Wingco57

This build has also received som work in filling the huge craters between the nacelles and the wings with Miliput. Something I was not looking forward to but while filling the Spey Phantom I thought why not. Rigorous sanding to follow. No pics at the moment as there is nothing to see yet.

Looks great. Very grey too. The 50's film was in black and white isn't it? How do you know what the colours were?

Picking up where I left off. Getting the rear end circular is not very easy. Also broke up the intakes as they were too wide and looked comical. This time inserting narrow strips. Destroying the nice smooth intakes in the process. So this one will have FOD-covers. The 1/48 Revell kit is for reference and will be built simultaneously. Cees

Sorry, but I have to say that I don't want likes by either emoticons or written, I prefer constructive criticism that I can learn from. If nobody reacts I may save myself time not posting anything

Not much progress, but I made a representation of the aileron fittings to the aileron. This nicely fill the mounting holes in the aileron itself. next, massive filling and sanding session coming up.

Doing just that working on the aileronhinges. The prototype had some chunky misshapen blobs, so new ones had to be made, they slightly overhang the aileron gap. Cees

In the end I used telephonewire, the ends of which are difficult to get a neat effect but it will have to make do. I gave them a coat of mr surfacer 1000 which evened out things a bit. Not entirely satisfied but that’s life. A coat of black paint will make them look better.

No it isn’t, just a bit of aanklooien. Made a start at fabricating the landing lights set up in the leading edge. No detailpics or drawing so will have to do some guesswork based on similar set ups in contemporary RAF aircraft. And about those gaiters, the drawing and the undercarriage leg. Any idea how to make those ridges? I tried thin metal wire but that was too stiff, leadwire or knicker elastic perhaps? Anyone?

Hi Neil, I almost got burned out from this build but your Halifax magnum opus really refuelled my motivation. As a change to filling craters between the wings and nacelles, I decided to tackle the wheels and the way they are fitted to the undercarriage legs. To avoid the spaying out and cracking of the legs I cut off the overscale mountings. Drilling holes makes it possible to fit the wheels after painting without damage with a horizontal axle just like the real thing. I plan to make the gaiters as they are true to the Manchester. The prototype wheels will be sanded smooth and also reduced in circumference.

Landinggear has been finished.

And then there were two. The second always goes quicker as you now know the pitfalls. The later to be made cowlingsections butt against the false firewalls so the whole wings can be finished before that. Next is to fill the many gaps and fit the flaps/nacelle fairings, the ailerons, landing lights in the leading edge, fairing in the carburetor intakes etc. Mind you everything needs to made to fit etc.

Absolutely fantastic, my gob is well and truly smacked! If I didn't know I would think that was a restored full size cupola.

Hi Tom, of course you are correct, although the bulkhead I am working on is a false one and it serves to mount the Vulture cowling section onto. I do not have good references of the underside of the nacelle and have to find out the hard way. i hit a snag as the undercarriage legs protrude too far forward. But I noticed the front mounting points can be move a bit back. Just a few slots are needed to give room to the mountings and to locate the cowling later on too.

Well, I made a good start at finding the location of the firewall and the length of thr wheelbay. Had to do some heavy sawing on the leading edge with my trusty saw. Although I have done this in 1/48 it is a scary moment when you start cutting up a perfectly good leading edge. The bulkhead seems to fit. Both have been made. This is going well, for now.

Not yet impatient one I have to determine the location of the firewall first so I can finish the middle and rear parts of the nacelle. Fitting the cowling section is the easy part Once I figured out how to make it, but that's something for the future.

You are absolutely right Tom, but handling such a large beast causes stress too. As you know from experience of course. Having a spare Lanc kit I transplanted the kit sidepanels including most of the nacelles into the wing. Compared to the prototype parts......there is no comparison.I also checked the position of the Vulture cowling part, which still need to be made. But not just yet.

Thanks, both wheelbay interiors glued in place. The nacelles will have to be build around them.

Some construction and destruction. The new and wider spinner backplates have been roughly shaped and the square hole need to be plugged with thick plasticard . The starboard wheelbay needed to have some room to enable the undercarriage to be fitted, so some more cutting was needed. Suddenly the join between the centre section and outer wing cracked. So some repairs were needed. And a long suffering join ,where the Lanc wing was sliced spanwise and glued back, needed attention too. Superglue to the rescue. One step forward en two steps back. Oh well.

Keep at it, it would be too boring if it all would go too well.

Mindboggling but oh so enjoyable.

Now that the fuselage is almost finished, attention has shifted to the undercart. The printed prototype had mocked up undercarriage legs with crude mounting points. The kit parts are much more refined and I am in the lucky position to have some spares as well as wheelbay parts . The pics show the difference. I am also morphing Lanc spinners into the longer Manchester ones by glueing plasticard on the base. The radius is also slightly wider but will come later. The square holes will be plugged and sanded to contour.

Thanks Neil, just saw this. Building a Halifax as a tribute to your father is a great motivation to start this kit. As you say the chances of a better kit are remote, so why wait? I'd say go for it.

Thanks, did some more work this evening on the antenna which is specific for the Manchester, and the tailwheel for which I used one of the mainwheels of a Tamiya Beaufighter.

Me too Anthony. After another coat of Parket Plus( Dutch brand similar to Future) I coudn’t wait anymore and demasked the fuselage. At first I wanted to apply a matt coat but that would be unrealastic in my view. The slight sheen you get from one light coat gives a nice effect. Especially with all those windows. To say I am happy is an understatement. Have still to clean up the mask residue.

Fuselage almost finished but still to do are some bombardiers details and the sighting bubble. Wings are waiting.....