The Border Models 1/32 Lancaster BI/III

[BarryW]

I understand a few of the chaps on here have been down there. They said the scenery was good, the food terrible and way to much walking. AND you had to carry your own baggage.

The build is coming along well. surprised about the decals though.

But, in my case, I am in a luxury cruise with Silver Seas, they are well known for the quality of the food Ian!

[Waspie]

But, in my case, I am in a luxury cruise with Silver Seas, they are well known for the quality of the food Ian!

Unlike my trip. The Grey Funnel Line and the quality of the food was -
Not worth writing home about!!!!!

[Steve Brodie]

Sounds like a great trip ahead.

[BarryW]

Back to the bench with this big Lanc.

On Nigels Modeling Bench he points out that the bomb bay needs fitting to the nose section early on as it won’t fit if fitted as per instructions. Well Nigel might have pointed out that even at this early stage it is difficult to fit and, to do so, I have sanded off location tabs from the top of the bomb bay. My test fitting so far suggest that this will work but I still have some work to do in the fit.

You can see the navigators seat has come unstuck during the struggles. I will be able to refit that later with bent tweezers.

I do not blame the engineering of the kit for this. The dreadful instructions are to blame as I am sure that if WNW produced this kit, they would have had a very different order of build that would have stopped this being an issue.

[Jim R]

Nice to see this back on the go. All refreshed after your trip to the southern cold.
For a kit of this quality and expense you'd think the instructions would be excellent.

[BarryW]

Nice to see this back on the go. All refreshed after your trip to the southern cold.
For a kit of this quality and expense you'd think the instructions would be excellent.

But, of course, those writing the instructions were not the same people who designed the kit. Border have a poor reputation for the instructions on their own kits so it’s hardly surprising they have made a mess of these.

[BarryW]

I have made some slow progress and this is no kit for beginners!

As you can see the bomb bay is in place. After some cutting and filing it went together.

Firstly fitting the outer front fuselage sides has been a real struggle. I have done this over several days, having to break off before I lost my patience with it. Some location lugs had to be cut off where I thought they were stopping the panels from fitting. Then, today, there was an audible click and suddenly they fitted. This was meant to be just a dry fit originally but I got the Mr Cement S out and glued it immediately into place!!!!

Here it is. I will leave it until tomorrow before removing the tape and clamps



During the process more internal parts broker off, I refitted the seat by the way.


It won’t be much of a problem to glued them back into place.

I also got on with the front turret construction, as you can see. I did not bother with the brass gun barrels, but I might change my mind later. This was a difficult one, due to the terrible instructions it was not clear exactly where and how all the parts fitted. I got there in the end and I am now masking the transparency and preparation to paint it.




It’s a relief to have got that lot done.

[boatman]

Firstly fitting the outer front fuselage sides has been a real struggle. I have done this over several days, having to break off before I lost my patience with it. Some location lugs had to be cut off where I thought they were stopping the panels from fitting. Then, today, there was an audible click and suddenly they fitted. This was meant to be just a dry fit originally but I got the Mr Cement S out and glued it immediately into place!!!!
(Barry qoute)

an yes barry all that you have said in your above qoute also appleises to my tomcat as im havin the same probs an for the money these kits costs we should not be havin these probs do you aggree ?
chrisb

[Jim R]

Then, today, there was an audible click and suddenly they fitted.

Yes. Don't tempt fate. Glue and be thankful :thumb2:

[BarryW]

Firstly fitting the outer front fuselage sides has been a real struggle. I have done this over several days, having to break off before I lost my patience with it. Some location lugs had to be cut off where I thought they were stopping the panels from fitting. Then, today, there was an audible click and suddenly they fitted. This was meant to be just a dry fit originally but I got the Mr Cement S out and glued it immediately into place!!!!
(Barry qoute)

an yes barry all that you have said in your above qoute also appleises to my tomcat as im havin the same probs an for the money these kits costs we should not be havin these probs do you aggree ?
chrisb

Hi Chris. No, not really. There could be all sorts of reasons for such issues and I do not rule out something I did. In this case the model was designed by Wingnut Wings of course, Border bought the moulds and had no idea what WNW intended for instructions order of build etc. Also WNW had not finished and finally approved the moulds yet and, no doubt, if they had continued the development would have resolved many of the issues. We all know what high standards WNW set for themselves. Border has a difficult job to do on little information and we need to appreciate that. Their normal style of instructions really is not up to the job of a kit like this, we all know how WNW did their instructions for which this kit was developed. So in getting this kit you have to understand all this and give Border some slack. Yes they are not up to the job of a kit like this, few model companies are, but we should be grateful to them for bringing this kit to the market, despite the price. There have been some amazing builds of this model so it is buildable.

This is the only Border kit I will ever build as they otherwise don’t produce 1/32 aircraft.

Not all companies are capable of producing WNW or Tamiya quality kits.

