1:32 scale Lancaster Mk.1 Hachette Partworks

Lovely work so far Gerry!

Fantastic work again Gerry! I thought I had a photo somewhere of the dinghy in stowed position, but can't seem to find it, will post if I do.

Thanks Gnomey and Evan. Terry thanks for taking the time to clarify the escape procedures. I thought that might have been the case. Six guys jostling for position at the forward hatch in a spinning aircraft can't have been easy, either.

Gerry

Hi again guys, I'm making slow progress on this build. Since I last posted, I regret to inform you that my father in law passed away in New Zealand and, as you will appreciate, that obviously changed my priorities for a while. However, I am now in a position to update you to where I've now got to.

The next assemblies in the build were the covers to the underwing inner fuel tank hatches. The wooden frames were assembled and strung and the metal skins were riveted and attached with contact adhesive. After test fitting, I found that a considerable amount of sanding was required to get them to fit comfortably in position.



Then I tackled the next assembly in the sequence, that of the rear flare chute.



This was a 6-part metal assembly and was accompanied by a spare flare. Unfortunately, the cover isn't hinged so I had to choose between open and closed. I thought it would look better in the open position.

Having these various pieces assembled meant I could justify a painting session. After everything got a coat of grey primer, the insides of the hatch covers were painted interior green and, when dry, got a little weathering.



Next to meet the airbrush was the flare chute. Then a lot of extra cables and wire switches were added before detail painting and weathering. The flare was also painted, along with a switch box for the wiring.



Finally I still had to paint and weather the previously assembled worm jack.



I could now get on to installation of the pieces in the fuselage. First, I chose to fit the flare chute, opposite the crew entry door. I had a good reference from the BBMF Lancaster, which was my template for my detailing.



Here are three views of the chute installed and wired. The mounted flares should go further forward up the fuselage but I've also seen them mounted where I've placed them. (They will span two fuselage sections). The spare flare I posed as the reference, but it's not glued so can be easily removed.







Next to be fitted were the fuel hatch covers. These are designed to be removable in the finished model but with the skins butting up to each other I think you would probably need a strong magnet to remove them once finally in position. Metal strips are supplied to fill the gaps to the leading and trailing edges but I need to see how they fit against the adjoining skins before I commit myself to placing them. My feeling is that the port side cover will be installed with the starboard side open, as in the second photo.





I next installed the worm jack. Having done a lot of checking that it lines up with the flap hinges against where it actually was positioned in the fuselage I was happy to position it here. BTW there should be three flares on the starboard wall but clumsy fingers knocked them off, to be repositioned later.





Next a couple of shots showing them loosely in position in relation to the adjoining fuselage section.





Finally, following the instructions sequence, a previously painted life raft is positioned by the worm jack and a parachute in the section that contains the rest bunk. I also took the opportunity to make good any damage that had been done to this point, including replacing the three flares and any former tops that had been previously broken.





That's as far as I've got to date. Next week I'm taking my wife away for a well deserved break then, when I return, I'm right into finalising our IPMS Ireland Nationals, so I don't think I'll be in a position to post any further updates until October.

Hopefully talk to you again then.

Sláinte,

Gerry

First of all Gerry, I'm very sorry to hear about your loss....

.....astonishing work mate, absolutely fantastic!

With Jan here.

Great work so far Gerry!

My deepest sympathy to your family - that just stinks.

Condolences to you and the family, Gerry.
Excellent work to date. One small point - the step inside the main entrance hatch normally had the 'standard' anti-slip coating which, in WW2, would normally be the 'sand-textured' coating, very dark grey or 'weathered' black, similar to 'wing walks'. A piece of fine 'wet n' dry', suitably painted, would give the right look.
Looking forward to seeing more, and also now itching to start the corrective and detail work on the Tamiya 1/48th scale kit.

Thanks Jan, Wurger, Gnomey, David and Terry for your kind condolences. Terry, good tip. I'll have a look at that when I get back. Thought I'd fire this off before we leave tomorrow, as I think where we're going is a Wi-Fi free zone.

Cheers,

Gerry

Fantastic work again Gerry! Really sorry to hear about your father in law though - our condolences to you guys


Planning to go to the IPMS Nationals btw, so will catch up with ya then.

My sincere condolences to you and family Gerry. Hope you and your wife enjoy the break.

Time is a great healer Gerry but at this time it doesn't really help. Be strong.

Your build is astounding me mate and the detail you are putting into this is fantastic.

Evan, Martin, Andy, Martin and Ian. Thank you for your kind words of sympathy and encouragement. After the break and the IPMS Ireland show is put to bed, I hope to get back to the build, reinvigorated.

Just waiting for the taxi as I send this.

Gerry

Have a safe trip my friend.

I do not have the pleasure to meet you.

Enjoy with your wife these days.
Sorry for your sencible loss, rest in peace your father in law.

It's not the best moment to thank the amazing work you're showing us.
I am very attentive to your return and novelties.

A hug.

Gerry, I'm sorry for the loss of your father-in-law. Hope you and your family are doing well. Every time I come here I'm astonished at your work. I'll let the Most Interesting Man In the World speak for me.

Thanks Guys, particularly to David, Sancer and B29WerWolf for your condolences and contributions since my last visit.

I got back to looking at the Lanc build since our IPMS Ireland Nationals at the end of September. I really don't want to get into an issue by issue build as some issues are devoted to 'below the waterline' progress – finishing stringing and painting etc from previous issues. I thought it would be better to hold off posting until I could show some progress on major structural additions or on interior detailing

Apart from the above mentioned stringing, the next major assembly was the port outer flap.



The large piece of ply is a supplied jig , into which the ribs are lined up before the two bracing bars are glued to them. This is because they are set at an angle rather than 90º.

Once separated from the jig the flap is strung and the metal trailing edges and hinges are added, both to the flap and to the flap position below the port wing (built in issue 3 or 4).

The next shot shows a dry fit of the hinged flap in position. This should be fully operational when installed but I noticed that while the two ribs next to the hinges have corresponding holes to receive the hinge bar, the intervening ribs don't. I await with bated breath to see how they suggest to correctly hinge the flap.





To finish this assembly the flap and part of the wing underside were primed and finished with a coat of black.





Fortunately the next issue brought some relief with three items from the interior, the Elsan loo, a first aid cabinet and the parachute for the rear gunner (painted previously). The Elsan is five pieces of cast metal with a removable lid. The lid could be left open but I didn't think that would be particularly pleasant! The red cross and the 'no step' decals are from the spares box. I have to say seeing the step up to the tail spar, I think that the 'no step' instruction might have been frequently ignored.

The final shots show two of the items positioned. I couldn't position the parachute until some supporting stringers are added, which I hadn't time to do yet. For Terry – I added a non-slip step from a piece of fine wet 'n' dry, as per your tip.







The next couple of issues deal with painting and some riveting and skinning to the port wing. If the result is interesting enough I'll post some shots.

Cheers,

Gerry

Marvellous stuff there Gerry, and quite intricate wing and flap detail. I'm not 100% sure, but I think the inner surfaces of the flaps were painted grey green, although they may have been painted black later. I'll see what I can find out from various photos.