Avro Alston B.1

[The Wooksta]

The Avro Type 684 was a Lancaster development with a new presurised forward fuiselage and a fifth Merlin 45 in the fuselage driving a turbo blower to the main engines.  Never left the drawing board - or did it?

I had a Matchbox Lancaster doing nowt and as it has a seperate nose section, easier to play with.  Mods were confined to the fuselage, the wings being standard apart from removing the flame dampers and adding Aeroclub exhausts.  The props are made from Paragon Mosquito spinners with Tamiya Mosquito paddle blades.

The fuselage mods were a bit more involved.  Firstly, an old M&E Lancastrian tailcone replaced the tail turret section.  New nose section made primarily of Milliput replaced the nose, with a section of Balsa cut and sanded to shape did for the top of the fuselage where the cockpit was.  Canopy is a slightly modified Aeroclub Attacker on.

The bomb bay section was harder as it's deeper to accommodate the radiator for the slave Merlin.  Again, carved Balsa did the trick, and then the rest of the bay came from a set of Airfix Lancaster bomb doors, plastic card and a lot of filler.  Pain in the arse and I'm not entirely happy with the back end of it.

Time for a scheme and the high altitude colours of Med Sea Grey top with PRU Blue everywhere else seemed fitting.  Squadron, well, again in line with my policy of choosing something different, I went for 460 Sqn, Royal Australian Air Force.  Unfortunately, I had some serious problems with silvering around the nose art but I'm not revisiting it.  My F*cking Model!

Name - why the Alston?  Simple really.  It's the highest town in England and also highly alliterative.

[The Rat]

Damn, you're on a tear. Superb!

[Gary]

So am I to understand that this is a made up thing? It's simply... logical. A logical extension of the Lancaster line.  

[pyro-manic]

Very nice. Looks like a good option for a long range recce platform. I love the new nose and pit.

[Ed S]

Very NICE.  A simple clean build with an excellent finish.

Ed

[sequoiaranger]

That is a beauty.

[Daryl J.]

Double bow!   
,
Daryl J.

[Tophe]

Thanks, you made me dream of such a Lightning (racer?): the R-38 The Lighooksta!

[Weaver]

Like it! 

What ceiling did they anticipate it reaching?

[MartG]

Excellent 

[Captain Canada]

Nice one ! I can't believe you did all that work and then put the canopy on off-center, tho....



Love the colour scheme on it. And to further Weavers query, any other specs on her performance ? Did the fifth merlin help or hamper the top speed ? Just wondering, as it looks mighty fast !

[Scooterman]

Gets my vote Lee.  Very nice!   

[Hobbes]

Interesting concept; did the Merlins retain their normal superchargers? (ie the blower driven by the fifth engine was the first stage of a three-stage supercharging arrangement?)

[kitnut617]

Interesting concept; did the Merlins retain their normal superchargers? (ie the blower driven by the fifth engine was the first stage of a three-stage supercharging arrangement?)

Page 107 in BSP Fighters & Bombers 1935-1950 Hobbes, the Avro 684 Stratosphere Bomber.  The paragraph doesn't really say except that the airflow would be increased to the four carburettors by the slave Merlin 45.  I would read that as it was powered by it's regular Merlins (it doesn't say what mark though).  Interestingly I'm re-reading this book at the moment and only just finished that chapter on Heavy Bombers.  The drawing of the 684 shows a Wellington Mk.V/VI pressure chamber in the nose but I think I like Lee's version better.

[Freightdog862]

Thats a very smart job, I saw it at Huddersfield but didn't twig it was a real project. Gives me an idea, the Silver Cloud Avro 684.........