Revel 1/72 Lancaster

[Guest]

Another Chrimbo pressie, this time from my son. New tool in 2007 and it doesn't look too bad. Panel lines are a bit canyon like for the scale, but most parts are crisply moulded. A couple suffer from lots of flash, but they are few and far between. The old style instructions aren't the best, especially on the paint side. There were no demarcations for the two interior colours so I had to guess, and one part is marked up to be painted in different colours depending on which step of the instructions you are looking at!

I won't go mad with the blog on this but here are some shots of today's progress.

Decent box art and the only reference I've got to work from so I hope it's accurate :smiling5: The fact that it doesn't show the rows of side windows is a concern, as they are likely to be the biggest headache when it comes to painting.

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Revell called out a cocktail for both of these colours so I just went with interior green and German Grey, which seemed near enough.

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Very sparse 'pit. There are decals for the IP, radio stuff and belts, but I haven't decided whether to use those or paint the details myself.

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The German Grey I used was the from the new AK Gen3 acrylic range. It sprayed remarkably well, with a bonus that I could use the exact same shade to brush paint some of the other items. Even really close up it has a decent finish, and dried quite quickly. The green next to it is Mr Color, which was masked up about 10 minutes after it left the airbrush. Even though they both went on top of Mr Surfacer primer I wouldn't risk doing that with an acrylic. Please ignore the pin marks, I am :upside:

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[AlanG]

From what i remember the windows were painted over later on in the war. So that's maybe why the box art isn't showing them up.

[Guest]

Ah, thanks Alan, I'll look into that. It would sure save a lot of masking!

[colin m]

Ignore the pin marks, sure thing. I do ! I know we go over the top with interiors, but I've got a 1:72 Lanc. sat on the shelf and I haven't tried to look inside the cockpit for years.

[yak face]

Great start Andy , are you doing the box top version with the yellow fins ? Makes a colourful change from the usual lancs we see . Cheers tony

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Ignore the pin marks, sure thing. I do ! I know we go over the top with interiors, but I've got a 1:72 Lanc. sat on the shelf and I haven't tried to look inside the cockpit for years.

Totally agree with Colin on the interior detail. The amount of times Ive assembled a 1/72 model only to find the hours of work spent on the interior were wasted because you just cant see it through the canopy. Great start on this one. Looking good.

[adt70hk]

Andy

Nice start!

Re the side windows, I believe Alan is right about them being painted over.

I am NOT an expert on anything plane related but I came across a build blog on the Airfix forum for the Airfix Lanc I have, which said exactly that and even had pics of the actual aircraft from somewhere online to prove the point.

Suggest you try and find examples of the actual aircraft that you have the decals for to see if you can find any pictures online to confirm either way.

Keep up the good work.

Andrew

[Tim Marlow]

Quite a bit on it here https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/thread...uestion.11475/ if you’re interested Andy.
Nice start by the way, interested to see this one unfold. The rear windows are definitely stated as overpainted by the way.

[prichrd1]

Andy,

From ww2aircraft.net



I'm no expert on the "Lanc" but from what I have read - early/mid production "Lanc's" had the
small windows painted over. Later war "Lancs" were built without the windows.

The "Lanc" had a serial No LM739 - and first saw service in September 1944.

HTH.

Paul.

[Jim R]

Hi Andy
Turns out quite a big model even at 1/72. Nice start. You usual very neat, careful work.
Jim

[Guest]

Thanks for all the help & advice chaps. I'm at work today but will have a scout through the links later.

Tony, yes, pretty sure I'll be adding the yellow. Like you say it adds something different.

[Tim Marlow]

The link I posted above explains the yellow fins, used to denote lead AC in the last major raid in the war, worth doing for that reason alone in my opinion Of course, YMMV....

[Guest]

Bobbling along with this but starting to think I'm way out of my depth. I need instructions in plain English, not Ikea type pictograms that hint at what you might have to do lol.

The two halves of the long tube bit went together reasonably well, plenty of tape was used just to make sure it didn't move as I worked my way around.

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The big and small flappy things that stick out of the sides also fitted together well, needing just a light swipe with a sanding stick on the joints

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The bigger ones seemed to look better at the front so that's where they went. Some bits of foam under the ends stopped them drooping as the glue dried and lead to a very tight joint at the top and acceptable underneath.

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Then we get to the lumps that fit onto the flappy things. The outer ones weren't too bad, just a hollow casing with fake exhaust tubes. Opening out the venty things was a pain but it took my mind off losing the part that lets the props turn. Looks like they'll be fixed in place...

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The inner lumps were a whole different ball game. Many parts and braces were fitted into the wheel wells. The engines were built up along with their carrying frames, all painted up nicely as instructed, only to realise it's all completely invisible once fitted. It was a wrestle to get the engine/frame/exhaust into the lumps, as I think whoever scribbled the instructions forgot that the exhaust pipes would get in the way, so I stripped the assembly back down, and reassembled it, keyhole surgery style, inside the lump.

Upon trying to fit these lumps it was clear we'd had a malfunction somewhere. I forced them into place the best I could, splitting them both and cracking one in the process (centre foreground in the picture) and ended up leaving some nice ventilation slots between them and the flappy bit.

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I couldn't see any sign of these slots on the few tiny pictures on the box so figured it must be a mistake and a huge gap instead, so got the milliput out. That seems to have gone off, wasting 95% of the pack, so nicked some Green Stuff from my lad. That has to be one of the worst materials I've ever used, but eventually managed to get some into the big gaps. The smaller ones were gradually filled with several layers of Vallejo putty, swiped in with a finger.

I now have dozens of decisions to make about which bits need to be painted before fitting, which can be masked and painted on, which bits of which parts are clear or painted, and all that jazz. Again the instructions are of very little help, only showing a rough idea of what colour some of it should be, not where the demarcations are or how you are supposed to go about it. At the moment it seems like I'll be painting this in about 50 different pieces, then nailing them together with my nemesis, CA glue, afterwards.

[Guest]

Green Stuff […] has to be one of the worst materials I've ever used, but eventually managed to get some into the big gaps.

It’s not a filler as much as — originally — a sealant and repair material for plumbing. Yes, seriously — that’s why it’s a bit flexible when cured. Nowadays, it’s more a sculpting medium, which probably also doesn’t make it a great filler.

I own two fairly large sticks of it (maybe 20 cm long and 3 cm thick) for years and have never actually thought of a use for it that my other putties wouldn’t work just as well for. I’m thinking I’ll try it for weld beads on the Crabs I’m building, and then mainly because it will be visible against the grey plastic.

[stillp]

Are you talking about the same Green Stuff Jakko? Sold by Squadron, packaged in a tube.
Pete