Thank you Joel, not too much to report this week except shooting primer over all the filled gaps to check the finish.

Oh, and sanding them again

I was doing a little more digging today into the history of this aircraft and it's pilot and discovered a great video of the man himself giving an account of the various missions he flew against the Tirpitz :

http://www.legasee.org.uk/the-archive/tony-iveson/46432396

There are other videos of him speaking which are equally as fascinating (including the "Bergen incident" that David Stevens talked about earlier with his Great Uncle) but it's lovely to actually hear him talk of the aircraft's modifications which I'm hoping to depict with some justice.

Reading in a 617 squadron newsletter I found online, I also discovered that he spent some time at RAF Montrose with No. 8 Flying Training School. This was where I grew up and I know the old airfield well.

How strange that building a plastic model can put you in touch with the past....

Back to the model !
I'm finally starting to pull back from the small details to look at the bigger picture.







For those keeping count I still have to attach quite a few parts but there's a lot of model to handle when painting so delicate things are being left till last such as the lowered flaps, turrets, props, landing gear doors and the tiny stuff like antenna.

Paul,
A man after my own heart. Love the start of your black basing. Looking forward to seeing how the process works for you.
Joel

Thanks again Joel,
I've taken the time to seal everything in with a couple of very fine coats of Klear. I'm not going for a glossy finish just yet but the model is getting difficult to handle with it's sheer size and I want to protect the paintwork from the inevitable bumps and knocks !

Oh, and this !

Paul,
It's always a milestone when a aircraft build finally is able to stand on its own legs. Your Lancaster really looks impressive in that low angle shot.

Joel

Paul,
Tis good to see it standing up! What's the deal with weighted wheels? I've read it many times but don't understand the point.

Gaz

Paul, really nice work, thanks for the inspiration!

Really appreciate the tips on the Photoshop and lens correction trick. Like Gaz, I've had some successes (and some failures!) with making my own decals. I like the process and gives me another perspective on modeling. I don't have Photoshop, but have had fairly good luck using Inkscape to manipulate and create images. I have downloaded Gimp, a shareware version of Photoshop, but haven't had the discipline yet to learn the in's and out's of it yet.

I've had really good luck with Papillo brand paper. They are out of Texas, USA and make a wide variety of papers; clear, white, laser, inkjet and many others.

Keep up the nice work, again, very inspirational!

G

Heya, thanks a lot for stopping by to comment.
Decals are not too far in the future for this build now. How time flies !

Hi Gaz, the deal with weighted wheels is that they have a flattened and bulged portion so that they look like the weight of the aircraft has deformed the tyre. It's nothing to do with the wheel having weight if that's what's thrown you?
I'll try and grab some better photos of the main wheels for you.

Here you are Gaz....

Thanks Joel, you've made me look again at that low angle photo and I've noticed a fix I need to make to the landing gear.
I added two extra struts to the near side and forgot the other.
In actual fact, I need to remove the struts as I've since discovered that they belong to the refurbished Lancs which do not have original landing gear.
Some photos I have of 617 sqdn Lancasters confirm that they are not present in the wartime aircraft.

Great progress Paul: An inspiration for me to keep plugging away!

Thank you Brian, anything to help get you to that finish line ! We are all waiting with baited breath If it helps, I've found that once the detailing is "done" (if there is such a state !) the rest of the process to completion will seem much less far off.
I cant help but feel that one day I'll try an all-the-bells-and-whistles build similar to your B17. Detailing the interior of this model has been great fun and has pushed me to learn new skills that this time last year I would have baulked at. I might have continued into the minutiae with this model but there's a distinct lack of research material on such a specifically modified Lancaster, at least that I could source.

Paul,
Thanks for clearing that up for me. I coulsn't fathom why somebody would go to the trouble to make wheels heavier...lol

Paul,
Sure glad that I could help
Joel

We're getting to the point that each little update seems like a big step forward as different parts are completed and scored off the to-do list. I feel a renewed burst of enthusiasm coming on.

Got some time in at the bench yesterday to carry out all the masking and today got some more paint down.

A note on the Frogtape:
Sorry Tamiya but if I can source the same product at a much cheaper price I'll do it. I'd rather spend my wages on your kits. It's a bugbear of mine that many "modelling" tools or supplies are sold at an inflated price because they are supposedly specialist hobby materials.

This roll of Frogtape cost £5 for a 40 metre roll....

Paul,
Nice job on the turret.

I've always been a glass in 1st kind of guy, as whatever I'm building seems to have no way of adding glass after the fuselage has been closed up.

Your Black Basing mottle effect looks excellent. Can't wait to see how the color coat comes out.

Joel

Paul,
Looking forwad to seeing how your painting technique works out. Looks kinda cool that way.

Gaz

Cheers Gaz. I've been toiling away at the camo masks and hope to complete them and perhaps get started with paint later today. It does look pretty cool at this stage and referring to what Joel says in his Mossie thread i do feel like reaching for some Luftwaffe decals.

I'm cruising along at the moment, hope you're all keeping up !

VERY FAST progress, and it looks great. Taking notes for my 17.