RuskinAirServices
Recruit
- 1
- Nov 26, 2019
any updates on this build ?
or has anyone else built / building one ?
or has anyone else built / building one ?
1:32 scale Lancaster Mk.1 Hachette Partworks
- Thread starter Gerry
- Start date
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ian lanc
Senior Airman
It's been that long since Gerry posted I'm hoping he hasn't passed away! 
A good friend of mine in Argentine who I could only contact him via' email & Facebook ignored all my messages, thought he'd fallen out with me for some reason but a few weeks ago I found out he'd passed away in April of this year
A good friend of mine in Argentine who I could only contact him via' email & Facebook ignored all my messages, thought he'd fallen out with me for some reason but a few weeks ago I found out he'd passed away in April of this year
Me too.It's been that long since Gerry posted I'm hoping he hasn't passed away!
A good friend of mine in Argentine who I could only contact him via' email & Facebook ignored all my messages, thought he'd fallen out with me for some reason but a few weeks ago I found out he'd passed away in April of this year
- Thread starter
- #1,304
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
It's been that long since Gerry posted I'm hoping he hasn't passed away!
Gentlemen,
Much thanks for your concern but, as Mark Twain might (or might not) have said; "Reports of my death have been grossly exaggerated...". However, I can understand why you might have thought so. I'm embarrassed that it's been so long since I posted my last update or indeed checked in to the forum. I had assumed, wrongly, that after a few weeks without updates, the thread would have gone dormant. I was so surprised when I checked in yesterday to see where I had left off that it so obviously hadn't, with a couple of further pages of posts added. I can only say that I am humbled and honoured at your continued interest in the Lancaster build and indeed the kind remarks of the newcomers to the thread, since my last post.
I can't believe it's been so long since my last post and it must appear so rude that I abandoned it without any explanation. That was never the intention and the build didn't suffer any major catastrophe - just a number of setbacks. As well as that, the last 18 months, became really busy for our family. In the intervening time, we had a wedding, two further grandchildren and a disaster with an underfloor leak that took nine months to resolve. In addition, in November, my son and his family sold his house and moved in with us. The intention was to say until spring when the housing market restarts. Of course, Coronavirus stymied that and my son, his partner and two children are with us for the foreseeable future. Of all of the above, this has had the most influence on the build as I find I haven't the same time or space to spend on it.
However, these were all just background and the real reason for the delays were build problems. I began to lose confidence in myself and my ability to complete it to the standard I had hoped when I started the project. I suppose I hit 'the wall' and had to step away from the work for a few months. However I eventually returned and have been chipping away at it ever since but at my own pace. That's one reason why I didn't post - I didn't want any pressure to post before I was happy with the progress I was making and a lot of what I was doing was redressing errors and refining. I feel that I am now at the stage when I can restart the thread, as I have at last started to make progress as opposed to repairs. I didn't take too many photos during the repair stage but I'll try to build a logical bridge from the last post to the present without too much minute detail.
I'll cover this in my next post, as soon as I sort back through a year of photos - mainly of grandkids! But I'm determined to complete this project no matter what happens.
I'll be back a lot sooner than than last time,
Gerry
Last edited by a moderator:
Just glad to hear you are OK and hadn't suffered the fate of JK Rowling.
- Thread starter
- #1,306
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Mark,
Sincere apologies for not finding your request long before now. I assume you have got around the problem with the instructions for issue #1? I could have sent you a spare copy. Have you made much progress on your build to date?
There is one thing I'd like to know; did you receive an undamaged rear turret Perspex in issue 124? I received mine broken, as were two replacements sent. I've not heard of anyone I know who's attempted the build to get an intact one.
Be really interested to hear how your build's going,
Gerry
- Thread starter
- #1,307
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Hi Ian, Good to hear you're still around.
Sorry to hear about your problems with the HKM Lancaster. I was expecting much better from them. Have you made much progress on it and are you posting the build?
Pbehn, good to hear from you again and to Red 3, thank you for your interest inthe build and comments.
Regards to all,
Gerry
Lucky13
Forum Mascot
Always nice to see a friendly face Gerry! 
