Dambusters Lancaster

I'm sorry, I seemed to have gatecrashed Sky's thread on plastic models with my ramblings on the height keeping spotlights. But to continue.

So far I have been unable to find out exactly where the rear one was situated. Due to the anniversary, W.H.Smith have a number of special edition magazines on the raid in stock and I have thumbed through those on the racks. There are artists impressions, most show the light shining from the area of the sloped cover to the bomb bay, so I have placed it there. Also the Haynes workshop manual on the Lancaster doesn't cover that version fully.

I have nearly finished construction and masking, just getting up nerve to paint the thing. The watery base will have to wait because the 'beams of light'
Perspex rods are at an angle, the plane cannot be removed from them without risk of damage, and he resin 'water' has to be moulded around them.
It won't be entirely to scale because I need the aircraft to be directly over the spots of light for various reasons. Balance mainly!

If you have not read the earlier ramblings this won't make sense, but I hope to have the plane supported over a section of lake with LED lights shining up the rods to give the impression of the real thing.

be an awesome model harry.
we need pictures.

I have done 90% of he Lancaster and include a photo. Painting it went better than expected, there are a lot of little details to sort out before I make the 'lake' ..... The propeller discs are fixed temporarily by blutack and have to come off again.

Here you go Harry,

The model is 99% finished now. I cannot get the 'water' of the Mohne reservoir right yet, nor the led's to shine up the beams of light to my satisfaction. Still working on it. I am quite pleased at the way the propeller discs turned out, but I should have put a pilot in his seat!

This was deliberately intended to look like a contemporary action picture, it also conceals some unfinished detail painting! The led's weren't lit.

well done, looks almost real.

whats next then sir.

Thank you, I have made a pool in a large petri dish out of De Luxe Materials Solid Water, the perspex rods are embedded in that. I wanted to add ripples, you are supposed to be able to texture it after 8-10 hours but it just slumps back. So have another product on order to add to the top. (Making Waves)

This is the finished product. Not very happy with the base, I might make something different later on. It just doesn't look right, especially in a dark room with led lights under it.

i728.photobucket.com/albums/ww289/ric871...16d1_zps73020ce4.jpg

I think you need a scale model of one of the dams and a bouncing bomb bouncing towards said dam to finish it off.

Tony, Airfix do a very non-scale replica of the dam wall and towers, but apparently if the dam was done to 1/72 scale it would end up 27 foot long. I don't think my missus would be happy with that down the hallway..............

spoil sport.

Thanks. I just worked it out, a 1/72 scale Mohne dam would be 35 feet long, at the top, which makes you realise how insignificant a Lancaster would look set against it! Anyone want to take it on?

I need to get some black card for a background before I attempt any more photos.

I am reading a book by W.B. Bartlett called 'The Dambusters' which includes a lot of detail about the raid, the aircrews and the surviving civilians caught up in the flood.