BOAC Whitley

[Adam Poultney]

On 28/04/2021 at 06:41, CliffB said:

 

With pleasure Adam.  Misha's made a few appearances on BM over the years.  Here's one from last year's Lancaster GB.

 

 

 

Awww that's a grumpy looking floofball 😂

 

Well, update time. After spending hours and hours cutting masks and..... nope, I just bought the Eduard set. Much easier. 

 

 

Finally getting the airbrush out for the first time in weeks; I've purposely avoided using it so far as it's just more time consuming and that's not what I want with so much college work recently. This weekend I've got some time so I can hopefully get a lot done.

Hataka interior green sprayed as the canopy framing colour.

 

 

then primed with black acrylic primer, the kit rather usefully has closed gear doors which stay in place nicely as covers for the wheel wells when I'm I'm painting.

 

 

Bit of a preshade. I'll do the upper surfaces first then the silver underside.

 

 

[Adam Poultney]

I decided to do the flaps dropped. I rarely bother but I will this time. And I think I finally got the thinning ratio right on this Hataka paint

 

 

And also, here's one of very few surviving sections of Whitley. It's in the Midland Air Museum in Coventry which I visited last year not long before Covid hit; I can't wait to get back there and to other museums. I think this belongs to the group that is attempting to gather enough bits to rebuild one or something, looking at some of the parts the Whitley Project has it will be quite a challenge but I hope they get there I've day.

 

 

 

[Adam Poultney]

On 27/04/2021 at 00:40, PeterB said:

Hi Adam,

 

The Planet Models Manchester kit is still available but rather expensive - OK it is not injection moulded plastic but resin, but actually it builds up pretty well - just needs a little extra care and some 5 minute epoxy for the big parts.

I built this one last year in the Lancaster STGB.

 

Pete

I've never done a resin kit that big before.... but it is so tempting to try it! I don't know how much of a Lancaster kit could get reused for a Manchester but I have an old tool Airfix Lanc sitting around minus any usable turrets (it was given to me second hand), which could act as a donor kit.

[PeterB]

Hi Adam,

 

The Planet kit actually replaced a "Manchester" based on a conversion article in Airfix Mag from I suspect the late 1960's - still have it somewhere. It used the then current 1st mould Lanc and about the only tricky bit was fettling the cowlings/intakes for the Vultures from a combination of Balsa and Plastic Wood! I think the upper turret came from a Sunderland. I doubt it was anything like accurate but it was close dimensionally and looked quite good. I seem to remember that somebody sells/sold a conversion set in the same way that I got one to convert a Lanc into a Lincoln, and that should be a lot less than the price Planet are now asking - mine was £70 about 8 years ago when I got it as a combined Birthday present from my family. The Planet kit is actually fairly easy to build - the only problem is the vac form transparent bits but at least they do give you two of everything! The wings are actually solid and the fuselage fitted pretty well with the help of numerous "tabs" which I glued in. I replaced some of the undercarriage struts with brass rod and cheated and used a spare Lanc nose turret left over from the Lincoln conversion. Don't think my build pics are still active as I am deleting from time to time to free up space on my free Flickr account but I could re-instate them if needed.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited May 1, 2021 by PeterB

[TonyOD]

This is looking a great, really smart. I've just snagged myself an Airfix Whitley (the very-much-armed Mk V version) on FaceBay for a song, I'll be nicking a some tips when the time comes. I love the extra cockpit detail.

[Adam Poultney]

13 hours ago, TonyOD said:

This is looking a great, really smart. I've just snagged myself an Airfix Whitley (the very-much-armed Mk V version) on FaceBay for a song, I'll be nicking a some tips when the time comes. I love the extra cockpit detail.

Enjoy it, it's a joy to build. I look forward to seeing aWIP thread if you're planning to do one

 

Yesterday evening's modelling session got quite a lot done. Firstly I sprayed on the Hataka Dark Earth followed by a second application with a little white mixed in.

 

 

 

As per usual, blue tack worms for masking the camouflage pattern. I keep on forgetting which part is brown and which part is green so mask the wrong edge of the pattern and have to redo parts. I added some blue tack dots to the areas which will be brown.

 

 

Cling film is very useful for finishing the masking of the camouflage. More shading was then applied.

 

 

Followed by Hataka Dark Green

 

 

Masking removed and the camouflage looks ok; I'll need to redo one green area on the side of the fuselage before doing anything more, but this should be ready for the silver underside pretty soon.

