mozart

The Avro Lancaster, Manchester and Lincoln Datafile by Richard A Franks is pretty good, a SAM Publication. Lots of detail drawings and photographs as well as type history and development.

Aviation research is what re-kindled my boyhood love of modelling, but as a researcher my models have to be as historically accurate as possible and related to my sphere of research, and therefore almost by definition are unique. This also means of course that I cut all my own masks for markings.

The glass house, just one little area to touch up where a rogue piece of tape managed to get in the way, unnoticed by me! I'll be adding the grab handles and the red-painted locking mechanism to the forward windscreen tomorrow:

All the glass work primed, painted and masks now removed, I'm delighted with the way it's all turned out!

With the HK Lancaster landing as we speak on people's doorsteps I'll donate this special edition book produced a few years ago which covers many aspects of the Lancaster including internal detail shots: I'd rather not be entered into the draw thank you.

No inside masking Andy, I'm doing the same as I did on my Bf110E and putting thin painted strips of tape on the frame. Works well and looks convincing......and though fiddly it's easier than masking!!

Had a busy day or so, not a great deal of bench time but managed to get the masking complete, and it's now been primed. I'm hoping to get a top coat on it this evening:

Hmm, haven't got either of those in my range of MRP paints, must order some! Thanks Jan.

That's a good looking finish you're getting Jan, I haven't used MRP Smoke but I guess it's a thinnish grey-brown?

Tough call this Brian, but a pain that is so intrusive on the rest of your life has to be addressed so this is for sure the best option. Good luck with everything, you'll be missed from LSP with your encouraging and positive comments, so hurry back!! (no pun intended )

Ron, the easiest sprayable paints by far in my experience are MRP. They are thin so spray straight from the bottle, no need for thinners then getting the right consistency and they dry very quickly indeed, we're talking fifteen minutes or so. I clean mine AB with Alclad cleaner, again a very easy simple process. They are lacquer-based so a bit "smelly", personally I have no problem whatsoever with that though.

Probably so Shawn, but it's rather tedious work isn't it, especially on the Bf110 greenhouse! There's no doubting now who's plane this is:

Well it's looking decidedly possible that I may finish this build before the end GB date! Just about to start my least favourite part, masking canopies.....

Much happier with them now Dennis! Working on fitting the Eberspachers, a right royal pain they are too. I filed a flat on each one where the mating face is with the stubs to get the best fit that I could. I'm pleased that my method of "glazing" the triangular holes for the gauges worked again after forgetting to mask them:

Agreed Andy, even with just the masks in place I can see that it's an improvement, looking forward to spraying it up tomorrow. Then I think it's a coat or two of Klear on the fuselage for the decals, crossed eyes I think after putting those tiny numbers by each frame!