HK Models 1/32 Lancaster

[MRMRL]

Hi All

 

So, this is my second attempt at a build log - I didn't do very well last time, I was updating the build log months after the fact. I'm going to attempt to do a weekly update at about the same time each week - that might keep me on track a bit better.

 

As for the build, well I'm going big - I mean 1/32 is my scale for aircraft (cos I wanted big planes), but this truly is a monster. According to the box, it'll end up being a metre wide (near enough), which I think qualifies as big. I guess some might ask why did I get the HK models version when the Border models kit was about to release. Well the answer is pretty obvious too - cost. Not that I'd have not spent the money, I'm mad enough to have done it, but more that I could get something else for the difference (Very Fires's stunning Taiho as it turned out), and I don't think I'm a good enough modeler to have really made the differences in the kits noticeable. So I'm happy with my choice of Lancaster + Taiho instead of the Border Lancaster. I did use a little extra to get the Airscale cockpit etch and decals set as the kit doesn't have decals for the cockpit dials, which is a defect I couldn't live with. I also got the decals to build it as the "Phantom of the Ruhr" airframe, I know, that's in the Border pack as well, but I liked the little grim reaper, so another £10 got me that as well. I've also built the HK B-17, so I knew what I was getting and was pretty happy with the end result. It's still an enormous amount of plastic:

 

 

I'm starting where we all start, building interior bits, I'm going to build a whole load of it and then paint it all and assemble it. I should say, I'm not a purist, so I'm more than happy to build a kit OOB (except ships where more is more for detail), I don't really care if it's 100% accurate as long as it mostly looks like what it's supposed to. I might also be known to take some liberties and artistic license with painting, but we'll see about that for this build as we go along. So, week 1 has been pretty quick in terms of how much I've done, the actual building never takes me long, it's the part I'm most practiced at (my childhood was spent building kits that I then passed on to my Dad to paint because I didn't enjoy doing that part, I'd normally get it back to do the decals though, I liked doing those and Dad didn't - a proper compromise (or teamwork, depending on how you look at it). We have all this little lot put together and ready for the airbrush:

 

 

And that's it for week 1, let's see how long I keep up with my promises to post regular updates . Hope you all enjoy.

[Winded Penguin]

Off to a lovely start 

I'd like to pull up a chair for this one please.

[MRMRL]

33 minutes ago, Winded Penguin said:

Off to a lovely start 

I'd like to pull up a chair for this one please.

You are very welcome to, I'm hoping it'll be a fun build, its definitely going to take over the table in the last few days of it once the wings get fitted. Not sure the wife will approve, might get away with it if it's temporary

 

[Keeff]

Excuse the pun, but it looks like you're off to a flying start .... I'll pull up my chair and tag along for the ride.  The mouldings look crisp and detailed, but then I'd expect that with a kit that costs as much as that does!

 

Keith    

 

 

[jumbojock]

22 hours ago, Winded Penguin said:

Off to a lovely start 

I'd like to pull up a chair for this one please.

Ooh, me too please. Hopefully you won't have the cracked canopy problems a la Border Models variety.

[MRMRL]

Right - week 2. I've been a bit distracted by life and other builds this week, so not as much progress I'm afraid. You might spot another build in the background of the first picture. But what I have managed:

 

Finished adding details (other than windows) too the interior of the fuselage parts, and stuck the 4 "quarters" together into the more traditional halves

 

 

Then for some reason, the instructions have you build the nose turret, then the rear wings. So here's the nose turret (minus the glass again), what I assume is the bomb aiming guys position - sorry that's not too official sounding is it, I don't do much research - and one rear wing

 

 

And the other wing with a partially constructed top turret

 

 

Finally for this week, the top turret put together and the tail turret also assembled

 

 

So that's it for the week. I've pretty much assembled all the interior parts I can assemble before painting. It's been pretty smooth sailing so far, the kit fits together pretty well. A dry fit of the two halves suggest I'll need some filler after sticking them together, but hopefully it's not going to be too bad. The instructions have pretty natural breaks for the main fuselage and then two wings with engines separately, which then all go together in the final step (which probably makes sense from a space saving perspective). Which means I can almost treat them as three separate models if I want. I'll paint all this inside gear up next and then put it together before deciding on what to do next - paint and finish the exterior of the fuselage or start building the wings. 

[MRMRL]

Week 3:

We're on to painting bits and pieces now, which always takes me a while (never has been my favourite, even though you can make things look good). We've got an airbrush of the interior green complete:

 

 

And then I only had 30 minutes after the boy went to sleep Wednesday night so managed to get the pilots chair painted, needs a bit more work to make it look a little neater, and I might change the green on the seats (even if that means taking a few liberties with accuracy) so that it stands out a little more. Either that or some painting on the frame...we'll see

 

 

Some of the instrument panels (for the radio operator I think?), I maybe should have stumped out for the Quinta models decals, but figured you'd probably barely be able to see most these bits anyway, might change my mind later. I've used those as a guide though, since HK don't give any instructions on these - still a bit of artistic license taken though - and some more clean up needed.

