me either....
1:32 scale Lancaster Mk.1 Hachette Partworks
- Thread starter Gerry
- Start date
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- Thread starter
- #82
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Always good to get a debate going that hopefully adds to members knowledge and enjoyment. I don't believe the fact about the gas roundels has ever been widely publicised.
I've been toiling away working through issues 1 - 30 catching up on sub-assemblies I had put to one side to get the fuselage sections finished to a basic stage and, as promised, here are a few more photos.
Photo 1. My painting rig, where I'd set up the components for the instrument panel, Fl. Engineer's panel and the retaining straps and caps for the inner fuel tanks. Everything got a spray of grey plastic primer (wood and metal) and the instrument panels a coat of very dark grey. In scale, I find this looks more realistic than pure black. The items for the fuel tanks will be painted later.
Then I wanted to start on the instrument panels and throttle assembly. I immediately found I had a problem with the printed bezels supplied for the pilot's instruments, but oddly, not for the Fl. Engineer's panel. Photo 2 shows the supplied bezels on the left. They are so badly printed as to be unusable. Fortunately, there is a clear picture of them in the instructions, so I was able to scan that and print it down to size, on the right. These will then sandwiched between the panel and cabin bulkhead.
Photo 3. The next thing I was unhappy with was the throttle quadrant. As you can see they look a little clunky. What I did here was to adapt the instructions to get a better looking effect.
Photo 4. My work on the instrument panels and throttle quadrants. I started with the throttles and wanted to get the bent shape on the outer throttles. I took the kit parts for these and used them for the inner throttles instead. I then cut the knobs off the original inner throttles and superglued them to cut staples which have the rigid 90o angle required. When these were glued into position I was able to bend them into the outward curves as on the real thing. The quadrants are just dry-fitted to the instrument panel for the photo. The swear box was getting quite full at this point.
A lot of the detail on the instrument panels is supplied. However, I ignored the instructions to some degree and worked from photos for more accurate placement of detail. I also added more buttons and switches from rod and wire to closer match the ref photos. There is a placard still to be printed and inserted on the bottom left of the Fl. Engineer's panel.
Photo 5. The next thing I tackled was the Fl. Engineer's folding seat. This comes as a single cast piece with a separate backrest. It is designed to be displayed in the upright position only. I thought it would be nice to have it as a working seat. 2 days later and another full swear box, I had cut away the frame and replaced it with brass rod and staples to allow it to slide in and out of position (see inset) This seems to work, but until It's fixed in position I can't be certain. Part of this issue included the rudder pedals. All that has been done to these are the foot straps added from strip. All these are now ready for painting.
Photos 6 7. The navigator's and radio operator's seats were next. These are the seats as supplied, both free-standing on the cabin floor. I adapted the navigator's seat to a swivel arm which will be fixed to a column under the table and I understand that the radio operator's seat was fixed to the spar cover behind him. The wooden 'cushions' seemed a little thin, so I padded these with padding and covered it with masking tape.
Photo 8. Finally, the pilot's seat. Again, the seat supplied, whilst reasonable, needs a bit of improvement. This was all a little odd, as the basic wooden structure was supplied in an early issue with instructions to paint as in the photo. Then in issue 70 101 metal skinning is provided which really enhances its appearance. I don't know if this was an afterthought or was intended all along but it certainly improves the appearance and brings it closer to the reference drawing inset. It also seems to make more sense to fully assemble the seat before painting.
Photo 9. The assembled seat. The 'cushions' were rather flat, so I decided to pad it out to make it more like the cushion in the illustration. I had finished both cushions in some leather scraps I had, but couldn't get the fold around to work on the back cushion, so had to replace the leather with masking tape. The support bars for the head armour have been replaced by staples (my newest friends) to give a better scale thickness than what the magazine supplied. To be fair to the publisher, I feel it has ended up as a pretty good representation of the actual seat and should look good when painted. The lines on the back cushion were made by a biro trying to impress folds into the cushion.
