1:72 Avro Lancaster B.III

Bombers with a long list of operations

The British Avro Lancaster heavy bomber became famous for its load-carrying ability and for being able to deliver an exceptionally heavy bomb over a target, but its crews paid a cruel price for the night raids. All the greater was the reputation earned by individual machines that came back again and again, until the count of their sorties climbed into the hundreds. Both subjects on this sheet belong among them: the first carries the name Phantom of the Ruhr, the second Mickey The Moocher, and both had long rows of symbols on the left side of the forward fuselage recording the tasks completed.

It is precisely those rows that are the most tempting part of the build and at the same time the most demanding. Every little bomb is a separate tiny element and the slightest irregularity in spacing is enough to make the whole column look careless. It has proved best to stick a strip of masking tape on the fuselage with a guide line drawn in pencil and to work row by row from the bottom up.

A black underside calls for particular care

Night bombers had their lower surfaces in covering black, and on such a surface every fault shows at once. Clear gloss under the printing is therefore not a recommendation here but a necessity; otherwise a visible outline is left around every marking. Blot the water from around an element with the corner of a paper towel and only then let it dry. A final matte overcoat evens the surface out and opens the way to the next step, that is, to the fine traces of exhaust gases trailing back across the upper surface of the wing. Anyone who wants to go further still can lightly suggest worn paint in the places where the crew boarded and where boot soles rested against the skin.