realworkingsailor

Thanks for the input! I actually agree and had already decided to go with the darker green on the right. For what it’s worth, Tamiya labels both paints as RAF dark green, the right one as Dark Green #2 (Tamiya paint code AS-30). Tamiya itself recommends the other shade of green (code AS-9), for their Lancaster model. Trying to hunt down and replicate accurate prototype colours can be challenge. Many colourized photos (which I don’t consider to be an accurate source as far as colours go), show a green more similar to the green on the left (and the brown to be much more of a tan/sandy colour), and contemporary colour photos shouldn’t be trusted, as time can play havoc with colour film, without the ability to ascertain how, in what conditions, the print/negative/slide was stored, and the degree of oxidation/UV degradation. It can be equally hard to tell from modern museum photos due to varying light levels, the age of the paint (and the layers of dust), to say nothing of the odds that the museum itself had the correct colour of paint to begin with (yes, museums do make mistakes). I’ll still use the lighter colour, but it will be relegated to interior details, that won’t be as visible. Andy

Hi Kev! Looks great. I had to look online, but yeah, that looks basically like how they were stowed. Have you thought of sourcing some Evergreen “I” beam or “C” channel? If you can find a small enough size, it might give you that fine profile of the racks. Going by this photo here: Otherwise, looks great! Andy

My paints finally showed up yesterday! Yay! I had to whip up a test panel as Tamiya's AS line of rattle cans has two options for RAF dark green, and I needed to see which was closer to the Humbrol paint call out, and which one I liked better: I've made my choice (and I won't say which yet), but what does everyone else think? Andy

I did some digging, as I remembered I had an old stereoscopic image viewer. Maybe worth a try…. I do cut the PE on the cutting mat with a sharp craft knife, but I do so as close to the fret as possible. The Eduard PE is very thin, 0.010” if I had to guess, so it doesn’t take much pressure to cut. Afterwards I’ll remove the connecting tab with some flush cutting sprue nippers. So far I’ve had no trouble with extra bends (at least, none caused by the cutting out of parts🙄). Andy

In addition to the normal room light fixtures (and a great, big, huge, south-facing picture window), I have a handy dimmable halogen “reading” light, as well as a banker’s light. The reading light is an excellent spot light, and the banker’s light fills in the shadows from behind. As for a soundtrack, sometimes the TV is on behind me tuned to something mindless (which is pretty much anything and everything that’s on these days), or my stereo. And then every so often, there’s the dog to remind me when it’s snack or walkie time (usually both)… Still need to work on better magnification, my progressives don’t quite deliver as expected! 🤪🤓 Andy

Thanks for all the likes. The beautiful we had weather this past weekend didn't help to much as far as making build progress. Had to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and autumn leaves. Sorry to say, I've got nothing that looks anything like an airplane yet. I am still waiting on my shipment of paints in order to begin more major assembly. In the interim I've been busy working away at the PE bomb bay details. Lot's of small parts, but the assembly is fairly straight forward. There are two longitudinal bomb beams, and care must be taken as the bomb hangar set ups are not symmetrical, pay very close attention to the instructions, and build only one at a time to reduce the chances of making an error. I have completed one side already, and just for comparison, I've included the kit piece. The bomb bay doors will be added much later in the construction, but there's no arguing with the fine details in the PE replacement part, right down to the rivets. Even the verticals have little lightening holes, as can be seen in the prototype here. Not sure I won't to try and replicate that mass of electrical wiring, and other cabling though... maybe in a larger scale..... Hopefully soon my paint will arrive and I can get on with really building. Until then, I've got another day or so of fiddling with tiny PE parts. I've found there's a psychological limit as to how long one can remain seated in one place folding and manipulating minute parts. Usually when I find myself holding conversations with a particularly stubborn piece, it's time to step away for a bit and restore some of my sanity. Andy

