Border Model 1/32 Dambuster Lancaster 

Brilliant work, Nige. Certainly a kit for experienced modellers but I believe an intermediate modeller with a huge interest in the Dambusters raid could pull it off if they go very slowly and methodically with the build while using your excellent videos and notes as a roadmap. Thank you for sharing your dedication to this subject and kit. 🙂 🤞🏻🍀

Great attention to detail on this, very impressed. Will definitely be buying a copy of the book you've referred to in the video. For a raid we still talk about ad nauseum today, it is such a shame bomber command didn't keep more extensive records of what was done with the machines involved.

I remember building the 1:72 version from airfix when I was younger, and that was massive... I fear for your living space, this will be gargantuan once you've finished it! I look forward to seeing it.

Epic videos and tutorials as this one made me „glue“ to your channel! Immensely helpful, and well pictured! Thank you for sharing your thoughts, and happy healthy birthday to Jess!

Awesome looking kits! Wishing you and your family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy birthday to Jess!! And thanks for the look through this anticipated kit!

Happy birthday Jess❤ Have a great Christmas Nigel and all the best for 2024

Happy Birthday Jess, wishing you and Jess a Happy and safe Christmas

Such a great kit its great to see someone else who loves it!

Happy Birthday Jess the Wonderdog!!! Another nice kit from the folks at Border!!

Very thorough review and full of excellent detailed information 👍👍👍

Surely madness is the definition of building more than one of these darn things Nigel? Only joking, fantastic to see you teeing up another. Enjoy!

Oh wow I’ve been waiting for this I bet I’ll have this on order soon 😊

Wonderful Kit and review ! ! ! Love your work Nigel ! ! !

Happy Holidays and thank for the look. Despite the instructions, it looks like a terrific kit.

A really informative video, Nigel - thank you. I particularly liked the part covering Dambusters specific details missed out of the instructions - the time you put into researching these is much appreciated. All the best - have a great Christmas.

Oooooh you got it already. I have to go out on an errand now so I’ll have to keep the video for later today. Need to give this my full attention. And I hope my kit is on the water to me. 🤞🏻🍀

Happy Birthday Jess 🐾🐾

Beautiful kit Nigel 👍👍 Happy Birthday Jess and Merry Christmas to the both of you. 🎅🎄

Fantastic video Nige ,thanks very much for all of your brilliant content keep it up mate . Merry Christmas to you and Jess🙂⛄

GDay Nigel from Sunny & Warm Melbourne - Seasons Greetings to You & Jess...👍

Awesome video! Love the shirt too! Love the dam buster too! Lived by the mohne see dam back in 66 to 69 went all around the dam area see n how they came in and all the damage they did and got some historical facts about the raid from some of the locals too! Really sad and interesting! Can’t wait til you start building ,I’ll start mine then too! 👍🏻🍻🐶🎂

Happy Birthday Jess ❤ Happy Christmas and New Year to you Nige. Great review

Happy birthday Jess🎉

Happy birthday to Jess. And a merry Christmas to you both. I would kill someone to be able to get eather of those kits……..my wife has put her foot down and it’s a firm “NO”.

Mine arrived on Tuesday, the size of the box alone is intimidating! Your video has given me a real leg up for when I feel brave enough to start it :) Merry Christmas to you and Jess!

Excellent detailed coverage as usual Nige! Regarding the Upkeep mine I just had a look at the pics I took of one they had at Duxford which I think was the real deal and the main case looks like a solid casting with quite a bit of texture so should be easy hide any sinkage I think. All my clear parts looked clear, intact and the originals as you saw looked really good compared to the 1st kit release, the less said about the ones I got in the nose kit just a few weeks ago the better…new level shocking. I got confirmation from Albion directly that Border were sending a new batch of clears that were supposed to be on the container with the Dambuster kits but they weren’t so not sure on the new timeline for them so will hang on for them re the nose kit.

Happy Birthday Jess

Happy birthday. Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.

Happy Birthday, happy Birthday for you Jess!! I'm just melting away. I don't really believe it, BUT if there is a 1/32 version of the Grand Slam in the future, then I don't care and I'll buy it. Another awesome video Nigel, allways very nice to see your videos, and ofcourse if it is a Lanc video a lot more... jeje ... Merry Merry Christmas Nigel! Geeting and hug from Thomas in Mexico.

