On the Workbench - The Heavy Mob

Known among flyers as 'heavies' - these are usually multi-engine types like the Avro Lancaster, B-17 Flying Fortress and anything that is big, heavy and having many, many engines. Even in model form you can very rapidly reach the stage where you end up with a whopper of a thing that takes over the living room table (much to the chagrin of family members).

First on the bench is the Revell Lancaster. A quick internet search will show some concerns about the kit's wing dihedral - it isn't quite as much as it should be on the real thing. In every other respect the kit is a delight to build. For a model maker this always poses an issue. 'Do I correct an otherwise excellent kit or build it as is?'.

I happen to have a completed Airfix Lancaster in my own collection to compare the wings to (Airfix is regarded in this instance to have the correct angle on their model) and the difference was not obvious unless you sat them beside each other. The Revell kit wings do have some angle on them - just not as much as the Airfix offering. In fact most non-aeroplane people wouldn't know what a wing dihedral necessarily was; so it may be a complete non-issue for the majority of the population.

That's the long-winded way of me saying I built it pretty much out of the box. I had a go at airbrushing the camouflage pattern freehand using some pencilled templates as guides. The edges are a bit more feathered than I would ideally like but when the thing is viewed overall it looks pretty good.


Next on the heavy list is another Arado E555 Amerika Bomber. I originally bought two of these kits and enjoyed building the first one to such a degree that I thought I'd continue on a high and build another one. Because why not?

RLM 02 (Grey) and RLM 71 (Dark Green) make up the upper surfaces. RLM 65 (Light Blue) is the underside colour. Splinter camouflage is quite a lot of fun to mask and paint - the current plan is to have some yellow recognition markings painted on the wingtips and tailfins.

The third candidate is the C-47 Douglas Dakota - the famous transport and general do-it-all aviation workhorse. This is actually the first Dakota I've built in 1/72 scale and probably won't be the last if this kit is anything to go by.

If you fancy making a 'biggish' model but don't relish the idea of a big parts count - the Airfix C-47 is a good option that goes together pretty well. The fiddliest bits were the clear parts (the front windscreen is fitted from the outside).

The above photo shows the current state of proceedings - waiting for some transfers/decals after being coated with a few layers of Klear.

Also in the works but not pictured yet is a B-24 Liberator - the old Airfix offering in 1/72 scale. Thanks to having lots of loose fitting moveable parts and being a subject of the 'phantom riveter' - that should be entertaining....