Crimea_River
Marshal
Aye! Thanks for dropping by and letting us know how things are going.
fubar57
General
Thanks for the update Gerry. Hopefully the modelling funk will pass
Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Good to see you back Gerry, and looking forward to the up-dates, when you can get them posted.
ian lanc
Senior Airman
Hello Gerry, Hope I'd not upset you about me saying you might have passed away ? I had a friend called Mike Houlder he was a very good friend, we never met but chatted by phone/email/forum/Facebook, but then he stopped talking to me and thought I'd done something wrong but after several months of trying to find out what I'd done, I found out he'd passed away.
The HKM Lancaster was finished a while back and posted the finished model on the forum, I'd ran out of steam to super detailing the engines, so just couldn't be bothered but she looks a beaut, this is my thread:
1/32nd Hong Kong Models Avro Lancaster ?
Be great to see any updates on you 1/32nd Lancaster again, you are a much missed forum member.
Ian.
- Thread starter
- #1,313
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Thanks Ian,
No problem at all, in fact it gave me a good chuckle, I'm glad to say.
I tracked down you HKM Lancaster and am really impressed by the quality of your build and finishing. It's the first time I've seen a detailed build of this model and have to say, for the price and the promises from the manufacturer, it looks very chunky with very thick plastic used and over detailed riveting and panel lines. However, I'm sure it looks very impressive amongst your displays. Not that I'm thinking of another Lancaster build, but have you heard anything about the quality of the WingNut Wings 1:32 Lancaster and is it any better than the HKM offering? Again, I've only seen very basic pictures of it.
Can I also just say that It's very nice to see so many familiar names checking in again to the resumed thread. I hope to get my update posted by the weekend.
Regards to all.
Gerry
ian lanc
Senior Airman
That's good to hear Gerry.
To behonest the HKM isn't the bestest kit I've looked upon, so many errors and imperfections in the plastic, but I sorted out the most visible problems.
I've heard in the pipeline that WNW has gone under, so their Lancaster will never go into production...Sad times.
Be great to see any updates.
Ian.
Lucky13
Forum Mascot
It depends, Meng is releasing their 1/32 Fokker Dr.I, which WnW were working on....it's Mengs molds and will be out in September it is said!
So, depending who's doing the molds of the WnW 1/32 Lancaster, you never know and I wouldn't be surprised if it's Meng again!
- Thread starter
- #1,316
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Thanks for the update on WingNut Wings, guys. I wasn't aware they'd gone under.
Gerry
Gerry
- Thread starter
- #1,317
Gerry
Staff Sergeant
Hi everyone,
I'm back in the saddle and eager to pick up where I left off. I had completed the engine nacelles and the semi-exposed engine, if I remember rightly and all of the interior construction was completed.
I think that, also by this stage I had attached the dorsal turret fairing and ailerons. I had also attached the tail planes and upright tail fins but not the rudders. The front turret had also been mounted because the bulbous turret rotation unit on the nose needed to be in place before painting. Then the cutaways on the starboard wing and fuselage were masked. This was achieved with masking tape and masking film for the larger apertures. Gaps were filled and sanded and I was ready to give it a coat of primer.
With the basic structure nearly complete it was increasingly difficult to pick it up and manoeuvre it around the workspace without knocking something off – usually the split flaps! I had checked the filling and sanding visually, and to fingertip touch it felt as smooth as polished granite. So into the homemade cardboard spray bay it went.
The model is so big that I have been using rattle cans of Halford's grey primer, both metal and plastic. First, the model was inverted and the undersides painted, then turned over and the upper surfaces were coated. Unfortunately, when turned back over, I heard rattles coming from the interior, meaning some of the cast metal elements in the interior had come adrift. I decided that I'd wait until the painting process was complete to see the damage and try to be more careful in future.
It's hard to tell from this photo but, in places, the polished granite effect I was expecting was more like the dark side of the moon! Some of the wing and fuselage panels had stepped and the nacelle sanding was going to need a lot more work.
I actually ended up replacing some of the wing panels (see starboard wing, unprimed) and also ended up double skinning some of the fuselage panels to make the joins more even. This was not a quick or one off process but rather done over weeks and even months because, when I would complete one section to my satisfaction, it would show up other deficiencies in other parts.
In between this, there was lots more sanding and priming, in many sections more than once, before I was happy. It was at this point that I felt like abandoning the build, as with all of the patches and masking, the build was looking like Frankenstein's dog. So that's when I decided to step back for a while. I didn't stop completely but found I could only progress a little at a time before I lost interest again. Unfortunately, I didn't take a lot of photos during this time and no close-ups, as I didn't think that I was doing enough to make interesting posts.
