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[scottie3158]

Colin,
This build is showing great skill and dedication

[Bigfoot57]

Lancaster 1/32 Update No 48

Ok as promised here is the starboard wing construction along with additional fuel piping to allow for fuel transfer from one tank to another for trimming purposes then the rear cabin entrance door and finally the 1st part of the engine mounting support structure
So 1st of the wing this required drilling a pathway through the wing sections to allow the threading of the wire to simulate the additional fuel lines and piping
The tanks were fixed in place and then additional piping was added along the leading edge of the wing and in between the two wing tanks with additional valves added where required by way of plastic discs cut using the leather belt punch
Next the wing tip structure was built up and the wing tip added then clamped overnight until it was solid and the glue had dried
This was then sanded to the reuired profile and then the whole wing was painted
Next came the rear entrance door which had to be custom made as the supplied aluminium was too small so I scratch built a new one out of plastic card to the correct size after making sure the frame would fit into the doorway by way of numerous try and fits and sanding until I achieved a snug push fit I then added the outer skin along with the handles
The door was then pushed into it’s place and as it was such a good fit no glue was required this allows for the possibility of having it open if so desired
Next the hinges were added to the side and secured to the fuselage
Finally for this section the 1st of the engine mounting supports has been started.by glueing 2 sections together this will be the next update and quite complicated as there are 68 seperate stages to this section

Regards

Colin

[scottie3158]

Colin,
The great work continues.

[Bigfoot57]

Lancaster 1/32 Update No 49

Installation of starboard outer engine ok so here we go 1st of is the bag of bits awaiting you next we sort out the various struts and sand and smooth any rough edges
Next they are painted and when dry assembly begins
Part 1 construct another engine control panel and the engine support struts they are the smaller diamond lozenge shapes in the photo next we add the engine support mounting bracket the square frame onto the engine firewall bulkhead the bracket has 4 holes 1 in each corner for engine support structs to lock into and secured with a brass nail
Next the control panel is mounted on the rear of the engine bulkhead across the 2 back struts we then add the main side support struts to the slots measured and cut into the wings surface basically all you do is align one of the struts and mark on the wing where the locating lugs will go do this for both sides drill your holes and push them into place lock the rear end with a brass nail and glue to the engine bulkhead and overglue all the locating lugs and the nail
Next its back to the engine support frames and time to add some cabling although my 1st attempt was utter rubbish and and I stripped them both back to bare metal repainted and this time ignored instructions and did it like this 1st measure the cable lengths required then if required paint them next secure them to the frames with glue and allow to set
Next I cut several pieces of tubing from a usb cable and used it outer sheathing split in 2 to make the tubing covering the cables on the structs at the required places finally 5 amp fuse wire was twisted arround these points to resemble fastenings
Next the red tank was assembled and the flat metal wrapping applied and allowed to dry then the various caps were added and cables attached this was then mounted in the main support frame on the wing and several bracing struts were added to lock the tank and the rear structure into place
All that left to do was mount the engine supports into the front on the main engine firewall bulkhead locate the lugs into the 4 holes on the square frame and lock them with the 4 brass nails well thats what was supposed to happen
What actually happened was 2 of the nails pinged off into the wilderness called my front room never to be seen again so I secured those 2 with wire the other 2 had to be persuaded to fit which they did with the application of a drill and pliers
Anyway with them secure the previously constructed engine was offered up and surprise it fitted just a case of gluing it to the support struts and adding severall cables and there we are the 1st engine installed needless to say the next one will be done slightly different using the experience I got from this one

Regards
Colin

[Bigfoot57]

