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1:32 HK Lancaster "G. Gibsons' Lancaster prior to takeoff on Op. Chastise - The Sortie is on again!


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Dirtying up wise it's a bit of a balancing act. Everyone says these were new aircraft and they were. But they arrived about two weeks before the raid and were flown hard as hell in training so definitely weren't pristine.

So all surfaces were given a double coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss. It sets hard as nails in 24 hours.

Decals next, just the tiny stencil ones. All black and red lines were painted on. Even with two coats of gloss a couple of them silvered a bit which is why I hate em. They also lift at the drop of a hat if anyhting like masking tape goes near them so they need another coat of varnish after micro sol and set have been applied. HK have made a boo boo by the way with the one with the dinghy release instructions

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It's shown as going behind one of the upper escape hatches, not sure why. It goes aft of the main crew door and should be in red. There's a release cable for the dinghy there

 

Then upper surface panel lines were very carefully shaded with a 60:40 mix of Tamiya red/brown to flat black, diluted to about 1 drop paint to 9 drops thinner. Night surfaces shaded with pure black thinned to the same consistency.

Not never EVER pre shaded PLEASE. Pre shading should be a capital offence IMHO. The only thing that comes from under the paint is corrosion. Also you don't get the checker board effect. Every panel line isn't dirty. Subtlety is everything

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After that, I pin washed all the panel lines themselves with black for the dark surfaces and dark brown for the uppers. Excess wiped off with odourless thinner. At the same time some random dirt streaking was applied using the same black/brown diluted mix. (I'm not much of a Chris Wauchop worshipper honest LOL)

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Lastly on the wings, the ailerons were shaded by covering the high surfaces with thin strips of masking tale then spraying dark over them. When you remove the tape the ribs stand out in relief

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So basic weathering is done (similar applied to the tail fins of course).

 

 

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Next up was another of the annoying corrections you've got to make to this kit and it's the formation lights on the rear of each wingtip. On this model they appear as three separate lights protruding from the rear of the wing.

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They should sit, from all the conflicting reference I've searched through, behind a blue glass cover similar to the green and red nav lights at the front of the wing. (note to self yet again, think long and hard before you hack the wingtip off of a £400 kit). As you can probably see from the photo it's a bit too late as I've started. Problem is I had no clear plastic to fit. Thankfully, the fact it's a blue glass cover meant it could be polished a bit under super clear so I let in a piece of perspex,

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filed to shape, polished and sprayed Tamiya clear blue and it thankfully came out OK...on both sides!

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Clear red and green sprayed nav lights and all looks well.

 

Next comes the little matter of the raison d'etre of the whole aircraft, the upkeep mine (not a bomb).

HK's mine still has the wooden slatting that Wallis discarded on the final trials as the mine bounced better without it.

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Rather than fill and sand all that lot, I tried rolling a piece of 1/10000 plastic sheet round to smooth it out and it worked a treat. The seam will be hidden under the aircraft belly when it's installed. Spray with Mr Finishing surfacer then the debate about the finish can start.

Some say black, some olive, some red oxide primer. I like red oxide primer as it gives a bit of contrast so that's what I went with. I also think it ties in with the stories of the bombs only being filled with Torpex the morning of the raid and still being warm to the touch in the afternoon.

For a bit of contrast and effect, I sprayed with steel then chipping solution before a top coat of Tamiya hull red which is pretty close to oxide red primer. Then a bit of highlighting and some gentle brushing with a soft wet toothbrush and a nice effect of a bit of loss of primer comes through.

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As for the preparing of the bomb bay to take the upkeep it's a bit of a minefield (no pun intended)

The drawings for the cradle aren't very clear the three pieces need to lean against each other.

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Once you've made up the cradle the instructions give you a placement point up against two small square stops. It's wrong. The diagram below shows the correct placement at two similar stops further toward the nose.

