Avro Lancaster "Dambuster", Revell (04295) 1/72
As part of the "80th Anniversary of Dambuster Raid - group build!" created by Bernard @lis, I entered with the Revell kit 04295 in 1/72 scale. It was already 10 months ago that I received this kit and it still took two months before I started it. Lots of interruptions, rebuilding my entire bathroom, and fitting issues, likely introduced by myself, resulted in a build which is absolutely not as nice as a Lancaster deserves to look like. Nevertheless, from a 10 feet distance this build still looks like a Lancaster and because of the bouncing bomb it can be identified as a Dambuster.
I'm glad Bernard pointed out already at the beginning that I had to remove the radar unit. Sprue stubs holding the wings are quite big on this kit and require some work to get them removed. The interior can be built with some nice details added by Revell. Wings did not fit nicely, me to blame, and required quite some putty to fill the gaps. Also adding the special lower fuselage part used for the bouncing bomb required a lot of smoothing. The landing gear is quite fragile to apply but in the end strong enough to carry her.
I should have listened to Bernard to buy some masks for canopy painting but in the end I followed the approach of Chris @chrisballard, and painted them manually, not an easy task to do it nicely as you can see from the pictures. The side windows were not masked at all, I simply oversprayed them and cleaned them with a toothpick once I finished the paint session. The turrets and canopy did fit amazingly well, not much corrections were required this time. The last issue that occurred was a severe amount of silvering on the larger decals, mainly the codes on the fuselage. Thanks to Spiros @fiveten, pointing out a successful approach by Tom @tcinla, I followed that advise and most of the silvering is gone now.
When I had to decide which aircraft codes to use, I searched the internet and found that the aircraft AJoG was flown by wing commander Guy Gibson. Reading about this great person I found out that Guy was buried together with his navigator Jim Warwick in Steenbergen, southwest in the Netherlands. Both brave men died when they had to emergency land their Mosquito in Steenbergen on September 19th, 1944 after being hit by friendly fire. After reading this I was interested in visiting the area of Steenbergen where lots of remembrance sites can be found about Guy and Jim. It was an interesting trip learning a lot about both men. I added some pictures of that visit.
As said before, absolutely not a wonderful result which is clearly caused by my own clumsiness as other iModelers have clearly shown that this kit can be turned into a wonderful Dambuster Lancaster.
Even though not everything went as smoothly as I was hoping for, it was an enjoyable build.
Thanks to all who followed my build thread and supported me with various tips and supporting remarks.
Happy Easter,
You have a nice model! I'm glad you included the photos and info on Gibson and Warwick.
@jsummerford, thank you, John. Glad you like it.
Nice result, but don't blame yourself for the problems assembling the kit; the Revell Lancasters are renowned for not "measuring up" (literally and metaphorically). (quick check at Scalemates says this is a 2009 reboxing of the 2007 "new release" Lancaster - which did not solve all the problems associated with the 1960s kit - review at BritModeller confirms all your points on fit) Ditto the early Airfix Lancasters.
If you're further interested in Operation Chastise, I highly recommend Sir Max Hastings' "Operation Chastise." Sir Max was a fan since he saw the movie in 1955, and he interviewed all the survivors (including Barnes Wallis) in the 1970s, giving him an edge over every other author. From those interviews with the surviving aircrew and other RAF personnel who knew Gibson, he provides a portrait of a leader that is 180 degrees out from Paul Brickhill's garbage (Really, don't waste your time on the book "The Dam Busters" - it is based on all the RAF material whitewashing Gibson and the success of the mission). To me, it is amazing that a guy with all the personal shortcomings of Gibson could attract guys like Mickey Martin - who no one would have thought was "ducking duty" if he hadn't volunteered and joined 617 - Hastings presents a much more in-depth take on things. He also does what no other author has done - he tells the story of what happened to the people on the ground after the dam was broken.
James Holland's "Dam Busters" is also good. He didn't have the human sources Sir Max did, but he deals with a lot of the technical detail.
The movie is "factual" so far as it goes - is telling only 50% of the truth "the truth" or a lie? - it follows Brickhill's RAF "official story." It's completely fictional about Gibson, who was the polar opposite of the portrait done by Richard Todd. (FWIW, Sir Peter Jackson's remake of the movie would have been significantly different since screenwriter Stephen Fry contacted Sir Max and was given access to all his material that later became "Operation Chastise". The remake would have told the true story - which sadly will never happen now.)
You might also try Gibson's own biography "enemy coast ahead".
