New Revell 1/72 Avro Lancaster build.

[ian lanc]

Hi guys. I thought i'd better start the new incorrect Revell Lanc' kit, i did start this some time ago but so saddened by the faults i put it away.

Well heres a few pictures for starters,i'm able to make my model with three engines
because a friend of mine was throwing his away because he didn't like the wing dihedral
I have took more pictures but they will be posted later on.

This wheel would look OK on NX611 or PA474 but not on a 'wartime' Lanc'

We all know about the tail wheel is wrong but the quickest way to put it right is to put the built wheel on the end of your Dremel
and gently make a new groove in the centre of the tyre and also with the aid of a sharp knife cut into the side to make a rim.

Also on the Revell turret fairing ring the fairing hood is the wrong shape, so that will be cut off and replaced with the Aifix one which looks alot better.

Revells poor attempt at making 303 browning guns note the resin gun barrels i'll be using for mine.

One of the best thing about the Revell Lanc' is you can display it with engines showing, so i've removed three sets of cowlings to show the engines 'off'


ian

 

[ian lanc]

Hi guys,
I've only just spotted that the first escape hatch is in the wrong position too, something i have not spotted on other builds of this lancaster, i'll be altering that laterin the build.

This is what the cockpit should look like, yes the trim wheel is a bit big but it doesn't look that big when looking through canopy

Wrong placement of escape hatch compared to the airfix kit.

These notches which are pointed out by the white arrow is the reason why the bomb bay won't shut neatly
this has to be done on the otherside of the fuselage too.

This is what happens if you don't ensure that the bomb bay fits in correctly, good job i didn't glue mine first.

Revells wheels are also incorrect as they are too wide,too big,wrong hub, so the best thing to do is chuck them away and buy some resin aftermarket wheels as in the picture.

Thanks for looking. ian

 

[ian lanc]

Also with the kit you don't get a DF loop this is the round circle which is on the fuselage to the back of the canopy
It's really easy to make one of these loops if you follow these simple steps.

Get yourself some round scrap sprue around 2mm is ideal, mark out the centre of the rod and the drill a hole out in the centre
so you end up with a nice O shape.

Now push in a bit of scrap stretched sprue into the hole, this will stop your ring from crushing while you cut it off, now to remove the ring ! carefully keep running your knife
around the loop, don't rush this part ! Voila the ring ! lol

Now all you need is add another longish bit of stretched sprue and glue it onto the ring,
don't use normal model glue as this will melt/distort the ring, when its cured cut the sprue down to size.

To get the correct position of where the DF loop should go just put your canopy on the fuselage and put a mark with pencil directly below the dome
now drill out a hole with the correct size drill bit.

Now add your painted DF loop into position, easy isn't it

cheeers.

 

[ian lanc]

The undercarriage is way too 'over engineered' just look at the amount of parts to put everything together and afterall this
its weak too and many Revell Lancaster has collasped by this

I've cut out the ailerons before i've even thought about gluing the wings together.

The ailerons are all glued together,this will make the finished model look even better.

I've made a start on the bombs and 'cookie'. does anyone think 'the cookie' looks wrong The colour for these bombs is Humbrol 115 olive drab.

At least the tail sections look correct [i think anyway] I might just cut and re-align the fins and set at an angle, but undecided yet.

 

[ian lanc]

One thing also with the Revell Lancaster is that horrible upper turret fairing ! I've seen quite a few model Lancasters made and they all look very nice indeed but that fairing just doesn't look correct, look at it from the side and you'll know what i mean. I've got an old Matchbox fairing which i'll most likely be using.

Revell turret fairing[white] and the Matchbox turret fairing[brown]

The fuselage fits together very well and i've omitted my turrets at this point because i cut the bases off and glue directly to fuselage
the model looks far neater when you do it this way as theres no messing about trying to sand/smooth around where the turrets should be.

Where i'm going to glue the canopy to the fuselage i've blacked out with black ink this stops any white showing through from the inside
and the glue doesn't affect the ink, though normal paint would crinkle and the bond between the canopy/fuselage would be weak.

Revells bomb bay 'ROCKS' over the Airfix one and the detail is very good indeed.

These are the PE flaps i'll be using, i didn't even know i had these until i went searching through my lanc' stuff

Revells Carb' intakes are also wrong so the use of my resin ones will be used, which look loads better.


Thanks for checking out these threads and hope they'll be useful to some

ian.

 

[Lucky13]

Awesome! Another Lancaster build! I just managed to put the 1/48 Tamiya away in the furthest parts of my brain and now you bring this one out! D*mn you Ian!!

Looking great and I look forward to the rest mate!

Oh, I WANT A 1/48 TAMIYA LANCASTER!!!

 

[dirkpitt289]

Ian

You are a Lancaster building fool!!! Keep em coming...

 

[lesofprimus]

Very nice work Ian, and a great tutorial..

 

[ian lanc]

Thanks guys i'm glad you like the tutorial, not many people do it like me ! more of just a few pictures and hey presto its finished


A few more pictures as to what i've done today.

I've marked out where the escape hatch has got to be then the other hole will have some plastic put in before i cut the other hole out.

With the other hole filled up first it will make that small bridge of plastic stronger and won't break when i open up the hole [hopefully]

The hole carefully cut out and the escape hatch fits in nicely, just need the old hole saning over then jobs a good un'

Decided to cut the fins in half so i'll be setting them at an angle to give make the model come out and shout at you

Needle tip props finished, again all is handbrushed and i think i'm not putting any spinners on these props and thats why i've paint the hub cover.

ian.

 

[Lucky13]

Awseome!