Mark Martin!! Miss that guy, I live in Southern Missouri and hope some day I can meet him on chance in Batesville Ar. Love the videos! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! God bless!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS. 🦮🐕🐶

Just saw this kit in Hannants website. Just over a thousand bucks Canadian!!

Great review Nigel, as always.The cross references to the earlier build episodes are a thoughtful added touch. Beautiful kit, but it looks like BM took the least cost option for the Dambuster. That said, better to have iffy instructions with redundant parts than to have no model at all. Best wishes to you and yours. Cheers.

Been waiting for this one. Planning to get the nose, but want to display it on the work stand without the “brick wall” holder. Lots of reference online regarding the types of stands used and the nature of the fuselage joint before it’s attached to the wing centre section. Fingers crossed I don’t bugger it up!

Last time I saw a Lancaster this big, I was in the BBMF hanger at RAF Coningsby! lol :)

Cor…what a lot you get! Great video pal…

If I had the money to get this kit, I would be put off getting it, by the terrible instructions. Great review Nigel. Your knowledge about the Lancaster is brilliant. Happy Christmas to you, Jess and your family mate.

Dear Nigel, I will be looking at this over several episodes (so to speak) and am still fiddling around with the idea of getting one! Normally I wouldn’t look at a review of a kit I might get, but this is rather a special case! On the matter of the wheel wheels, it would not be unique for the wheel wells to be coloured differently- certain Mk1a Spitfires were like this owing to underside paint changes at OMU or at squadrons. I will be interested in what your research comes up with… HB to Jess! Regards, Z

That is a great plastic model . Better than any wooden sailing ship .

Supply and demand. Good kits are good money.

Mark Martin 🙌🏻 Always loved those Valvoline cars.

Thanks for the great look through! On the canopy framing id much rather have it on the side than on top. Imagine the damage during shipping when the box is upside down! They would be crushed for certain. I think trumpeter would be the guys to show Border how to package this kit using boxes to protect delicate Sprue’s. Looking forward to grabbing one of these!

Nigel, I think you are correct about the bulkhead (F9) fitting onto the bombbay. I don't recall this part being added then when I built the WNW Samples for Telford. Shame Border hasn't there work on the instruction manual either. Seems they have taken the easy way and just threw in a couple of new pages.

Why does it feel like the instructions were finished before the kit was tooled. I wouldn't be surprised if they designed them using the CAD models and things were changed later on just before tooling resulting in parts numbered wrong or just plain missing from the instructions.

Wow ive got it on order (i haven't built the first one yet) great vid as usual nigel

So tempted to get one of these now

Happy birthday to jess get her a drink to celebrate have a great Christmas and a happy new year

Gorgeous box art, looks like M Mother which was Hopgood's aircraft- one man managed to bail out the rest lost. Fabulous vid thanks Nige, look forward to seeing it being built. I'll check my references but my initial thought is that Q Queenie was Joe McCarthy (and Johnnie Johnson's) aircraft that was u/s on the night of 16th May 1943, they had to run to a reserve aircraft which is why they flew the entire mission solo. Thanks again.

WOW

I like the box art. Not the usual painting of G George, Gibsons Lanc. Instead we have Hopgoods M Mother.

I had the Tamiya 1/48 version but got rid of it because there are no decals available for the Lancs that were flown by the Canadian contingent. I now have the 1/48 HK standard lanc which is going to be built as a Canadian MK.X Either V-ERA (Vera) the Canadian flying Lanc or X-Terminator another Canadian Lanc.

T'would be quite the gift. I gifted a 1/32 scale Trumpeter Devastator but, a Lancaster would be a monster gift. Especially a Dam buster. Where are you putting all these space greedy kits?

I see that there are still no handles/bars for opening /closing side cockpit windows. Usually painted yellow.

The Lancaster is far far too big for my tiny house, but my Kotare Spitfire came in today!

