"Sugar's Blues" Late War RCAF Lancaster

[Thunnus]

WOW... how many cans of AS-12 were required to cover this beast Tom?  Looks frighteningly massive!

[Uncarina]

I was wondering that myself! I was surprised that it just took one can, my last. Now I have to order more for touchups... She is big for sure! Now I better get in contact with the Pima Air Museum so she has a place to stay.

 

Cheers,  Tom

 

 

Edited March 16, 2021 by Uncarina

[Uncarina]

Maru,

 

Thanks as always for your support! Your kind comments always provide fuel for my builds. When I first added the wings I was also astonished at how BIG she really is!

 

Cheers, Tom

[Uncarina]

“Flash Gordon was staring through the newly open part of his rear turret. God, it was cold, but he could see better than he had ever done before. If he bent forward he could almost get his head outside the aircraft. When he rotated the turret the slipstream passing across the barrels of the four Brownings made a gentle screaming sound, like high wind through telephone wires. He kept the turret moving, making the gun muzzles describe little circles as he had practised at gunnery school with pencils in the muzzles. A good gunner could write his name like that. It was a lonely position in the rear turret, especially when night fighters were about, for then chatter on the intercom was forbidden. Flash Gordon and Löwenherz were staring towards each other with all the concentration they could muster, but the night was too dark for either of them to see anything.”

 

— Bomber: Events Relating to the Last Flight of an RAF Bomber Over Germany on the Night of June 31st, 1943 by Len Deighton

https://a.co/i2sn44z

 

I've been focusing on the main landing gear, eliminating seams and assembling. As I proceeded and looked at reference photos I noticed that the rear main support struts which are meant to articulate along half of their length was molded as a solid block on the kit. I haven't seen any other build address this. I corrected this by CAREFULLY Dremeling a small trench at the rear to suggest the separate pieces, since I decided to balance strength with accuracy. I forgot to take before and after photos for comparison, but the Aerocraft landing gear also molded them as a solid piece:

 

 

Compare with the actual landing gear:

 

 

And my attempt:

 

 

However, Aerocraft did eliminate the solid plug at the front and replaced it with struts. I did the same.

 

HK added a support strut which is often seen in museum aircraft which helped support the landing gear (the red strut seen in the photo below):

 

 

And the HK example:

 

 

However, these were not usually seen on operational examples, so both Aerocraft and I removed ours.

 

 

Once I've focused on the landing gear assembly it'll be time to add the smaller parts to the airframe, and then I will be working on the canopy. Definitely need to be in the zone for that! Until next time,

 

Cheers,  Tom

 

 

[Finn]

Tom here are a couple of undercarriage drawings for you:

 

 

Jari

[Uncarina]

Outstanding Jari! That wiring drawing will be very useful.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Derek B]

Nice work Tom (and useful info', as always, Jari). This is is an area I know well, as I am scratch building a (full kit) 1/144 Avro Lincoln master pattern at the moment, and this is the same area that I am working on!

 

BTW, those Lancaster undercarriage reference pictures (a Canadian Lanc) has a Lincoln undercarriage and wheels installed, as does the BoB memorial Flight Lanc (PA474) as well.

 

Keep up the good work Tom and keep those awesome book extracts coming!

 

Cheers

 

Derek

[JayW]

On 3/16/2021 at 12:08 PM, Uncarina said:

She is big for sure! Now I better get in contact with the Pima Air Museum so she has a place to stay.

Oh I can relate.  My 1/18 P-38 has a 88 cm wing span, almost as large.  And it is just in the way, always.  I may have to give it up to a good cause....

 

So you know alighting gear are among my favorite projects.  So I am looking on with great interest at your wonderful build.  The Lancaster has awesome LG!   

[Uncarina]

10 hours ago, Derek B said:

Nice work Tom (and useful info', as always, Jari). This is is an area I know well, as I am scratch building a (full kit) 1/144 Avro Lincoln master pattern at the moment, and this is the same area that I am working on!

 

BTW, those Lancaster undercarriage reference pictures (a Canadian Lanc) has a Lincoln undercarriage and wheels installed, as does the BoB memorial Flight Lanc (PA474) as well.

 

Keep up the good work Tom and keep those awesome book extracts coming!

 

Cheers

 

Derek

 

Derek, thank you! I will definitely need you to keep me honest, I’m definitely at the vertical part of the learning curve here. A scratchbuilt Lincoln! That is impressive.

 

8 hours ago, JayW said:

Oh I can relate.  My 1/18 P-38 has a 88 cm wing span, almost as large.  And it is just in the way, always.  I may have to give it up to a good cause....

