Lancaster Build Diary

Last week we installed the second set of undercarriage into the wing mid-section.

This week we worked on building the door to go in the rear fuselage, finishing off the starboard wing, and adding some skin panels to the port wing.

We started (as ever) by laying out the parts for this week.

The first thing to work on was the wing-tip, so the parts were extracted from the fret, and smoothed off.

Before using some of them to extend the frame on the wingtip to hold the two plate-like pieces.

Then the two wing-tip sheets were attached to the frame and to each other with a set of clamps to hold them at the right curvature until the glue had dried.

Whilst the glue was drying we started on the door.  Taking the outer skin panel and the fret with the door frame.

Cutting the pieces out of the fret.

And using the door’s skin as a template for assembling them.

Once both the door-frame and the wing had dried we then added stringers to provide a surface to work with, and added filler around the edges of the wing-tip to seal any gaps.

As the filler was setting we added the engine mount to the wing.

Once the filler had completely set the wingtip was sanded into a smooth curve.

Before being set aside to be painted.

Next, we took the other wing and used masking tape to position the new skin panels in the right places, applying marks where rivets needed to be imitated.

And then did exactly that before setting all of the pieces aside to be painted (on the inside at least).

It was at this point that we painted everything in either green or black.

Before we began to assemble the door.  First, the frame was glued to the outer panel.

Before adding the casing around the door handle (having first filed it down so that it actually fit).

And finally adding the other plate, the door-handle and latch-bar (which had to be glued to each other but not the door), and the two hinges.

This assembly was fitted into place along with a latch-hold into the aft fuselage.  Unfortunately, the door-frame in the fuselage angles inwards, precluding the door from actually opening, but this could be solved with some modification.

Next, the outer and intermediate fuel tanks assembled a few weeks ago were glued into the starboard wing.  Completing this assembly for now.

Finally, the five pieces of “skin” were attached to the port wing, and filler applied along the edges.

Leading us to this week’s conclusion.

Next week I will be on holiday, so the week after I will post two weeks work, including the last engine, starting on the engine mountings, the second elevator, vertical stabiliser and rudder, and a few other smaller pieces of the build.

Again, I have to apologise to everyone for a (slightly) late build diary.  I’ll explain why this instalment was late so soon after the previous one later, but suffice to say it involved a set of small but essential parts being missing.  Without further ado let’s continue with the build diary.

Last week we finished off the ammunition feeds, built a wing, and added some hydraulics to the mid-upper turret section of fuselage.

This week we spent the entire time adding the port undercarriage to the model.  These were the parts to be involved in the process.

The first thing to do was to take the forward and aft bulkheads of the undercarriage bay and mark them up for rivet marking (including a gap for a frame to be attached).

These lines were then followed with a pin-wheel.

And the bulkheads, along with many of the other pieces were set aside to be covered with primer and then painted black.

Following this the forwards arms were painted green, and the unnecessary paint and primer was removed by sanding it off.  We also assembled the wheel at the same time.

At this point some of the small, valve style objects were added to the cabling around the port-side airduct to match the starboard side.

And then others were added to the interior of the undercarriage bay along with the two bulkheads.

This allowed some of the “hydraulics” to be installed before the undercarriage legs which simplified the process somewhat.

The forward pivots were also added to the frame at this stage.  As you can see the wing leading edge frames were removed to give a bit more space to work in.

Next, a set of “bolt heads” small circular pieces of metal were added to the parts of the undercarriage legs.

Before a few extra details were added to the main support structure for the wheel.

Then, finally, we could begin assembling the undercarriage, starting with the two legs which slot into the aft-bulkhead.

Which we then installed.

Before finishing off the “hydraulic” cabling.

As we then moved on to add the rest of the under carriage legs it was discovered that four screws and their attendant nuts were not included in the parts which had been provided.  This lead to a two day delay whilst another bag of parts was obtained.

With the screws now available the undercarriage could be finished off by adding the shock absorber struts, which in the real aircraft would be filled with oil and air to the pressure of 1000 pounds per square inch (here we just get a couple of small springs).

And connecting the upper legs to them.