Another day of work on the bomb bay. I think I've got the plates in about as close to the correct position (per the instructions) as I can get. I found that by making up one of the longitudinal bomb beams, and carefully studying the drawings, I could mark the locations for plates and make sure that they are not going to interfere with some of the other details on the bomb beam (there's all kinds of winch brackets and bomb hangers and other sticky-outy pieces yet to come. I could then attach the transverse end pieces of the bomb bay. This is a little out of order from the instructions, which have you assembling some of the cabin bulkheads first, but for ease of painting and detailing, it is necessary to do things in a different order. There was a decent template in the Airfix instructions to ensure the end pieces are glues at the correct angle, and double checking with a fuselage half confirmed everything will fit when the time comes. As you can see above, on the left (aft) end the transverse frame was moulded in clear plastic. This is due to two windows that are located in this piece, and have to be masked off. Strongly recommend putting the masks on before assembly. While small, with careful manipulation using a dental pick, they can be positioned. The bomb bay side weren't too bad, as they're both one piece, but the other side was a challenge....tiny masking pieces. Very glad I didn't have to make those myself. Strongly recommend anyone else contemplating this kit to get the Montex masking set, for no other reason than these windows are included. To give you some idea how tiny these things are! Hopefully they work, I can only say that I tried my utmost, I may first hit it with a shot of Dulcote to try to seal them before painting. I wanted to get a bit further by mounting the bomb beams, but it turns out, I would be unable to remove the mask(s) if they were installed (that would be a bit of an oops!). Looks like they will have to be assembled separately and installed after painting. Hmm.... Avery Labels...... who knew? Andy

And, we're off! A small marathon of Eduard origami has begun. I figured I could start with some of the bomb bay details, as they will all have to painted the same colour anyway. There are these tiny box structures with perforated plates bases (tops?) that sit below the bomb bay walkway. Not sure of their prototype purpose, but this is step one. A view of the prototype can be seen here. The boxes are missing, but the perforated base plates can bee seen. Here's where things stand so far. There are four different types, although the last two only differ in the pattern of the perforations, the box structures are the same. Haven't quite got to folding them yet. There's a limit to how much tiny PE one can fold in a single setting. A rough idea of the layout under the bomb bay walkway. Everything's just sitting there, dry fit, for the time being. The two remaining perforated base plates are supposed to sit along the centre line between the other larger perforated base plates. A small frustration with Eduard, though, the instructional drawing is isometric, and the depiction of the basket weave framing is only rudimentary, so there's no way to really accurately locate the position of the base plates. I guess close will have to be good enough. While the base plates just require bending a flange around the perimeter, the boxes are a bit more complex. Kind of like a miniature hip-roofed bungalow with a vertical flange along the roof peak. (That's a 1/2" grid on my cutting mat to give some idea of scale). I've gotten away with crunching only one so far, thankfully the brass seems reasonably soft, and the piece has since made a full recovery (currently resting comfortably in a sealed Tupperware container alongside close friends and family). It's nice to be back to building small fiddly things again. Andy

Thanks for joining in the fun! The Airfix rendering of the bomb bay is done well enough for plastic, in 1:72, but when I looked at a few different models (like the Avro Lancaster, or the HP Hampton), there was simply no matching the Wellington in terms of complexity, so I absolutely had to go for the upgrade. Andy

Moving on... It's Here! It's Here!! It's Here!!! (Even better, I didn't get charged any duty! YAY!) So what did the mailman bring? First off, a tip of the hat to BNA Model World, everything arrived well packaged and in great condition, and definitely within the posted timeframe (14 business days, out of the estimated 10 to 20). About the only (very minor) issue was that I didn't get a tracking number until the items landed in my own country, but otherwise service was excellent. Now back to the box! First up, a sizeable selection of PE from Eduard: Starting with the bomb bay and bomb bay doors. Next up, seatbelts and cockpit gauges, as well as radio and other instrument panels. Pre coloured too! (Neato!) Some more internal and external details like landing gear doors, throttle leavers, break lines and the like. This set is actually for the MK II kit, as the Mk Ia/Ic was not available, but aside from a few extra details specific to the Mk II Merlin Engines, the rest is identical to the Mk I. The last bits of details from Eduard, a three piece kit that includes resin wheels (with the "Dunlop" tire branding), some more bombs, and upgraded engines. I am really looking forward to the engines, they're considerably more detailed than the Airfix offerings (and a good reason to leave off a panel or two to show them off, maybe add a maintenance scaffold). Finally, the last item: A masking set from Montex. I veered away from Eduard and other options, as Montex offered masks for the little bomb bay windows, where the others didn't. I should mention, there is one more PE set made by Eduard for this kit, the landing flaps, but I decided not to order this set. I need to order some paint in the coming days, before I can begin building, but luckily I can source that locally (within my own province), so that shouldn't take too long. Let the fun begin! Andy

To further my previous point, and provide you with a far more detailed answer: Andy

