**** DONE: Revell 1/72nd scale Lancaster BIII, 'Oozlum Bird', 625 Sqn, RAF, GB.

[Airframes]

So far so good, no mess up - yet!
Four hours work saw the upper surface camouflage colours sprayed. The Dark Earth was applied first overall, on top of the light gey primer, built up in a slightly patchy manner to simulate very light weathering, as LM546 had only been in service two and a half months when lost. After allowing the two coats of Dark Earth to dry for a couple of hours, the Dark Green wave pattern was sprayed free-hand, following pencilled lines drawn on the previous paintwork. The current Bumbrol - sorry, Humbrol, No.30 Dark Green seemed a little too bright, with an almost Emerald tinge, when I painted the Boston, so a drop or two of No.29 Dark Earth was added , just to tone it down a tad.
Pics below.
When this has dried for a good twelve hours or so, the upper surfaces will be masked, and the black sprayed for the undersides, fuselage and fins. Then it's time to do some basic detail work on the gun turret interiors, and start on the landing gear, before spraying a gloss clear coat ready for the decals.
Thanks again for your interest and support, and I'll post some more pics soon.

 

[Crimea_River]

That's looking quite spiffy Terry!

What airbrush do you use, if I may ask?

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Andy. It's an inexpensive AB, made in the UK, and rather nice too. With practice, it'll give a tight, roughly 0.5mm fine line, so I haven't really had to use 'hard masks' so far. The AB series are avilable in a number of varieties, although 'mine' might be temporarily unavailable, through the manufacturers - everythingairbrush.com

 

[109ROAMING]

Dammit! its looking bloody great mate !

 

[Heinz]

Looks fantastic Terry!

 

[A4K]

Bloody oath Terry - stunning work!

Interesting that you assembled her first, then painted. I prefer painting the wings and fueslage seperately and attaching afterwards on mid-wing aircraft, to save a tricky masking job.

 

[Wayne Little]

Nice work on the camo Terry!

 

[ozhawk40]

Yep - Good job with the Camo Terry. 8)

Cheers

Peter

 

[rochie]

looks fantastic Terry

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much guys, it's appreciated, as always.
Evan, I'm not really a fan of the 'paint then build' routine, having always done things the 'traditional' way. I did consider painting the wings first on this one though, but the method of location swayed me away. I didn't fancy possible damage to the paintwork from cement or handling. The masking was fairly straight forward on a Lanc, although it took about 2 hours (!), so I can't see a need to leave off anything, except the fins,does make life easier!
The turret fairings at front and rear were also omitted for now, as the turrets go in first, with the fairings helping to retain them.
PIC 1. Here's how she looked masked. The most difficult part, in order to get it bang on right for positioning, was the fuselage demarcation, which must be absolutely straight along the line of the bottom edge of the (higher) windows, in this case these being painted out. Any area which could possibly catch overspray, however small, was masked too, and the fiddly bits were the cowlings and wing leading edges.
PIC 2. Shows how 'Oozlum Bird' looks, on the underside anyway, after two thin coats of 'Bumbrol' Matt Black which, I'm happy to say, went on very well. Whether it'll dry or not is another matter though!
I'm going to leave it quite some time, after the main masks are removed, before giving it a gloss coat, as I don't want that 'Bumbrol' black to react with the Vallejo gloss clear, which is in aerosol form, the only gloss clear I can get locally, apart from 'Bumbrol' clear enamel. I've looked at getting Gunze Sangyo, as used by Master Wayne, but I'm b*ggered if I'm paying £1.65, plus shipping, for a 10ml bottle!!
I'd normally use Johnson's' Klear' (Future) but, with the formulation change, and this being my last bottle of the 'original', I'd rather keep what I have for making matt and semi-matt clear coats. Anyway, thanks again, and more soon.

 

[ozhawk40]

Another great update Terry, and the Oozlum Bird is looking damn fine!

Cheers

Peter

 

[A4K]

Bloody hell she looks sweet Terry! Great work as always!

 

[Wurger]

I echo post above....holy crap.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much indeed, Peter, Evan and Wojtek!
Well, the main masking has been removed, and I'm pleased to say there was no paint bleed or bare patches! The paint was dry enough to add a few spots of very light panel line work, in pencil, which has been restricted to those common areas on the Lanc which show up in photos, mainly the upper wing access and fuel hatches, plus a little emphasis around the control surfaces. I'm fairly satisfied with the variation in 'depth' of the black, which sort of replicates what a Lanc looked like, even after only a few weeks in the elements, in the later period smooth black finish. Some very light emphasis has been made to the panels which often contast, mainly around the forward section, and the bomb bay reinforcing beam, running the length of the central fuselage.
So, once she's had at least 24 hours for the paint to harden, it'll be time to zap the Vallejo spray varnish onto her, ready for the decals, and the hand painted nose art, before work commences on some light weathering, and that well-known trait of the Merlin engined Lanc - exhaust stains!
Thanks again for your interest, and here's how 'Oozlum Bird' looks so far.

 

[javlin]

Looking sweet there Terry Cheers Kevin

 

[kgambit]

Great stuff Terry.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Great build T, she's looking good

 

[lesofprimus]

Missed ur last update above Terry, she's really lookin great man, reminds me that I gotta get my ass in gear....

 

[rochie]

looks fantastic mate

 

[Heinz]

Looks great Terry!