 

 

That's it for this week, sadly.

 

 

 

 

[MRMRL]

Week 4:

It doesn't look like much but it's been a fair bit or work getting here, with one near disaster in the mix as well.

 

Started off easy enough, white backgrounds for the instrument panel decals, dark grey for the panels themselves and started painting the cockpit details (just the black bits so far):

 

 

Then we got the decals down, here's the main instrument panel decals - turns out the instrument displays are white anyway (rather than clear) so I didn't really need the white backgrounds, never mind, no harm other than wasted effort:

 

 

Then I started with the engineers panel, as it looked the easiest one to make look good, and I'm pretty happy that it does:

 

 

Then we get the near disaster, I laminated the instrument panel, acetate and front panel on the main instruments, then did a little painting and oh dear:

 

 

The paint has bled under the photo-etch and covered the instruments in the middle, what a daft rookie error to make. Question is, are we under the etch or under the acetate? Well, I don't want to buy another and start again, or dismantle this for fear of doing more damage, so I put it away for a couple of days while I rage about it in my head and then go with a bit of thinner and a gentle scratch -> and behold, you can make out some of most the instruments, happy enough that with the visibility that will be had from outside the aircraft, this is good enough. I carry on layering:

 

 

Finish painting, add the last decal, add the levers and we have a "finished" console:

 

 

Two more instrument panels and continuation of painting for next week I hope....

 

 

 

 

Edited February 10 by MRMRL
Saved before finishing

[Keeff]

Your build is progressing and there's so much detail you've added with the painting.  

 

 

Keith  

[MRMRL]

3 hours ago, Keeff said:

Your build is progressing and there's so much detail you've added with the painting.  

 

 

Keith  

Thanks Keith, it's slow progress but good progress so far, pretty happy at the moment. A long way to go for this monster

Matt

[Thom216]

Nice work. Thankfully, recovery from an error can often be less work than we think.

[elderly]

Apparently this kit can be built quite quickly

 

 

[MRMRL]

3 hours ago, elderly said:

Apparently this kit can be built quite quickly

Ah yes, if I could build a kit in 12 minutes, I f have quite the collection. Not sure it would offer value for money though . The border kit does look pretty spectacular, however I doubt I'd get much improvement over the HK with my skill level. Considering the relative prices I'm happy with my decision.

[Thom216]

On 2/11/2023 at 10:07 AM, elderly said:

Apparently this kit can be built quite quickly

 

 

Just have to get some really motivated gremlins!

[MRMRL]

Week 6:

Super fast update for this week, nothing to report I'm afraid. I've got too many models on the bench, so with the time I've had, I've been focussing on clearing some of the smaller, quicker builds. Should have them finished off over the weekend, so I can get my head back into this one. See you again soon

[MRMRL]

Week 7:

Actually done some work on the monster this week. Not that much, but enough to be happy with progress. 

 

It started off with starting to paint the remaining detail on the cockpit sections

 

 

Putting me in a position to start putting all this section together....

 

 

 

 

 

And then to start painting the section behind it, not much going on here, but then I don't expect to be able to see a lot of it when it's all buttoned up anyway

 

 

And that's it for this week, good progress albeit that it seems a little slow for me. Next up is finishing the painting of the rear interior section, then airbrushing the bottoms of these sections black for the bomb bays and starting on the interior detail of the fuselage sections....

 

Thanks for looking in  

Edited February 24 by MRMRL
Sausage fingers pressed enter too many times

[Thom216]

Liking it!

[AlxBNE]

This is great.

Not often that it is socially acceptable to say "oh my god it's huge"!

Looking forward to seeing your progress on this one.

[David H]

On 2/11/2023 at 7:07 AM, elderly said:

Apparently this kit can be built quite quickly

 

 

 

[MRMRL]

Weeks 8-11

 

Not great build logging going on here I'm afraid, not because I'm not logging, but because I've not done much building - at least not on the Lancaster. Here's all I have to report for the last four weeks (I have been on holiday for one of them, although I did take a less massive model with me for that).

 

Painted the black areas of the interior...

 

 

Then painted and assembled the rear section of the interior with the ammo belts.

 

 

All I've done from there is assemble the interior and cockpit parts together...

 

 

And do a bit of "artistic" painting in the bomb bay (it should all be black, but I don't always obey the rules of reality  ), probably won't see it when the bombs are in place anyway.

 

 

That's it for now. I'm involved in the TLC group build, so that's going to slow progress here as well, although I'll try and keep it ticking along at least a little.

 

Matt