Dambusters Lancaster -questions, questions.....

[HP42]

Well the Lancaster is nearly done. I've painted her all up with the airbrush and she's looking quite good (for a novice). My little niggle is that I think the surface looks a little too matt. I want to add a tiny touch of satin to it as I'm pretty sure that was more akin to the real aircraft. Any thoughts on this? I've got a jar of Humbrol Matt coat and a jar of Satin Coat. Which one would be more suitable for a Lancaster? Can they be blended as I think the satin is perhaps a bit shiny? Can they be sprayed and if so do they need thining (Badger 200), what's the best thing to thin them with? Is the finish on the BBMF Lancaster a bit polished or were they more matt than this in WW2?

Secondly, the Lancaster has a row of small windows up each side. On the model they're filled in sold and I've simply ignored and painted over them. Any ideas on what to do to make them more realistic?

....and finally, any tips for a little bit of weathering/exhaust staining? I'd like to create the lead stains over the wings, any good suggestions given that I'm stocked up with Humbrol paint?

Many thanks,

Phil

(bit of a newbie and it shows)

Edited December 6, 2007 by Billy-Joe-Jim-Bob

[Dave Fleming]

Phil,

The matt and satin can usually be mixed OK, but a test won't do any harm.

Another trick that might work is to gently polish it with a soft cloth (an old (clean!) hankerchief)

[Erwin]

Phil,

The matt and satin can usually be mixed OK, but a test won't do any harm.

Another trick that might work is to gently polish it with a soft cloth (an old (clean!) hankerchief)

Hi,

Dave is corret on mixing clear varnishes. You can also mix colors with any varnish

What I mostly do is to mix my matt color with some gloss varnish to get a very softshining finish.

Using a satincolor is still to shiney for WW-2 planes.

I usually go for 80 % mattcolor + 20 % glossvarnish. But it's all a matter of adding some drops at a time and testpaint on plasticsheets untill you get the right shine wanted.

The method with the soft cloth works fine too.But you must rub even hard.It gets shineyer the harder you rub.

Edited December 7, 2007 by Erwin

[GT40Graham]

Hi,

As regards the fuselage windows, these were painted over on a large number of Lancasters and indeed, weren't fitted at all on later Lancs, you need to check your references. If you want to feature the windows, the only way to do it really is to drill them all out and glaze them with Microscale Kristal Kleer. The Dambuster Lancasters did have the windows unpainted.

Regards,

[Graham]

I would think that the Lancs used were matt finished it was later on in the war that the Lancs started wearing a glossier finish and these were mainly Canadian built Lancs.

Graham.

[HP42]

Thanks for the all the assistance guys. I'll try the 80/20% matt/satin mix. I just need to lift the finish slightly, so I'll mix up a batch and test it on some scrap. I assume it will thin for use in the airbrush with a dash of ordinary Humbrol thinners if needs be? It looks pretty runny so I guess I'll try without first.

I bought some Johnson's Klear today. I'm told it can be used to drop into instrument panels to give the impression of glass. I wonder if I should make sure all the side windows in the Lanc black and then put a few drops of Klear in each one.

Phil

[miduppergunner]

I am fairly sure that most of the Lancasters had the windows were painted out - it was one of those last minute decisions I think and was I believe done from the inside - the "black" paint line runs jsut below the windows and thus the windows fell in the camo area. There is a picture of Gibsons aircraft at dispersal and the windows can be seen clearly. However if you drop some clear into the window area you might just get the right effect. Don't forget that the aircraft did come from various sources and so some may have had the windows painted out before arrival.

David.