After a lot of this prevarication I really had to decide whether I was going to continue, or abandon it. Eventually I decided that I had invested so much time in it and indeed conscious of all the effort that my friends on the forum had invested in following and contributing to the build, I would be letting not only you but also myself down if I didn't finish it.
I decided that the best way forward would probably be to paint it and see if that improved the appearance at all.
That was probably the best decision I could have made. I decided that in my case, I would paint the black undersides first and you would be amazed how much a coat of black can hide! I then turned to the camouflaged upper surfaces. Above is my first pass at it. The wing area is so big that I was able to airbrush it freehand. The dark earth (mixed) was much too light and I over-sprayed it a darker shade a couple of times. Eventually, having made even more adjustments to any irregularities and sanding and repainting as necessary, I arrived at the stage when I felt I was making actual progress and was happy enough to give it all a coat of rattle can gloss varnish and start the decaling process. All of this I felt had to be done before any of the masking protecting the cutaways should be removed.
By this stage of the build my work area had been radically curtailed – to a desk little bigger that my improvised spray bay, hence the crowding. In this photo you will see that the rudders had been attached – prior to the black coat going on –as had the elevators on the tail planes. The decaling was in progress but not yet completed here. I was also experimenting with the exhaust staining on the nacelles and undersides. The S of PO*S is also off vertical but I managed to refloat it and straighten it before I sealed the decals with semi-gloss varnish.
Unfortunately, I hadn't taken a lot of photos because at this point I hadn't intended posting until the work was substantially complete. I didn't want to restart the thread and then suspend it again indefinitely if I ran into another major problem. I'm much more confident now of getting there but I would still like to get the exterior finished before posting finished photos of various angles.
However, I have been making progress on the remaining sections and here's the first to whet your appetites – some work on the canopy.
First the masking that took a while. The removal of the windows and the replacement frame was covered in a previous post.
Then an undercoat of black for the interior frames.
The Dark Earth was over-sprayed and the masking removed. This by the way is much closer to the overall camouflage colour on the aircraft. Because I had now a lot more time at hand because of Covid 19 lockdown here, I could indulge in a little scratch-building on the canopy interior.
I started with some detailing on the escape hatch, added a grab handle to the front of the pilot and some locking mechanisms to the hatch and quarter windows. These were made from mini screws and bolts left over from the metal undercarriage build.
Next, two "sliding" windows made from plastic strip, acetate sheet and brass rod for the handles.
The folded sunshade (tissue, starched with diluted PVA glue and painted) and the guide wires and anchors were added. The sliding windows were positioned in a partially open position on both sides.
Finally the side window blisters and astrodome were added to complete the canopy.
The instructions suggest that the astrodome be mounted to the fuselage separately but a dry fit suggested that it sits better in relation to the canopy when it's attached first. The canopy fits fairly snugly – although not absolutely perfectly – to the fuselage which makes me think that I may leave it removable, if I can manage it, as it would give a much better view of the cockpit and navigator's position than when it's fixed in position.
I would need to tidy up the join between the cockpit black and the exterior paint that would be hidden if the canopy is left in place.
That's as far as I've got now. Next up will be the props and spinners, then the dorsal turret.
Sincerely hope it was worth your while waiting a very long time for this.
Gerry
I'm back in the saddle and eager to pick up where I left off. I had completed the engine nacelles and the semi-exposed engine, if I remember rightly and all of the interior construction was completed.
I think that, also by this stage I had attached the dorsal turret fairing and ailerons. I had also attached the tail planes and upright tail fins but not the rudders. The front turret had also been mounted because the bulbous turret rotation unit on the nose needed to be in place before painting. Then the cutaways on the starboard wing and fuselage were masked. This was achieved with masking tape and masking film for the larger apertures. Gaps were filled and sanded and I was ready to give it a coat of primer.
With the basic structure nearly complete it was increasingly difficult to pick it up and manoeuvre it around the workspace without knocking something off – usually the split flaps! I had checked the filling and sanding visually, and to fingertip touch it felt as smooth as polished granite. So into the homemade cardboard spray bay it went.
The model is so big that I have been using rattle cans of Halford's grey primer, both metal and plastic. First, the model was inverted and the undersides painted, then turned over and the upper surfaces were coated. Unfortunately, when turned back over, I heard rattles coming from the interior, meaning some of the cast metal elements in the interior had come adrift. I decided that I'd wait until the painting process was complete to see the damage and try to be more careful in future.
