Just a small one this time showing finished scratch built wire basket attached to pilots chair holding oxygen bottle and the T1154 & R1155 Transmitter & Receiver radio gear + the morse code key unit in its final configuration and fitted into the fuselage at the radio operators station
There are some more pieces to be added but its debatable that they would be visible I won’t know that till I have made up some of them and fitted them where they should go will be tackling them tonight if all goes well
Ok so the pilots seat is done along with his oxygen bottle and wire basket holder
Next is a revamp of the wirless station for which better known reasons to themselves Hattchet didn’t bother with other than a table and chair
1st off i ordered a belt hole punch from ebay with the arrival of that the wirless station version 5 could begin
So taking the hole punch and the smallest hole availabe on the rotating die i puched out 6 small discs which would become the knobs on the radio equipment
I then got a laminated picture of the said radio gear (Note the radio pictures are from ebay the eduard panel above is merely in the same shot and nothing to do wiith this build ) and cut it into small segments these were then glued to a piece of plastic of suitable thickness in this case a business card
This in turn was cut out so i had each part mounted on the plastic these were then mounted onto another laminated picture of the radio gear giving the 3d look
The buttons were sanded so all the rough edges were removed using a pair of tweezers to grip the button then rolling it across some fine sandpaper until smooth these were then painted the correct colours and left to dry
Next off was cutting out the radio frequency tuning band window by drilling small holes and joing them together and finally fileling the result to the correct shape then the large tuning knob was added and painted
Next the buttons now dry were added to the transmitter along with the switches on the right hand side and the one at the bottom
These completed items were then glued into place on previously constructed radio panels these in turn were then mounted into the radio station in the fuselage
Also at this time a morse code key was fashioned using scrap plastic shaped and painted and some buttons were made from the insulation of some copper cable of which 2 strands were twisted together to form the lead from the morse key to the radio equipment
A couple of long boxes were added along with bits of scrap to resemble the HT and LT PSU’s you can see one underneath the fishpond reciver display on the far left the other one is on the floor and not visible in these pictures well thar’s it for this section I might add some more detail depending on what’s visible when the whole thing is bolted up so to speak
After adding the photos they appear in a random fashion not how they are supposed to run this was the reason for deleting the previous entry oh well start with the belt punch and try to follow accordingly
Hello again I have just finished construction of the portable oxygen cylinders and wire baskets and I thought I take you through the process in case anyone else has a similar problem the photos are more less self explanatory providing they come out in sequence
So 1st off we take our wire this was stripped from a usb cable and the individual wire strands were separated
I then made a frame / loom to wrap the wire around lengthwise and across securing the ends with super glue
Where the 2 strands cross forms the mesh this was then coated in super glue and the excess blown off so all the mesh became unclogged just leaving the glue on the strands
After it had dried it was painted then cut away from the frame loom
I then wrapped it around the oxygen bottle on its mounting as shown glued into place on one side measured off the correct amount cut off the excess and then glued that into place finally took a piece of the offcut and glued this to the bottom of the now formed wire cage
I then used the belt punch to punch out a circular piece of plastic which I stuck onto the top of the cage to represent the gauge this was then painted and when dry I added the gauge detail again using the belt punch but this time using a printed image of a gauge correctly scaled to fit
That is how these were made and will be repeated as required the final stage for this section was to modify the wirless operators chair by cutting off the wooden legs supplied and making my own as shown using rounded wood and some more plastic discs cut using the belt punch again these were painted as the 2 already done are shown
Ok that’s it for this update next one is scratch building seatbelts I hope
Hello again this time is chair modification scratchbuilt seatbelts the start of the main port wing underside and construction of the starboard rear tailplane
So 1st off the wooden sides on the original seat were removed and substituted for round 2mm wooden legs and pads made from plastic card using the belt punch as in previous items these were then painted black and left to dry
Next the oxygen baskets were finished with the application of thin wire insulation to represent the aluminium banding
Next came the seat belts after several practices using masking tape I settled on some images of a set of 1/48th scale and enlarged them to 1/32 scale then cut them out painted them to resemble fabric and embleshed them with metal buckles made from 5 amp fuse wire wrapped around a plastic former a piece of foil was added to the side of the chair to represent the anchoring point and 2 strips of metal were also added to represent the fastenings and finally 2 more strips were added to the belt to represent the adjustment buckle
The seats were then glued into place in the cabin the navigators seat was also modified with it’s wooden sides removed and a single pivot point was fashioned using another 2 mm wooden piece and a slighty larger plastic disc fashioned in the same way as before