That's it now, to date. The fuel tanks, control column, and bomb bay still await my attention. I'll keep you updated.
Gerry
I've been toiling away working through issues 1 - 30 catching up on sub-assemblies I had put to one side to get the fuselage sections finished to a basic stage and, as promised, here are a few more photos.
Photo 1. My painting rig, where I'd set up the components for the instrument panel, Fl. Engineer's panel and the retaining straps and caps for the inner fuel tanks. Everything got a spray of grey plastic primer (wood and metal) and the instrument panels a coat of very dark grey. In scale, I find this looks more realistic than pure black. The items for the fuel tanks will be painted later.
Then I wanted to start on the instrument panels and throttle assembly. I immediately found I had a problem with the printed bezels supplied for the pilot's instruments, but oddly, not for the Fl. Engineer's panel. Photo 2 shows the supplied bezels on the left. They are so badly printed as to be unusable. Fortunately, there is a clear picture of them in the instructions, so I was able to scan that and print it down to size, on the right. These will then sandwiched between the panel and cabin bulkhead.
Photo 3. The next thing I was unhappy with was the throttle quadrant. As you can see they look a little clunky. What I did here was to adapt the instructions to get a better looking effect.
Photo 4. My work on the instrument panels and throttle quadrants. I started with the throttles and wanted to get the bent shape on the outer throttles. I took the kit parts for these and used them for the inner throttles instead. I then cut the knobs off the original inner throttles and superglued them to cut staples which have the rigid 90o angle required. When these were glued into position I was able to bend them into the outward curves as on the real thing. The quadrants are just dry-fitted to the instrument panel for the photo. The swear box was getting quite full at this point.
A lot of the detail on the instrument panels is supplied. However, I ignored the instructions to some degree and worked from photos for more accurate placement of detail. I also added more buttons and switches from rod and wire to closer match the ref photos. There is a placard still to be printed and inserted on the bottom left of the Fl. Engineer's panel.
Photo 5. The next thing I tackled was the Fl. Engineer's folding seat. This comes as a single cast piece with a separate backrest. It is designed to be displayed in the upright position only. I thought it would be nice to have it as a working seat. 2 days later and another full swear box, I had cut away the frame and replaced it with brass rod and staples to allow it to slide in and out of position (see inset) This seems to work, but until It's fixed in position I can't be certain. Part of this issue included the rudder pedals. All that has been done to these are the foot straps added from strip. All these are now ready for painting.
Photos 6 7. The navigator's and radio operator's seats were next. These are the seats as supplied, both free-standing on the cabin floor. I adapted the navigator's seat to a swivel arm which will be fixed to a column under the table and I understand that the radio operator's seat was fixed to the spar cover behind him. The wooden 'cushions' seemed a little thin, so I padded these with padding and covered it with masking tape.
Photo 8. Finally, the pilot's seat. Again, the seat supplied, whilst reasonable, needs a bit of improvement. This was all a little odd, as the basic wooden structure was supplied in an early issue with instructions to paint as in the photo. Then in issue 70 101 metal skinning is provided which really enhances its appearance. I don't know if this was an afterthought or was intended all along but it certainly improves the appearance and brings it closer to the reference drawing inset. It also seems to make more sense to fully assemble the seat before painting.
Photo 9. The assembled seat. The 'cushions' were rather flat, so I decided to pad it out to make it more like the cushion in the illustration. I had finished both cushions in some leather scraps I had, but couldn't get the fold around to work on the back cushion, so had to replace the leather with masking tape. The support bars for the head armour have been replaced by staples (my newest friends) to give a better scale thickness than what the magazine supplied. To be fair to the publisher, I feel it has ended up as a pretty good representation of the actual seat and should look good when painted. The lines on the back cushion were made by a biro trying to impress folds into the cushion.
That's it now, to date. The fuel tanks, control column, and bomb bay still await my attention. I'll keep you updated.
Gerry
Last edited:
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Great progress Gerry. And yes, you're correct - the radio op's seat was mounted on the main spar, with the ledge, or step alongside, to starboard, also acting as a 'jump' seat.