@neil-foster, thanks for sharing, Neil.
@tcinla, thanks a lot, Tom. I'm definitely going to read and see all of that to have a better understanding about Guy and this entire operation.
Great looking model , John @johnb !
Good work on this one.
@ssgt, thank you, Jay.
Another nice one, despite your misgivings on the construction, John @johnb. I canโt believe you painted all those canopy frames by hand. Thatโs real punishment. Whatโs up next?
@eb801, thanks a lot, Eric. Neither can I, it was quite some work and to be honest, I still do prefer masks when dealing with so many frames. Currently working on a F86 Sabre in the dedicated group build created by George Blair.
Nice work, John. Itโs great these men are remembered.
@j-healy, thank you, John. I fully agree, this monument was unknown to me but I'm glad they honor those men in this way.
Great work, John, on what is not the easiest kit ever produced, a terrific tribute to all who took part in this bombing raid.
@chinesegeorge, thanks, George. A challenging kit indeed. It was a nice opportunity to be able to honer them in Steenbergen.
Nice work on the Lanc John (@johnb). It's funny how an aircraft that shares a similar look to the Liberator can turn out looking so much better. The Lancaster is one of those designs that look like it was meant to fly.
@clipper, thanks a lot, Carl. Although both are four engine heavy bombers, the Lancaster definitely looks much more elegant to my opinion.
Well, John, despite all the self-criticism, I have to say that she looks beautiful. Just a skilled modeller, despite mistakes and a worse kit, can create an amazing looking model. In addition, interesting information about the crew.
@milantesar, thank you very much for those encouraging words, Milan.
Nicely finished. @johnb
@jdtruby, thank you, John
Lovely Lanc! One of the first models that I can recall building was the original Revell "Dambuster" Lancaster.
@magoo, thanks a lot, Robert.
Excellent build, John.
@blackmopane, thank you, Rafi. Really appreciated.
Marvelous result here John, and amazing you have the additional photos which add a whole other dimension to the build. Congrats!
@georgeswork, thanks a lot, George. It definitely did.
Great job on your Lancaster John.
@neil-foster, thank you, Neil.
Finally looks great! Very nice painting!
@lis, thanks a lot, Bernard. It was a pleasure to take part in this wonderful group build you created. Thanks for pointing out some important aspects during this build.
I donโt move out from home without eduard masks ๐
Still an excellent result, John! You took the most out of the idiosyncratic Revell kit and came up with a super result! It was a pure pleasure to follow your build!
Well done!
@fiveten, thank you, Spiros.
It was a real pleasure to have you following this build. Now on to the Sabre.
@johnb - Looks great to me John. If it was an enjoyable build then I'd call it a complete success...
@brithebuilder, thank you, Brian. Definitely enjoyable but I know I can do better than this. Well, a good reason to build another one.
Even better John.
Nice work on the Dambuster! I think you did a fine job- the additional photo's of the grave and remembrance site were a nice tribute to these heroic men. Thanks for sharing!
@dbutlr, thanks a lot, David. It was absolutely worth the visit and to learn more about those men.
If you talk to the "Better half" giving birth to children can be a painful messy affair. Making models although less painful, can still be a messy affair with a end result that only a mother/modeler could love or appreciate. In the end John your efforts produced a wonderful kit and article. Which is a good pointer to falling down another rabbit hole of history, truth and Gibson's life. A real shame that Sir Peter couldn't get enough backing for his film project.
@stephen-w-towle, thank you, Stephen. An exceptional but good comparison. It would for sure have been a great movie if Sir Peter was able to create it.
Excellent result in spite of the difficulties you encountered. A nice tribute to Gibson and Warwick.
@chasbunch, thanks a lot, Chas. I'm glad you like it the way it turned out.
@johnb
Not sure if you are a brave man or just plain mad John ๐
Painting all those tiny 1/72 canopies frames by hand surely qualifies you on both
Good build overall, I like camouflage and the story behind the pics. Thumbs up
@holzhamer, thank you, Pedro. I really appreciate your compliments. I tried to cut masks myself at first but that was simply too complex. So painting those frames by hand was the only option left.
I think the Lanc is the most purposeful looking of all the allied heavies - just looks "muscled up!" This one is really nice.
@gkittinger, thanks a lot, Greg. The Lancaster is indeed an elegant yet powerful lady. I've been up very close to a real one in the RAF museum in London and I was really speechless.
5 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Still looks good! Thanks for the extra GG photo's!
@mauritsderidder, thank you, Maurits. I'm glad you like it.