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The motor for rotating upkeep is hidden away inside the bay but I sprayed it black, drybrushed it and added hydraulic pipes for the hell of it

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The belt drive assembly got a makeover as well. I originally thought it was a chain mechanism and was going to replace the chain with actual chain. Good

job I didn't as the drive was provided by a vee belt. The pulley however needed a groove in it then I can paint the belt tyre rubber and the exposed pulley in a steel colour

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Perhaps the most contentious issue surrounding Upkeep is the question of fuses and fusing, Why does it matter for the model when it can't be see? Oh believe me it does!

Upkeep had two types of fuse, three hydrostatic fuses designed to cause detonation at 30 feet and, here's the elephant in the room, a self destruct fuse to stop it falling into enemy hands. The SD fuse consisted of a rip off pin that, when pulled out of the end of Upkeep, triggered a spark which lit a length of fuse which in turn, after 65 seconds would ignite the charge and explode the mine. All very Heath Robinson but effective.

So what's the problem? Well, for many years the belief was that the pin was ripped out as the caliper arm which held upkeep in place sprung open to drop the bomb. All very well and good but, if that was the case, an accidental dropping on the ground (as allegedly happened when a WAAF pulled the release handle by the pilot's seat by mistake) would give 65 seconds to clear the aircraft before ...BOOM!

A "safety catch" was needed so the rip off pin remained un-tethered while on the ground meaning an accidental dropping would not rip it out but disengaged just after the aircraft was over enemy territory arming the SD fuse.

How that was achieved? A claw fastened to the starboard caliper arm was fastened to a cable running to the cockpit ove the outside of the airframe. This claw could either be open, and not locking onto the rip off pin, or closed and grasping it,

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Before take off and until over enemy territory, the claw was open. Once over enemy territory, the cable was pulled, closing the claw over the rip off pin and arming the fuse. 

There;s now evidence for this in this photo of Les Monroe's craft showing the chafing of the cable over the airframe.

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Also of the pulley the cable ran over before it entered the cockpit.

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Put it all together and it's starting to take shape.

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Last tiny iccle thing that's really bugged me since I noticed it is the crew door. I noticed it had a lip on the inside. How could it when it opened INWARDS????

That's gone

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As ever, thanks for looking. Please feel free to challenge my musings, it's how we all learn after all.

Just Exhaust staining and oil and grease and I think I'm almost there. Phew

 

20 hours ago, Dr. Quack said:

Your pics provide the most eloquent argument for subtle and realistic weathering, and I fully agree with your rationale.

Q

 

Thanks Q. Most kind

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9 minutes ago, Winded Penguin said:

I've enjoyed the effect of doing panel lines, and pre-shading on my models.

However, I also resonated with your case for using other techniques, so I might well try to replicate those going forward.

Thanks for the latest write-up 👍

It was written very tongue in cheek. I'm a very firm believer in doing what makes you happy both in modelling and in life. There's always more than one way to taxidermy a feline. 🤣

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1 hour ago, Dr. Quack said:

Really enjoying this build - wonderful attention to detail and highly informative / well researched. Thanks for allowing us to tag along.

Q

You're most welcome. Thank YOU for looking

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I’ve just caught up with this build, and I have to say this is possibly the best and most detailed kit I’ve seen on BM, or indeed anywhere. And it’s a very high bar given some of the absolutely amazing builds on here. But the level of detail and care you’re demonstrating in this build is second to none and an inspiration. Makes mine look like toys even when I’ve used aftermarket. 
 

Amazing build, and I’m not even a ww2 aircraft fan, more post-war, but this is outstanding.

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1 hour ago, Lord Riot said:

I’ve just caught up with this build, and I have to say this is possibly the best and most detailed kit I’ve seen on BM, or indeed anywhere. And it’s a very high bar given some of the absolutely amazing builds on here. But the level of detail and care you’re demonstrating in this build is second to none and an inspiration. Makes mine look like toys even when I’ve used aftermarket. 
 

