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1/48 Tamiya Lancaster Mark I


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Wow! What a lovely Lanc - beautifully rendered and, of course, hats off to the chaps who actually flew her. Forgive me here but did she really carry that nose art? I would have thought it would have been a little too risque for the Station Commander?

I thought the same thing, but AFTER I finished, a guy in Montreal sent me the pic below of the same Lanc. I would have changed the lettering to include the dots after "Vickie", because somebody pointed out to me that this means "V" in Morse Code.

Virginvickie2.jpg

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I also have some other builds you guys might be interested in, like my last 1/32 Tamiya F-14B build, although it isn't very British. Here's a couple of pics of that effort....

They definitely deserve a thread apiece when they're as good as this Chuck!

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I thought the same thing, but AFTER I finished, a guy in Montreal sent me the pic below of the same Lanc. I would have changed the lettering to include the dots after "Vickie", because somebody pointed out to me that this means "V" in Morse Code.

Virginvickie2.jpg

Wow! Never would have thought.

My only remaining chance at criticising your model is that you didn't do a WIP for us. Damn your eyes sir.

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Thanks a LOT Guys! I'm now back now from a short vacation and all these kind comments are most welcome!

Like all model builds, there are some high points and some that aren't so hot. I think the painting went very well, but I'm not happy with the thick home made decals of the nose art. This is the compromise we all must make when creating a "one off" for somebody else I guess, but my uncle is thrilled, so I won't worry about whether or not it is of competition quality or not. I've never entered a competition anyway, so no downside there. Again, thanks, and I'll submit another here of my F-14B Tomcat. Now this one might be ready for my first competition. ^_^

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Hi, this is my first post here, although I frequent other modeling forums in North America. I thought that my recent 1/48 Tamiya Lancaster build might have some interest here in the country it was created and flown.

I built this Lanc for my uncle who was a bomb-aimer in RAF Squadron 101, where and his flight crew completed 29 operations in early 1945. I was able to track down the code letters and serial number of their Lanc (thanks to the Lancaster-Archive) as well as make the custom nose art decal from an old photograph he took in the first pic below. The lettering of "Virgin Vickie" didn't show up very well on the black background, so I had to do a little artistic editing so that it was more legible.

I used quite a bit of Eduard stuff, AeroMaster decals (mixed bag from a few sets) and Belcher Bits for the engines. There are lots of kit mods, a few thousand rivets and some scratch built parts thrown in to make this war weary "kite" as accurate as possible. I'd do a few things differently next time, but overall I'm pretty happy with the end result.

Regards,

Chuck

Decal14.jpg

Here she is, with a pic of my uncle's crew in the background.....

Final38.jpg

Final34.jpg

Final14.jpg

Final16.jpg

Final19.jpg

Final9.jpg

Final10.jpg

Final7.jpg

Final33.jpg

Final28.jpg

Final29.jpg

Final20.jpg

Final21.jpg

Final22.jpg

....and one last pic of what can be done with a little Photoshop help, courtesy of Alex at Hellenic Modelers. I think he did a fantastic job....

LANK_small.jpg

Chuck just a few comments,

As a 101 Sqn Lanc shouldn't this aircraft have ABC (Airborne Cigar) Arials on the fuselage? And If the code is SR V2 I believe there should be a little number 2 just to the bottom Right of the V code letter, or am I wrong, or did 101Sqn stop using ABC by 1945?

Selwyn

(open to any input from people who probably know more than he does!)

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I built this Lanc for my uncle who was a bomb-aimer in RAF Squadron 101

WOW. :huh:

1st of all, what a superb model of a Lanc.

Just to add... Bit of a story, but fairly interesting, "possibly" to your (Chuck) Uncle.

I was doing a bit of research into some local wargraves a little while ago when I discovered a grave to an RAF gunner.

RAF graves aren't overly common around this way, so I decided to investigate further.

The grave is to a 1234719 Sgt. P. R. Lawn. (Percy Reginald). D.o.D. 19th March 1944, age 22.

Here's a picture I took of his Grave...

Lawn_PR.jpg

Here comes the interesting bit...

Turns out he was also 101 sqn, from Ludford Magna flying Lancs.

His entry into the CWGC Roll of Honour...

GCS0001-2.jpg

Unfortunatley his a/c, LM464 (SR-E) was lost (crashed) while returning from a raid on Frankfurt on the night of 19th March 44, with the loss of Seven of the Eight crew.

This particular Lanc (LM464) was equipped with the Airbourne Cigar ECM equipment, and hence carried the extra "Eighth" crew member.

Here's the strange bit...

The a/c went in at Horham, which is near the Norfolk/Suffolk border close to a town called Diss.

