

 

Both of my builds were grey primed so no need to remove it as ultimately it will not effect the finish.

 

 

 

This is a photo I took at East Kirby. It gives you an idea of the sort of finish your after. you can see how the black actually isn't quite black and how it varies in intensity.

 

I know this sounds technical but when you look at a model, a certain amount of light needs to reflect back to the viewer. Plain black just absorbs the available light giving the flat toy like appearance. The tonal variation in the dark greys allows a "depth" which is wholly more pleasing. 

 

when I talk about reflection, i'm not talking about finish i.e gloss, matt, semi-gloss, i'm talking about colour tone. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bentwaters81tfw]

There is an error in the instructions for the tail turret. Swap parts B38 & 39, and turn part B41 over.

[Will14m]

3 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

There is an error in the instructions for the tail turret. Swap parts B38 & 39, and turn part B41 over.

Thanks. bentwaters81tfw

 

Oh dear just checked the fit and I can see the problem 😒. Unfortunately I’ve already started the turrets . I’ll have to see if I can un-glue the supports and turn then around. Any other problems you are aware of?

 

 

 

[bentwaters81tfw]

Just now, Will14m said:

Thanks. bentwaters81tfw

 

Oh dear just checked the fit and I can see the problem 😒. Unfortunately I’ve already started the turrets . I’ll have to see if I can un-glue the supports and turn then around. Any other problems you are aware of?

 

 

 

 

I don't know of any other problems, I haven't built mine yet, but I was told of that error.

[Bell209]

Please do have a look at the previous builds here. There were at least three of these being built simultaneously about two years ago. Together, I think we found all the errors!

[Will14m]

On 12/05/2020 at 03:08, Bell209 said:

Please do have a look at the previous builds here. There were at least three of these being built simultaneously about two years ago. Together, I think we found all the errors!

Thanks Rob, where do I find them?