AJohnson

As an aside the factory picture of the Lancasters also shows they were “freehand” painted, each is slightly different than the other, so just shows research is your friend if you are after a particular aircraft to model. You can tell these are later mark Lancaster as there are no small oval fuselage windows. So maybe by the time these ones were being built the “mask to spray” or even “mask to chalk line” the airframe were not used at least in this factory. But given the average lifespan of a Lancaster was about 20 missions, it is a wonder they got a lick of paint at all!

Yep we are definitely on the same page, certainly no offence dear MSW friends - you should see some other forums get hot and bothered over fuzzy v hard camouflage lines! 🤣

Here is a picture of some clearly spray-painted Lancasters in the factory, you can just make out the "fuzz", but try that at 1/72 and it will be very hard to see as Javlin says. All down to research on a particular A/C. or personal preference, after all these are our models, me personally I don't like "fuzz" on my clothes or my models! 🙂

Hi Javlin Thanks & @Egilman & @Canute for the kind words. Regarding the "fuzzy" v "hard" demarcation of the camouflage, I discussed this in my Beaufort build not long ago. Yes scale has a great deal to do with it, but also (with the caveat there was huge variation) the full-size aircraft were also sometimes painted in this manner with masks. So unless doing something 1/24 scale and bigger, or modelling something that actually was sprayed with a large "fuzzy" width in real life, some form of masking on model camo. is the only option really. Besides this is all academic really, as my "freehand" airbrushing is not up to doing anything without a mask"! 😆 The black underbelly will be done today, more updates soon! Thanks all.

Painting update, but first a school-boy error to confess! 🤭 Whilst going over the kit and doing last minute polishing and filing around the canopy frame with thin putty I noticed I had glued the horizontal stabilisers on upside down! 🤣 Not too bad to fix, they are almost identical surfaces but for two circular access panels that should have been underneath and two rectangular raised ones that needed to be on top. So needed to fill one pair and made the other pair with thin plastic card, there nothing to see move along.... 😉 Painting was fairly straight forward, Colourcoats Enamels doing the trick again without drama. This all needs to harden off for a day, so I can mask it all for the bomber black coat. Until next time! 👋

Hey Brian, good to hear you can still do something on the "Granado" as well as your "secret" vessel, I'm following both! 😁

Very nice OC and I hope the "Admiral" continues to recover.

Well we are about ready for painting, undercoat done, final inspection, fine rubbing down and the addition of tail aerial to do; I would be happier leaving that off until the end, but the way the part fixes to the tail fin means it might spoil the paint finish, so I will have to be careful! 😬 The hardest part of the build has actually been the canopy. It has alternate parts for the side window panels, so you can have the "blown/bulged" B.XVI versions or the "blister" alternative - similar to the ones on the Lancaster's canopy. (This indicates for those who might be interested, Airfix might be intending to do another version of the Mossie, probably a Photo recon. bird, which might interest US members as a few USAF units used the Mosquito in that role.) Anyways these little side panels have been an absolute B@&^%£! to fit satisfactorily. 🙄 Being safe I used canopy glue to avoid fogging, but this would just not pull together the main canopy to these small panels and keep their shape and twice the assembly sprung apart. (I think the main canopy is slightly bent upwards away from the seating on the fuselage.) So with a deep breath, plenty of magnification and lighting I fixed them with medium C-A used very carefully with an applicator tip. Blowing on the parts like an asthmatic 🌬️to keep the air moving to avoid the dreaded fogging. Upshot I think it is all still clear, though I will probably find later my masking hasn't worked and I now have a green canopy! 😂 Next update Cammo time! 😁 thanks for looking in and the likes. 👍

Hello everyone, I've been away from this little project for a bit, working getting in the way, shouldn't complain - it pays the bills! 🙂 So just a small update, have managed this week to finish off a few of the smaller parts, bombs, undercarriage and props ready for attachment at the end of the built. Also masked the clear parts ready for first undercoat.

Well done Edward, a very nice first card model! 👏👏👏

A very neat looking hull!👍

Totally agreed, I had two in my stash. I still get the bug to do a Grey/white USN/Marines one! 😁 Years ago I did the Tamiya 1/32 E and a 1/72 Royal Navy version.

Don't do it! I said that months ago with my "Nisha" 🤐 Your Erycina is looking very smart, would be a shame for you to abandon her at just the same stage I did.... (I will be back to it next month I think)

Good luck with the further surgeries Jack! 🤞🤞

One of the (many) standout things about MSW is the very supportive camaraderie on here. There is only one person on here that constantly does this on build logs and fortunately MSW provides an “Ignore” facility 😄👏 Love your reply Chris 🤣

Another Masterclass Chris! 👏

I have toyed with the idea of doing a DWI Wellington conversion, "Aerocraft" do a 1/72 conversion set (£18.00), it would make interesting model and something different to look at on the shelf!

Another brilliant build, the weathering and little details are magnificent! 👏

Looking good! 👍

Very good Edward, are you doing the rigging?

Good to see you back in the shipyard Mike! 😁

A great looking Eagle Dan! 👍

Well done Brian, a big thing ticked off! Looking good! 👍

Also this image here from the ground of the damage also shows the front two windows as "shiny" compared to the rest. Sgt. James Allen Ward, V.C. – new pictures of Wellington Mk.Ic L.7818 AA-R | 75(nz)squadron (wordpress.com) I won't put up the image as it has copyright. of 75(NZ) squadron.

Hi Andy, Glad to see there are more "Detail" mad folk out there! 😁 You are right about the windows they were factory fitted and later painted out or replaced with possibly solid panels; in later versions being omitted completely. I think the advantages of seeing out the windows was offset by how well they reflected searchlights / Moonlight! 😨 Regarding the particular "Wimpey" above, where Sgt. Ward went out along the wing to put the fire out, then if you look closely the two forward most window panels are still clear. It is hard to discern initially but if you look closely you can see the alloy geodesic structure through the window, and the surface of those two panels has a slight reflective sheen the ones to the rear don't. So you can have a bit of both if you want! These are opposite the Navigators and Wireless op stations, so they might still have been considered it useful for those two to have a view so they could see the engines/wings. The "painted" out ones look to me more like they have been replaced by a different material (thin panels (maybe ply?) as they don't follow the same profile as the front two. But at 1/72 scale I think painting out the clear parts will be fine! 👍 As you say it is really hard to pin an exact look to an individual air-frame unless there are stacks of photos in "walk around" fashion on a particular day.