The pilot's seat pan was a 'bucket', to accept a seat-type parachute, although many pilot's used a chest-mounted pack, with a cushion in the pan. This could be brown 'leatherette', or khaki brown canvas covered.
BTW, the CD was sent off today, so hopefully you should have it by the end of the week.
The pilot's seat pan was a 'bucket', to accept a seat-type parachute, although many pilot's used a chest-mounted pack, with a cushion in the pan. This could be brown 'leatherette', or khaki brown canvas covered.
BTW, the CD was sent off today, so hopefully you should have it by the end of the week.
Looks great so far Gerry!
N4521U
Colonel
Glourrrrious
Crimea_River
Marshal
Looking excellent Gerry and very strong back-up from Terry.
- Thread starter
- #87
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Thanks for your continued interest in the build, Guys - and Terry, I will be keeping an eye out for the postman. I'll PM you when it arrives.
Kind regards,
Gerry
Kind regards,
Gerry
Vic Balshaw
Major General
Looking great Gerry, I like your ingenuity.
Lucky13
Forum Mascot
Magic!!
Bl**dy good work man...
- Thread starter
- #93
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Thanks, Vic, Jan, Kevin, Wurger Wayne. I was away at the weekend and didn't get as much done as I had hoped. You can also blame Terry, who, as promised, sent me an amazing amount of material on CD, which included great new photographic references and which I've been going through in some detail rather than building. So to Terry, a really big 'Thank you' for that.
What I have been doing is still working on the sub-assemblies and prepping the work shown last time for painting. I have however finished the assembly of the inner fuel tanks, although they're not weathered as yet. The photo shows the top of the s/board tank and the bottom of the port one.
The kit supplied the valves and hatches. They also supplied metal straps for the bottom of the tanks only. Because I'm still thinking of cutaways, I wanted to have the top straps as well. I realise that the straps aren't attached to the tanks but to the ribs above them, but it's easier to install them this way. In reality, the straps can be undone during maintenance and these tanks removed. I also noticed from my refs, that the straps at the top are wider, then narrow towards the bottom. This is what I did, making the top straps from plastic strip. I also added metal buckles to them. Unfortunately, the lighting is too flat to show these up well. The only other thing I added was the vent pipe to the s/board tank. There are feed pipes supplied from the bottom valve to the engines but these are not added until the tanks are in place.
That's all for now. I need to get some more work done before I can post any more.
Gerry
What I have been doing is still working on the sub-assemblies and prepping the work shown last time for painting. I have however finished the assembly of the inner fuel tanks, although they're not weathered as yet. The photo shows the top of the s/board tank and the bottom of the port one.
The kit supplied the valves and hatches. They also supplied metal straps for the bottom of the tanks only. Because I'm still thinking of cutaways, I wanted to have the top straps as well. I realise that the straps aren't attached to the tanks but to the ribs above them, but it's easier to install them this way. In reality, the straps can be undone during maintenance and these tanks removed. I also noticed from my refs, that the straps at the top are wider, then narrow towards the bottom. This is what I did, making the top straps from plastic strip. I also added metal buckles to them. Unfortunately, the lighting is too flat to show these up well. The only other thing I added was the vent pipe to the s/board tank. There are feed pipes supplied from the bottom valve to the engines but these are not added until the tanks are in place.
That's all for now. I need to get some more work done before I can post any more.
Gerry
Last edited:
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Great stuff Gerry, and glad to be able to help out.
Night Fighter Nut
Master Sergeant
Excellent build and very educational.
Tony Hill
Tech Sergeant
Looking great mate!
meatloaf109
1st Lieutenant
A seriously fantastic build. Just really great!
Words will fail, as I watch this masterful build go on. But make no mistake, you have the continuing admiration of myself and all who get the chance of seeing this wonderful model come together!
Words will fail, as I watch this masterful build go on. But make no mistake, you have the continuing admiration of myself and all who get the chance of seeing this wonderful model come together!
Well done Terry and Gerry!
