ian lanc
Senior Airman
Terry or anyone else in the UK and if you are near East Kirkby and you want to pay a few respects for Fred,
he is buried in the cemetery at Old Bolingbroke.
Its only about a mile away from EK.
Ian.
1:32 scale Lancaster Mk.1 Hachette Partworks
- Thread starter Gerry
- Start date
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he is buried in the cemetery at Old Bolingbroke.
Its only about a mile away from EK.
Ian.
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Thanks Ian. There's a chance I might be going to the air show at EK, so I'll definitely try to visit the cemetary. He was such a nice bloke, and very helpful to me when I did a print signing there.
- Thread starter
- #243
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Hi Gentlemen, back from my travels, I thought that I'd better resume this thread but it hasn't been made easier that I've come back to probably the best Summer weather here in a decade, Temps in the high twenties, so the inclination is; beers in the garden rather than continuing with the build in a hot sticky room.
However I had made some more progress before I left and I thought if I at least got that finished I would have something to show. as I said in my last post, some painting mistakes slowed things down. This project is going to take buckets of paint so I thought I'd found a short cut with the new Humbrol beige green rattle cans but I was disappointed when I saw the result as it was mostly beige with very little green. Photos 1 2.
I decided to use this as a base coat and checked what other greens I had against interior photos. I then tried a mix of Humbrol 90 (this is the magazine recommended colour but to my eye it's still too light) and 120 but when I sprayed that, it dried out too green. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph that result. My next mix was Humbrol 78, lightened with a little 90 and that gave me the result I ended up going with. I was aiming for an uneven finish to suggest fading, which could be accentuated with dirty washes. It took me three days to sort it, though. Photo 3.
Photo 4. So with that mix I sprayed the fuselage section containing the flare chute/step adding the small brass instructions plaque before positioning the step. I had painted the floor non-slip grey and masked it before the green was applied.
Following the sequence from the magazine, the next assembly was 8 flares and flare racks in the section of the fuselage directly behind the rear main spar cover. The instructions suggest that you first mount the racks then individually add each flare separately. This struck me as unnecessarily fiddly. Photo 5.
Photo 6. This is a reference I have for the flares and I wanted to scratch-build and add the restraining straps which meant pre-asembling each rack before positioning them in the fuselage.
Photos 7 8.The flares are die cast metal and the racks plywood. Both initially got a base coat of black before being positioned on the racks. The space between the racks were carefully measured to match the formers they will be attached to. When each assembly was complete they got a final spray of black to cover any scratches during assembly. I had gone to the trouble of printing some decals for the stenciling on the flares - I was feeling really chuffed with myself. Unfortunately they didn't work!!! Because I couldn't under-print white, the red just totally disappeared into the black. The decal paper was also very obvious in such a small size. Had they been applied to a light colour background they would have been fine but against dark colors - disaster. I ended up simulating lettering with red paint applied with the tip of a fresh cocktail stick. Not great but in actual size in the fuselage not too bad.
Photo 9. The flares have the restraining straps, made from metal strip, added and painted. Metal worked best here because it held the curves better when bent around a spare flare before being added.
Photos 10 11. All that needed to be done now was for the assemblies to be installed into the fuselage. Not as easy as I thought! In the confined space lining them up for glueing was a nightmare, It took the guts of two hours to position them, with much profanity. Holding them in position while the superglue cured was a further nightmare. Eventually, as you can see below, I succeeded. I am now convinced that, for the sake of sanity, in future assembly, it may be easier to cut away the tops of the formers and reinstate them after all the detailing is installed. We'll see as we progress.
.
That brings me up to issue No 33. I started this build about 14 weeks ago now, so I'm still ahead of the schedule of an issue a week. The next few sections are wing parts, including the starboard wing inner trailing edge which contains the compartment for the life raft. But that's pretty much the same as the assembly I completed for the port wing a couple of posts ago, so I'll probably break the monotony by doing some out-of-sync interior detailing as well.
Finally, while I was waiting for something to dry, I went back to the cabin section and added the head padding on the former over the end of the navigator's table. This was a piece of twin core telephone cable sheathing, with the cable removed for increased flexibility, which was glued in stages to follow the curve of the former.
