Most of the time since I last posted has been taken up with sub-assemblies. Here are the fruits of the next three issues. Those of you following the thread closely will by now have deduced that I have a tendency to bitch about various aspects of the quality of this build but one thing that has been consistently positive has been the laser cutting of the frets.
Below is a typical fret; in this case the parts for the port tail plane. The quality is so precise , that once the tiny holding lugs are cut with a sharp blade they virtually fall off the fret. The tiny rib shows the precision of the cut, particularly in the notching and around the swallow tail.
This then translates to a very precise and stable assembly as in the tail plane below. Concentration is vital here to make sure the different sized ribs are orientated and positioned correctly but other than that, the fit is so tight that this could almost be assembled without adhesive. I've been using a very thin cyano adhesive called Rocket Hot. This is incredibly thin and fast drying as it evaporates in seconds but it can be very unforgiving. You need to keep the surfaces to be joined away from any other surface or indeed your fingers, otherwise you'll spend most of the session trying to dislodge it. It flows into the parts by capillary action and any left on the surface evaporates, leaving no raised spots. I've only used this on wood so far as I would be terrified of what effect it may have on plastic.
This is followed by the assembly of the port elevator and both parts are adjustable via a hinge rod. The one in the photo is one I had and I'm assuming that these will be supplied in a later issue . The trim tabs need chamfering and will be added later. Stringing, painting and skinning of these parts will be tackled in later issues.
The third issue contained some more equipment for the interior, but I have some questions about some parts supplied that I'm hoping to get some opinions on.
The cylinder is a gyro compass which was assembled and painted and had some decals added. It's photographed upside down as it's hung from the cabin ceiling by the bracket. The two escape axes were supposed to have red painted blades but I think the originals in wartime were bare metal. The two bags are supposed to be canvass holdalls. I've seen photos of these over the first aid kit in the BBMF Lancaster but I'm wondering if these are modern additions? The same applies to the torch and screwdriver. Again, I've seen a photo of these in The BBMF aircraft but would they have been in the original? I'll hold off installing them until I get your thoughts on the matter.
Finally some shots of some of the equipment installed. First the gyro compass mounted then with its safety cage installed. Sorry the second picture didn't come out as well as I hoped.
The first of the escape axes is positioned, with leather straps made from masking tape.
Lastly, having added some supporting stringers, the rear gunner's parachute and scratch built oxygen bottle holder are positioned by his station.
That's progress to date. I hope I haven't gone into too much detail on the assembly. Trouble is, I've got a lot of this basic work still to do and if I omit it there'll be much longer gaps between posts. I'll let the jury decide.
Cheers,
Gerry