[boatman]

OK Barry yes see what you mean but the probs im havin on my tomcat kit is rubbish an you built your bombcat dint you an lookin through your build of that things dint go right did they ? so i guess i'll just push on an try an understand some of your trummpy bombcat probs
an hope you had a nice time down south an did your boy make off with that stunning young lady ?
chrisb

[Guest]

That style of instructions is weird … They look really good, but as you try to follow them, it’s much harder than exploded-view drawings that show which parts go where. Here you essentially have a bunch of drawings showing the assembly steps in order, but it’s left to you to figure out which parts are actually added, and how. It puts me in mind of Lego instructions:

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n[/ATTACH]

… with the difference that Lego’s are actually clearer :smiling3:

Did you ever finish this build?

[Guest]

Border is kind of a curators egg at the moment. I’m willing to give them a little more time to develop but their kits aren’t cheap.
I have the Stuka - it should have been a great kit - the unique and very well done bonus figure of Rudel was very welcome.
Surface detail very nice take a look - and their plastic seems nice too.

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But somehow the kit was well made by someone, he got ill and some janitor took over.

Seriously the foot pedals are for a Chinese woman pilot with bound feet - I circled it so you can see the offending part - check this badger out;

[ATTACH=CONFIG]n[/ATTACH] They look about 1/72 scale. In fact here is a live comparison with actual 1/72;

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The engine is really quite nice but the cowlings are moulded completely illogically - with the 2 halves down the middle - not at all realistic. A shame as detail really good;

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I suppose these issues aren’t insurmountable but they got to do better than that.

Modellers buy the kit - they can criticise it!

Finally, if any bonus figure or barrel is included it is unclear in which box has these extras. The Border Luchs early releases has a metal barrel which makes a real difference as the plastic one is unfit for purpose. To save on ink they put nothing on box if included or not.

Edit; those pedals are a damning indictment

[Guest]

Hi Chris. No, not really. There could be all sorts of reasons for such issues and I do not rule out something I did. In this case the model was designed by Wingnut Wings of course, Border bought the moulds and had no idea what WNW intended for instructions order of build etc. Also WNW had not finished and finally approved the moulds yet and, no doubt, if they had continued the development would have resolved many of the issues. We all know what high standards WNW set for themselves. Border has a difficult job to do on little information and we need to appreciate that. Their normal style of instructions really is not up to the job of a kit like this, we all know how WNW did their instructions for which this kit was developed. So in getting this kit you have to understand all this and give Border some slack. Yes they are not up to the job of a kit like this, few model companies are, but we should be grateful to them for bringing this kit to the market, despite the price. There have been some amazing builds of this model so it is buildable.

This is the only Border kit I will ever build as they otherwise don’t produce 1/32 aircraft.

Not all companies are capable of producing WNW or Tamiya quality kits.

Maybe not - but they certainly are capable of charging like prices. Give Border some slack? :smiling5:For a £600 kit? If any kit I have is good I will say as much but if it has any issues - I will certainly say as much and then some.

I’ve been on some forums where a new kit is announced as being released. Most folk like me are like - ‘yeh, should be about 50 bucks’. But you always seem to get one cretin that says ‘I would pay much more - at least 70 bucks’.

So let’s not be too nice to the big corporations - they need to be fed but we don’t need to be bitten!

[BarryW]

Border is kind of a curators egg at the moment. I’m willing to give them a little more time to develop but their kits aren’t cheap.
I have the Stuka - it should have been a great kit - the unique and very well done bonus figure of Rudel was very welcome.
Surface detail very nice take a look - and their plastic seems nice too.

[ATTACH]506367[/ATTACH]

But somehow the kit was well made by someone, he got ill and some janitor took over.

Seriously the foot pedals are for a Chinese woman pilot with bound feet - I circled it so you can see the offending part - check this badger out;

[ATTACH]506368[/ATTACH] They look about 1/72 scale. In fact here is a live comparison with actual 1/72;

[ATTACH]506371[/ATTACH]

The engine is really quite nice but the cowlings are moulded completely illogically - with the 2 halves down the middle - not at all realistic. A shame as detail really good;

[ATTACH]506370[/ATTACH]

I suppose these issues aren’t insurmountable but they got to do better than that.

Modellers buy the kit - they can criticise it!

Finally, if any bonus figure or barrel is included it is unclear in which box has these extras. The Border Luchs early releases has a metal barrel which makes a real difference as the plastic one is unfit for purpose. To save on ink they put nothing on box if included or not.

Border’s 1/35 scale kits are of no interest to me, I won’t touch them with a barge pole. I am only interested in 1/32 (and the odd 1/48). I am certainly not saying that their own kits are any good at all.

The Lanc is different as they did not commission/design it and only bought the moulds. With a kit this complex it presented unique challenges to them as they cannot read the minds of the Wingnut Wings team that designed it. Their style of instructions is crap anyway and if you look at WNW instructions you can see how different they are. So yes, I am willing to give them some slack on this.

As for the cost of kits. I am not personally price sensitive with, even excluding the Lanc, an average price of over £100 for the kits in my stash. All 1/32 scale aircraft. We all have a different perspective on value and I consider many kits as good value that others think are cheap, but then value is very different to price. I would prefer, any day, to build a Tamiya 1/32 Spitfire at over £130 than four or five Revell 1/32 Spitfires at £30. Indeed I have built three of the Tamiya’s and one of the Revell.