Back again soon, weather permitting.
Sláinte,
Gerry
However I had made some more progress before I left and I thought if I at least got that finished I would have something to show. as I said in my last post, some painting mistakes slowed things down. This project is going to take buckets of paint so I thought I'd found a short cut with the new Humbrol beige green rattle cans but I was disappointed when I saw the result as it was mostly beige with very little green. Photos 1 2.
I decided to use this as a base coat and checked what other greens I had against interior photos. I then tried a mix of Humbrol 90 (this is the magazine recommended colour but to my eye it's still too light) and 120 but when I sprayed that, it dried out too green. Unfortunately I forgot to photograph that result. My next mix was Humbrol 78, lightened with a little 90 and that gave me the result I ended up going with. I was aiming for an uneven finish to suggest fading, which could be accentuated with dirty washes. It took me three days to sort it, though. Photo 3.
Photo 4. So with that mix I sprayed the fuselage section containing the flare chute/step adding the small brass instructions plaque before positioning the step. I had painted the floor non-slip grey and masked it before the green was applied.
Following the sequence from the magazine, the next assembly was 8 flares and flare racks in the section of the fuselage directly behind the rear main spar cover. The instructions suggest that you first mount the racks then individually add each flare separately. This struck me as unnecessarily fiddly. Photo 5.
Photo 6. This is a reference I have for the flares and I wanted to scratch-build and add the restraining straps which meant pre-asembling each rack before positioning them in the fuselage.
Photos 7 8.The flares are die cast metal and the racks plywood. Both initially got a base coat of black before being positioned on the racks. The space between the racks were carefully measured to match the formers they will be attached to. When each assembly was complete they got a final spray of black to cover any scratches during assembly. I had gone to the trouble of printing some decals for the stenciling on the flares - I was feeling really chuffed with myself. Unfortunately they didn't work!!! Because I couldn't under-print white, the red just totally disappeared into the black. The decal paper was also very obvious in such a small size. Had they been applied to a light colour background they would have been fine but against dark colors - disaster. I ended up simulating lettering with red paint applied with the tip of a fresh cocktail stick. Not great but in actual size in the fuselage not too bad.
Photo 9. The flares have the restraining straps, made from metal strip, added and painted. Metal worked best here because it held the curves better when bent around a spare flare before being added.
Photos 10 11. All that needed to be done now was for the assemblies to be installed into the fuselage. Not as easy as I thought! In the confined space lining them up for glueing was a nightmare, It took the guts of two hours to position them, with much profanity. Holding them in position while the superglue cured was a further nightmare. Eventually, as you can see below, I succeeded. I am now convinced that, for the sake of sanity, in future assembly, it may be easier to cut away the tops of the formers and reinstate them after all the detailing is installed. We'll see as we progress.
That brings me up to issue No 33. I started this build about 14 weeks ago now, so I'm still ahead of the schedule of an issue a week. The next few sections are wing parts, including the starboard wing inner trailing edge which contains the compartment for the life raft. But that's pretty much the same as the assembly I completed for the port wing a couple of posts ago, so I'll probably break the monotony by doing some out-of-sync interior detailing as well.
Finally, while I was waiting for something to dry, I went back to the cabin section and added the head padding on the former over the end of the navigator's table. This was a piece of twin core telephone cable sheathing, with the cable removed for increased flexibility, which was glued in stages to follow the curve of the former.
Back again soon, weather permitting.
Sláinte,
Gerry
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B-17engineer
Colonel
Holy....what is this...I don't even
fubar57
General
Flares look okay from here Gerry. I'm going to have a similar problem in the future, yellow serials on black. What I'm going to do is use white decal paper, print the yellow serials, surround them with black and then cut out the works. I believe Andy(Crimea_River) did something similar with his Me-410(?).
Geo
Geo
Crimea_River
Marshal
I did indeed do that Geo and you might have gotten away with this as well Gerry. As the flares look virtually black, you could have printed red lettering on white paper and printed a black background as well. Then it would be a matter of cutting out the decal and touching up the cut edges with black paint after applying the decal.