 

 

16 hours ago, PeterB said:

Hi Adam,

 

The Planet kit actually replaced a "Manchester" based on a conversion article in Airfix Mag from I suspect the late 1960's - still have it somewhere. It used the then current 1st mould Lanc and about the only tricky bit was fettling the cowlings/intakes for the Vultures from a combination of Balsa and Plastic Wood! I think the upper turret came from a Sunderland. I doubt it was anything like accurate but it was close dimensionally and looked quite good. I seem to remember that somebody sells/sold a conversion set in the same way that I got one to convert a Lanc into a Lincoln, and that should be a lot less than the price Planet are now asking - mine was £70 about 8 years ago when I got it as a combined Birthday present from my family. The Planet kit is actually fairly easy to build - the only problem is the vac form transparent bits but at least they do give you two of everything! The wings are actually solid and the fuselage fitted pretty well with the help of numerous "tabs" which I glued in. I replaced some of the undercarriage struts with brass rod and cheated and used a spare Lanc nose turret left over from the Lincoln conversion. Don't think my build pics are still active as I am deleting from time to time to free up space on my free Flickr account but I could re-instate them if needed.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

I'd love to see a few of those WIP pics... my wallet however probably doesn't 😂 I am hoping that someone will do a Manchester at some point in plastic so I don't have to spend so much on one. 

[Brad]

Never thought about using cling wrap like that, handy idea.

[PattheCat]

I like your airbrushing. Wish I would be as skilled with mine. I definitely will try blu tac and film instead of Tamiya tape now that you gave a simple tip to not mix up the painting areas (if I may?)

[Adam Poultney]

7 minutes ago, PattheCat said:

I like your airbrushing. Wish I would be as skilled with mine. I definitely will try blu tac and film instead of Tamiya tape now that you gave a simple tip to not mix up the painting areas (if I may?)

Tape certainly has its merits, depending on what you want to do. I did this vulcan using tape as I was after a hard edged camouflage.

Blue tack will typically result in a slightly softer edge and it's harder to judge the placement of the masking before painting so you will probably need to redo some parts.

I did this Blenheim with blue tack masking and the same paints as the whitely; it needed some corrections but ended up looking just about right.

 

 

 

[PattheCat]

Thanks for the explanations. Soft edges is what I never can get right. I tried with "Pritt Patafix" but didn't get a convincing result. There is a LHS not that far from where I live and they sell original blu-tac so I'll make a trip over there (and also just to take a look around, you know what I mean... ahem).

[Adam Poultney]

If you can, get the white version. it leaves less residue

[PeterB]

Hi Adam,

 

I have just tried to reinstate the pics in my Manchester build but Flickr won't play - perhaps because I have changed computers since them. If you want to see them PM me your e-mail address and I will send them.

 

Pete

[Adam Poultney]

Top surfaces were masked off using tape, blue tack and cling film. I managed to damage both rudders' counterbalances but at least they didn't snap.

 

 

And with the paint arriving today from Amazon, bars the silver underside. Unfortunately there was a catastrophic failure in the masking so part of the fuselage is silver where it shouldn't be and needs painting over again.

Closed gear doors very useful as covers once again.

 

 

 

[Adam Poultney]

Since the last post I've made the necessary corrections to fix the masking failure and glossed the model using Vallejo gloss varnish.

 

 

And here's a huge decal. Hopefully they will all go on ok.

 

 

 

 

[Thom216]

Good looking camo.

[PeterB]

Hi Adam, 

 

This might work - rather that take up half a page of your build with the actual pics, I have posted links to the Manchester instead.

https://flic.kr/p/2kWjPoi

https://flic.kr/p/2kWofoX

https://flic.kr/p/2kWjPDU

https://flic.kr/p/2kWsh7r

https://flic.kr/p/2kWprSU

https://flic.kr/p/2kWofTV

https://flic.kr/p/2kWshyi

https://flic.kr/p/2kWogVe

 

Some of the resin parts such as the rear fuselage floor and the sides of the wheel wells needed the hot water treatment so straighten them but otherwise the assembly was pretty straightforward. I seem to remember Flightpath made a conversion for the Airfix Lanc which may no longer be available but there is another from Blackbird costing £43 on Hannants site.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

[Adam Poultney]

Thanks for posting those, quite useful if I do decide to build that kit. 

