jRatz Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 Avro Lancaster Conversion to Lancaster Mk.II Airfix magazine, Oct 1968 Also posted on UAMF. Well, I had really hoped to do something else, and still might if I had time, but as I also committed to the Lancaster GB on UAMF I had to do something to relieve the bottleneck on my workbench. Oh, well, enough whining. Here are the Lancaster bits ... Here are the Halifax bits .... Here are the balsa bits ... Here are the references ... I called on a friend to help me out ... But no joy, so it looks like I'll have to do it myself ... Oh, yes, I have Sunderland props, somewhere ... Basically, the conversion involves creating a Lancaster B.II by making a bulged bomb-bay from balsa and replacing the Merlins by the Hercules of the Halifax kit. Props from the Sunderland are required (have them) and the nose turret from a B-17G (I'll scratch build this, as Hall offers as an alternative). I am a bit confused at the moment. Hall describes the fuselage surgery as "...on a line running from the center of the cockpit to the center of the top turret cut away the original bomb bays, keeping to the horizontal line engraved in the fuselage ..." Did Airfix release a Lancaster without open bomb bays ? And the bomb bay on the Lancaster runs from about the front of the cockpit ? I understand from the drawings and my references what it should look like and what I should do -- I'm going to assume another case of a picture would have been worth a thousand words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 (edited) Hi John looks like you have plenty of references already. Don't know if it helps- i have the Lancaster Manual, and recently acquired a small but handy little book celebrating the 50th anniversary of the lanc, published (i Think) by Avro. will be intresting to watch your build take shape. good luck just a thought- wouldn't Merlin be a more appropriate wizard? Edited February 1, 2009 by walrus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted February 1, 2009 Share Posted February 1, 2009 I am a bit confused at the moment. Hall describes the fuselage surgery as "...on a line running from the center of the cockpit to the center of the top turret cut away the original bomb bays, keeping to the horizontal line engraved in the fuselage ..." Did Airfix release a Lancaster without open bomb bays ? Yes. The Alan Hall conversion will have been based on the original 1960s era Airfix Lanc, not the 1980s era one currently in circulation. Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jRatz Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 Yes. The Alan Hall conversion will have been based on the original 1960s era Airfix Lanc, not the 1980s era one currently in circulation.Nick Nick, Thanks for clearing that up. I built that one but it's so long ago, I couldn't remember. I can muddle on from here ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jRatz Posted February 2, 2009 Author Share Posted February 2, 2009 2 Feb Well, off we go. I thought I'd make a start at the bigger pieces. I dove into the Halifax box and came out with the power packs. Although not specifically mentioned in Hall's article, I figured I'd also need the air intakes, the porcupine exhausts, and the oil cooler intakes off the nacelles, so I got them - and a pair of .303 for the ventral turret. Then the Halifax box went back in the stash with a tag marking "Parts Taken". I got the Lancaster out and glued the wing parts together. After re-reading the article and looking at my B.II references, I see no reason to cut the bomb bay back to the middle of the upper turret. The B.II bomb bay was the same length as the B.I/III. The part from the rear of the bomb bay to the ventral turret is just a fairing - the fuselage contour is the same. So, I cut my 1/2" balsa sheet to fit the existing bomb bay and I'll work with that. I'll do a separate fairing out of balsa and scratch build a turret. Enough for today, don't expect the rest of this to go so fast. I wonder is it legal for me to "tart up" the interior a bit, as long as it doesn't violate the conversion article ? I sure want to use some of this after-market sitting around. And it would still be a "conversion" -- I mean all that aftermarket would be for a Merlin-engined aircraft, so I'd have to tweak all the gages, levers, etc ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avro683 Posted February 2, 2009 Share Posted February 2, 2009 This looks an interseting build John. Will be following with interest. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jRatz Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 After thinking about this, I have to ask a serious question (not like the aftermarket whine yesterday). Why open up the (original kit) bomb bay and carve a block to replace it just to add the bulge in the doors and the fairing back to the turret ???? All that is really needed is to leave in (glue in) the kit bomb doors then carve a smaller piece to represent the bulge in said doors and the fairing back to the turret. Am I missing something here ? If not, I intend to take the shortcut. