LANCASTER BOMBER BLASTS COVID BLUES

For me, World War II technology hits the spot; ships and aircraft, in particular. They had massive battleships back then, and amazing aircraft that looked as if they were absolutely perfect for the job they were designed to do: readjust the thinking of the opposition with the absolute minimum of political correctness.

These were not machines that formed working groups, discussion panels, or advisory committees; they just got on with it. Their crews did not have to take anything into consideration except delivering the message — and if it wasn’t entirely understood then another dose was delivered the next day. These ships and planes looked like real machinery, too — metal not carbon fibre — and they were never painted anything but grey.

These things ran on steam or had V12 Merlins in them, and the only thing that sounds better than an angry Merlin growling in a Spitfire overhead is four angry Merlins growling in a Lancaster. End of story, really.

Why a Lancaster?

My dad served on HMNZS Achilles during the Battle of the River Plate. If it hadn’t been for the Catalina and the Lancaster he might have had to front up to the Tirpitz or Bismarck rather than the still-fearsome Admiral Graf Spee. Since I was only a lecherous thought at the time, that might have put my birth in jeopardy. So, at the very least I owe those planes my eternal gratitude and respect.

Also, Mother’s Day was approaching and I wondered what I could build the better half that would go some way towards repairing the damage that my vacuum cleaner present had caused a few Christmases ago. She will just love this!

Apart from all that, this is a big model aircraft with a wingspan of 134 inches. Bigger planes look very imposing; you can almost climb inside them. They are also in fact a little easier to build. The Lancaster was arguably the most successful British heavy bomber of the period, in spite of starting life as a miserable failure as the Manchester.

When you take into consideration the huge amount of entertainment that comes from a build like this, the hobby is actually very good value for money

Cost and your available time are both considerations when you start a project like this. My first box of balsa for it cost $650. There is also a huge amount of hardware in it. For a few