Next on the agenda was the main wing underside port outer skin basicly all you had to do was align the 2 pieces to the bottom panels mask tape them together turn them over and mark the positions of the wing structs and ribs then using the rivet tool mark along those lines after which you painted the innerward side of these panels green to match the rest of the aircraft structure
Finally a second tailplane piece was constructed as per the photo’s and set aside to dry it still needs the wood glue added to it as it was initially stuck with super glue
Lastly I have included a couple of photo’s showing all the components constructed so far
Hello again this time its the ammo chutes and supports along with the start of the 1st auxiliary fuel tank in the starboard wing
So 1st off collect all the parts needed and sand off all the rough edges then paint the bullets brass colour after they are dry then paint the edges and the sides of the the ammo chutes gunmetal whilst that it is drying I constructed an ammo box and painted it the green colour used throughout
Next came assembling the said ammo chutes into the fuselage this was the biggest pia I have had to deal with the brackets weren't wide enough the glue wouldn’t stick and most of the parts broke being made of staybrite which is brittle and has no allowence for flexing then the ammo chutes then had to located onto those said brackets another disaster with more breakages nessecating replcement with plastic card in several of the brackets
9 hours after starting this section I finally had the ammo chutes and the supporting structures were in place see the attached pictures
Next came the starting of the installing of aulixary fuel tank in the RH wing with the 2 halves of the tank glued together and the thin aluminium strips wrapped around for sizing and painting and finally the tank cover was constructed along with painting the tank caps this completed this section next will be another engine build
Ok this time is another engine propeller build along with no 2 & 3 fuel tanks and finally the engine management board is installed into the inner starboard engine housing assembly completing to stage 90 out of 125 next will be more starboard main wing construction
Ok as promised here is the starboard wing construction along with additional fuel piping to allow for fuel transfer from one tank to another for trimming purposes then the rear cabin entrance door and finally the 1st part of the engine mounting support structure
So 1st of the wing this required drilling a pathway through the wing sections to allow the threading of the wire to simulate the additional fuel lines and piping
The tanks were fixed in place and then additional piping was added along the leading edge of the wing and in between the two wing tanks with additional valves added where required by way of plastic discs cut using the leather belt punch
Next the wing tip structure was built up and the wing tip added then clamped overnight until it was solid and the glue had dried
This was then sanded to the reuired profile and then the whole wing was painted
Next came the rear entrance door which had to be custom made as the supplied aluminium was too small so I scratch built a new one out of plastic card to the correct size after making sure the frame would fit into the doorway by way of numerous try and fits and sanding until I achieved a snug push fit I then added the outer skin along with the handles
The door was then pushed into it’s place and as it was such a good fit no glue was required this allows for the possibility of having it open if so desired
Next the hinges were added to the side and secured to the fuselage
Finally for this section the 1st of the engine mounting supports has been started.by glueing 2 sections together this will be the next update and quite complicated as there are 68 seperate stages to this section
Installation of starboard outer engine ok so here we go 1st of is the bag of bits awaiting you next we sort out the various struts and sand and smooth any rough edges
Next they are painted and when dry assembly begins
Part 1 construct another engine control panel and the engine support struts they are the smaller diamond lozenge shapes in the photo next we add the engine support mounting bracket the square frame onto the engine firewall bulkhead the bracket has 4 holes 1 in each corner for engine support structs to lock into and secured with a brass nail
Next the control panel is mounted on the rear of the engine bulkhead across the 2 back struts we then add the main side support struts to the slots measured and cut into the wings surface basically all you do is align one of the struts and mark on the wing where the locating lugs will go do this for both sides drill your holes and push them into place lock the rear end with a brass nail and glue to the engine bulkhead and overglue all the locating lugs and the nail
Next its back to the engine support frames and time to add some cabling although my 1st attempt was utter rubbish and and I stripped them both back to bare metal repainted and this time ignored instructions and did it like this 1st measure the cable lengths required then if required paint them next secure them to the frames with glue and allow to set
Next I cut several pieces of tubing from a usb cable and used it outer sheathing split in 2 to make the tubing covering the cables on the structs at the required places finally 5 amp fuse wire was twisted arround these points to resemble fastenings
Next the red tank was assembled and the flat metal wrapping applied and allowed to dry then the various caps were added and cables attached this was then mounted in the main support frame on the wing and several bracing struts were added to lock the tank and the rear structure into place
