1/32 Short Stirling - it’s a wrap!

[tomprobert]

13 hours ago, Finn said:

Stirling bomb bays being made:

 

 

the rectangles on the top are locations for the bomb stations.

 

Jari

 

These guys are doing such amazing work. I’m also posting this build over on Britmodeller and one of their members, John, is heavily involved in The Stirling Project and he’s often chipped in with very useful information. 
 

Just imagine if, over time, money and resources allow them to rebuild a whole airframe. Their fuselage is shaping up to be a masterpiece, and is also incorporating parts of KB716 (the airframe my model represents) into their restoration. Amazing stuff and what talented people. 

[dennismcc]

Fantastic, what an amazing sight a 1:1 Stirling would be.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Gazzas]

hard to believe that that was once just a few shapeless blobs in plastic sheet.   Nicely done.

 

 

[tomprobert]

Howdy all,

 

Not the most exciting of updates but I have spent a few sessions making the doors for the wing bomb cells. Each was made from plastic card cut to the correct size, and then ribbed with Evergreen. Quite a tedious task as there are twelve doors needed (two per bay) and each one took around 15 minutes to make... I'll let you do the maths.

 

 

These doors open upwards and inwards into the bay, which was something new to me as I had presumed they opened outwards like the Halifax. This aircraft continues to throw up surprises, so after painting semi-gloss black and a final check of references, they were added to the bays:

 

 

 

So.... that's the bomb load and bomb doors all sorted, and the last of the larger details made and added. It's now lots of small but time consuming little jobs to do, but we're certainly entering the home straight now...

 

 

 

 

I'm off to Croatia tomorrow for a week in the sun with the family, so no updates for a while. Have fun, folks!

 

More when there's more...

 

Tom

[Finn]

Enjoy the sun, meanwhile the rest of us can watch a 1 to 1 scale Stirling being put togeterger:

 

 

the first 19 min is about the Stirling and rest are other wartime aviation related films.

 

Jari

 

[tomprobert]

Greetings folks,

 

Bench time has been limited of late after my return to teaching and the classroom after the long summer break. Don’t you just hate it when work gets in the way of hobbies?

 

With builds such as this it’s the final, small, details which takes up the time. I’ve not been idle with this build but these smaller details are really time consuming!

 

I’ve started to add the aerials and have made the upper fuselage aerial (from re-contoured Evergreen) as well as the DF loop housing. I had hoped to get an aftermarket fairing as there is a set available for the B-24 but the Stirling’s is quite a bit larger. Therefore I sculpted my own from Milliput and I must say I’m pleased with it! These upper aerials are not glued and are attached using removable metal pins so I can still turn the brute on her back if I need to:

 

 

You can just make out in the above picture the glazing in the fuselage windows. These were made from clear acetate and cut to size, before dropping them onto the small mounts I had made previously. A top tip here is to use a permanent black marker to colour the edges - when TET is added it ‘melts’ the marker ink giving an illusion of depth which is very effective. 
 

I sourced some Quickboost exhausts and painted and weathered them before adding these to the rear of the nacelles. The cowl support struts were also fabricated from thin black stretched sprue and added to the front of the engines. Props still need a bit more weathering but I’ve added the characteristic paint wear to the leading edges of the blades so far:

 

Turning my attention to the nose, I made the bomb sight mounting from scrap plastic, painted it up and added it to the bomb aimer’s position. More clear acetate was cut to shape and added to the frames to complete the bomb aimer’s position. I also made the twin pitot tubes and their mounts, and sourced some clear lenses from AK and added these to the lower nose for the ID lights:

 

The runners for the flaps have also been made from more Evergreen and installed on the underside in the flap apertures:

 

…and these protrude into the small recesses on the upper side of the flap just like the real thing:

 

Hopefully you can see in the pictures I’ve been around the undersides of the model with the airbrush with a couple of different shades of very dark grey to give a subtle mottling effect and break up the black a bit. Keeping in mind this was a very new airframe when it was lost, weathering needs to be restrained but I think the effect works well. 
 

The ‘to-do’ lid is getting smaller and smaller:

- finish the rear wheels (mudguards) and paint the tyres;

- add some more pastel weathering to upper wings and some paint chips here and there;

- finish turrets and install the guns;

- make a crew entry ladder for the rear door. 

And that is about it!

 

The end is most definitely in sight, and I’m well on track for her to be at the Nationals at Telford in November. 
 

More when there’s more!

Tom

[geedubelyer]

What a wonderful creation. 

I am extremely excited to see this in the flesh. 

 

Well done Tom 

[JayW]

Gosh Tom - what a complicated monster you have here.  And it is beautiful.  If I lived in the UK, I would come to Telford to see it!

[Greif8]

Beautiful build and master level craftsmanship on display.

 

Ernest 

[wingman777]

incredible!  Can you give us a few pictures with another 1/32 aircraft or something to help us appreciate the mass of this plane in 1/32?

[tomprobert]

On 9/28/2025 at 1:34 PM, geedubelyer said:

What a wonderful creation. 

I am extremely excited to see this in the flesh. 

 

Well done Tom 

Thank you - and it’ll be on IPMS West Kent’s stand so do come by and say hello!

 

20 hours ago, Greif8 said:

Beautiful build and master level craftsmanship on display.

 

Ernest 

You’re very kind, Ernest. 
 

17 hours ago, wingman777 said:

incredible!  Can you give us a few pictures with another 1/32 aircraft or something to help us appreciate the mass of this plane in 1/32?

Thank you - and yes, when it’s done and I’m taking some final pictures I’ll include a couple of other models as a size comparison. 
 

23 hours ago, JayW said:

Gosh Tom - what a complicated monster you have here.  And it is beautiful.  If I lived in the UK, I would come to Telford to see it!

Thank, Jay - if you ever get over this side of the pond then do come to a show and say hello!

[scvrobeson]

What a wonderful project that absolutely stands alone just due to the size of it.

 

 

Matt

[tomprobert]

5 hours ago, scvrobeson said:

What a wonderful project that absolutely stands alone just due to the size of it.

 

 

Matt

Many thanks, Matt - appreciated. Although it's a tiddler compared to the B-29 and Sunderland I did a while back 

[vvwse4]

What a beauty!!!!!

 

Rick

[tomprobert]

Well, guys and gals, a 3 year journey has come to an end… she’s all done. 
 

The final bits have been added this evening: guns painted and installed, turrets fitted for good and a final bit of weathering complete. 
 

Forgive the quick ‘on the kitchen table with my phone’ quality picture above - I’ll try to get the decent camera out next weekend for some proper RFI shots.
 

It’s been fun sharing the journey of this build with you all, and I’m now off to lay down in a darkened room…

 

Cheers,

Tom