1/32 Short Stirling - it’s a wrap!

[Martinnfb]

Absolutely majestic build 

[scvrobeson]

The Stirling looks absolutely wonderful Tom.

 

 

Matt 

[Kenneth Joy]

Absolutely gorgeous 

[monthebiff]

Absolutely amazing stuff Tom and one of the reasons I love school holidays is watching you progress on these epic builds and your Sterling is looking just so good.

 

Regards. Andy

[Finn]

6 hours ago, mozart said:

Beautiful! From memory, the pilot sits about 23 feet above tarmac level! 

 

6 hours ago, tomprobert said:

Correct - I hope they had a head for heights 

 

What about those who worked on top of it:

 

 

Jari

 

Edited August 3, 2025 by Finn

[SwissFighters]

Great work! She has a real 'presence.'
I always think the tailplane looks disproportionately small on the Stirling. In comparison, the B-17 or B-29 tailplanes looks huge...
Maybe because it was set such a long way back to the moment of yaw it all worked okay?
Any aeronautical engineers out there who know about this?
Tony

[mozart]

Have you seen this Tom? Interesting to say the least. 

[tomprobert]

11 hours ago, monthebiff said:

Absolutely amazing stuff Tom and one of the reasons I love school holidays is watching you progress on these epic builds and your Sterling is looking just so good.

 

Regards. Andy

Thanks, Andy - having lots of extra time certainly my helps. I can actually spend a good few hours working on something and actually see some progress! It’s great for the mojo…

 

9 hours ago, Finn said:

 

 

What about those who worked on top of it:

 

 

Jari

 

It would have certainly taken some balls of steel to work on those engines. The Stirling had special extended height platforms for accessing the engines and props. Whilst doing some research I read a few harrowing accounts of ground crew being seriously injured and, in one tragic case, being killed falling from the wing.

 

5 hours ago, SwissFighters said:

Great work! She has a real 'presence.'
I always think the tailplane looks disproportionately small on the Stirling. In comparison, the B-17 or B-29 tailplanes looks huge...
Maybe because it was set such a long way back to the moment of yaw it all worked okay?
Any aeronautical engineers out there who know about this?
Tony

That’s an interesting point, Tony - the Sunderland too has a small tailplane. The Short Brothers obviously knew a fair bit about aerodynamics as it seemed to work…

 

6 minutes ago, mozart said:

Have you seen this Tom? Interesting to say the least. 

Yes indeed. An interesting development. I wish this set was available when I began my build as it would have saved me a ton of extra work. 
 

My only reservation would be the fact the landing gear on a Stirling is tall, and will the 3D material hold up over time? Take Peter’s Defiant, for example, which is a much shorter gear and is a lighter model and he’s since added a metal core for strength. I probably over engineered my struts with lots of metal pins and bracing, but it’s a massive plane in this scale and I didn’t want it collapsing on itself, made especially worse with the British roads and transporting it to shows!

 

However, the real thing was notorious for u/c collapses so I suppose it would add a new level of realism 

 

 

 

I’ve read some stories of the gear self-retracting during maintenance as, being electric, short circuits were common and suddenly the gear would begin to retract on the ground! The solution was an isolator switch which cut off the gear circuits - this didn’t come until later models however. 
 

Tom

[mozart]

Yep, that’s my concern too Tom, especially in the light of Peter’s Defiant experience. Food for thought. 

[brahman104]

This is absolutely exceptional Tom! The 3D printed canopy frame really looks the goods!

 

Bravo to you Sir!

 

Craig

[Palm-tree]

Fabulous work Tom, 

 

it looks like you will be well on course for Telford at this rate.

I expect you are familiar with this well known photo of ATA pilot Joan Hughes standing next to a Stirling she had flown into White Waltham?

A picture  of her hangs on the wall of the West London Aero Club bar like this....it certainly shows the size of the aircraft.

[tomprobert]

1 hour ago, brahman104 said:

This is absolutely exceptional Tom! The 3D printed canopy frame really looks the goods!

 

Bravo to you Sir!

 

Craig

Very kind, Craig - but that’s Peter’s handiwork and I can’t take any credit for that!

 

27 minutes ago, Palm-tree said:

Fabulous work Tom, 

 

it looks like you will be well on course for Telford at this rate.

I expect you are familiar with this well known photo of ATA pilot Joan Hughes standing next to a Stirling she had flown into White Waltham?

A picture  of her hangs on the wall of the West London Aero Club bar like this....it certainly shows the size of the aircraft.

Many thanks and yes, what a photograph! I believe the story goes a number of men nearby got inside the Stirling looking for the bloke who actually flew it in. What an amazing lady!

[JayW]

Good god almighty!

 

 

Just a stunning picture.  I think I may have a new favorite bomber.  Looking forward to seeing the gunnery on your Stirling Tom.

Edited August 3, 2025 by JayW

[tomprobert]

HK Models’ Lancaster mid upper and tail turrets assembled and painted - the rear turret still needs it ejector chutes added:

 

And a test fit reveals all is as it should be:

 

 

 

I will fit the guns and then add the turrets right at the very end of the build. 
 

More when there’s more!

Tom

[mozart]

Sooooo impressive Tom, both your model and the Stirling. The Stirling is beautiful in its ugliness, such an imposing bomber which your model conveys in bucketloads! I wonder how this chap:

 

 

who looks about 14 and is Rowland Telford Ward from Bondi in Oz managed to fly the Stirling so successfully at HCU Swinderby because he was only 5’4” tall! (He went on to Lancs but was KIA on 3 March 45.)