Lancaster 1/32 Update 50

Half a century and were still going oh well here’s the latest update
As you can see we have a bag stuffed with bits to paint and build so first off are the 3 cylinders that mount on the end of the mid-wing on the starboard or right hand side these are painted then assembled with their associated end caps to which 3 black wires are attached 1 to each bottle top
Next another hydraulic tank and pump along with the pipework and handrail is painted and assembled then when dry added to the mid upper gunner section of the fuselage along with 2 semi circular pieces of wood that sit on the top of the fuselage either side of the mid upper gun position I have been told these were riders along wich the guns traversed causing them to raise this was supposedly to prevent the mid turret from shooting either the pilot in the cockpit or the tail fins off by accidentally depressing the gun angle whilst traversing as in tracking an enemy plane plausible explanation I can’t come up with any thing else
Next the tailwheel assembly 4 curved pieces of wood glued together form the support then the tailwheel is assembled and pushed into place this assembly is then added to the rear section of the fuselage and with a lit of fettling and filing and cursing finally slides into place the tailwheel struct which protrudes into the rear fuselage is then capped with a cover which is glued into place after about an hour of filing and fiddling and swearing as its a right pig to fit after this the wood assembly is then sanded and contoured to the fuselage shape
Next the last engine is built I wont go into detail here as the construction of these has been covered earlier in this log
Next the remaining engine cradles areg built painted and the wiring added see the photos as they explain better than words
Next Rear Elevator Rudder and Split Edge Flap are built and painted
Next a lot of interior detail is painted ready for installation this includes pilots seat which i modified by enlarging the amour plate as the supplied was too short then the control column stand was painted and the rivet detail brought out by gentle sanding there were also rudder pedals and some bracing structs for the engiine cradles when they are mounted also built and added the engineers seat in the stowed position
The pilots seat received additional details along with my rivets made from printed paper as the rivet tool made a right hash of it collapsing in the middle of one of the long rivet runs
And finally the outer skin was added to the port or left hand side forward fuselage this having been marked out rivet lines added painted on the inside then glued and clamped to the rib structure overnight
Well that’s all for now need a rest after that lot

Regards

Colin

[Bigfoot57]

Lancaster 1/32 Update 50 additional photos

[Bigfoot57]

Lancaster 1/32 Update 51

Hello again after a month long should we say diversion building a card model of a M82 A1 Barrett sniper rifle in full size anyone wants to see it look in the miscellaneous builds titled what can you build from card it’s back to the Lancaster again
This time it’s adding the 2 inboard engines and then some wing skinning to finish with
So 1st off is to add metal firewalls to each engine mount then after these have dried thread and attach various bits of wire ready for the engines to be mounted having previously constructed them
Once they are in place there are some more additional wiring to be done some of it I still need to do after that you paint the ends of the wires silver to resemble connections
And finally onto the wing skinning you are given a card template which you either cut out and use the resulting shape as a template for the aluminium skin or you can use the hole left by the template and trace around that either way works next just score the aluminium a few times after which you then bend it repeatedly down the score lines until it breaks of its own accord this method works surprisingly well giving nice clean sharp edges to the panel you are producing
Next the rib lines need to be marked onto the reverse side of the panel ready for the rivet pinwheel to simulate the rivet lines on the panel after this apply contact glue to the structs and the panel let it go tacky then join the 2 together and clamp overnight to ensure a good strong bond is made
One hideous idea they came up.with is attaching the split edge flaps with the tiniest of bolt and nut yet used this is a real pia and the best I have managed so far is one lost bolt to the carpet monster and 2 bolts glued into place minus the nuts it works but is not ideal anyway thats if for this session more to follow

Regards

Colin

[Bigfoot57]

Lancaster 1/32 Update 52

Hello again we had a disaster on the main fuselage wing box basically it got knocked off the table resulting in this carnage it has been rebuilt and I have left it for a couple of weeks to reset and see if anything comes unglued from the repairs luckily it’s wood so easy to fabricate new parts but it seems this kit is cursed at present just like the other build on the WW2 airplane forum where the person building the identical kit dropped his joined fuselages onto the floor again with catastrophic results anyway should commence construction in the next week

[scottie3158]

Colin,
That's a bummer mate, it must be heartbreaking after all that fine work. I'm glad to hear that you are going to rebuild and carry on.