Two instruction sheets to bring you up to date…
The first page covers the tailplane and the first part of the mid upper turret.
The second, the mid upper turret, the rear turret, the bombs and the beginning of the rear part of of the rear of the aircraft interior.
The tail section
Not yet cemented and not finished with all the control levers, I have finished the oil canning on the horizontal and vertical fins. They are more gentle than the fuselage sides and took a little more time. I now “only” have the wings, bomb doors and engine nacelles to work on so plenty to keep me busy. I have been listening to the Trump – Mueller enquiry whilst doing this – so any questions !!
If it looks too savage to your eye then sanding will bring it back.
Close up of the vertical fins. The good thing about HKM’s work so far is that the rivet runs are quite deep and therefore very little recovery work is needed for them to show through the paint work.
Most of the interior parts to the mid upper turret – there are a lot of ejector marks on the plastic – many will be invisible. But whilst I am on the subject there are a great many all over the model parts some are very awkward to remove, particularly in the bomb bay which we are coming to soon.
I will put the wiring in place after paint work.
I have just started on the rear turret which will be treated in the same way.
One of the photo references I have seen shows the side wall of the undercarriage to be open into the wing. As this is a pretty easy job I got to work with my hand drill. Well this was a mistake! I had a very sore wrist very shortly after I had started. I don’t know why I didn’t start with the Dremel but the job was only a few minutes work using that.
This pic shows three of the four stages to the work.
1. Drill, do this round the edge (don’t read this if I am teaching you how to suck eggs!)
2. Cut out the centre section and cut to near flush with the edge
3. File the edges flush and sand clean (not done here yet)
Once you are happy with that… it is as good as you wish, then brush over some plastic cement to clean it up.
Here are most of the spaces hollowed out of the other nacelle with some filing, sanding and glue needed to finish it.
Stuart Mackay says
Sir, I admire your dedication with the oil canning which will surely take such an outstanding model to another Level!
I could, quite easily run out of superlatives for the work that you have done so far!
Truly amazing, and I can hardly wait for each installment of this epic build!
Max Williams says
You’ve made a wonderful job of the oil canning effect Julian, it should look most realistic under a coat of paint.
RossPaton Paton says
Amazing. You tempted to put the transparent side on it?
Julian Seddon says
Hi everyone ! Thanks for the comments. When I started this I was only thinking in terms of the of the fuselage and wings. But as I looked at more and more references I realized that the stress to the aircraft included everything !! The engine nacelles, u/carriage doors,bomb doors etc. this has all taken much longer than I had anticipated.
I am only finishing up what can be seen.
In answer to you Ross two reasons for not using that transparent sides
a. I have only finished the cockpit everything else internally is not touched. The a/c I am modelling P – OS has all the side windows (barring the radio ops) painted over
b. The would have negated the work on stressing the airframe !
Julian Seddon says
some how in (b) above I have missed out the “transparent sides would have negated ” sorry !!!
Michael Chilestone says
There’s some amazing work there Julian; you have more patience than I do!
I assume the site header on the home page is this model as well? I was particularly struck by the weathering on the bombs: they really look as if they’ve spent a few weeks sitting outside on the bomb dump.
Chapeau!
Julian Seddon says
Thanks Michael, yes the header is the same model.
I tried to make the aircraft look as though it has been sitting next to the bombs for a similar time !!
JS
Christopher Woolford says
In 1967 or early ’68 a noted historian, Professor Alan J.P. Taylor, told me that historians are not custodians of the truth. He said historians make interpretations of verifiable facts. The truth, he said can only be told by creative artists. To illustrate his point, he told me to read Len Deighton’s ‘Bomber’. I did and I will never forget it. The bomb bay of your model is likewise chillingly memorable. Well done.
Julian Seddon says
Thank you Christopher. I must say that the word “chillingly” hadn’t occurred to me, but now, bearing in mind what it represents, the contents of the bomb bay of a Lancaster was chillingly fearful to those on the receiving end of it.
Your quote was well extracted !!
JS
Bruce Anders says
An absolutely fantastic build of the model Julian. It has been a joy to watch it’s progress. I sold mine upon the news HKM would be releasing a 48 version. Your build almost makes me regret it
Julian Seddon says
Hi Bruce, I wouldn’t regret it too much !! This was a grind in many ways as, at first, I had no real concept of the amount of oil canning I was faced with. Almost every part of the air frame showed signs of wear, right down to the fasteners on the engine covers !
Looking back it was worth it but it took some resolve to continue from time to time !!
I am sure that HKM will release a very good 1/48th scale version although I have not, as yet, heard about it
Thanks for your comment !
JS