1:32 scale Lancaster Mk.1 Hachette Partworks

[Tim Mitchell]

Looking mighty impressive Gerry, the skinning looks excellent well done.
Glad to see you overcame the "F" bucket drama, for many, (myself included) your work stands as THE "how to" when it comes to putting this thing together, to loose such a valuable resource would be a massive kick in the plums, thanks for pushing through it.

Cheers
Tim

 

[Robert Porter]

Amen to that!

 

[Gerry]

Just an note. I've restored the photos on page 55 of this thread and within the next few days, I'll be able to post an update on attaching the outer wings. Watch this space...

Sláinte,

Gerry

 

[Airframes]

Watching ..............

 

[fubar57]

 

[Wurger]

 

[Wayne Little]

ready and waiting...

 

[Gerry]

Well Guys,


So nice to see you on your couches, popcorn in hand, waiting for the latest episode. Unfortunately, Star Wars 105 it isn't (more like Child of Frankenstein II).


What delayed me somewhat on this is the fact that I felt (rightly, I think) that the heavy sanding and filling, on the wings and fuselage, would be easier achieved before the wings were attached. This of course took longer than I thought but is now complete though there will no doubt be more to do once nacelles etc are attached.


The first decision was to add brass pins to reinforce the joins (A), across the wing gap of about 6mm.

I couldn't position these in the central section of the wing because of the fuel tank in the outer section (above) and the wheel well in the inner wing (below). What's also obvious in the photo, above, is the tiny amount of protruding spar that is supposed to make the secure join.

For me, this was a crucial moment of the build because, if the connection wasn't solid enough or the dihedral was off on either wing, the build would be seriously compromised. So, as you can imagine, I took my time over this, checking and rechecking the fit. So, came the moment when I had to commit.


Having carefully measured the dihedral on both wings on a flat surface I first positioned the starboard wing and carefully propped up the wingtip to the correct dihedral before using a combination of contact adhesive on the points of contact and, when set, the capillary action of very thin cyanoacrylate to reinforce the joins. This was left overnight to cure and wasn't touched until the next day.

The jigs were gently removed and apart from a slight sag of about 1mm, the wing held the correct dihedral. The same process was applied to the port wing and both were again left overnight. The pegs were to keep the trailing edges aligned and the jig at the rear was to prevent the aircraft rolling off the props.



This next photo gives a better idea of the dihedral angle, which is about 5 degrees.

So, after the props were removed I was much relieved to see that both wings retained a uniform dihedral.

I then started test fitting the wing top cowlings and the front cowling section. Then the fiddly job of bridging the gaps in the wings with short (5-6mm) lengths of stringer – still to be completed – before final skinning strips are applied.

The other job tackled in this stage of the build was applying the underwing cowlings. These proved tricky enough to shape to the wing contours and required some sanding and filling to make a tight join, as can be seen.

I also patched a cutaway in the port front section because it was showing only the back of consoles and wiring, hence the Frankenstein reference earlier.

I'm confident that a coat of primer will blend everything eventually as well as showing areas that need a little more work.


From here I want to spend a little more time on the wings, adding the ailerons, re-attaching the missing dropped flaps, adding the wing cowling covers and, of course, finishing stringing and skinning the wing gaps both top and bottom. After that, the nose section will be skinned and attached.


So, more when I make that further progress.


Gerry

 

[Wurger]

Bravo. That's a great effect.

 

[fubar57]

Agreed

 

[Airframes]

Bl**dy brilliant !

 

[Robert Porter]

Inspiring! Honestly, it is very well done. I recall you mentioning that this kit was delivered to you piecemeal via a magazine subscription if I recall correctly. Is the kit available in any other manor? Or was it a one off for the magazine? I have also been meaning to ask you about how robust the assembled pieces are. They look quite fragile but I would guess that adding the skin strengthens them considerably. Is this true?

Getting the angles correct on the wings looked to be tricky, I think your adding the strengthening to the joints paid off in spades!

 

[turbo]

Agree with all

 

[Gnomey]

Superb work so far Gerry!

 

[SANCER]

Gerry, ... simply AMAZING!!

A barróg mhór leis an oileán mór.

 

[Crimea_River]

I continue to be very impressed with this build. Great stuff Gerry,

 

[vikingBerserker]

In-fricken-credible!

 

[Gerry]

Inspiring! Honestly, it is very well done. I recall you mentioning that this kit was delivered to you piecemeal via a magazine subscription if I recall correctly. Is the kit available in any other manor? Or was it a one off for the magazine? I have also been meaning to ask you about how robust the assembled pieces are. They look quite fragile but I would guess that adding the skin strengthens them considerably. Is this true?

Getting the angles correct on the wings looked to be tricky, I think your adding the strengthening to the joints paid off in spades!

First, thank you all for your always positive and encouraging responses to my efforts, but particularly those of you who have supported the thread since the beginning. I think it has been a longer journey than any of us might have imagined but I hope it won't be too much longer. I salute your stamina!

Robert, in reply to your queries: I don't think that this series was available other than in the UK and Ireland and on subscription to some English speaking countries, such as Australia and NZ and was never reissued once the subscription finished. Hachette may still have some complete sets available but I'm not sure. However, sets for sale do appear regularly on sites such as ebay. A quick check earlier showed one such complete set for £350 - that's still a lot of money but only about half what I paid for my original subscription! There are also lots of individual issues and groups of issues available on sites.

As regards the robustness of the model it is actually more robust than you might think. The stringers add a lot of stability to the build, as of course the skin does when added. However, as the model is constructed in individual sections, I found that the connections between the fuselage sections needed to be reinforced with pins and the very slightest variation between sections can cause problems. There are some weak points, particularly before stringers are added. I knocked off quite a few of the fuselage former tops by clumsiness and putting accidental pressure on these sections during the build. There are also some errors in the instructions which need correction and this can weaken the structure. When I had my accident and dropped the three fully detailled rear fuselage sections I had just joined, the actual structure, amazingly, survived intact. All the damage was to the cast metal interior fittings that, because of their weight flew off their positions. To restore them I had to cut away the fuselage sides which probably didn't help the overall stability.

Now that the wings are attached I have to be very careful where I can put my hands when lifting the model. I would be very nervous lifting by the wings and once the open bomb bay doors, flaps and undercarriage doors are added there will be very limited safe areas by which to carry the finished model. But we'll cross that one when we come to it.

Gerry

 

[Crimea_River]

I'd say YOU are the one with the stamina my friend, not so much us!

 

[Robert Porter]

Tis much easier to watch than do indeed! What a journey! That is a wee bit out of my price range at the moment but I will file it away for future reference. Of course they will probably be even more expensive then! But thank you for sharing the journey with us! I am truly fascinated by the detail and your construction!