 

So you know alighting gear are among my favorite projects.  So I am looking on with great interest at your wonderful build.  The Lancaster has awesome LG!   

That Lightning must be amazing to see, and I hope you find a good home if you must part with it.  I’ll also need your help to keep me straight here with the landing gear! Thanks for your support.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[John1]

Tom, this has been an amazing build.  It’s evident how much work you’ve invested, not just on the build itself, but this WIP.   Keep up the good work.  

[Uncarina]

John, I sure appreciate your support and encouragement! I hope this thread helps others walking this path.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[Uncarina]

“Like all of the bomber stream’s wireless operators, Jimmy Grimm, whose father had a radio shop in Highgate, was tuning his radio to the frequencies between 7050 and 7100 kilocycles trying to find an enemy voice. Then he could transmit a signal on the same frequency to blot out the conversation between controller and fighter pilots. A microphone was fitted into an engine of each bomber especially for this purpose. Suddenly he heard August’s voice. ‘Order: start turning … now.’ ‘Turning,’ said Löwenherz. Jimmy Grimm was excited. ‘I’ve found one of their controllers and a night fighter.’ August Bach’s voice came over the headphones with the same clarity that Löwenherz heard it. ‘Order: steer 097 degrees,’ said August. ‘Announcing: enemy range ten kilometres.’ ‘The plane he’s following is on our heading,’ said Cohen. ‘Every plane in the stream is on our heading,’ said Digby. He was full-length in the nose trying to see the Dutch coast. ‘I wish I could understand German better,’ said Jimmy Grimm. ‘That’s the trouble with being a radio ham; in peacetime I used to pick up all sorts of stations and only speak a few words of everything.’ ‘While you types are sodding about, some poor ******* is going to get the chop,’ said Digby. ‘Why don’t you jam him?’ ‘Perhaps it’s us he’s after,’ said Binty from the mid-upper turret. ‘Can we steer on to 080 degrees just to be sure, Skipper?’ said Cohen. ‘You’re the navigator,’ said Lambert and put the plane into a shallow banking turn.”

 

— Bomber: Events Relating to the Last Flight of an RAF Bomber Over Germany on the Night of June 31st, 1943 by Len Deighton

https://a.co/3laLQfQ

 

It's been a while but I have been working away, albeit slowly, on two fronts. First, I've created the custom masks using my Silhouette Portrait printer.

 

 

To create the fuselage codes I first had to download the appropriate .ttf file to access the font that matches the photo I have of Sugar's Blues, which I created in Microsoft Word, then transfer it via screen capture to Microsoft Paint to convert it to a .jpg file, then finally open it in Silhouette Designer and adjust the size.

 

 

The insignias were more straightforward except:

 

 

When 428 Squadron landed in Canada (how I'm depicting Sugar's Blues, with 22 mission markings) fuselage and wing roundels had changed, so:

 

 

I created alternate roundels to match.

 

On the second front I've joined the "Performed Surgery On The Lancaster Canopy" Club. This is not for the distracted or timid! As Dennis has written in so many words in his build, you have to bring your "A" Game, since because HK Models lacks customer service cutting a hole in the canopy to match the side blister is like walking a tightrope without a safety net, and in the event of a mishap my only option is to buy the Nose Art kit just for the canopy. Suboptimal!

 

I first traced 2 outlines of the blister on Tamiya tape then cut out the shape and attached the tape to the appropriate pane, inside and out. After that it was applying the drill, and I have to admit my heart was beating just a little faster here. After this I used a Dremel to CAREFULLY cut out the shape, leaving a border for security. Finally I slowly filed away with frequent testfitting until I had a size that matched. The second tense moment was applying the Tamiya Extra Thin Cement, and I took my time. I'm happy to write that I am pleased with the results:

 

 

 

Et voila!

 

 

To be perfectly honest, if you didn't perform the surgery it is very hard to tell the difference. However, you wouldn't be able to do this:

 

 

Onward and upward!

 

Cheers,  Tom

 

 

 

Edited April 3, 2021 by Uncarina

[Uncarina]

P.S., I just got a new camera so hopefully the in progress photos have more clarity.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[LSP_Kevin]

Very skilful modification, Tom!

 

Kev

[Uncarina]

Thanks Kevin! I appreciate it. I went back and forth before deciding, but in the end I’m trying to make everything else be as authentic as possible, so why stop now? I’ll be posting my Silhouette files in the Scale Models Paint Masks forum.

 

Cheers,  Tom