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1/48 Pathfinder - Tamiya Mosquito B.IX


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Following on from making the two-stage Merlin nacelles, this thread picks up the rest of my Mosquito build. I thought I'd leave the previous thread mainly concerned with the nacelle conversion (and the grubby business of sales ;)).

After various modelling distractions by way of X-Wings and tanks, (plus life in general), I seem have rediscovered a little mojo for the Mossie so things are moving again.

A few photos to recap progress to date...

Master for the nacelles:
21279100616_20b44c9cfe_z.jpg

...and cast in resin
21523848100_f0f73e00d4_z.jpg

Dry fit to the wing:
22557692036_7f7f48d62d_z.jpg

...attached and blended in
23169250884_0ccf4ed35e_z.jpg

Scratchbuilt Gee boxes for the cockpit:

24831055511_895704da4f.jpg


24924387195_aa52882d54_c.jpg

...wired and painted
29186125815_2543ec64a5_z.jpg

Hopefully some actual progress in the next post!

J.

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As far as I can tell, the B.IX did not feature the bomb door camera windows found on the PR.IV & B.IV (as provided by Tamiya), or indeed the PR.IX.

I installed the kit windows and smoothed over them with Messrs Dissolved putty and Surfacer 500.

28598078613_026184e134.jpg

At least on some aircraft, it seems that the windows were plated over rather than being absent entirely; I might try to get this effect later either via scribing or a slightly different shade of paint.

J.

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Good to see you back with the mossie Jason.

It still have my conversion set tucked away for the mossie group build.

Now how about a second production run of those little beauties?

Looking forward to WIP shots.

James

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On ‎27‎/‎08‎/‎2016 at 1:30 PM, franky boy said:

Good to see you back with the mossie Jason.

It still have my conversion set tucked away for the mossie group build.

Now how about a second production run of those little beauties?

Looking forward to WIP shots.

Thanks James. :)

The Tamiya kit features the earlier arrangement of under-fuselage identification lights, with one immediately behind the bomb bay and two further aft. These are all represented as scribed detail, rather than actual holes. To replicate the arrangement found on later Mosquitos I've filled in the forward 'hole', and drilled out the latter two while adding another in line with them.

I've also put in a backing piece of styrene inside the fuselage to hold the lenses (to be installed much later). The square camera window will also need to be filled in due course.

29291414861_42ecb6be9e_c.jpg

cheers,

Jason

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Hello,

Nice to see a build with your tow stage engine nacelle.

Mine are waiting to do a PR XVI or a PR X (or PR XI)Tha Tamiya canopy do not match a PR XVI one.

Stephane.

I'm stocking up on :popcorn: and :drink: for this one. The Gee looks amazing.

Thanks chaps. On holiday in deepest Wales this week, so likely not much to report for a few days. When I get back though, I reckon the fuselage will be just about ready to go together.

Cheers,

J.

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  • 1 month later...

I'm keen to give this Mosquito a representative Pathfinder loadout. This means some form of target marking bomb: the 250lb Target Indicator was a common load for the Oboe markers. None being available in the aftermarket, I thought (again) about making a master for resin casting, possibly having a crack at casting myself this time. However the enclosed fins at the back would probably have meant multiple parts, and things start to get a little complex. Plan B was to try 3D printing, so I knocked up the design below in an online CAD package, Tinkercad. It's fairly basic, but easy to learn and comes with an existing library of simple shapes that can be combined to build more complex items. It's also fully web based, so no downloading or installation needed. Anyway, after a couple of hours of experimentation I had the design below:

 

30044145642_cd463565bc_z.jpg

 

I was fairly happy with that so had a couple of test items printed up at Shapeways.

 

30123400076_741fca8088_z.jpg

 

29529730133_68e928a5ed_z.jpg

 

30158376985_3238e00999_z.jpg

 

There are a few small differences between the two for test purposes, but the main difference is the material used, or rather they're the same material at different resolutions. They don't photograph well due to the translucency, but the one on the right is in the 'Frosted Ultra Detail' plastic, and the one on the left in the higher res 'Frosted Extreme Detail'. There is a noticeable difference in the stepping between layers, but both will probably need some light sanding to get a smooth surface. The suspension lug is also a little over scale due to the minimum detail dimension limitations, but I've managed to make them a bit smaller for the next version. I've also realised that the cruciform fins should be in an 'x' configuration relative to vertical, rather than the '+' arrangement as I have them here. This has also been corrected in the revised 'master'!

 

The next thing to do will be to give them a coat of primer to get a better idea of how they'll look.

 

regards,

Jason

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The TI's after a coat of Halfords Grey primer. Not done anything else to them so far, but I think they'll scrub up okay after the ubiquitous 'few swipes of a sanding stick'.

 

29582946994_0db76ecf9e_z.jpg

 

cheers,

J.

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Being relatively new to the forum, I just want to say those 'new' engines look amaZING.

I have looked at your previous post.

 

Plus, I wish I could get interested in 3D printing as I am convinced its going to play a BIG part of future modelling conversions etc. I very much admire your ability in the new field and to produce those target marker bombs just leaves me in awe.

 

I shall be watching with great interest . . . .

Edited by Mancunian airman
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On ‎09‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 4:51 PM, Mancunian airman said:

Plus, I wish I could get interested in 3D printing as I am convinced its going to play a BIG part of future modelling conversions etc. I very much admire your ability in the new field and to produce those target marker bombs just leaves me in awe.

