Joined in 2023 
82 
63 About this deal
The kit gives the impression that it will build well with few hassles; but bear in mind the warning about errors and omissions that others have already found in the instructions. The kit is engineered in a slightly unusual way compared to most Lancaster kits because the wings must accept both in-line and radial engine options. Theses differ in the way the nacelles blend with the wing, and so Airfix has cutouts in the wing leading edges to allow for this. The other unusual aspect is the way the two wing spars, having been inserted through the fuselage, then have the wheel well interiors attached directly to them. This then requires that the wings be assembled around the wheel wells and onto the spars. All well and good, except that one of the benefits of building WW2 British heavies is that you can usually assemble the wings separately from the fuselage to aid dealing with seams and enable the wings and fuselage to be painted and decaled separately from each other. All is not lost however, as you can assemble the spars and wheel well structure as per the instructions, then simply cut through the spars adjacent to the wheel well to enable these to be assembled with the wings separately. More than enough spar will be left to slide the wings onto later after painting. The rearmost part of the fuselage adjacent to the elevators is catered for by an insert to allow for slight variances depending on the model of tail-turret fitted. Airfix’s release of its new tool Lancaster Dambuster is clearly linked to the 70th anniversary of the Dams Raid this year. No doubt they calculated an advantage in releasing the dambuster kit ahead of the standard B Mk.I/III, as those impatient for a standard bomber would buy the dambuster version regardless of any price premium price the dambuster may demand. I agree with RJP - Moore is a most reliable source. However the key date is June 1946. Paul Lucas has taken the matter further, published what he found in some edition (sorry) of Model Aircraft Monthly, and this scheme was adopted for post-war trials. As shown in the photo of one being dropped, the wartime scheme was standard, Moores's observations do not contradict this. Unless of course you can find documentary evidence otherwise, but I fear visits to the NA are not on for you - even were they open at the moment! You do get a pilot if you want to add him – but he looks a bit retro to me and out of keeping with the rest of the kit. Undercarriage
The wings include nicely detailed flaps that can be modelled raised or lowered, with two different inboard nacelle end-caps to suit raised or lowered flaps. In fact, on the real plane, the full size end-cap fitted to the flap partially disappears inside the open end of the engine nacelle, but the way the kit simulates this at least serves to set the flap angle. Slightly less pleasing is the slightly sagged fabric effect on the ailerons; why some tool makers insist on representing fabric covered control surfaces this way I do not know. Take a look at a real example and they would see that the fabric is drum-tight with rib-tapes indicating the location of the structure beneath. In 1/72-scale there should be at most just a hint of the tape reinforcement outlining the structure beneath. Airfix’s ailerons really need to filled and smoothed out, with perhaps decal strip rib-tapes, to appear more authentic. On the plus side, as I have already mentioned, Airfix’s recessed panel lines are restricted to representing panel skins rather than occurring on every rivet line. So, despite being perhaps a little deep, they are at least restrained in frequency. There are no clear parts for wingtip lights, something more noticeable than the under-fuselage signalling lights that are supplied! At least some fine aileron actuators are provided, and there are cable-cutters on the leading edges. Common with many kits, as it eases the release of parts by reducing mould suction associated with a perfectly smooth finish. What was the underside colour? Sky as in the book or medium sea grey as on the artwork or something else as noted in the other thread Airfix has already announced that it will be offering a B Mk.1/III and a most welcome B Mk.II, the radial-engined option being a first for a mainstream 1/72nd kit. The kit also features parts for the late FN.82 rear turret with twin .50-cal machine guns (but no Rose turret option), narrow and paddle-blade propellers, shrouded and exposed exhausts, early and later style bomb-aimer’s blister, optional observation blisters in the sides of the main canopy, and optional H2S dome; so more releases are sure to follow including late and post-war versions no doubt. Well done Airfix! Venue of England, Airfix specializes in the manufacture of plastic models available in several themes. All you can know about the manufacturer Airfix Who is the manufacturer Airfix?Option A: Avro Lancaster B.I(F.E), Tiger Force, No.35 Squadron, Royal Air Force Graveley, Cambridgeshire, England, 1945 Pleasingly, the wing panel lines are based on panel skins and not rivet lines, so the wings do not share the patchwork quilt appearance of its Japanese and German competitors. This advantage balances out some of the downside to having deeper and wider surface detail compared to the Hasegawa and Revel kits. I did notice that the panel lines on the wings look wider at first glance than they actually are. This is because the plastic surface has a minutely pebbled finish*, other than a very narrow smooth surface finish either side of the recessed panel lines. These smooth strips either side of the panel line stand out against the pebbled surface making the unpainted line appear wider. The IWM photo of 2 of them together with a standard B1 in standard bomber command colours clearly shows the upper surface colours to be the same, and not the Light Earth/Light Green combination observed by C Rupert Moore. sqn operated B1 Specials in standard uppersurface camouflage (ie Dark Green/Dark Earth) with a low demarkation and light undersurfaces, which have been quoted as either Sky or Medium Sea Grey, in the closing stages of the war. Airfix beats Hasegawa on accuracy and shape but in small ways (engines, wing dihedral, mid-upper turret fairing, and canopies), beats it convincingly on internal detail, and falls behind on panel line finesse.
