"Sugar's Blues" Late War RCAF Lancaster

[Uncarina]

Chuck, thank you! Your support and advice mean a lot. There is a special feeling building a model to honor family in addition to honoring history. I would love to see photos of your Lancaster, if you have a link.

 

Thanks for the tip on the turret shroud. I’ve noticed this, and it’ll be a challenge I’m looking forward to addressing. There appears to be two narrow scab plates further down the sides on each side of the turret as well. Loving your Starfighter build!

 

Cheers,  Tom

[chuck540z3]

11 hours ago, Uncarina said:

Chuck, thank you! Your support and advice mean a lot. There is a special feeling building a model to honor family in addition to honoring history. I would love to see photos of your Lancaster, if you have a link.

 

Cheers,  Tom

 

Thank you.  Here's a link to my public album, now the excuses!  It was nine years ago after I first started modeling, first time with salt weathering and terrible camera and photography, to name a few:

 

1/48 Tamiya Lancaster Mk I

 

I plan on doing another one, one day, with resin engines, etc.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2020 by chuck540z3

[Finn]

Tom here is a Lancaster X, KB700, being built, note the window cover being installed:

 

Jari

 

[Uncarina]

9 hours ago, chuck540z3 said:

 

Thank you.  Here's a link to my public album, now the excuses!  It was nine years ago after I first started modeling, first time with salt weathering and terrible camera and photography, to name a few:

 

1/48 Tamiya Lancaster Mk I

 

I plan on doing another one, one day, with resin engines, etc.

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

 

 

Chuck, magnificent work which I can only hope to emulate! It would be great to see another of your build logs with this subject. I’m glad your Uncle was able to see this.

 

Sincerely,  Tom

[Uncarina]

8 hours ago, Finn said:

Tom here is a Lancaster X, KB700, being built, note the window cover being installed:

 

Jari

 

Jari, thank you! This is gold, and I’ve saved the link to my reference folder. I especially liked the footage of the interior.

 

Cheers,  Tom

[JayW]

Tom - oh man!  Lancaster!  Go go go!   Just saw it and I look forward to it.  I have a deceased uncle who was a Mustang jockey and I feel similar to the way you feel, although he survived the war.  I have some idea what his aircraft looked like - the serial number, the buzz numbers (letters?), but alas not the nose art ("Sissy Mana" for my mother, his sister).   Now, you make me feel as if I owe myself another P-51!  Lancasters are absolutely awesome as are their stories.  Update often.   

[Uncarina]

Thanks Jay! I appreciate your support. It would be great to see your build. Maybe the LSP General Aviation Forum could help you find that nose art. The people here have certainly worked magic for me!

 

Cheers,  Tom

Edited December 9, 2020 by Uncarina

[Thunnus]

What an awesome project Tom!  Great attention to detail which must be daunting given the great size of the model!

[monthebiff]

Some very impressive progress there Tom, she is shaping up nicely!

 

Regards.Andy 

[Uncarina]

4 hours ago, Thunnus said:

What an awesome project Tom!  Great attention to detail which must be daunting given the great size of the model!

Thanks so much John! I must say that I've been pretty stoked to work on this kit, given the support you and others have given me in the build. Hopefully the last of the major mods are behind me, but you are right: she is a big beast! I am planning to view each wing and the fuselage as separate assemblies up until I've applied paint and stencils. Hopefully the wings are removable after that!

 

Cheers, Tom

[Uncarina]

3 hours ago, monthebiff said:

Some very impressive progress there Tom, she is shaping up nicely!

 

Regards.Andy 

Thanks Andy! I'm working on adding the windows and final details to the fuselage halves, then hope to bring them together in the next several days. Then lots of sanding and re-riveting!

 

Cheers, Tom

[JayW]

18 hours ago, chuck540z3 said:

Here's a link to my public album, now the excuses!  It was nine years ago after I first started modeling, first time with salt weathering and terrible camera and photography, to name a few:

 

Chuck - with characteristic humility you present one of your first efforts.  Heel man - that Lanc looks like it could take off and go fly a mission!!!!  Good grief.

[Uncarina]

“I soon discovered that everything that had been said and written about the Avro Lancaster was true. Some products of the hand of man have that uncanny capacity to pull at the heartstrings, and the Lancaster was one such. Everything about it was just right. Its muscular, swept lines were beautiful to look at. It flew with effortless grace and had a precise, weighted feel. It made the pilot’s job easy. You could throw it all over the skies if you had the inclination and some physical strength. It had tremendous power from those four Rolls-Royce Merlins. At 25,000 ft, its ceiling was vastly superior to the Stirling’s. And it was fast, only a whisker short of 300 mph. In every department it outstripped all other four-engined aircraft of the time. At 20,000 ft the standard bomb load of 14,000 lb was equivalent to that of two Flying Fortress B-17s.”

 

— Luck and a Lancaster: Chance and Survival in World War II (Airlife Classics) by Harry Yates

https://a.co/7kJm7I4

 

Things are starting to come together, and I've reached the milestone of joining the fuselage. Before this, I modified the mid-upper turret so I could add it during final assembly, so I cut the base from the pedestal and modified it so I could add it later:

 

 

 

 

And with the fuselage joined:

 

 

Next up will be the marathon filling and sanding, and fortunately there aren't any major gaps, which is pretty impressive considering the size and complexity of what goes inside!

 

As I mentioned, I will be sharing photos taken by my Uncle during his flight training. Here's the first:

 

 

Cheers,  Tom

[JayW]

On 12/15/2020 at 5:40 PM, Uncarina said:

At 20,000 ft the standard bomb load of 14,000 lb was equivalent to that of two Flying Fortress B-17s.”

 

Alot to unpack when making comparisons of heavy WW2 bombers.  Experts can write books about it.  I can make a couple of comments though, and I am not necessarily a devoted USA-loving B-17 fan.  I love the Lancaster just as much.  The British heavy bombers like the Lancaster had black paint on them for a reason.  They bombed primarily at night.  And for good reason - to minimize interference from flak guns, and ESPECIALLY interference from interceptors.  Therefore, armament could be cut back to a minimum, and that weight could be directly transferred to payload - more and bigger bombs.  The B-17's and B-24's by design were daylight bombers that had to bear the brunt of attacking cannon-armed 109's and 190's and 110's, coming at them like a swarm of angry hornets.  Therefore they bristled with 50-cal MG's and ammo - heavy loads that detracted directly from bomb load.  The interceptor problem was so bad, as we all know, that daylight bombing was nearly stopped altogether until good long range fighter escorts (the P-51 primarily) could be brought to bear.  Compare to the Lancaster which had fewer guns, and they were 303's.  Night fighters were a terrifying force for sure, but did not come up in swarms and were not a reason to increase armament like the day bombers.  Also, all those turrets had an effect on aerodynamics and fuel burn.  If range was to be maintained, further reduction in bomb load would be necessary.  I read somewhere the B-24 front turret (on the later models) was a terrible penalty on its range.  The B-17G chin turret, I bet, had a similar effect.  But those features were added by necessity.   Also, the service ceiling of the American heavy bombers was much higher - all in an attempt to minimize effectiveness of flak and interceptors.  The Lancaster bomb load would not be as impressive if it had to bring it up to 35K feet.  Just a totally different environment in which to conduct strategic bombing.  But doing so, Allied forces could conduct the bombing campaign 24 hours a day.    

 

Have you read any of the books or seen any of the movies on the Dambusters?  Gripping.  B-17's could not have done that!!           

[Dennis7423]

Looking great Tom! Keep it up! Hopefully, I can catch up to you here shortly!

 

- Dennis S.

   Thornton, CO USA