All that left to do was mount the engine supports into the front on the main engine firewall bulkhead locate the lugs into the 4 holes on the square frame and lock them with the 4 brass nails well thats what was supposed to happen
What actually happened was 2 of the nails pinged off into the wilderness called my front room never to be seen again so I secured those 2 with wire the other 2 had to be persuaded to fit which they did with the application of a drill and pliers
Anyway with them secure the previously constructed engine was offered up and surprise it fitted just a case of gluing it to the support struts and adding severall cables and there we are the 1st engine installed needless to say the next one will be done slightly different using the experience I got from this one
Half a century and were still going oh well here’s the latest update
As you can see we have a bag stuffed with bits to paint and build so first off are the 3 cylinders that mount on the end of the mid-wing on the starboard or right hand side these are painted then assembled with their associated end caps to which 3 black wires are attached 1 to each bottle top
Next another hydraulic tank and pump along with the pipework and handrail is painted and assembled then when dry added to the mid upper gunner section of the fuselage along with 2 semi circular pieces of wood that sit on the top of the fuselage either side of the mid upper gun position I have been told these were riders along wich the guns traversed causing them to raise this was supposedly to prevent the mid turret from shooting either the pilot in the cockpit or the tail fins off by accidentally depressing the gun angle whilst traversing as in tracking an enemy plane plausible explanation I can’t come up with any thing else
Next the tailwheel assembly 4 curved pieces of wood glued together form the support then the tailwheel is assembled and pushed into place this assembly is then added to the rear section of the fuselage and with a lit of fettling and filing and cursing finally slides into place the tailwheel struct which protrudes into the rear fuselage is then capped with a cover which is glued into place after about an hour of filing and fiddling and swearing as its a right pig to fit after this the wood assembly is then sanded and contoured to the fuselage shape
Next the last engine is built I wont go into detail here as the construction of these has been covered earlier in this log
Next the remaining engine cradles areg built painted and the wiring added see the photos as they explain better than words
Next Rear Elevator Rudder and Split Edge Flap are built and painted
Next a lot of interior detail is painted ready for installation this includes pilots seat which i modified by enlarging the amour plate as the supplied was too short then the control column stand was painted and the rivet detail brought out by gentle sanding there were also rudder pedals and some bracing structs for the engiine cradles when they are mounted also built and added the engineers seat in the stowed position
The pilots seat received additional details along with my rivets made from printed paper as the rivet tool made a right hash of it collapsing in the middle of one of the long rivet runs
And finally the outer skin was added to the port or left hand side forward fuselage this having been marked out rivet lines added painted on the inside then glued and clamped to the rib structure overnight
Well that’s all for now need a rest after that lot
Hello again after a month long should we say diversion building a card model of a M82 A1 Barrett sniper rifle in full size anyone wants to see it look in the miscellaneous builds titled what can you build from card it’s back to the Lancaster again
This time it’s adding the 2 inboard engines and then some wing skinning to finish with
So 1st off is to add metal firewalls to each engine mount then after these have dried thread and attach various bits of wire ready for the engines to be mounted having previously constructed them
Once they are in place there are some more additional wiring to be done some of it I still need to do after that you paint the ends of the wires silver to resemble connections
And finally onto the wing skinning you are given a card template which you either cut out and use the resulting shape as a template for the aluminium skin or you can use the hole left by the template and trace around that either way works next just score the aluminium a few times after which you then bend it repeatedly down the score lines until it breaks of its own accord this method works surprisingly well giving nice clean sharp edges to the panel you are producing
Next the rib lines need to be marked onto the reverse side of the panel ready for the rivet pinwheel to simulate the rivet lines on the panel after this apply contact glue to the structs and the panel let it go tacky then join the 2 together and clamp overnight to ensure a good strong bond is made
One hideous idea they came up.with is attaching the split edge flaps with the tiniest of bolt and nut yet used this is a real pia and the best I have managed so far is one lost bolt to the carpet monster and 2 bolts glued into place minus the nuts it works but is not ideal anyway thats if for this session more to follow
Hello again we had a disaster on the main fuselage wing box basically it got knocked off the table resulting in this carnage it has been rebuilt and I have left it for a couple of weeks to reset and see if anything comes unglued from the repairs luckily it’s wood so easy to fabricate new parts but it seems this kit is cursed at present just like the other build on the WW2 airplane forum where the person building the identical kit dropped his joined fuselages onto the floor again with catastrophic results anyway should commence construction in the next week