Build of another Lancaster !!

[ian lanc]

Hi Guys been feeling alot better still got no feeling in my left lower leg and my left foot/toes are still numb and i think it will stay that way too Soi've been knuckling a Lancaster model again, though this one is to be the 2nd prototype Lancaster and has a few things slightly different to BI/BIII. Here goes..........

This one will be a bit different this time and dragged out Airfix's very first offering of a Lancaster model which was in 1956 i think. This kit isn't that good compared to their newer version the rear turret is totally the wrong shape as is the upper turret so i'll be using some spares from my srapped Lanc'.
The upper cameo' colours are the same as the standerd Lancaster other than it wraps further down and has a YELLOW underside. There will be letter P's on the fuselage and roundels on the underside of the wings

As always everything will be built on my 'lap' using my old faithful tray, now just to get all my memory back and remember how the things go together

Well guys done a bit more and found out the the first and secound prototypes had a lower gun so i've had to scratch build one of those too. I'll be using the secound tooling Airfix rear/upper turrets as Airfix's 1st job is the pits [see the picture and you'll understand] Got to use Airfix's 1st tooling front turret as its moulded to the shape of the fuselage and Airfix's 2nd tooling doesn't fit

The underside is to be done in Prototype yellow what ever colour that is !

The props are moulded as one piece and where covered in 'flash' but soon got cleaned up and looked ok.

Hmmm now then which ones shall i use

What can i say.....now't there props

Camoflage was a little different to the mass produced Lanc's

Undercarriage is not 100% accurate,well the aircraft was still TOP SECRET when Airfix made the model

scratch made the lower turret, guns will be added when model is nearly finished.

Thanks for looking,

ian.

 

[ian lanc]

I've noticed that both prototypes had no upper turrets surrounds and the Airfix job has a surround and i'm going to remove it and it has left me with a massive gaping hole to fill and then drill out to fit the turret.

I've come to the conclusion that the Airfix 1st tooling Lancaster is POO

I'm working on the cockpit area and the canopy doesn't fit at all so it will be 'pushing' me here

upper and rear turrets painted in camoflage colour unlike the normal black type we see.

Fillered hole.This took some doing in getting the curve correct to the fuselage, i drilled the hole out using a wood drill bit and doing this by hand carefully.

Repainted around the hole, i've since made more rivets to match the rest of the fuselage.

upper fits nicely, i've cut the base of the airfix turret so it just pushes into the hole.

Flame dampers are painted black on the prototype 2 unlike the prototype 1 which has none.

Thanks for looking.
Ian.

 

[ian lanc]

The front section of the nose is very inacurate being that there no viewing window, so i'm going to cut out a slot and chop up an old airfix nose blister and place the window in, this will i hope make it look much better !

Loosely fitted the window this will look much better, some fillering along the seam behind the glass will be needed because the fuselage sections are like a letter 'm' in the middle and i'll also have to mark out an escape hatch square.

I think some of you guys should drag out your old Airfix Lancaster kit and start it after all they shouldn't be 'mothballed' and left to rot, the box anyway

Cheers.

 

[ian lanc]

Hi guys. Can anyone Verifiy WHY the lower ventral turret was actually removed

I was told by an 83yr old RAF vet' who was a gunner and The main reason why they stopped putting the Ventral turret on was that they constantly blew away the bottom of the rear stablelizers/fins with the machine guns.

But now i've got some people saying that they where removed because..............

''It is said looking through periscope gunsight made the gunners thoroughly sick when using it and that was the reason the turret was discontinued with''.

If the old Vet is wrong who's right I'm all ears to hear different views.

ian.

 

[imalko]

Glad to hear you are feeling little better Ian. Just hang in there. Also I must say great work on the Lancaster. Coming on beautifully.
I'm not sure about the reasons for removing the ventral turret, though. I always thought that they were removed because they weren't very effective against German fighters at night. You know, because of dark ground bellow or something like that. But, I'm just guessing here...

 

[Lucky13]

Glad to hear that you feel much better Ian and that you're back in the saddle again! Great work!