Amazing build, and I’m not even a ww2 aircraft fan, more post-war, but this is outstanding.

Thank you. I try my best

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Excellent work Craig, love the cockpit! So much detail. The weathering on the bomb casing is superb. Really good.

 

20 hours ago, CraigH said:

I sprayed with steel then chipping solution before a top coat of Tamiya hull red which is pretty close to oxide red primer. Then a bit of highlighting and some gentle brushing with a soft wet toothbrush and a nice effect of a bit of loss of primer comes through.

 

May I ask, what 'chipping solution' you used? This is a skill I'd like to learn but have never had much success with.

 

Cheers,

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1 hour ago, Johnson said:

Excellent work Craig, love the cockpit! So much detail. The weathering on the bomb casing is superb. Really good.

 

 

May I ask, what 'chipping solution' you used? This is a skill I'd like to learn but have never had much success with.

 

Cheers,

Hi

Well, thereby hangs a tail. I've used a Vallejo water based ond for a while heavily thinned but never really liked it. In fact there's not much from Ballejo I do like. So I went back to basics...two or three thin coats of cheapo hairspray with 15 mins between coats. Worked a treat

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1 hour ago, CraigH said:

two or three thin coats of cheapo hairspray with 15 mins between coats.

 

That may be where I've been going wrong. I used a single coat of hair spray. I'll do some experiments, thanks Craig.

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26 minutes ago, Johnson said:

 

That may be where I've been going wrong. I used a single coat of hair spray. I'll do some experiments, thanks Craig.

No probs. Buy the real cheapo with no perfume if poss then lots of water when you start chipping. If you're not happy with hairspray then the Mig Ammo is very good but pricy

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Beautiful, beautiful work again and the explanations of the weapon etc are enthralling.

A question tho. Didn't the aircraft all have /G stencilled after the serial no? As usual I may be very wrong.

Looking forward to seeing this beastie completed.

Regards,

Pete

 

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4 minutes ago, Pete Robin said:

Beautiful, beautiful work again and the explanations of the weapon etc are enthralling.

A question tho. Didn't the aircraft all have /G stencilled after the serial no? As usual I may be very wrong.

Looking forward to seeing this beastie completed.

Regards,

Pete

 

Hi Pete

Thanks for your kind comments.

They did indeed have "G" for guarded. This was removed prior to the raid. Since mine is on the eve of the raid I hope to God it was gone or I have some stencils to source!

Edited by CraigH
Sausage Fingers
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Thank you, Graig for replying to my message, I really enjoyed reading what you said. I have been studying your entire Work in Progress on this build and it's like an online course in how to build, detail and paint an Avro Lancaster model. I have done Second World War UK camouflage on the last two builds, and I use Iliad Design aircraft colour chart paint chips to work with, but weathering like you have done is a whole new experience for me. It's similar in my mind to improvisation that jazz musicians do only you’re doing it with paint. I am a paint-inside-the-box kind of person and its difficult for me to be free-wheeling, but that is what weather seems to need.

 

Harold

 

 

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On 11/25/2022 at 9:45 AM, Sergeant said:

Thank you, Graig for replying to my message, I really enjoyed reading what you said. I have been studying your entire Work in Progress on this build and it's like an online course in how to build, detail and paint an Avro Lancaster model. I have done Second World War UK camouflage on the last two builds, and I use Iliad Design aircraft colour chart paint chips to work with, but weathering like you have done is a whole new experience for me. It's similar in my mind to improvisation that jazz musicians do only you’re doing it with paint. I am a paint-inside-the-box kind of person and its difficult for me to be free-wheeling, but that is what weather seems to need.

 

Harold

 

 

Thanks Harold. You might be right...I play jazz drums!

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Last leg now. I added the trailing aerial weighted end made of biro ball bearings dipped one at a time into CA and formed into a string. The static between them is a nightmare though.

