Hasegawa 1/72 Lancaster

I just received My copy from Hannants this morning, and without opening any of the plastic bags inside the bok it looks very very nice indeed, lots of clear parts for Maritime versions and the oval bomb aimers panel for the Mk VII, there are also seperate flame dampening exhaust covers so the posibility of the exhaust stacks being included in a future relece or by the after market firms is a good posibility to help modle late/post war Mk I/III's and also for the Mk VII. A nice touch is seperate peices to build either a faired or un faired rear fuselage just in front of the rear turret, the fairing around the mid upper turret is seperate as well and the turret its self is nicly done with the seperation of the various perts done very nicly and differently to any other that I have seen of this aircraft. Detil for the engine radiator louvers and a full well detailed bomb bay is also welcome as well as the HS2 aerial rather than just an empty space as usualy portraied by previeous kittings of this aircraft. There are lots of options in the kit, bulged glass panels for poilet and engineer or flat, diferent stiles of astro dome above the navigators position and a choise of early or late bomb aimers nose glass. I look forward to starting work on this kit, just going to be a while working out exactly what options I am going to use. At Thirty Brittish pounds (bar the shouting) is it worth it, at first glance I would say a resounding YES, now what to do with all the Airfix Lancasters I have?

Gondor

Reply to
Gondor
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On opening the packageing I find, lots of wonderful things, and on checking some refferences I am also a bit confused. First off I was wrong to say that the oval window under the nose was for a Mk VII, it was part of the Far East conversion for the Lancaster. While I was carefully removing some items not required for any of the provided options and storing them nice and safley, I foud exhausts for the engines, 0.50" guns for a F.N. 82 turret and part ot the Village Inn AGLT, another machine gun was removed from the sprue which looks very much as if it is from the lower underside of the B III (special) of 617 Sqn, blanking plates for the mid-upper turret and also a flattened base for a circular radome used on a Canadian Mk 10 MR, glaseing and a rectangular fairing for MR3 versions for which part G10 may be the radar dish. I was confused by parts D 4, 5, 21 & 22 which apear to be carberetor intakes for the engines, and which are quite large, I have no idea if these were for the Merlin 24 engines fitted to F.E. machines. A fair attempt has been made to depict the interier behind the cockpit which includes the navigator and radio operators.The bomb bay is provided with "

200lb " bombsand the doors are wonderfully depicted with the scaloped insides to them, Pitty about the ejector pin parkings, but to be honest they are not going to be a lot of work to remove.thee are more ejector pin markeing in the cockpit area which will take more work to fill due to the various curves and detail in this area. Hasegawa would have you insert the fuselage glaseing after assembling the fuselage halfs together, I am not sure about that for the smaller windoes even though the larger ones have small lips on either side, glazeing is also provided for the MR3 version and the areas to be removed are marked on the inside or the rear fuselage by small raised lines. Windscrean washer nozzels, flattened Main Wheels and detailed undergaridge bays are other details along with the rear or the radiators and the exhaust paths for the air are also provided, a choise of pointed or padle propellers are also provided. So befor I fill up the news grop with thes first impretions review........... will I be paying out for more of these kits............... YES, and I especialy look forward to amy future variations they may decide to issue as long as its not just a change of markings.

Gondor

Reply to
Gondor

send them to me. cheap.

Reply to
e

On yet further thought and inspection of the various sprues I have reached the conclution that part G6 is probibly the base for an FN 64 turret, this conclution was reached due to the fact that if Hasegawa wished to modle a Mk II they would have to provide new completly new engine mounts and fairings as well as waste a lare amout of sprue unless they replace a lot of componants on the same sprues. As the bomb bay dors are on a seperate sprue, it would be no problem for Hasegawa to produde the bulged Bomb bay dors seperatly along with the fairing and turret. I am worried about the angle that the outer wing is angeled, it may just be me as one set of plans I have match the angle represented in the kit. The detailing is nicely restrained panle lines and rivets, recessed rivets so no cobbeled road surface ala Airfix. I am not sure about the way that the bomb load is placed either, one sorce agrees with the load in the forward part of the bomb bay, but has 2 x 250lb bombs either side, one behind the other, on each side of the 4,000lb "cookie" with two rows of 3 x 250lb bombs in the rear of the bomb bay. The only thing is that the kit looks so dam good that I am scared to do much with is as I can see so many posible things to do with it that I cant make up My mind which version or variation to build and I am also worried of makeing a mess of the kit too. I am definatly looking forward to future releces and fully intend to buy more copies of this kit over time.

Reply to
Gondor

Well, Hobbylink Japan is showing the next release as the Dam Buster variant:

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Jon.

Reply to
Jonathan Stilwell

Thats great, just goes to show that I was doing a good job of reading the items on the sprue

Gondor

Reply to
Gondor

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