 

[Airframes]

Great to have you up and about again Ian, and good work on the old Lanc kit. I remember building two or three of those back in the early to late '60's, when it was still state of the art! I converted one to a Dam Buster too! Then Revell brought their kits out! When Airfix released the 'new' Lanc, in the early 80's, I thought it was fantastic!
Anyway, the ventral turret was discarded very early on, as it wasn't very effective, and rrequired either an extra crew member, or meant a gunner leaving his turret to man it, plus the additional weight of the turret, guns and ammo and, of course, drag.
It was re-introduced on the Dams Lancs, then quickly modified to a single gun. Then it was realised the aircraft would be flying too bl**dy low to use the things, so they were taken out! This was confirmed to me by Pete Thorn, ex-BBMF, ex G-Fire Spit XIV pilot, and son of Bill Thorn, the chief test pilot on the Lanc.
BTW, the 'Prototype Yellow' is the same as 'Trainer Yellow', Humbrol No.24 Matt Yellow.

 

[Wurger]

Hi Ian...glad you shared these pics with us...Keep working.Nice job so far.

 

[vikingBerserker]

Hi Ian, glad you are feeling better. Not too shabby building on your lap!

 

[Wayne Little]

Doin' a great job Ian well done mate....also glad you are feeling well enough to tackle your favourite subject,,,again!

 

[rochie]

great job Ian, glad your improving

 

[A4K]

Great work Ian! Great to see you in action again!

Almost with Terry on the Prototype Yellow, from photos and profiles I've seen I would describe it as a slightly lemony Humrol 154 Insignia Yellow.

About the ventral turrets too, I think space was an additional factor - having two sets of ammo trains and all the working gears for the mid upper and ventral turrets pretty much on top of each other made the central fueslage extremely cramped.
Interesting that it was reintroduced on some of the bulged bomb-bay doored B-IIs (sans mid upper turret I think).

 

[Heinz]

Looking marvellous Ian mate.

 

[TL Blade]

Looks very interesting, I've never seen a Lancaster with a bottom turret like that.

 

[ian lanc]

Well guys. i'm sure glad i've got some friends who care so much

I ran out of Humbrol 29 and got a new tin and it was a different shade to the rest of the model so i had to repaint the whole thing again.
Nearly finished the canopy painting this is a right pain because there are fine lines where the framing is supposed to go and its all wrong, so i'm having to do it all by comparing it to the Aerodata International n'10 no fun i'll tell you

I think i'll be trimming the ends off the guns after seeing these larger pictures they look bad.

The MASSIVE gap between the fuselage and front gun, i'll be using a bit of plasticard and the turret hood from an old Airfix kit. nice [not] !!

Fairing added just needs a little cleaning up around the edges, also my grey turret hood went 'ping' and lost it so i delved deep into my spares and found another

Filled out the horrible grove and fitted in the window.

Canopy nearly done thank god.

I'll be glad when this one is done !

 

[ian lanc]

Looks very interesting, I've never seen a Lancaster with a bottom turret like that.

Heres a picture of a prototype with that sort Ventral turret

glad your interested in the build.

ian.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Lucky13]

Excellent Ian!

 

[ian lanc]

Well guys finally got the canopy permantly on and added a bit of detail to the not so detailed one I should be masking the lower part of the model tomorrow and then i'll be spraying it yellow

Canopy now complete.It was horrible to paint as all the lines which where on the canopy are all wrong and i had to do my own.

I was going to add clear window film but i couldn't get it to look right, so i painted the window holes black and they look ok, i'll also be painting 'fake' windows around the cockpit/nose area.

Added a bit of detail to the cockpit this changes a horrible interior into something more acceptable.

Well Airfix's nose blister is the one on the bottom left and is very poor and doesn't align up properly, so i ordered the top middle one from Hannants and is too small !!
So i looked around in my spares box and found an old Matchbox blister and was a perfect fit so i've used that one.

Canopy didn't fit at the front at all so abit of fillering was needed there too, the sides of the canopy wern't a bad fit at all, also added a bomb aimers cushion which can just be seen.

Cheers. Ian.

 

[Heinz]

It looks great Ian mate