1:32 scale Lancaster Mk.1 Hachette Partworks

Glad they were of help Gerry and I look forward to seeing your handiwork in this area. Note that the sling for the seat is not present in my pics. I'm not sure where and how it attaches.

Great stuff Andy!

Well, here I am again a little later than I had hoped. I've been working on the nose blister and front turret and, to be honest, I put more work into them than I had intended. I blame Andy totally for this, as the wonderful references he supplied really gave me all the detail and really made me up my game.


We'll start with the nose blister. I took Terry's advice as to not trying to get rid of the moulded rivets in the Perspex, as I would probably damage the shape in the process.





The first task was to shape the metal ring that attaches the blister to the nose.






This is supplied as a very thin metal circle with flanges. The task was to bend the flanges to 90 degrees. Quite tricky, as you have to keep the ring flat and circular whilst doing this. I found that by scoring the joins lightly two or three times with a scalpel blade I could make a clean angle but found it almost impossible to prevent the circle from losing shape and flatness.


This is compounded by the instructions as to how then to fit it.


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As you can see, they ask you to glue the delicate piece directly to the nose former keeping it as an exact circle and ensuring it remains flat. That I believe would be virtually impossible – and then you have to locate the blister precisely over it, without damaging the flanges. I didn't believe I could do that, so I came up with a solution I felt would work for me.






The only way I could see this working was to assemble the nose blister completely before attaching it to the nose. First I used a cutting compass to cut a circle of plastic card slightly wider than the thickness of the Perspex blister, with the inner circle the exact diameter of the bracket. I then had a perfect circle with which to line up the metal bracket against. I was able to glue it in small sections at a time and get perfect positioning and pressure to ensure it remained flat.


Next are the components of the blister painted and ready for assembly.




I used Glue'n'Glaze as my adhesive as I didn't want to fog the clear Perspex.


So here are two shots of the final assembly.










I appreciate that the twin circles are spaced wider than on the actual aircraft but that, unfortunately, is dictated by the position of the moulded rivets on the blister. Despite the lighting in the second shot, they have been left in their natural metal finish so aren't as obvious as they appear in that photo.

The instructions are for the blister to be attached at this point but I need to do a bit more filling and sanding before that and might leave it until the very end before attaching

The next job tackled was the nose turret. Here are the components supplied for the build.



I was pretty much aware from my mid-upper turret references that I probably have to add a lot more detail and this was confirmed in spades when I received Andy's references.

'A' is the moulded seat at the rear of the turret ring. This is upside down, by the way, to show the moulded ammo panniers 'D' – all one piece. It would have been a nightmare to remove the seat and I think that it has some veracity in my opinion. The structure suggests a cushioned back rest and a slung metal frame and cushion for the seat that swivels into position on two large metal bolts. It is in the stowed position, as supplied. I have a good number of references for the bomb aimer's position and in none of them can I see any hint of the seat visible from the turret ring.

'B' is the gunsight which I'm going to remove as that is a separate component of the mechanism in the Lancaster. Finally, 'C', the supplied gun barrels. These definitely have to be replaced.

The next few shots show some of the enhancements I undertook.







I assembled the basic kit parts and started to improve on them. The most obvious enhancements are the turned brass .303 gun barrels from Master Models.

The rest is a mixture of plastic card, plastic and brass rod and bits and pieces from the spares box, using Andy's references as my guide for making it look busy. The gunsight was made from brass tube but the actual sight, I later found out, is more in the shape of an arch.

The next job was masking the transparent sections of the canopy and giving the basic turret assembly a coat of grey primer, then black, before more detail was added.



Next, the canopy gets a coat of black and some further additions are made to the turret structure. Ammo belts are added from Eduard painted PE .30 ammo belts. I noticed from the references that the ammo panniers have covers which were drilled and added, showing the ammo belts under and you can partially see the painted treatment of the stowed seat.





Above is a view of the turret seat structure and cushions, from underneath.



Then the masking tape is removed from the canopy and I took a leap and added some lap belts to the seat, based on the way they're attached to the seat supports in the mid upper turret. The Euro coin is just to give some sense of scale.

