1:48 Avro Lancaster B.I/III Ton-Up Avro Lancasters

Lancasters with a hundred raids, decals 1:48

This sheet from Xtradecal is devoted to the British four-engine Avro Lancaster bombers in the B.I and B.III versions, and specifically to the machines that managed an extraordinary number of operational flights. The package holds printed decals.

What a hundred operations means

Surviving a whole operational tour with bomber aviation was statistically very unlikely, and an aircraft that managed a hundred operational flights was a rarity with a name and a reputation of its own. Such machines carried long rows of symbols under the pilot's cockpit, usually small bombs, where each mark stood for one raid. The B.I and B.III versions were practically identical outwardly, and the difference lay in the origin of the Merlin engines, British against American ones built under license. That is exactly why both designations are given together. The rows of small marks under the cockpit turn a model of such an aircraft into the teller of one particular story, not just another piece in the display case.

The rows of symbols on the fuselage

• The raid marks form a regular grid, so set it out lightly in pencil in advance.
• If the symbols come on the sheet in groups, make use of that and do not apply them one by one.
• The small markings are easier to pick up with flat-jawed tweezers.
• Keep the spacing between the rows even, because irregularity shows at first glance.

A suitable accessory for

Anyone interested in the British night bombing campaign and modelers who want to build one particular aircraft with a documented history. An aircraft model has to be obtained separately.