Hi Nigel, first of all Happy Birthday to Jess. Now that the important stuff is done I want to offer a little piece of advice on the Chapters, if you want them to also appear in the timebar (along with the title) You need to start with a 0:00 timestamp and I believe they need to be in the form: -time-whitespace-title. Example: 0:00 intro 9:20 Packaging And so on and so forth (there need to be at least 3 chapters longer than 10 seconds to appear). I have a link detailing the process, let me know if you need it. Merry Christmas and Happy new Year.

Great video Nige. Im not buying one, already have the first release and too much money. It does look good though 🤔🤣

Another interesting bit of info When VeRA came over she needed to get an engine replaced. Packard engines. Andrew Panton offered a replacement t which was rejected. BBMF sent an engine which needed huge amounts of work to fit. But even them she was back in the sky in under a week We where vatg Coningsby when she landed and we had a chat with the crew so Packard is different

The sheer size of the box still astounds me. Looks one heck of a kit, but not one for me. But, looking forward to any potential build videos

I think they've started bagging up the propeller and intake nacelle sprues on the first kit too. I have a kit I ordered from Hannant's in late October, and these sprues are bagged and separated also. The clear parts are boxed too - as you mentioned before. Maybe they started implementing more of the newer thinking that first thought.

Brilliant review Nigel, do you have copies of your notes highlighting the parts not called out in the instructions that you would be willing to share or post?

Now that's a bit of me, I can't stand 1/48 so this is right up my street except aircraft seem to be my down fall 😆 but this looks very tempting 👍

I don't know how I could possibly disagree with a Mark Martin fan.

Nice👍👍

A good resource is the Dambuster Lancaster book by Piotr F. and Mark P., assuming their references are correct. Especially around the front spot light area.

Happy Birthday Jess! Nigel what are you going to do with the MK I Lancaster?

great vid, have a good xmas best wishes to you and Jess. What is the book?

Hope Jess had a good night down the pub and her head's not too bad this morning! Interesting review as ever Nige - so many places to trip over if you'd not gone down the road ahead of most of us. Quick question - great that they include the four bomb sprues, but do they include the decals inn the dambuster kit?

I have an actual race used hood from one of Mark Martins cars.

One more thought whether the B1/3 or the Dambuster version… if the aircraft is displayed on the ground between trips, would it have certain pieces of equipment on board? Like the machine guns, cameras etc.? In movies about a typical raid online they seem to arm the aircraft, in all sense of the word, just before crewing up and taking off. There would be no chutes in the holders among other things. Nothing on the nav’s table.

Greetings Nigel, I must admit, I love the avero lancaster, but holy crud, its near $600 here in the US.. :) oh well, I guess I will just try to super detail my 1:48 Tamya Dambuster, an old but decent kit from yesteryear.. Side note: I noticed on one of your other vids reviewing the B-17G from Hong Kong models that Hong kong stole the bog "gold "M" from Moebius!! LOL, when I saw the box I was confused and said to myself, that's a Moebius kit seeing the Big Moebius "M".. Typical of China I guess :) Trumpeter better be careful with all these new manufacturers popping up like "Border" making beautiful kits AND offering good customer service.. if you loose a part etc, "good luck" getting Trumpys attention, lol, I think all their customer support emails drop into a "black hole"! cheers, and happy Modeling.

I'd love one, but unfortunately I don't have a spare hangar to put it in after it's done. My Lanc will have to stay in 3D on my PC. 😢

Thank you for a great review, im really torn on buying this kit just to add to the stash until my skills improve. I cant believe they have not updated the instructions and build sequences based on what you found with the MkI/III, it wouldnt have taken much as they have had to update the build to include the new parts and differences. Something I didnt spot in the instructions is whether they included the stirrups for the front gunner to lift his feet out of the bomb aimers view?

Not sure what i done but Bruce Crompton has, or had an upkeep maybe try contacting him for more info

I would Kill for a Kit like that , but where I am , Space is a Luxury. , an the Price....Ah'll settle for me Rev 1/72 .

Merry christmas Nigel and Jess... and happy birthday... Can i ask the name of the book in brown paper cover.. have just ordered my lanc

If it wasn't for the Border mess ups in the instructions this would have been an A++ kit, however an A isn't to be sniffed at and what they've got wrong is easily - for an experienced modeller - put right. Nice kit, just what we'd expect from Border. Just think what it could have been with WNW though.

