1:48 Avro Lancaster B.I

Markings that a flying memorial wears today

The subject of the sheet is a Lancaster with the fuselage code KC-A of No. 617 Squadron, that is the unit that entered history with the attack on the Ruhr dams. In 1944 it was based at Woodhall Spa and its machines specialized in precise drops of the heaviest bombs on protected targets, whether submarine pens, viaducts or warships. The particular aircraft DV385 with the name Thumper was flown under the command of the pilot Knight and was among the machines the squadron kept in front line condition.

These markings in particular hold a special position today, because in the postwar period they were worn by the surviving Lancaster PA474, which is kept airworthy in Britain and appears at air shows. The sheet therefore serves two groups of builders at once: those building a combat machine of 1944 and those who want a model of today's flying memorial. The sheet also holds alternative aircraft letters, so further combinations of the code can be assembled.

Woodhall Spa was a spa village whose hotel served the squadron as an officers' mess, and the contrast between a quiet spa street and a machine loaded with a bomb weighing several tons belongs to what the veterans remembered longest. For a diorama scene it is a rewarding setting, because a grass area, a concrete stand and equipment around a landing gear wheel are enough.

Before you reach for the scissors

Decide which version of the markings you will build and put the rest of the sheet away in a dark drawer; printing does not resist fading in light. The code letters on the side of the fuselage are long and easily shifted by a few degrees, so draw a horizontal line in advance with a soft pencil or bound it with tape. The model is sold separately; what you get here is only printed markings.