 

[Airframes]

Nice work Ian.
Yes, the Revell 'cookie' is way out, nothing like the 2,000lb or 4,000lb bombs! The Airfix example is much better, especially if the vents in the tail ring are opened up. Neither the Revell or Matchbox upper turret cam fairing are correct! BTW, there's an easier way to make the DF loop, which was flat-sectioned bar, wound with the coils - just loop a length of thin plastic strip.

 

[A4K]

Great work Ian! I've got a spare Airfix 'Cookie' if you need one, btw.

 

[ian lanc]

Yes, the Revell 'cookie' is way out, nothing like the 2,000lb or 4,000lb bombs! The Airfix example is much better, especially if the vents in the tail ring are opened up. Neither the Revell or Matchbox upper turret cam fairing are correct! BTW,

Hi Terry,
I thought the cookie didn't look correct. I know the Matchbox one isn't still a bang on match but its better than the Revell one,
i suppose i could join two airfix fuselages up and make a mould of the turret fairing, but is it worth it [maybe]
your loop way sounds alot quicker but i wanted a complete true circle.

Great work Ian! I've got a spare Airfix 'Cookie' if you need one, btw.

Thanks for the offer but i reckon i have about ten of them so i'll get searching and the revell one is getting thrown.

Oh ! by the way Evan the canopy you gave me to help repair that smashed up lanc' worked a treat and the model is back at its new home and it arrived undamaged

ian

 

[Airframes]

Ian, the true shape of the cam track fairing lies somewhere between the Revell and Matchbox offerings. If anything, the Revell example is closest, believe it or not. Overall, the Revell kit is rather good, with Airfix's current (1980's) kit scoring in some areas, although for general finesse, the Revell kit wins. The dihedral problem with the Revell kit is more to do with the thickness, across the chord, of the upper surface of the wing at the outboard joint, and can easily be rectified, although I didn't bother on mine.
Making the DF loop out of strip, or even stretched sprue, is simple. Just wrap it around a suitable gauge tube or rod, such as a paint brush, pull tight and glue with CA and cement. You'll get a perfect circle. The one on my current build can just about be seen, made this way.

 

[Wayne Little]

Great work Ian!

 

[ian lanc]

Hi guys and Terry,

Your right about using the Revell upper turret fairing after much thinking about how i could alter it i came up with an idea and now the fairing is on and looks loads better. To tell you the truth guys i'm enjoying this build and rectifing revells mistakes maybe i could sell it to revell.

I will be altering the wings dihedral so i'll be using the advice of Ted's Revell Lancaster where it shows you how he cut the wings up,
though i've no razor saw so maybe an 'Hacksaw' blade might work, what do you think ?

Also today i noticed that the Engine radiator nacelle intakes are wrong too Just how many more faults will i spot ! I know some of you guys will be saying ''why is he doing this'' my answer is if it doesn't look the part i'll just paint it all matt black and stick it on a thin pole and attach it to the side of my shed I did this to my Frog Lancaster kit

Heres what i've done so far today.....

This is Revells attempt at Lancaster nacelles, thats the light grey on the far right, one the other is the Airfix.

Give me strength !

The Airfix front section doesn't align with the revell parts but with a little cutting and sanding it will fit, trouble is theres three more to do

I 'was' going to use the Matchbox fairing but after looking at that it wasn't much better so i looked around how i could alter the Revell part and i added some scrap plastic into the dip which looks totally wrong i then trimmed/sanded and smoothed the new modified part and it came out like this.[the top one is a scrap revell fairing can you spot the incorrect bit]

General views of how the fairing looks like after modifing the part was done, have alook at an untouched built revell lancaster and you'll see the difference.

I've cut off the rear sections of the nacelles ready for when i do the dropped flaps [gulp]

Rear sections glued together you don't really have to have a neat edge on the side where it goes into the nacelle, it can't be seen.

The front turret has always bothered me too as it just doesn't look right too and after i compared it to Avro drawings and the Airfix turret it became apparant it is wrong, again .

This is the Airfix turret and didn't fit at all but after i sanded its base down a little it fitted nicely.

I've cut off Revells attempt at a hood cover and aligning trying to fit Airfix's part again this didn't fit too but a little patience your rewarded by a better looking turret fairing.
[Please see the other previous picture of Revell's Hood and you'll see what i mean]

The hood is now fitted and sits good also the curve of the fairing was wrong so i had to alter the shape of that too.

The resin wheels don't fit the Revell undercrriage and i've measured Revell's dimentions and they are too wide,
so i had to do something to make it look correct i thought about super gluing the hubs axle stub into the wheel but this made the legs go into a V shape [not good]

I've used a 1mm dia' steel shaft this is 12mm long and has 1mm wide alloy collars, i've drilled right through one of the legs then on the other leg is a 'blind hole' as the shaft didn't go all the way through.

This is the end result of the wheels/shaft/collars not too bad, eh a little complicated some may think but i was singing and enjoying myself at the time, yes i could have used plastic but i didn't want to.


Thanks for looking again guys any input is most welcome and you can all join in.

ian

 

[A4K]

Great work again mate! I have this and Terry's thread book-marked for when I do my own Lancs...

Glad you could fix up the other Lanc too.

 

[Wurger]

With all here. Well done Ian.

 

[Night Fighter Nut]

Ian, you're a real craftsman. I love the work you're doing on this plane. Much to learn.

 

[Airframes]

Great job there Ian. I have yet to find any kit of the Lancaster which has the correct shaped turrets, especially the front turret, and that includes the Tamiya 1/48th scale kit, which I'm guessing still has some of the other inaccuaracies, even after the improvements. Soon find out when I get one though!