Finally, the shock absorber struts could be swung into place and connected to the two forwards pivot points.

With the main structure of the under carriage now in place, the frame parts and engine mount could be reinstalled.

Before the springs were put into the legs and the wheel installed.

Giving the wing centre section two wheels.

Bringing us to this week’s conclusion.

Next week we will be finishing off the structure of the starboard wing, and adding the leading and trailing edge skin to the other wing.

Sorry to all for last week’s unexpected hiatus, a combination of factors meant that I was unable to complete the week’s build in a timely manner.  To make up there is an extra-long build diary this week.

Last time we built the second horizontal stabiliser and added the first of the ammunition feeds to the rear turret.

This time we will be finishing off the ammunition feeds, building the starboard wing and adding a plethora of other details.

The parts for this build diary are shown here:

The first thing to be assembled was the wing, beginning by laying out the pieces.

And then assembling the frame work.

And then adding the stringers.

The wing was then set aside to be finished off in the future.

Next came building the two fuel tank covers and the “step” for the last of the hydraulic pumps to go in the aft fuselage.

These are the parts.

Which were removed from the frets.

(I forgot to photograph the others)

And then assembled.

Before the two fuel tank covers had their stringers installed.

(Again I forgot to take a photograph of the other cover)

These were then set aside to be painted later.

We then took the parts for the last ammunition box.

And assembled them.

Before also putting the box aside to be painted.

We then moved on to assembling the hydraulic pump, and the three small tanks which will be attached to the outside of the undercarriage bay.

Once this was done the three tanks were attached to a pair of small frames to space them properly.

Next came assembly of the wing-tip and intermediate fuel tanks, pictured here is the wing-tip tank (with the two pieces of metal which will act as its straps), which in reality can hold up to 114 gallons of fuel each.  Here it is small enough to fit into the palm of your hand.

The two tanks were then set aside until the rest of the parts were ready.

Continuing the theme of assembling parts, it was at this stage that the second ammunition feed was assembled.

With all of the assembly possible for now complete, we next moved on to the pieces of skin metal.

Two for the fuselage between the wings, and two to cover the starboard side of the centre section of the wings.

These were then rivet marked.

And set aside for painting.

Finally, for the pre-painting phase of construction the small details for the fuel tanks, hand rail, and engine electrical board were placed on pieces of masking tape to hold them in place.

We also used a sharp knife to remove the port-side engine bulkhead from the wing centre section.  Removing these two pieces allows much freer access when installing the undercarriage, and the oil tank.

At this stage all of the parts were painted allowing the final stages of work for this week to begin.

First the last of the ammunition containers was finished off by gluing the “ammunition” into the open top.

And then gluing the box to the other ammunition box finished last week.

Before gluing both into the fuselage.

Next, the two sections of skin for the centre fuselage were glued to the frame behind the wing root.  The other two pieces of skin prepared and painted for this build diary won’t be attached for a while.

Then the hydraulics and brackets for the ammunition feeds were attached to the detached portion of the fuselage.

This piece of fuselage was then reattached.

Whilst that was drying attention moved to finishing off the two fuel tanks and the second engine oil tank.

The two fuel tanks prepared earlier in this diary were then test fitted along with their covers in the starboard wing.

With the parts painted it was possible to assemble the third engine.

And install the left and right linings for the port undercarriage bay.

Followed by putting the array of three tanks onto the exterior of the under carriage bay and running three bits of wire to replicate piping.

Then we installed the pieces of the starboard ammunition feed and the two rudder and elevator control rods into the aft-most section of fuselage.

Before doing the same with the mid upper turret section of the fuselage.

And finishing off by attaching the oil tank, engine control board and wires to the engine bulkhead removed earlier.

Bringing everything to a close for another build diary.

Next week we’ll be adding the port-side undercarriage.

Please comment if you have any suggestions or issues, one of the big questions for the future of this project is, which aircraft should we finish this model as?  If you have any suggestions we would be grateful.

Welcome back to week 14 of this build diary, last week we covered the fitting out of the Navigator’s position, the creation of the first of the vertical stabilisers, and the installation of some of the hydraulics in the aft fuselage.

