Avro Nottingham Gr.ii

[kitnut617]

The SAR stripe at the back presented a bit of a problem, really had to  to figure out what to do.  The decal that comes on the sheet I used (which is for a Lancaster), is just a length of parallel lines (blue/orange/blue) and I did the sides and top all in one first.  But at the fuselage corners the decal bunched up quite a bit at the rear and I had to use a very sharp blade to carefully cut the decal so that it would lay flat on the fuselage. The bit around the underside of the fuselage was quite a bit different and I only had a small amount of decal left to do the job.  Luckily I do AutoCad, so I did some measuring and made a little drawing of the parallel decal I had left, and then experimented with just how much I needed to cut out from one side to make it into a curve.  After a couple of tries, I found the optimum amount needed to be removed by printing off the drawing on paper and laying it on the fuselage.  I then transfered it over to the bit of decal, cut out the appropriate triangular shapes and applied it to the model.  It came out quite good in the end.

[Captain Canada]

What a beauty ! I still can't get over how big the thing is.....you sure it's 72nd scale ?

[kitnut617]

Yup! 1/72 scale. Wing span is 21 1/4", length is 14 5/8" (not including the gun barrels in the turrets)  I have added to the original kit, 28mm to the wing span (14mm extra at each wing root) and 30mm to the fuselage behind the bomb bay.  I'm not sure how much longer the nose is over the original, I'll have to get another of my Shackletons out and measure it.

Thanks for you comments Cap' I appreciate them.

[Captain Canada]

Yup....that's big !  Any idea when the floats are going on ?

[kitnut617]

Hopefully in the next two-three days,  definitely before the dead line    I'm about half way through assembling the second float.  I've still got to put the turret on and clear parts for the nose and tail turret.

[lancer]

She surely is a beauty Kitnut.

[kitnut617]

Thanks guys!

[Captain Canada]

So the bomb bay is remaining the same size ? I guess it's kind of a moot point, if the a/c is a SAR bird....but is it going on the same premise as the Lancs ? Retired bomber ?

[kitnut617]

In the backstory (which is still under development [and I hope to get this finished before the dead line too] ) it will be a retired RAF bomber ( the serial number was selected after an email chat with Phil Butler who pointed out there was a gap of about 25 numbers that weren't used in the Lincoln order) , and specifically a Pacific arena bomber.  The bomb bay is based on the MR.2 which is larger, I should say longer, than the MR.3's.  The bomb bay starts at just behind the front radar fairing and finishes just before the port entry door, something I added as I needed a way to board the aircraft from the floats.  Incidently, this was the cause of one of the many problems I had while building the model.  The model is based on the Shackleton kit and I wanted it to be the cross-over link between a Lancaster/Lincoln and the Shack', the big difference between the Lanc'/Lincoln & Shack' is the fuselage width, The Lanc'/Lincoln scaling out at 6 feet out to out the longeron stiffeners just above the bomb bay, whereas the Shack' scales out at 8 feet.  In my estimation the Shack could carry two Tallboys side by side and inside the bomb bay doors (measuring a Paragon Tallboy I have) and was actually quite capable of lifting the weight in real life (more about this in my backstory).

Trying to fit the canopy was a real exercise in trial and error, it's a classic case of looks perfect in profile but doesn't work a darn in plan.  In the latest pics you can see just above the little side windows what looks like a bend in the fuselage, well that's exactly what it is.  I had to bend the fuselage sides inwards quite a bit to get the fuselage section to work with what I wanted to do with the canopy.  But it did blend in nicely with the rear fuselage just aft of the starboard entry door, the fuselage pinches in quite sharply here in real life, so I didn't have to do anything to how the tailplane fitted.  To explain better, most of the Shack' fuselage is a trapeziod in section, the bottom side being longer than the top side, but just aft of the entry door the bottom side pinches in until the fuselage sides are almost vertical, which is why the Lanc' tail turret I've put on practically falls into place at the usual tail end splice point on both types of aircraft.

[Captain Canada]

Sweet....giant bomb bays rule ! Also dig the idea of bridging the gap between the Lanc/ Linc and the Shak.

One thing I might suggest, tho, after looking at the pics ( as suggested by you ) is to draw in some panle lines with a pencil. Around the cockpit and over the nacelles etc. I did that once ( or twice ! ) and with the magic of digital photography, it was pretty hard to tell that they were complete fakes ! Just adds some depth to the pics is all, I guess.

[kitnut617]

One thing I might suggest, tho, after looking at the pics ( as suggested by you ) is to draw in some panle lines with a pencil. Around the cockpit and over the nacelles etc. I did that once ( or twice ! ) and with the magic of digital photography, it was pretty hard to tell that they were complete fakes ! Just adds some depth to the pics is all, I guess.

That's a good idea, I'll try to put some on but my priority is to get the model finished first.  If I've got time I'll do that, I did attempt to do a re-scribe but I soon gave that up as I've not done anything like that before.  Same with the painting, my air brush skills are practically non-existant so all painting is done by hairy stick.

[Captain Canada]

Hey, nothing wrong with painting with a hairy stick ! I still do most of mine with one....airbrushing is getting easier for me, tho, but I still enjoy sitting about, watching tele and sipping a pop whilst painting and building. Kinda like right now !

[nev]

Sweet!  And she's not even finished yet! 

[Brian da Basher]

Absolutely gorgeous, kitnut! You've really done yourself proud with this amazing project!

Brian da Basher

[kitnut617]

a sneak peek! I now have two almost identical floats and I've done a trial fit-up.  It looks just like I envisioned it would.