I wasn't aware of the blackbird models conversion. I'll have to seriously look into that now

[PeterB]

Hi Adam,

 

Blackbird released a conversion for a Lincoln a year or so back which seems to be far more comprehensive that the old DB conversion that Flightpath rejigged - bit more expensive mind but looked pretty good and a bit easier to use. If their Manchester one is the same it could well be worth looking at as you have a spare Lanc - even if Airfix did release a Manchester I guess it would cost around £40 these days. I believe it is intended for the latest Airfix kit but would probably work with the earlier 2nd moulding  - not clear if it does both Manchester configurations as the display model on their site is one with the triple tail and upper turret and there is not other detail. Planet issue both versions as 2 seperate kits and mine was the earlier one. If needed you could always use the Lanc tail if you wanted a later wide span twin tail version as I believe they were exactly the same, though when I was building mine there was conflicting info on the tail geometry as you can see in the thread. For my original "conversion" I used the Airfix 1st moulding and did the late version with wide span horizontal tail, larger end plates and no central fin, and a spare upper tutter from a Sunderland I think. Apparently the assymetrical shape of the turret disturbed the airflow when it rotated to the extent that there were some reports of the central fin breaking up, which is probably why the layout was changed and that carried over to the "Lancaster Mk III" aka Lancaster.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited May 3, 2021 by PeterB

[Adam Poultney]

I saw that Lincoln set and well, I love my cold war bombers and that is the perfect transitional aircraft between ww2 and the cold war. I just don't know if I want a Lincoln or a Manchester more....

To be honest with regards to the likely price of a new tool plastic Manchester, if the quality was on par with this Whitley kit plus whatever improvements have come in the few years since it was tooled, then I'd happily pay £40 for it. But for that I would expect full payload options, all tail configurations, two or three decal options, etc. 

[Graham Boak]

And a cherry on the top?

[Adam Poultney]

 

Last night I got the first of the decals on. They seem to be behaving well. There are a few bubbles but these can be dealt with.

 

And continuing today, more decals. I also assembled the landing gear. I saw some people had issues fitting some of those parts correctly but it went together well for me.

 

The tailwheel is yet to be painted.

 

 

Underwing serials, these went on really nicely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PeterB]

That is looking really food Adam.

 

With regards to the Lincoln, the conversion I did only provided the outer wing tips and I had to make saw cuts to change the dihedral of the Lanc wing. I believe Blackbird provide much more of the wing - from the point where the dihedral starts in fact, and also include poseable flaps. I presume the Manchester is similar. The Lincoln is an impressive beast.

 

Cheers

 

Pete

Edited May 3, 2021 by PeterB

[planecrazee]

That's looking absolutely fantastic Adam and you've done a cracking job with the paint finish and the decals.  I have this kit in my stash too and your build has certainly given me plenty of inspiration for when I get round to mine.  Well done - can't wait to see the finished article 

Kris

[PattheCat]

I thought I'd wait for it to be 100% finished to express praise but I can't stand it anymore!

Wonderful result. Very nice camo, great NMF ... I like it all!

[Adam Poultney]

7 hours ago, planecrazee said:

That's looking absolutely fantastic Adam and you've done a cracking job with the paint finish and the decals.  I have this kit in my stash too and your build has certainly given me plenty of inspiration for when I get round to mine.  Well done - can't wait to see the finished article 

Kris

Thanks

Looking forward to seeing your build, please do tag me when you do a WIP so I don't miss it.

 

6 hours ago, PattheCat said:

I thought I'd wait for it to be 100% finished to express praise but I can't stand it anymore!

Wonderful result. Very nice camo, great NMF ... I like it all!

I think the silver ended up more shiny than I intended, it's supposed to be silver dope with some metal panels. I did think about using slightly different colours but didn't in the end. Thanks anyway though 😂

 

 

This thing that I assume is the pitot was added with a bit of metal, this looks far more convincing than the plastic bit provided that usually ends up bent and not particularly shiny. I had to drill a hole for this, there was no hole in the wing where it should go. I don't know if I filled it without even realising when smoothing out the seam in the leading edge or if it was never there to begin with. I suspect the latter as another part has a similar issue which is definitely an error in the kit.

 

 

These aerials were added, the one with the large roundish thing on it (no idea what it's for) should slot into some holes. Only problem is that the kit has no holes for it to slot into. I didn't miss drilling any because I checked the instructions, never says to drill any and I don't remember there being any recesses at that position (although there are a lot to drill for option A, a coastal command Whitley which is definitely armed and not for this group build). I noticed this before I painted the model so I drilled holes in the right places before it would risk damaging any paint.

 

 

For once I'm applying all the stencil decals to this model. There are only 22 decals for this scheme including stencils and not counting the ones in the cockpit. They're pretty small and not very noticeable. Think they'd be visible on the completed model once it's in the display cabinet? Well neither do I.

 

 

Gear doors were then added, flaps were added and the tail wheel was painted. I realised I had forgotten one part that runs along the underside of the fuselage towards the rear; it was then the last part to paint up and add to the model.

 

Now for the really fun bit: weathering.

I'm going to go with fairly minimal weathering on this, just a wash and fairly light exhaust staining.

The previously mentioned final part has been glued in place.