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratch Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I shall be interested to see how you get on, having splashed out on the Paragon set myself Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jRatz Posted February 6, 2009 Author Share Posted February 6, 2009 Today's task was to get the engines cut from the Lanc's nacelles and I should have looked at all this more carefully, because I think I have just been bit by the fact that the 1960's kit isn't the same as the 1980's kit. I followed the instructions to cut the engines off, 1/8" behind the exhausts. THEN I looked more carefully at the illustration in the article. Note the apparent difference in the gear doors on the inner nacelles, not to mention the complete difference in the wheel wells, etc. More importantly, note how he has apparently also sliced the bottom off the outer nacelles - that is not mentioned in the article at all. But most importantly, I don't think 1/8" behind the exhausts is the same place on both kits, because a comparison to the provided drawing shows my nacelles are about 1/8" too short !!! I shall have to put in a balsa block to build them back out. I guess that'll help when it comes time to slop on the plastic wood and build the rounded nacelles. This could have been worse, at least I can recover from it. I'd hate to think I might have trashed a kit in the process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilgrim_UK Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 As kit artwork goes that Airfix lancaster boxart is one of the best for lancasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stebos Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 Seems part of the trouble with a lack of in progress pics from these articles. Good luck with sorting it all out, I'll be following closely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jRatz Posted February 17, 2009 Author Share Posted February 17, 2009 Where does time go ? Anyway, we have progress. The fuselage is glued together. I "enhanced" the interior by cross-kitting the crew station from a Hasegawa kit -- not that it makes much difference. After the picture was taken, I glued on the bomb bay doors and cut the rough piece to become the bulge in same. I will have to shape the underside to match the curve on the doors; I consider that less difficult then doing it the strict AWH way - I may be wrong. The Halifax engines have open cowl flaps, only maybe a scale 3 inches thick. I sanded them "closed" and rescribed the cowl flaps. I also filled the slot for the exhaust on each engine with a strip of wood. I'll reposition the exhausts when I get it built up. And the biggie,I went after the nacelles with my Plastic Wood and they are now drying; I'll work on shaping them in the next few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brews Posted February 18, 2009 Share Posted February 18, 2009 Looking promising! The "biggie" for me appears to be crash-moulding the canopy. Good luck with the rest of your build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jRatz Posted March 7, 2009 Author Share Posted March 7, 2009 (edited) I didn't disappear -- we've had an elder care issue here and I haven't had much bench time. Here's the requisite "pile of chips" photo for this GB. In this case, I am making the bulged bomb bay doors by hollowing a block of balsa to conform to the fuselage shape - and it is mostly done. Once happy with the fit, I have to cut down the sides of the block and glue it on. My initial cut of the block was oversize, it's easier to trim down than to add back. Anyway, I'm back to work. Temperatures in the next few days are supposed to be warmer so I'll also take the wings/nacelles outside to properly shape the nacelles - my workspace is filthy enough. John Edited March 7, 2009 by JohnRatzenberger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jRatz Posted March 15, 2009 Author Share Posted March 15, 2009 Progress in bits and pieces. I have sanded down the 4 nacelles -- at least to an initial shape -- and applied a coat of balsa filler coat. I don't know about AWH and this dope/talc stuff but when I was a kid way back before then, we had balsa filler coat and I still use it now. Anyway, I have to lightly sand the nacelles again and clean up the various joints then primer the wings to see what additional filling/sanding work must be done. I did some more work fitting the balsa form onto the bomb bay and gluing it down. Now it is time to start shaping the bulge. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 super stuff John this is going to be so worthwhile looking forward to seeing the bulge shape up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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