A couple of years ago I’d ordered some items from a seed company in Manitoba (vegetable seeds). The shipment got as far as the local post office and never moved again. After an appropriate amount of time (about two weeks after the “expected delivery date), I contacted the seed company, they were really good about it and I was refunded my purchase. But ever since then I’ve been paranoid about Canada Post…. This is one of the few times I’ve been able to follow a package via a different postal service (I can track on either Australia Post or Canada Post), and I must say that Australia is much more open about the various stages. Lots of details like when the package was booked to fly, what time the plane left, what time it arrived and departed the various depots etc. With Canada Post it’s just “item arrived at facility” “item processed” then four days of nothing followed by “item processed” at a different facility. Big difference. (BTW, I do understand the seven day delay in Melbourne waiting for a flight). Andy

Small update: according to Canada Post my package has crossed the country and is now in the same province as me. The alleged expected delivery day is tomorrow. It almost feels like Christmas…… Andy

Colour matching is always a hard task. I don’t doubt the accuracy of yours. It’s a source of much continued debate in the model railway community, memories, like colour photos, fade over time. Even after someone manages to find an actual factory paint chip from the period with the actual colour formula written on the back, there’s always some old crank or another who’ll swear up and down it was something else (“just look at this colour photo I took on a bright sunny day seventy years ago”). Can’t wait to see that Lanc! Andy

I wonder if that’s also a result of the different camo colours. The green on grey(?) over black looks quite a bit muted compared to the green on brown scheme (to me, at any rate). Andy

That’s typically a dirty UPS trick (not sure about other couriers). I think with most international postal services, it winds up going through the regular customs service at the airport. I’m expecting to pay a little bit in sales tax, though. Andy

It was largely based on standardization. Every British infantry rifle (Lee Enfield) and machine gun (Browning, Vickers, Lewis, Bren) were all .303. British manufacturing had only to supply one type of round that could be sent anywhere it was needed, no need for the extra logistical issues such as supply asymmetry (an excess production of one type of round and a shortage of another). Even with Lend-Lease most American industries (and the US Government) could see that war was coming and production capacity would also be needed for domestic supply. Lend-Lease was only signed into law in March 1941, barely nine months later the US became fully involved in WW2. In 1941, British and Commonwealth units were fare flung across the world in places like India, the Middle East, North Africa, Singapore, Burma, Hong Kong Southern Europe, etc. Trying to re-equip with different caliber weapons would have been a logistical nightmare, the results would have been piecemeal at best. Andy

The joke of all this, now that I finally have a tracking number, is resisting the urge to check every five minutes… “Has it gone anywhere yet? Where is it now? How about now? Now? Why isn’t it moving? Augh!” 🤪 Andy

Well, a bit of a surprise this morning. I received an email notification from Australia Post saying my package had landed in Canada, and it looks like it even cleared customs. Hooray… I… uh… oh wait… it’s in Vancouver…. The other side of the country… well…. Hmm…. I am now at the mercy of Canada Post…. 🙄 Andy

Found another interesting film: This is turning out to be a particularly fruitful rabbit hole to dive down, as there seems to be a number of vintage films posted on YouTube featuring Wellington bombers (accompanied by appropriately fraffly accented narrators 😜). Andy

A short video showing the Wellington prototype: Still waiting for my order to arrive from parts unknown, until then…. 🤪 Andy

I noticed that conversion kit, along with all the other aftermarket products available, listed on Scalemates. For sure that would be an eye catching model! Andy

Another one for good measure: A couple of old film reels, one showing some training torpedo operations. The other gives an explanation of the Wellingtons that we’re fitted with the “Directional Wireless Installation” (DWI). A code name for the large electro-magnetic hoop used to detonate magnetic sea mines. Although these specialty variants were never produced in large numbers, it all shows the versatility of this aircraft in a number of different roles. Andy

Another interesting propaganda film to help pass the time until my parts arrive from the far side of the world. This one is from 1943: Not quite as cheesy as the last one… Andy

That seems to have been a running issue with many bomber designs, bailing out was a bit of an afterthought. If I read correctly, only the Halifax had one halfway decent exit. I’ve seen pictures of the belly turret: https://www.bombercommandmuseumarchives.ca/aircraftphotoessays/aircraft_photoessay_whitley.pdf Scroll through to pg 9. I can’t imagine hanging out in what looks like a trash can, let alone getting shot at trying to shoot back. I think the experiences with the Whitley proved that the design left a lot to be desired, and it was never widely adapted elsewhere. Andy