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Exhaust staining next. There are many and varied patterns but some things seem constant across most aircraft.

  • The outer engines only get white lead deposits on one side
  • Undersides are quite white
  • The exhaust shrouds have some consistent patterns and, frequently, a white cone of lead

I didn't want too heavy weathering so worked from images such as these:

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So. for better or worse, here's what I came up with. This is a bit of a montage with the wings partly on. I took these now as I won't fix the wings on properly until it's ready to be collected, simply as I'd be too scared to take them off again now and I've nowhere tp store it with the wings on it's too flippin' big.

Aerials wise, as you'll see in the pics, I've added both fin to cockpit ones although I think the port side one was only used if an extra R1155 receiver was positioned at the navigator's station.

The long Gee MkI whip aerial protrudes from the canopy near the DF loop and I've added the VHF aerial shown on Gibson's Lanc front starboard in the nose.

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The other two are Standard Beam Approach (forward top of fuselage ) and the rear whip aerial is the TR1196 designed for air to air and air to ground communication. Trouble was, it wasn't much cop for air to air which is why the dams planes had the VHF systems fitted.

 

So just a bit of oil and grease to add and a diorama base to build and she's done.

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Attempted reproduction of the iconic shot of Gibson's Lanc although in that one the wooden slatting around the mine is still present which points at the photo being taken while training.

 

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I love the detail, Craig. You have created one of the most realistic looking Lancaster models I have ever seen.

 

Harold

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Outstanding model and what an informative build.  Thank you!

 

My only suggestion would be the yellow on the propeller tips, but my guess is you’ve already done that!

 

Museum quality build 😎👍🏻

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  • 3 weeks later...

Sir,a wonderful exercise in paintwork,but might one ask,is the poor wing root  joint part and parcel of the kit's design?

 

Some 40+ years ago,when one was a pretty prolific modeller,one's self and a few others quite extensively researched the lack of weathering

wear to both Merlin and Griffon engine propeller blades.

The information that we gleaned and learned was that due to their wood composite construction/brass sheathed/ nylon coated

"Hydulignum"(made by the RoTol company)manufacturing process,these blades had no steel in them.

When the nylon covering wore sufficiently to expose the brass leading edge sheathing,these propellers were simply removed from the aircraft and returned to the manufacturer for reconditioning.

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11 minutes ago, Dave Wilko said:

Sir,a wonderful exercise in paintwork,but might one ask,is the poor wing root  joint part and parcel of the kit's design?

 

Some 40+ years ago,when one was a pretty prolific modeller,one's self and a few others quite extensively researched the lack of weathering

wear to both Merlin and Griffon engine propeller blades.

The information that we gleaned and learned was that due to their wood composite construction/brass sheathed/ nylon coated

"Hydulignum"(made by the RoTol company)manufacturing process,these blades had no steel in them.

When the nylon covering wore sufficiently to expose the brass leading edge sheathing,these propellers were simply removed from the aircraft and returned to the manufacturer for reconditioning.

Hi Dave

No, the wing root fit is excellent but I haven't yet fitted it properly. Those photos were taken with a "push fit" as it were. The reason being that its new owner won't be collecting it for a while and, with a wingspan of 3mm shy of one metre, I have nowhere to safely store it wings on. When the time comes and wings are on, I'll be taking a set of photos on its diorama base for my scrapbook.

As to the props, the Mk. III Lancaster (type 464 provisioning if we're talking Dam busters) used Packard built merlins (in fact that's the only thing that differentiated the Mk. III from the Mk. I which used a RR built merlin) and DH 5/40 needle props which were, I believe, made of duralumin. The Rotol blades were of course, composite hydulignum and as such there should be little or no weathering shown, certainly not any silver scratches😵. I only made that mistake on a spitfire once!

 I'm just building Airfix's new Mk. IXc spit now and was toying with a hint of brass on the prop lead edge but I think I'll leave well alone in light of your own research.

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