Grand Slam 22K-Pound Bomb (from Tamiya 48th scale Lancaster B.I Special)
I like big bombs and I can not lie...
I had acquired this Grand Slam bomb shape from someone that had built it prior to my receiving it several years ago. It had a number of glue scars on the fins, bomb body, and tail cone so I tried to clean it up a bit and the end result was to reduce the tail cone in length to get rid of the canted fins and glus scars around each of the fin positions. Next came sanding the remainder of the bomb and tail assembly to get rid of the other glue scars. End result was so-so but certainly better that what it looked when it first came into my possession.
Work on this little project has been off and on for over a year as a means of getting something done inbetween other projects that I had been working on and needed to let glue dry or to take a break from.
Since the tail was scared with glue I opted to reduce the length of the bomb tail by cutting the tail cone just ahead of where the fins had been attached. Once that was removed I trimmed the end and trued it up as best as I could so that a cover could be attached to the end of the new tail. This new cover was a piece of scrap plastic that once attached was sanded smooth. I considered adding surface details but decided it was best to just leave it be and it looks appropriate for what it is supposed to be. Attached image shows the tail and the new cover in place.
The next step was to clean the bomb fins and remove any glue residue that was still attached to the base of each fin where it had been positioned in the original locating hole on the bomb tail cone. Once the glue residue was removed the fins were all sanded smooth. With the fins all cleaned up it was now time to reattach the bomb fins to the tail cone. Since the original tail was unsatisfactory with the damaged areas around the original fin positions a new fin configuration was necessary. I opted to reattach the fins in a "+" pattern perpendicular to the long axis of the bomb body and no canting of the fins as done on the original Grand Slam. I found the end result to be satisfactory so that was one more step in the refurbishment process that was now completed.
The signature chain assembly used to secure the Grand Slam to the Tamiya Lancaster was long gone and I was in no mood to even consider replicating that feature. The bomb body had a divot which in turn mated to a v-shaped protrusion on the Lancaster in order to attach the bomb. The divot in the bomb body was filled with that v-shaped protrusion where it had broken away from the Lancaster to all I had to do was sand it smooth and use that scar as my reference point for the replacement suspension lugs that I wanted to add to this weapon. I wanted something looked plausible and uncomplicated. I opted to use some hinges from an armored vehicle model (no clue which kit) and these hinges which had holes were attached to the bomb body on either end of the divot scar. Attached image shows these new bomb lugs.
***edit to change title and merge topic