Avro Manchester III FINISHED

[The Rat]

Avro Manchester III



When Avro designer Roy Chadwick designed the twin-engined Manchester, he already had a name for any successor; Lancaster. It seemed that the name would be used sooner rather than later, as the Rolls-Royce Vulture engines in the Manchester failed to realise their potential, and left the aircraft not only underpowered, but also a maintenance nightmare.



The solution was to go with not only a more reliable engine, but also to exceed the planned power of the two Vultures by fitting four of them. The RR Merlin, already becoming a legend, was chosen, and a lengthened wing to accommodate them was a rather simple, but striking, change to the airframe.



It had become traditional in aviation circles to rename almost any aircraft that had undergone such a radical change in appearance, but Chadwick's idea was not to be realised. The reason was that a benefactor, one James W. Gibson, had done his part for the war effort by financing a large portion of the redevelopment, and wished to retain the Manchester name. This was no doubt due to his ownership of the Manchester United football club, and a significant infusion of his cash was not to be argued with.



Initially, the tailplane design had been wavered between a new twin-tailed configuration, or a single unit. The Manchester had experimented with both on the same aircraft, and it was decided to enlarge the fuselage fin and dispense with the twin-tails for the newly christened Manchester III











The Kit

The Academy 1/144th scale Lancaster is a better kit than I had hoped, with only one aspect living up to my apprehension: the clear parts. A little suspect in shape, but that's nothing compared to painting the frames. Fortunately a pre-painted main canopy is included for those of lesser skills (looks in mirror, once again...), but the turrets are still devoid of such a consideration, and the lines are all but invisible. Rather than trying to go the brush route I just used a toothpick. Still a little rough, but I'm satisfied with it. The vertical stabiliser came from the parts bin, I believe it came from bits of an Airfix Vought OS2U Kingfisher. It was cut down from what would have appeared as a ridiculously large piece to something a bit more acceptable and esthetically pleasing. Is it too small to replace the distinctive 'twin fins' of the Lancaster? No idea, I'm a modeler, not an aeronautical engineer. Decals by Cartograf, so there was no problem in that area. Paints were AK for the topside, Tamiya for the underside, finished with Tamiya Flat Clear.

[63cpe]

Congratulations on finishing this project. It looks amazing! It looks so normal and real, it should have been made back in the days..

Love it.

David aka 63CPE

[Wardukw]

Awesome work from such a small model   

[Old Wombat]

Absolutely terrific!      

[NARSES2]

Does look good Ratty   

Looks a bit like the offfspring from a liason between  Manchester and Stirling in some ways, and not just the single fin. The mid-upper turret somehow leans towards that "look" to me.

[Dizzyfugu]

Neat, and so subtle. 

[PR19_Kit]

It looks so UN-Lancaster like, amazing work there. 

[The Rat]

Thanks everyone! There are a few rough spots, but overall I'm very pleased with it. Also very pleased that it didn't turn into a shelf queen, took me only a couple of weeks. Maybe I can learn to get stuck in to something and actually finish. It fits back in the original box, so I'm thinking of bundling it up and sending it across 'the pond' so that it can go on the table at the various model shows over there.

[su27rules]

    

[chrisonord]

Marvelous stuff.

[zenrat]

Good job Ratty.