Nonetheless, your work continues to amaze Gerry. Very impressive!
Nonetheless, your work continues to amaze Gerry. Very impressive!
N4521U
Colonel
That is just stu-pen-dous!
vikingBerserker
Lieutenant General
Nice!
Tony Hill
Tech Sergeant
Great stuff!
Catch22
Major
Awesome!
A4K
Brigadier General
Just fantastic Gerry!
Looking forward to catching up with you and the build in the near future!
Looking forward to catching up with you and the build in the near future!
brilliant job Gerry
Lucky13
Forum Mascot
Magic!
meatloaf109
1st Lieutenant
Wow!
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Absolutely ****ing fantastic! It's really coming together well now Gerry - looking forward to the next part.
- Thread starter
- #257
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Thanks to all for your kind comments and continued support.
I'm kicking myself that I hadn't thought of that! In hindsight, it would have been an elegant solution. I could have wrapped the decal around the flare before fixing to the rack and the edges could have been partially disguised by the straps. Doh! Still, it's something I'll remember for the future.
Finally, Evan have you made the move yet?
Cheers,
Gerry
I'm kicking myself that I hadn't thought of that! In hindsight, it would have been an elegant solution. I could have wrapped the decal around the flare before fixing to the rack and the edges could have been partially disguised by the straps. Doh! Still, it's something I'll remember for the future.
Finally, Evan have you made the move yet?
Cheers,
Gerry
A4K
Brigadier General
July 24th mate!
Still in the 'packing stress' phase at moment, not an easy move by any means.
Still in the 'packing stress' phase at moment, not an easy move by any means.
Looks great so far Gerry!
- Thread starter
- #260
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Evan, hope you're packing that huge kit stash really carefully...
I tried to get on the site earlier but found it was down for about 4-5 days here. Or were they just trying to get rid of me...? Anyhow, like the bad penny, I'm back now and have been ploughing away on some wing assemblies and fuselage stringing. The weather is still affecting my concentration here, although I hear it's due to break later this week. To break the monotony of ribs and stringing, I had acquired some seat belts on my last trip to the UK and decided to install them. First though I wanted to tackle the issue of the height of the pilot's seat armour, as pointed out earlier by Ian.
Photo 1. Shows the original on the left and the revised taller armour on the right. I tried to get the proportion as in photo refs, while still making sure that it wasn't too high in the canopy. I made it from spare aluminium skin and while I was at it, I added a seat belt anchor point, which should be just about visible against the black.
Photo 2. Is the new armour in position and the new seat belts added. The seatbelts are Eduard RAF and pre-painted (a first for me). I was pleased with how they look and fitted. I have yet to decide whether I will add a wash to dirty them down a little.
Photo 3. I then tackled the navigator's and the wireless op's seats. These belts were made from some spares I had from previous builds and then painted to match the Eduard originals They were finished and mounted as per the Eduard 1:48 Lancaster seat belt set instructions that I found on the internet.
Photo 4. The flight engineer's seat was then dressed with its seat belts, as above. I posed the seat in a slightly raised position for a better angle on the photo. The pilot's seat is still only loosely positioned, as I want to install the trim wheels to the side and some piping behind, before it's finally positioned.
Photo 5. I then wanted to add the oxygen nets to the back of the pilot's and wireless op's seats. Having experimented with various materials, including plastic mesh from a garlic bag, I settled for metal mesh and metal strip. If you look carefully, there's an oxygen bottle in the pilot's seat net.
As I was doing these I made two more for other positions around the aircraft that I had identified from photos: the bomb aimer's position and behind the armour doors at the rear turret. Does anyone know if there were any others located in other areas?
Photos 6 7. The relevant seats are now positioned, with the exception of the pilot's, as explained earlier.
Completing these few pieces gave me a real sense of making progress, which basic wing assembly and stringing definitely doesn't, so I intend to continue with this type of mix 'n' match of basic building and detailing for the time being. I'll continue to post as more material becomes available.
Cheers,
Gerry
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