Each year, Airfix impresses modeling fans with new featured products and special products. The British brand produces a wide range of kits to satisfy all modeller profiles. The topics presented are varied such as: The tail-planes have subtle differences in the angles of the leading a trailing edge. My images aligned with the fin mounting point and ensured the elevator hinge lines were parallel. It is apparent that Airfix overlooked giving the outboard edge of their elevators a chamfer to allow for rudder movement inboard (it is present on the real aircraft). Fortunately this is easy to fix with a simple cut. The tailfins and rudders are all very similar, with Airfix looking the best I think.
What are the specialties of Airfix?
There are a number of small fuselage windows to add; which some later Lancasters had blanked off. I am quite sure that Airfix has made theirs too deep compared to photos of the real thing, and are also after comparison with the Hasegawa and Revell kits. This is a minor problem however. Small clear inserts rarely fit perfectly due to their angled sides that are needed to release them from the mould, and so frequently require filling around their circumference. Once filled and sanded to fully blend in with the fuselage, the windows can be polished up and simply have a suitably shallower area masked off to ensure that they appear the right size after painting. If you choose Hasegawa you have a lot more to spend, especially if you dress up the interior detail or replace the radiators. Airfix beats Revell on accuracy and shape quite significantly in some areas (engines, wing dihedral, mid-upper turret fairing, and main-wheels), equals it on internal detail, and falls behind on panel line finesse.
It was not until 1948 that the brand launched into injection molding. The first kit model is an agricultural tractor that is distributed to sales representatives of the Ferguson brand. The first model of miniature aircraft signed Airfix is created in 1953, a kit made of injected polystyrene. The Supermarine Spitfire Mk1 1/72 is the best-selling in the world. The airfix models have been a phenomenal success since the 60s. From @EwenS post above it would appear that the undersurface coulour should be Sky, and from the photo's it would appear likely that the PB series specials were delivered in standard bomber command scheme, and the PD series were delivered in the day camouflage scheme. The main wheel wells are very nicely detailed, and come close to rivalling a CMK resin set I used to dress up some Hasegawa Lancaster wings on my CMR York conversion. The open wing rib truss arrangement either side deep in the well will benefit from being blanked off with reddish-brown card to represent the fuel tanks, rather than being able to look through framework to see wing skins. The undercarriage is captured well, and the main wheels have the widely-used in wartime smooth tread tyres. I may as well mention the tail-wheel here. It is a two-piece wheel and tyre to enable the anti-shimmy dual ridge to be moulded, and this fits to a separate and nicely done tail leg and fork. Rather than give lengthy written explanations, take a look at the accompanying images and it should be apparent as to why I feel Airfix are the winner in the engine nacelle stakes.In considering how best to approach this review I realised that there are probably three main areas of interest for Hyperscalers where this kit is concerned. Primarily, how does it measure up as a Lancaster per se, rather than specifically as a dambuster, and therefore how does it compare with its competitors. Then what other versions do the kit contents suggest will follow (although some have been announced already), and perhaps finally, how well does it cater for the dambuster version.
The decals and instructions come loose in the box. The multi-lingual instructions do not have a parts map, which given the large number of optional parts would have been useful. Surely, providing a parts map is not a great ask, nor particularly expensive in these days of CAD. The well-drawn diagrams appear easy to follow, but I have read some build logs on-line that indicate a few problems with instructions involving part-numbering errors, and failure to identify some small steps like opening a mounting hole for the forward altimeter spotlight. The painting and markings guide is well done in colour with four views for each markings option. Note some Lancasters were fitted with the larger Lincoln vertical tails. This includes the BBMF aircraft. I think there might be resin aftermarket parts that cover this but no kit has them to my knowledge.
Undercarriage
The engine nacelles are well done, and I think capture the seemingly simple but actually quite subtle lines of the real plane well. I would go so far as to say they see the best representation of these that I have seen in 1/72nd scale. The carburettor air intakes are moulded solid, and will benefit from being opened up; and if appropriate, you could add PE mesh intake-guards by Brengun. The propellers for the dambuster option are the pointed type; both these plus the wider paddle blade type are supplied. I am not sure if the pointed type’s chord may appear just a little under-nourished. The spinners however look pretty good to me. All glazing is nice and clear with quite fine framing. The main canopy looks good. All that is left in terms of standard Lancaster bits area some pitos, a DF loop and the like.
Great Deal 
New Comment