It's hard to tell from this photo but, in places, the polished granite effect I was expecting was more like the dark side of the moon! Some of the wing and fuselage panels had stepped and the nacelle sanding was going to need a lot more work.
I actually ended up replacing some of the wing panels (see starboard wing, unprimed) and also ended up double skinning some of the fuselage panels to make the joins more even. This was not a quick or one off process but rather done over weeks and even months because, when I would complete one section to my satisfaction, it would show up other deficiencies in other parts.
In between this, there was lots more sanding and priming, in many sections more than once, before I was happy. It was at this point that I felt like abandoning the build, as with all of the patches and masking, the build was looking like Frankenstein's dog. So that's when I decided to step back for a while. I didn't stop completely but found I could only progress a little at a time before I lost interest again. Unfortunately, I didn't take a lot of photos during this time and no close-ups, as I didn't think that I was doing enough to make interesting posts.
After a lot of this prevarication I really had to decide whether I was going to continue, or abandon it. Eventually I decided that I had invested so much time in it and indeed conscious of all the effort that my friends on the forum had invested in following and contributing to the build, I would be letting not only you but also myself down if I didn't finish it.
I decided that the best way forward would probably be to paint it and see if that improved the appearance at all.
That was probably the best decision I could have made. I decided that in my case, I would paint the black undersides first and you would be amazed how much a coat of black can hide! I then turned to the camouflaged upper surfaces. Above is my first pass at it. The wing area is so big that I was able to airbrush it freehand. The dark earth (mixed) was much too light and I over-sprayed it a darker shade a couple of times. Eventually, having made even more adjustments to any irregularities and sanding and repainting as necessary, I arrived at the stage when I felt I was making actual progress and was happy enough to give it all a coat of rattle can gloss varnish and start the decaling process. All of this I felt had to be done before any of the masking protecting the cutaways should be removed.
By this stage of the build my work area had been radically curtailed – to a desk little bigger that my improvised spray bay, hence the crowding. In this photo you will see that the rudders had been attached – prior to the black coat going on –as had the elevators on the tail planes. The decaling was in progress but not yet completed here. I was also experimenting with the exhaust staining on the nacelles and undersides. The S of PO*S is also off vertical but I managed to refloat it and straighten it before I sealed the decals with semi-gloss varnish.
Unfortunately, I hadn't taken a lot of photos because at this point I hadn't intended posting until the work was substantially complete. I didn't want to restart the thread and then suspend it again indefinitely if I ran into another major problem. I'm much more confident now of getting there but I would still like to get the exterior finished before posting finished photos of various angles.
However, I have been making progress on the remaining sections and here's the first to whet your appetites – some work on the canopy.
First the masking that took a while. The removal of the windows and the replacement frame was covered in a previous post.
Then an undercoat of black for the interior frames.
The Dark Earth was over-sprayed and the masking removed. This by the way is much closer to the overall camouflage colour on the aircraft. Because I had now a lot more time at hand because of Covid 19 lockdown here, I could indulge in a little scratch-building on the canopy interior.
I started with some detailing on the escape hatch, added a grab handle to the front of the pilot and some locking mechanisms to the hatch and quarter windows. These were made from mini screws and bolts left over from the metal undercarriage build.
Next, two "sliding" windows made from plastic strip, acetate sheet and brass rod for the handles.
The folded sunshade (tissue, starched with diluted PVA glue and painted) and the guide wires and anchors were added. The sliding windows were positioned in a partially open position on both sides.
Finally the side window blisters and astrodome were added to complete the canopy.
The instructions suggest that the astrodome be mounted to the fuselage separately but a dry fit suggested that it sits better in relation to the canopy when it's attached first. The canopy fits fairly snugly – although not absolutely perfectly – to the fuselage which makes me think that I may leave it removable, if I can manage it, as it would give a much better view of the cockpit and navigator's position than when it's fixed in position.
I would need to tidy up the join between the cockpit black and the exterior paint that would be hidden if the canopy is left in place.
That's as far as I've got now. Next up will be the props and spinners, then the dorsal turret.
Sincerely hope it was worth your while waiting a very long time for this.
Gerry
Excellent work so far Gerry!
fubar57
General
Awesome!! Worth the wait
