1/72 LANCASTER B.III

[fubar57]

Not my scale but here's the story. Buddy Aaron and me started the same day at PRC coal mine in '09. When TCM copper mine was hiring 3 years later, again we got hired the same day so we've been on the same crew for almost 7 years. Last year he bought me a hard to find Blue Jays 2004-11 jersey...

...jerk won't tell me when his birthday is but he did tell me that the Lancaster was his favorite aircraft. Handing out some paper work one day I found out what his middle initial was and with Terry's(Airframes) very kind decal offer, I'll be building this for him as AS•D. As luck would have it, five RAF squadrons used AS as their codes and 100, 166 and 97 flew Lancasters. I'll be doing 166Sqn. The kit...

Geo

 

[fubar57]

Been off reading Gerry's build and if I understand correctly, forward of the main spar is black and aft is interior green. I don't think buddy would care if it were pink but I will try to be as accurate as possible.. Still looking through references but I hope to get something worth photographing later. The Canucks are getting ready to disappoint me at 1900hrs so we'll see what develops(They still haven't apologized for losing when I went and saw them live last Saturday).

Geo

 

[rochie]

Nice one Geo.

I keep toying with the idea of doing 4 engine bombers in 1/72 as they are easier to come by, but have not done it yet !

 

[Bustedwing]

Looking forward to seeing this come about......as for the Canucks, don't get me started, just know I feel your pain !

 

[Airframes]

Nice one Geo.
Yes, from about the period your Sqn got Lancs, the cockpit area, visible beneath the canopy, was matt black, as was the bomb aimer's compartment in the nose. This often continued aft, to the main spar, although the radio op and nav stations sometimes remained at least partly in the green-grey colour.
Note that this colour is RAF Cockpit Grey Green, a sort of sage green colour, as seen on Spitfires etc, and not the green yellowish Interior Green used on American aircraft.

 

[Crimea_River]

Got weekly access to a real Lanc Geo so just holler if you need anything. Agree with Terry but there's really not much you're going to see aft of the pit anyway unless you leave the crew hatch open. So you could make it pink if you want.

 

[fubar57]

Thanks Andy. What are your thoughts on the seat cushions? So far I've seen dark green, black and brown. With regards to pink innards, my pink Otterbox case is still a conversation piece at our morning crew meetings.

 

[Airframes]

Leather seat cushions were normally either a dark, almost bottle green, or dark brown.

 

[fubar57]

OK, finally got some glue flowing. The first two steps involve the bomb bay ceiling and wing spars. As the bay will be closed, I'll test fit this into a fuselage hatch to see if any paint is needed.

Geo

 

[Wurger]

 

[fubar57]

Thank you sir. A test fit of the wing spars proved to be very tight, I almost broke part of the left rear spar. I'll remedy this in a bit.

Geo

 

[Lucky13]

 

[Wurger]

Agreed with the above.

 

[Airframes]

Good start Geo.

 

[fubar57]

Thanks guys. Terry, or anyone for that matter, feel free to jump in if you see something going sideways here.


Geo

 

[Airframes]

Will do !

 

[fubar57]

Moving along, a nice little pilots seat.

Two questions. What would show through the black interior paint to show wear? Airfix would have one to paint the rear of the head armor(?) interior green. OK, 3 questions. There is a decal representing a gas detection patch on the front of the head armor. I have seen photos of this but was it always there?


Geo

 

[Crimea_River]

Not sure Geo and I don't recall if the Nanton Lanc has it. Sorry I missed your question on the seat cushions but I see Terry has responded with his usual accuracy. Maybe he'll know about the gas patch

 

[Airframes]

Head armour was normally black when the cockpit area was black. Any paint wear would show feintly as a dull grey metallic. The circular yellow gas detector was normally on the front, but could be on the back instead, although I've only seen a couple of photos showing the latter.

 

[fubar57]

Thanks Terry. Seat, steering column and IP are painted, IP has a decal for the gauges as do a few other boxes. I'm going with your thought on Int. Green in the radio op. station, though it will be on the walls. It's a little busy back there and I hope this will allow some view.


Geo