I’m pondering, my delema is the I have two 1:48 Lancs waiting to get started, the original ones from the seventies, these kits were something I always wanted to build when I was little but could never manage to get my hands one, since I got back into the hobby a year and a bit ago it was always the big thing on my to build list, then I drempt of bulding a B.II with the Hercules radial engines and wondered how on earth I would do that until finding out this Paragon stuff is going again and offer a B.II conversion and the bulged bomb doors required (which is in the mail now). So anyway, I have treadless tires, a set of merlins for the other and some resin bombs from BelcherBits, some Zotz sexy lanc decals, my last thing I’m wondering is required to make these things look their best is the flightpath photoetch, which you might know is crazy expensive. I’m wondering if it’s worth is considering I could pick a dremel instead and scratch build it with alittle more patience. Has anybody on here bought the photoetch set for the lanc? Is it worth it?
The Flightpath etched set IS expensive, even over here in the UK, but I’ve got a number of his frets, and they are very good quality. I’ve not got the Lanc set, but it’ll be of the same high quality. In the end, it’s just a matter of whether you want to spend the money or time. I think I’ll probably spend the money, myself.
I’ve got a half-set of the Paragon Hercules conversion that I’ll be using for another more nefarious purpose, and I can vouch for the quality of the parts. Be very careful when you’re chopping the cowlings off their casting blocks though - I managed to nick one of mine with the blade & will have to rebuild that section now [:(]
I would go with the Dremel myself. A PE set is nice, but it can only be used once on a given model whereas the Dremel can be used for years. I’d recommend the battery powered version as they are lighter, have a lower operating speed, are easier to handle and with care will last for years. Break down and buy a second battery because it’s frustrating to have the battery die and then have to wait two or three hrs for it to charge.
I’d say that depends on how experienced you are at scratchbuilding and using small power tools—The purpose of a power tool is to allow you to screw up a project far faster and more effectively than you could do ever do it by hand. [#oops] [BH] [banghead] Keep this rule in mind when contemplating the purchase of any power tool.
If you like making your own stuff—if this is one of the most enjoyable parts of the hobby for you, [dinner] then by all means buy the Dremel.
If not…
Thanks for the food for thought. I haven’t done a ton of scrap building but I’m doing the FM Halifax and have had to do a fair out of necessity and discovered it not as bad as I thought it would be. (I scratch built the interior structure and the wheel well and some other details) My main thought with the dremel would be to get some really small drill bits to make a new instrument panel and the other gauge panels. I don’t mind photoetch but I’m not as big a fan as some people, I find in many uses it’s alittle too two dimensional for my liking, the jury’s still out, I just wish I had a better idea of what exactly that flightpath set looks like.
My experience is that I almost never use a power tool to drill through styrene—too easy to melt, and it takes almost no time to do it by hand.
But from your description of your activity, I’d say the Dremel, or a Foredom (my preference) would be a much better investment.
Model Aircraft Monthly, December 2005, has an article by Randy Lutz on building the Tamiya 1/48 Lancaster. He built the interior detail himself. This was followed the next month with a second article on building the Tamiya Lancaster by Nic Greenall. In Model Airplane International November 2005 built the Hasegawa 1/72 Lancaster which involved a lot of scratch building the interior. A magazine type book called Model Expert Aviation Series vol 2 includes the Tamiya Lancaster. This time with the Flightpath set and Reheat dials and instruments. From www.flyingzonedirect.com you can get a CD ROM with over a thousand photographs of the interior and exterior of the Lancaster and pages from manuals etc.