Some other angles on the assembly before the seat belts were added.





This last shot in the sequence shows the addition of two hydraulic(?) jacks, either side of the gun breeches, that work the elevation of the guns. Details are picked out, such as the control handles and firing buttons (red) and various wires and cables.



All that remains are a few shots of the canopy test fitted. It gives an idea of what is visible when the canopy is in place. I need to decide whether to attach the solid rear to the turret before I put the front in position. It depends if I can manoeuvre it into position without knocking the barrels.









So that's it and brings me up to issue 120 (of 125). There's still a fair amount of work still to be done, including two more turrets but I feel I'm definitely making progress to a conclusion at last.

I'll post again as soon as I make some more progress.

Happy Halloween. It sounds like Baghdad here in Dublin tonight!


Gerry

Fantastic work

Marvellous job there Gerry and sorry to be such a pain!

Bl**dy marvelous work all round Gerry !

You're right about the gun sight - pics below of mine show the actual shape of the reflector housing and filter etc.
If you decide to change this, or make them for the other turrets, let me know, and I'll measure the various components.

Just amazing!

Thanks Guys.

Andy, if you're a pain then I'm a masochist. Bring it on! I feel privileged that, through you, I have such access to the interior of an actual Lancaster. It's been invaluable to this build and has clarified a lot of questions that I had.

Terry, I might have guessed you'd have an actual gunsight! My same appreciation, as expressed to Andy, applies to your good self. I appreciate all the references you've dug out and questions you've answered over the years. If it's not too much trouble, I'd appreciate some measurements, in millimetres, please. Just height and width would be fine. In scale size this is going to be only 5 - 6 mm or so but I'll try to get it a bit more accurate in the other turrets.

Slainte,
Gerry

Excellent work so far Gerry!

That sight looks a bit different than the one mounted in the turret I photographed. There looks to be a cover over the reflector glass that is not present in my pictures.

Andy, the sight is the standard Reflector Sight Mk.III A, as fitted to most RAF gun turrets of the period, before the use of the gyro sight.
The 'cover' inside the front of the shroud, or hood, is a tinted filter, to eliminate glare from, for example, search lights, and would normally be in the 'stowed' position, folded down by use of the knurled knob on the front, right side of the hood.

Gerry, this is one of a number of Lancaster fittings I've been collecting, with the aim of building a complete 1:1 scale Lancaster - I should have enough parts to do this by about 2120 !!!
Just about to photograph the sight again, and I'll post pics with measurements as soon as it's done.

Just had another look at Andy's turret pics, and now understand what Andy meant by the 'cover'. As far as I know, the cover, or hood, should be there, as the MkIII and MkIIIA sight had them fitted for turret guns normally, and this is visible in most period pics showing the sight.

Here are the dimensions - sorry for the 'rough' presentation, and the crossed out error in the first pic, but I hope they make sense. Any questions, just shout.

Good stuff Terry. I would advise that Gerry go with your description as there is a good chance the guys in Nanton used a sight they had laying around that was a close but not exact match. Their Lancaster was missing a turret when acquired i believe.

yep, I guessed that might be the case Andy, and yes, the Nanton Lanc had a faired nose at one point I seem to remember.

Gerry, I forgot to mention - the mounting bracket was attached by a collar to the 'barrel' between the rectangular lamp housing and the sight head,

Gerry, it's just an awesome job !! I wanted to sit down and maneuver in that nose blister and front turret. Those photos of your post # 1204 are formidable!
Wow, wow, that quality and cleanliness of details.
It has been a treat to follow your table.
Felicidades y saludos campeón

Thanks Gnomey, Wurger and Luis Carlos for your kind comments. Thanks again to Andy and Terry for the turret info and to Terry for the measurements. When those are reduced to 1:32 scale they are going to be tiny so, whatever I can do, will be an approximation. But we'll do our best.

Cheers,

Gerry

I'm sure you'll get it done Gerry - I have to make some in 1/48th scale, when I eventually get to build the old Tamiya Lanc kit again !