1:32 scale Lancaster Mk.1 Hachette Partworks (1 Viewer)

Definitely was worth the wait. Thanks for posting Gerry and looking forward to the next instalments when you are able.

Damn, NICE!

Great !

Thanks to all for your continued interest, Wurger, Gnomey, Geo, Andy, David, Jan and Terry.

I had hoped to have posted some more photos of progress by now. I'm still working on the mid-upper turret and props and will definitely have something to show by the weekend.

Gerry

(Apologies David, missed you out on the original post.).

Always a pleasure Gerry!

Take as long as you like, we all know how stuff like work, family life etc get's in the way of really important thing such as this.

Hi everyone and thanks Herman1rg for looking in,

I thought I'd dedicate this post to a general visual update on where the build is at. I had the opportunity last week - when everyone else was out - to move the Lanc to an area where I could get some decent photos, undisturbed by small persons, to give a brief update of the processes.

Some months ago, after finishing the basic construction, tail fins, rudders, elevators etc, I felt that I had to proceed with the painting and major weathering before I removed the masking over the cutouts. Otherwise, I would have been constantly remasking and unmasking. There were some problems along the way with the painting but I was largely able to spray paint the camouflage pattern freehand as this model is so vast. The heavy engine exhaust staining was also added at this stage, as it runs across the wing cutaways.



The first thing I did was to remove the masking over the cutaways and clean up any overspray (not too much) and replace any of the interior detailing (quite tricky in come cases as the formers didn't leave much space for manoeuvre) that had fallen off as the model was moved about and inverted for painting the undersides. Then the decals were added, not without some problems but I'll elaborate later.





In general I was pleased with the visibility of the interior afforded by the cutaways.





It was on this port side and around the cutaways on the starboard side that I had my problems with the decals. The roundel on the s/b wing was particularly tricky, getting it into position without it tearing. It took a couple of attempts to get it right and needed some patching from the bits that weren't used.
When the decals had been bedded down (over a bed of sprayed gloss varnish), some coats of semi-matt varnish were applied to seal them in. Despite this, when I masked over the port PO-S to correct the fuselage line above, the masking tape lifted not only the varnish but the top of PO-S that it also covered. Fortunately, I had enough of PO-S from the s/b decal as to repair it. One bullet dodged!



I also ruined the decal of Goering's quote under the mission tally (98). It folded back on itself when I was removing it from the water and I just couldn't separate it without ruining it. I had to make another from home decal paper but it's not as fine as the original and the printed black is a little too transparent.
The other thing that I'm toying with at this time, is leaving the canopy removable. All the perspex supplied with the build is about 2mm thick and, while you can see some detail through it, it's not as clear as without.



The canopy itself is slightly too wide for the model. It's not obvious from the way it sits at this angle but from underneath, looking up, it is, as you can see in the final photo in this sequence. (Few people are likely to be able to see it from that angle).



Well, that's where the build is at the moment. I'm working on the mid-upper turret and hope to get an update out later today or tomorrow, if I can wrest the computer from my two-year-old grandson!

Sláinte,
Gerry

Love it !
It's really looking the biz now, and a great piece of work on your part Gerry.

That is really looking sharp now. Shame about the decal issues

A real museum piece Gerry. What a beauty!

Great work so far Gerry!

Incredible !

Thanks to all for your very generous responses to my last post. I would have to admit that the photos somewhat flatter the build.

Now I'll move on to some actual work in progress. I started on the mid-upper turret. It follows very much from the front turret in terms of materials needed. It was so long ago since I worked on the front turret that it was most useful for me to refer to that build (page 61) to refresh my memory as to exactly what I did.



This composit photo shows what's supplied by the magazine for the turret interior – pretty basic I'll think you'll agree. The main shot shows the gun mount dry fitted. As with the front turet, I felt that it would be worthwhile investing some time and effort in making this look a little more authentic.





Plastic card, metal sheet, brass rod & tube and spare metal pieces were used to give it a touch of reality. I was particularly interested in creating the gun sight, based on Terry's actual sight (featured on page 61). I also wanted the sight to follow the trajectory of the .303s. I found this most tricky in this size and only got it to the stage it's at after multiple attempts. (Most of the failures are now living in the carpet).

Then the Master Etched Brass guns were carefully alligned horizontially and in parellel. In this photo they're temporally positioned and should be able to move up and down in the turret when finished. More detailing, cables etc will be added after basic painting.

I had pre-painted the 'bin' that the innards fit into so this is roughly what it will look like when assembled.





The next stage will be painting and final detailing. I'm intending to add seat belts and spent cartridge bags to the bin also. I have some very good references for the mid-upper turret in the Haynes Lancaster Owner's Manual that I based my detailing on. The full turret should just sit in the fuselage and be removable so that the detail may be seen.

I would normally post my references but these have 'Crown Copyright' stamped heavily under them. I'm hoping to get back to the UK when the Covid 19 travel restrictions are lifted and would not wish to be detained in the Tower at Her Majesty's pleasure, as her factorums sharpen their axe blades.

More when I finish the painting and detailing.

Gerry

The turret alone is a work of art, this is just stunning.

Fabulous details Gerry. Lots going on in those turrets and you've represented them beautifully.

With all here.

Excellent work so far Gerry!

Nice detail work Gerry.

Hi Everyone,

Thank you for taking the time to check out another update. I've made good progress on finishing the mid-upper turret interior and here are the results.

First though, I found some further references on the internet that gave me some different views of the interior and I'm hoping it's OK to share these with you.



This one must have been taken with a very wide angle lens as it's from within the 'bin'. It gave me a good ref for anchoring the canvas seat and also alerted me to the oxygen regulator, that I hadn't spotted in my other refs.



This one really helped with the seat's anchors and position and also the seatbelts. I suspect that this is from the BBMF Lanc as the seat belts are modern ones.

Now, following on from the basic scratch-building I showed last time, here's my interpretation of how the mid-upper turret will look.



Here the interior has been primed and painted black, then dry brushed in silver and copper to bring out detail. Some plumbing has been added to busy it up. Cartridge sacks are shaped Blu Tac, wrapped in builders masking tape and painted. The seat is also made from doubled over masking tape, painted and the leather cushion is old wallet leather, painted. The mounting bracket has been added, as trial and error proved that this was the best way of positioning it accurately.

I had some problem with the fit of the gun mount after painting. It was very stiff to move and both the mount and the brackets needed a fair bit of sanding before they moved freely enough for them to elevate. That's also why the barrel of the outside turret wasn't painted, as I could see that it was already a very snug fit to the bin.



Before I added any more detail to the turret I wanted to fit the scratch-built oxygen regulator to the turret bin, to make sure that I had room. The main turret will need to be able to slide down without being blocked. A test fit proved that this is still possible.



Having reassured myself about the fit, the turret detailing was now finished. The seat and seat mounts were installed. The seat has been designed to be displayed either open or secured, as desired. Then, the seat belts were added. Finally I carefully mounted the guns making sure, with the help of some light grease, that they elevated smoothly on their axle. The turret is now so full that I suspect that there's no way for the gunner to fit in!



Then came the tricky bit of sliding it into the can - first with the seat secured…



…then unhooked, if more of the interior needs to be visible.



I'll end this section with a couple of front and side shots.





The only thing of interest here is the addition of the ammo belts entering the gun mounts. The narrow strip of masking tape to the front was just to align the turret and the bin accurately.

I won't combine the turret and bin until I get the canopy into position – my next job just in case it impedes anything.


I'm off on a local break from tomorrow, so it'll probably be a couple of weeks before I'm in a position to post again.


Slán,

Gerry