It’s been about two years since Hasegawa first released their Lancaster in 1/72 scale. We have since seen several variations of the kit with specialized bomb loads and marking changes. No doubt this kit will be around for some time as there are many options still available for Hasegawa to tackle, including the famous dam busters and numerous examples in postwar service. However the focus of this review will be on the original Mk.I/III kit that I picked up at the Atlanta IPMS Nationals.

A modern model of the Lancaster has been a kit that many have been waiting for some time. While other Lancasters have been available from Airfix for as long as most can remember, those molds are showing their age and are not easily built if you want to maintain all the raised surface details. So what does this kit provide that the others do not? Nice, crisp molded parts that literally fall together with a little bit of glue. The panel lines are finely recessed and there are no raised rivets to get sanded away during construction. Personally, I would like to have seen some form of rivet detailing attempted. Anyone who has looked at a real Lanc knows that it every square foot of that aircraft has got raised rivets holding the skins in place. Yet I’m also the type of modeler who is lazy and not going to spend the time to add such details on myself. So I decided to only slightly modify my model.

Lancasters manufactured during the war by Avro Canada had some minor airframe changes compared to their British counterparts. The most noteworthy of these was the upper turret type and location. A Martin turret, as used on the B-26 Marauder, was installed at the trailing edge of the wing, 6 feet forward of the original location. The forward edge of the new opening was directly inline with the trailing edge of the wing. A plug for the turret is provided in the kit so one can fill the kit’s void if they desire. Many postwar aircraft had the turrets faired over, and this included most RCAF machines. In order to maintain structural soundness of the airframe around the turret strengthening plates were fitted to the fuselage along each side of the opening. This can be seen on both the Calgary and Nanton airframes. I used a thin vinyl decal cut to size and stuck in place. I scaled down a good side view photo to get the right size.

Postwar RCAF Lancs were stripped of their wartime camouflage and left in polished metal. Patrick Martin’s markings books are an excellent source to follow the progression of markings applied to the Lanc as Canada expanded their use all around the country. Photo-survey work in the Arctic was a key use for the Lancaster. Soon “Arctic Red” paint was applied to the wingtips and horizontal stabilizers, so the machine would standout against the snow or rock should it need to be observed from above. Eventually the upper fuselage received a coat of white paint and flashy lightning bolts. Besides exploration work, the Lancaster was also widely used for coastal patrols and Search and Rescue work. These machines typically had higher visibility markings than others Lancs in the fleet. This first started as a yellow band around the mid fuse area on all NMF (natural metal finish) machines, but progressed to replacing the red panels with Dayglo red/orange and a band around the mid fuse with the text RESCUE. Aircraft that were subjected to the ocean areas were protected from corrosion by having their undersides painted. The bomb bay door hinge point was the demarcation line for this coating. The undersides of the wings were painted as were the engine pods, but only rear of the firewall. The cowls remained unpainted.

As soon as I got back from Atlanta I started building my Lancaster. I knew it was going to be a SAR machine and I dug out my original copy of Leading Edges decals for it. Although that sheet was designed for the Airfix and Matchbox kits I figured enough of the markings would be sized similarly for the Hasegawa version. The lightning bolts looked like they may need modification. I was also going to have to scratch build some vents and camera housings that were fitted to a SAR bird. No sooner had I started this than Leading Edge released an updated version of their sheet and included all the resin bits. Great! (This sheet and resin has recently been released in 1/48 - yeah again!)

Although I’m a fan of RCAF machines I had not yet modeled any aircraft in overall Natural metal, I’d stuck to those that were painted aluminum. This was to become my first attempt at using the Alclad 2 paints and fortunately only a small area of natural metal would be exposed on the SAR Lanc. Once construction had been completed, the model was given an all over coat of the corrosion proofing grey. This was mixed by adding some drops of green into Aircraft Grey. This shade weathers easily so if your paint is grayish or a bit green your not really that off. I’d say maybe a 5-10% addition of the green will suffice.

The upper fuse, wingtips, horizontal and vertical stabilizers were all sprayed white. I should mention that I left the wings and tails unattached to help make the painting stage simpler. The day-glo areas were painted using Model Masters’ paint. After all the colors had dried they were masked off and readied for the Alclad. I used several shades of aluminum and chrome to replicate the various tones seen in photos. The DND website has a few really good shots to refer to. An overall coat of Metalizer Sealer Coat was sprayed just incase, as not all Alclad shades are wear proof.

Leading Edge’s decals represent the final service SAR scheme. They were installed as per their instructions and went on relatively trouble free. I had a few of the black deicing boots crack, but some paint touched that up. One of my “Royal Canadian Air Force” decals on the rear fuselage turned slightly pink with the decal set. On a white background this stands out. I did the best I could to fix it, but it’s still one point that I’m cheesed about. The resin parts are nicely cast and can be glued into place after painting them separately. I have included a picture of the lower camera housing area on the Calgary Lanc. There are sliding rails that can change the position, and if you want these details can be added using plastic card.

Well that about sums up my Lancaster build. It was a fun project and was one that I had been waiting many years to do - only I had the Tamiya 1/48 scale bird in mind for this scheme. There are some other RCAF options available for decals now. Belcher Bits has a sheet with an assortment of some wartime and postwar schemes. They have also done some resin detail parts and a nice conversion for the Firebee Drone machines. Xtradecal has also done a sheet with a variation on the RCAF SAR scheme.

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