He was flying from (based at) Ludford Magna.

His listed N.o.K (his Mother), from the Wargraves database, is from Dagenham in Essex.

His grave is in Runham, Norfolk.

Why is he buried in a tiny churchyard of a sleepy Norfolk village MILES away from, 1. The Crashsite, 2. His family, 3. His home base?

It's a part of the puzzle I've not managed to slot into place as of yet. But it's most likely the "Lawn" family are Runham people?

Anyways... Chuck. I just thought you might like the story. Maybe (probably) your Uncle knew him.

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As a 101 Sqn Lanc shouldn't this aircraft have ABC (Airborne Cigar) Arials on the fuselage?

I don't think all Lancs from 101 were fitted with the ABC equipment. The "Order" was to provide at least 10 per sortie and were dispersed through the formation to provide cover across all the a/c.

Personally I'm unsure if SR-V (SR-V2) should have them, maybe not for a "Replacement a/c"?

And If the code is SR V2 I believe there should be a little number 2 just to the bottom Right of the V code letter

Wasn't it Top right? Just like the mathematical "Squared" symbol (as above). Happy to be corrected on that.

Edited by pte1643
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did 101Sqn stop using ABC by 1945?

In Oct' 44 the ECM duties were passed to 100Gp, and no more equipment was supplied to 101 from this date.

But 101 sqn continued flying ABC sorties until Apr' 45.

Edited by pte1643
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In Oct' 44 the ECM duties were passed to 100Gp, and no more equipment was supplied to 101 from this date.

But 101 sqn continued flying ABC sorties until Apr' 45.

Right you guys are- not all 101 Lancs were ABC equipped. According to my uncle's log book and Battle Orders below from March 9, 1945, it shows the aircraft that had the eighth man (hence ABC) and the one's that didn't. You can see that "X", "U" and "T", etc. did, but my uncle's "V2" did not. Their crew did, however, fly their first 4 missions in SR-X, so they did have an eight man on at least some of their missions.

BattleOrder1_0001.jpg

Chuck just a few comments,

As a 101 Sqn Lanc shouldn't this aircraft have ABC (Airborne Cigar) Arials on the fuselage? And If the code is SR V2 I believe there should be a little number 2 just to the bottom Right of the V code letter, or am I wrong, or did 101Sqn stop using ABC by 1945?

Selwyn

(open to any input from people who probably know more than he does!)

See above concerning ABC Lanc's.

My uncle's aircraft was, indeed, V2 most of the time and not the "V" I depict in my build. I had a tough time deciding what code to use, because I wanted the Lanc to look as close to the aircraft pic showing the nose art as possible, which obviously doesn't have the "2" beside the "V", nor the chin aerial of an ABC version. I thought it would be easier to just leave the "2" off than try to explain why it was now suddenly there.

Edited by Chuck540Z3
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Unfortunatley his a/c, LM464 (SR-E) was lost (crashed) while returning from a raid on Frankfurt on the night of 19th March 44, with the loss of Seven of the Eight crew.

This particular Lanc (LM464) was equipped with the Airbourne Cigar ECM equipment, and hence carried the extra "Eighth" crew member.

Here's the strange bit...

The a/c went in at Horham, which is near the Norfolk/Suffolk border close to a town called Diss.

He was flying from (based at) Ludford Magna.

His listed N.o.K (his Mother), from the Wargraves database, is from Dagenham in Essex.

His grave is in Runham, Norfolk.

Why is he buried in a tiny churchyard of a sleepy Norfolk village MILES away from, 1. The Crashsite, 2. His family, 3. His home base?

It's a part of the puzzle I've not managed to slot into place as of yet. But it's most likely the "Lawn" family are Runham people?

Anyways... Chuck. I just thought you might like the story. Maybe (probably) your Uncle knew him.

Very interesting stuff. I'll ask my uncle if he did, but after 65 years, I don't like our chances since he is now 87.

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Hi Guys,

just read Bomber Squadron at War. The history of 101 Squadron. I believe that although the special operator usually flew with a regular crew they were operated as a pool and could operate with other crews also. I'm not sure but I don't believe there was one operator per a/c on the squadron. Not all crews operated on each raid, though 101 Squadron did go on all raids.

Regards

Paul

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Very interesting stuff. I'll ask my uncle if he did, but after 65 years, I don't like our chances since he is now 87.

Not at all Chuck mate.

I didn't mean you to go and badger him for memories, just thought I'd share the info.

I see your Lanc and it reminded me of this poor chaps grave up the road from me.

What did he think of the model BTW?

Edited by pte1643
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Chuck,

You're my new role model. Seriously. You've built an outstanding model using your head and your heart.

10/10.

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  • 1 year later...

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