1:32 scale Lancaster Mk.1 Hachette Partworks

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Thanks Guys. I'm still away and have only just caught up on this last series of posts.

Andy, the photos are great and very much appreciated. They should be a great help when I get to the wheelwells. I'll have to see how much I can cram in and still get the undercarriage to fit - but I've no excuse now in terms of detail! As far as I remember the build supplies some wiring and connections. Not sure if I get the extinguishers.

Terry, thanks for your offer. Maybe we'll leave that until I get to that part, and again, see what the magazine supplied, before I trouble you.

Should be able to recommence on the build after the weekend.

Cheers,

Gerry
 
Sorry for the false alarm, Bill. I had only picked up Andy's photos a few days after they were posted and just wanted to let him know I'd got them.

It's just occurred to me that this will probably trigger another false alarm...

:oops: Sorry
 
Hi again,

I just got back home at the weekend and only have a week before I'm away again, this time for 10 days. I had thought that I would get the undercarriage finished in the week I was here. In my dreams! I only had a good look at what was involved on Sunday. The parts came over 5 consecutive issues for each set - issues 39-43 starboard, issues 83-87 port - 10 in all. It was only when I pulled out all the issues and laid out the parts that I saw what was involved.

There also is a fit issue which I was fortunate to have seen flagged in another build. Had this not been so, it would have caused a major problem, but more of that later.

Just to show how disorganised the instructions are, here is the first instruction from issue 39.

Scanclip1_zps8b788813.jpg


Yup! Cut off some perfectly good parts and make good the damage. Might one ask why were they there in the first place? I don't know if these were originally seen as the undercarriage support brackets but here is what replaces them - much sturdier I have to admit.

Scanclip2_zpsb1e2e803.jpg


It's with the positioning of these supports that there was a nearly fatal flaw. The instructions specifically state that the distance between the receiving lugs should be 24mm. The corresponding attachment holes in the main spar allows for this. If you were following the instructions on a weekly build basis and before the rest of the oleo legs arrived, you would have been rightly bu**ered, as the lugs on the connecting oleo section (two issues later) are only 22.5mm apart! (See photo below). The builder that flagged this problem had been caught out. His solution was to file down the two innermost lugs to almost tissue thinness and cut and drill brass reinforcements for the outer edges. Not something I'd fancy tackling.

Undercarriagelegs_zps18567d75.jpg


Fortunately having been forewarned, I was able to use the connecting oleo legs as a guide to get the spacing correct. Hopefully if any other aspiring builders are following this, they won't fall into the same bear trap. Everything is just dry-fitted for the moment.

(A) Are the adjustments I had to make to the receiving holes in the main spar. (B) The damage to be repaired from cutting away the old pieces. (C) The bracing spar, just tacked in place with double-sided tape. (D) The bear trap!
One final moan, it would have been much easier to have inserted these supports and adjusted the holes if the engine beared mounts and oil tanks hadn't already been installed. Another example of the lack of joined up thinking in the instructions.

Here are the main parts that make up each undercarriage unit, which are designed to be fully retractable.

Undercartset_zps53339c22.jpg


(A) The axle and axle cover that connects to the undercarriage support. (B) The restricting bolts that prevents the piston legs moving too far inside the oleo legs (You can just about see the receiving slot on the side of the piston legs). (C) The damper springs that fit inside the oleos, to dampen the movement of the piston legs. It is also recommended that these are greased. (D) The rear bracing struts. (E) The movable piston legs for (D). (F) Locking lug to lock the undercarriage down, when deployed.

The scale of this thing is enormous. The diameter of the main wheel is 4.7cm or 1 and 7/8 inches, in old money. The Euro coin is there as a scale reference. There are also a lot more nuts and bolts, bolt heads connectors and wires supplied than I've shown here.

The magazine allowed 10 weeks to complete this part of the build and I hope to improve on that - but not in a week. All the metals need to be filed and sanded to get rid of mould marks. Ditto the vinyl tyres. Then everything needs to be primed and individually painted. Then there's the brake lines and bolt heads to add. My original plan was to chrome the piston legs, but I fear that a coat of primer, then chrome and possibly a sealing coat will affect the tolerances and they may not fit into the oleos, or scrape when they're in there. Plan B would be to sand polish them to a gloss finish, with possibly a light coat of Klear. We'll see.

I've started on the sanding and grinding and am looking forward to it coming together as a working undercarriage. Don't know if I'll have made enough progress to post again before I go, but if I think I have anything to show, I will.
In the meanwhile, to whet your appetite here's a dry-fit of the front section of the undercarriage in both the deployed and retracted positions.

Undercarriageextended_zps77e79538.jpg


Undercarriageretracted_zps5a07f61a.jpg


Twinundercarriage_zps8c9b4233.jpg


Final, final moan. You can see from this last photo that some of the spacers on this section have their tops snapped off. That's down to the lack of clear surfaces to grip when putting pressure on the undercarriage supports to get them in position. Nothing a bit of superglue and a touch up won't fix.

I'll keep you in touch with progress.

Gerry
 
Last edited:
Fine bit of work Gerry. Very impressive parts fro the landing gear.

I have a video around showing a full scale gear retraction cycle - once I figure out how to post it.
 
Thanks Guys for the last set of posts. Yes Glen, some of the detail that they decided to include, is very good but unfortunately, there's lots they omitted.

Anyhow I'm afraid I didn't make as much progress as I'd hoped and am still sanding and priming. Will pick up the action when I get back.

Cheers,

Gerry

Warning false alarm alert!!!
 
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