This week we will be covering the first part of the ammunition feed system, building the second horizontal stabiliser and adding some skin to the underside of the port wing.

As ever we start by examining this week’s parts.

The first step was to temporarily attach the skin panels to the wing and then to each other to hold them in place for the next step.

Then the panels were attacked with a rivet maker and a ruler to give the proper pattern.

These two panels were then put aside to be primed and painted (on the inside).

We next moved on to building the horizontal stabiliser.  First the sheets of parts were laid out.

Before removing all of the components from them.

After that it was a simple matter of assembling the pieces.

And adding stringers.

Before this assembly was also set aside to be painted.

Similarly, the third ammunition box was assembled from its parts.

Before also being set aside to be painted.

Following priming and painting, we returned briefly to the wing panels to install the two lights in the underside of the wing.

First, a bulb shaped piece of plastic was placed inside each of the bowls, before the whole thing was closed off with a piece of clear plastic.  Finally, these assemblies were glued to the inside of the wing panelling.  At the same time two short lengths of stringer were removed to allow the lights to fit into the wing.

Then the panels were attached to the wing.

Similarly, we also painted and finished off the second ammunition box.

And painted the ammunition trays.

Before putting together the more complex section of the feed. A Lancaster’s stainless steel ammunition tracks and ammunition boxes held 2,500 rounds of 0.303 inch ammunition for each of the rear turret’s four Browning machine guns.

And then glued all of the parts into the fuselage.

Bringing us to the end of this week’s work.

Next week we’ll be building the other wing and finishing off the ammunition feeds.

Last week we installed some doors into the aft-most section of the fuselage, and removed the side of the mid-upper turret’s section to install some “hydraulics.”

This week we worked on the cockpit, a bit more of the hydraulics and the vertical stabiliser.

The parts for this week were:

The first task was to build the vertical stabiliser and its rudder, beginning with removing all of the pieces from their frets.

These came together relatively swiftly, the most time consuming part was sanding them into shape.

As before, at this point I couldn’t resist a dry run of the assembly.

I then put these parts aside for painting.

Next I put together the two small assemblies which could be assembled prior to painting, the second of the ammunition containers and a control panel.

I also added rivet marks to the frame to go on the back of the pilot’s chair.

Before setting everything aside to be primed and painted.

Looking ahead in the instructions at this point I decided that, much like last week, I would have to remove the side of the cockpit section in order to make my work as straight forwards as possible.

I also thought that it would be easiest to fit the Navigator’s instruments (these would have been done in early August otherwise) before closing the section back up, so I passed the relevant pieces to my father to assemble.

I then placed the instruments into the Navigator’s position.

I now painted all of the parts set aside prior to this point.

Before completing the assembly of the second ammunition container and gluing it to the first.

And then gluing them into place above the aft-end of the bomb-bay.

Next, I attached the frame to the back of the pilot’s chair.

Before adding an oxygen bottle.

Then I trimmed down and inserted the silver rod into the vertical stabiliser.

And glued the fire extinguisher into the cut-out section of fuselage.

I then first glued the front piece of the electrical panel to the piece of paper showing the dials.

Before trimming the paper and gluing the assembly to the body of the panel.

This was set aside to be added to the model later in this diary.

Next I coiled a small piece of wire and added it to the panel assembled near the beginning of this build diary.

This panel, and the hydraulic reservoir were then added to the hydraulics added last week.

Before I added a pair of hand rails to the same section.

Finally, I returned to the cockpit, first adding the two small box shaped pieces to the cut-out section, and adding wires from them to the engineer’s instruments.

Before threading a series of wires into the frame and connecting them to the terminals of the panel, which was itself glued to the frame.

I then put the cockpit back together, threading the wires through the rest of the frame, and gluing the cut-out section back into place (putting in new stringers to replace the once which had broken when the section was cut out).

This task brought this week’s task to its close.

Next week we’ll be adding skin to the underside of the port wing, building the other side of the horizontal stabiliser and adding the first of the ammunition feeds to the model.