For Fathers Day I received a(nother) Airfix Lancaster! Thanks Kids.
Now this brings me to my question. Is the Airfix Halifax fitted with Merlins or Bristols?
If it is fitted with the Radials can the Merlins from the Lancaster be swaped and vice versa?
My, reasonably, local Hobby Shop has a kit of the Halifax but he is ot open today so I can’t ring him.
So over to you guys.
Dai
Radials on a Halifax? I hear something new every day, lol. I haven’t built the Airfix kit but my bet would be it has the Merlin engines. I’ll have a look around the net.
Like I said, I learn something new every day. Just did a Google picture search for Áirfix Halifax’ and found a few different box tops and a couple of build reports. All had the RADIAL engines [:I]. My only explanation could be that I’ve been looking at too many Lancasters in my childhood [:o)].
Airfix has a radial engined (so probably bristols) halifax kit.
It sounds like a difficult conversions…
If you do a well referenced job of grafting the bristol hurcules radials onto the lanc, you will get a MkII. The merlins on the halifax have entirely different cowlings, spinners and radiators so lanc ones won’t do. The rudders and nose would also require surgery above and beyond the call of duty.
Paragon resin has Lanc MK2 radials on their list .
Dai, nice to see you back on here mate.
The Merlin Halifax, according to the Halifax feature in The May '03 Aeroplane monthly, would be the Mk II or Mk V. The Airfix version appears to be the Mk III.
The II & V have triangular rudders, the 111 has square.
The Merlin cowlings are a very different shape to the Lancaster ones & the props seem to be of very narrow chord.
As was said above, you could probably do it, maybe there’s a conversion kit in resin for the cowlings, but it won’t be easy.
Best wishes
Pete
Hi there Pete! Got a little ill and ended up in sickbay. Then got a new computer (I think I was better off in hospital!)
Back to the thread.
I was sent the relevent articles from the Airfix Magazine and I should be able to pull it off ok. the rudders and soforth are relatively easy and the rest is only time and patience.
As techniques have evolved since Oct 1968 life should be a lot easier for the engine/cowlings than carving the four out of balsa and then coating in dope and talc.
This should keep me out of the pub for a year or so. (But not out of the garden. tehe)
Dai
Maybe difficult to lay your hands on one, but if you can, it may help…
http://modelingmadness.com/scotts/allies/gb/halifaxpreview.htm