Nigel, i see the box art doesnt show a top turret, but it looks like the kit part shows a hole for the top turret. Is the hole optional for a turret?

Just couldn't justify the cost of this kit. It looks awesome though

Thanks for the thorough videos. Wow - It looks like the instruction sheet has no real indications of what steps are not relevent to the Dambuster and should be avoided. A simple cut and paste job on the existing doc could have / should have been done. For me, this is unforgivebale for a kit of this complexity and cost. Really Lazy. Shameful. Ditto leaving so many parts from the original BI/III kit. Nice to have some spares, but pretty shoddy. The lack of clear locating points and such for the Upkeep bomb release gear is shocking. Seems lazy on the part of the manufacturer. I am also really surprised - and dissappointed - that there is no interior bomb bay detail, or the spinning mechanism. At this scale the doors should have the option of being open or closed. (Why not have decals / paint schemes for ALL the planes that went on the raid). I had heard that they had 'fighter radio sets' so that they could speak easily to one another which was necessary given the nature of the low level night flying and bomb runs. It doesn't to seem that this has been accounted for. Or thi covered, but just not highlighted in the video. The decals in the original kit looked a bit vivid in terms of the red and blue of the roundels has this been fixed? From your thorough reviews, it sounds like the Hong Kong Models is a more thorough kit. If anyone is reading this - are there thoughts on cross-kitting. i.e. use the nose of the Border models kit (the better profile of the canopy?) and use the Hong Kong Models kit the rest of the plane? Cheers

Nigel has anybody got separate decals for Border Models lancaster Ive found some for RAF aircraft 1/32 Looking at the 1/32 Airscale one fit as you say its slightly different

Buon Natale e buone feste a te 🙂👍

Good evening Sir Nigel, what my question is, are you starting this build in the new year or do you have former mission.?

just a question why not have ruuber tires in a big set like that for thet price. 600 pounds?i get rubber tires in my tamiya trucks and they are 400 pounds? im just comfused bigger =more realistic?. happy new year

Hi Nigel do you know of any company that does a 1/32 or 1/35 model of the Dakota dc-3 aircraft whether it's a military or civilian version? Hope you can get back to me on this also I loved this review on the dambuster Lancaster it looks like a truely awsome kit!

As of 43, didn’t the 617 have paddle props on their Lancaster’s as I know the engines were upgraded to new Merlin’s?

The Fishpond box would only have been fitted if the aircraft was equipped with H2S radar as it was a rudimentary short-range air-air warning mode of H2S.

Could one convert the Dambuster kit into a Grand Slam version?

Great review as always, ignore the haters it’s Christmas 😂

would love to know where i can buy kits this big, can you let me know please.

This kit is on sale on Ebay from China 700 GBP ish, free postage. Normally they skip customs. Whats the price in the UK ?

So Border Models would have us believe that the Dam busters used old stressed Lancaster's for the raid on the dams "interesting" I see that we still can't have it in flight mode meaning gear up flaps up "shame " it would be nice indeed if we had that option , thanks for high lighting the same problems with the instructions nothing new their , interesting little fact though HK Model Lancaster parts does fit the Border Model Lancaster , remember it's just a model build how you want it to be , good luck .

Hey Nigel, Was thinking about this one but wasn't quite sure ?? Looks good though and if going from the Box Art looks ok. But the Concerns i had were the overall build, It will be a latter in the Year Build as i want to Really Detail the Internals, What do you think of the Bomb Release Area and Bb Itself plus the Interior or is she need to have some Scrach Build some of it. ** Home From LAX with an A380 **, Holiday Time. ** Three months long service **

Is this the WingNut Wings design?

That's gonna be a big MF

A great kit no doubt but NUTS prices for a kit where so much will be hidden inside. 200 Euros less here in France than UK prices but still way over priced.

Nice 🐕💞👍🍺🙏💪

A couple of hundred pounds of plastic you will not see when built, they should do another one that's stripped down with detail you would not see. a lot cheaper than paying £600.

Over £1400 for the magazine version, I don’t think so.

These kits need printed interiors.