 

I shall be watching with great interest . . . .

 

Thanks. I think it's fascinating how the development of 3D printing has given people a new way to create things. It's certainly a somewhat different skill set, and as far as scale modelling goes it may encourage a new 'crowd' to engage with scratchbuilding and conversions. There's some way to go before it's price competitive with resin, but it surely can't be too far off in the grand scheme of things.

 

cheers,

Jason

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On 10/9/2016 at 2:50 PM, JasonC said:

The TI's after a coat of Halfords Grey primer. Not done anything else to them so far, but I think they'll scrub up okay after the ubiquitous 'few swipes of a sanding stick'.

 

29582946994_0db76ecf9e_z.jpg

 

cheers,

J.

 

 

Hi jason,

 

Am building a 1/72 Tamiya Mozzie VI as part of a 617 Sqn build and am looking at the correct weapons carried for this task, so interested in what you have done!

 

Do you have any references/pics etc, ive not been able to find any. Would like to buy/convert something for the first 617 Sqn target marking Mozzies flown by Cheshire.

 

Great build by the way!

 

Tim

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1 hour ago, Tim Moff said:

Hi jason,

 

Am building a 1/72 Tamiya Mozzie VI as part of a 617 Sqn build and am looking at the correct weapons carried for this task, so interested in what you have done!

 

Do you have any references/pics etc, ive not been able to find any. Would like to buy/convert something for the first 617 Sqn target marking Mozzies flown by Cheshire.

 

Great build by the way!

 

Tim

 

Thanks Tim. Have a look at some of the links below. These first two describe the 250lb TI:

 

http://harringtonmuseum.org.uk/TI250Skymarker.htm

http://uxoinfo.com/blogcfc/client/includes/uxopages/Mulvaney_Details.cfm?Ord_Id=FB70

 

The next document gives a comprehensive list of WW2 British ordnance. The Target Indicators are described in the 'Target Identification Bombs' section (Chapter 18).

 

http://www.lexpev.nl/downloads/britishexplosiveordnance1946.pdf

 

And finally an image of the bomb body (minus tail unit). This was my main reference for the suspension lug.

 

https://goo.gl/images/vy6jWH

 

Hope that helps. It's fairly straightforward to scale the 3D models, however the minimum thickness requirements mean that thin parts like fins would need to be thickened. They would therefore look much more clunky in the smaller scales.

 

regards,

Jason

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On 10/13/2016 at 1:12 PM, JasonC said:

 

Thanks Tim. Have a look at some of the links below. These first two describe the 250lb TI:

 

http://harringtonmuseum.org.uk/TI250Skymarker.htm

http://uxoinfo.com/blogcfc/client/includes/uxopages/Mulvaney_Details.cfm?Ord_Id=FB70

 

The next document gives a comprehensive list of WW2 British ordnance. The Target Indicators are described in the 'Target Identification Bombs' section (Chapter 18).

 

http://www.lexpev.nl/downloads/britishexplosiveordnance1946.pdf

 

And finally an image of the bomb body (minus tail unit). This was my main reference for the suspension lug.

 

https://goo.gl/images/vy6jWH

 

Hope that helps. It's fairly straightforward to scale the 3D models, however the minimum thickness requirements mean that thin parts like fins would need to be thickened. They would therefore look much more clunky in the smaller scales.

 

regards,

Jason

 

 

Thanks Jason - really appreciated. Look forward to see how your build progress's.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The wings and tail are on, and don't look as if they'll need any filling. I'll know for sure when the primer is on. I sanded a tiny amount off the edge of the inboard flaps, just to give a small gap between them and the wing. A case of the Tamiya fit being a little too perfect in this case!

 

The smaller pieces of glazing are in as well, to wit: the nose windows and the belly camera window. The latter was promptly filled with various 'Mr' products and sanded smooth. Which it is, honest.

 

30240110930_d74b18cb98_c.jpg

 

30240116250_6254373fb9_c.jpg

 

30240121720_5e02af3672_c.jpg

 

30422167822_c45fbebf9e_c.jpg

 

Starting to feel like actual progress!

 

cheers,

J.

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Good progress. The fit on the Tamiya Mossie is really nice. Thanks for the info on the TIs as well.

 

I really must get round to my PR XVI someday soon.

 

The 3D modelling looks really interesting. We have one of these beasts at work but I am not sure how fine a resolution it can achieve. Unfortunately I'm so busy I never get to play with it.

 

 

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On ‎26‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 10:15 PM, Mancunian airman said:

Still watching with interest. 

I have a Tamiya NF Mk. II to build very soon for a special project.

The cockpit detailing is a nice insight to what/might be needed in my aircraft. ;)

 

Cheers. Before using the cockpit verbatim, I'd check whether the NF Mosquitos used Gee as a matter of course. I would imagine it might have been fitted for ops over the Continent, but perhaps not for defensive ops over the UK? Others may know more.

 

On ‎26‎/‎10‎/‎2016 at 9:32 PM, Keith Primrose said:

Good progress. The fit on the Tamiya Mossie is really nice. Thanks for the info on the TIs as well.

 

I really must get round to my PR XVI someday soon.

 

The 3D modelling looks really interesting. We have one of these beasts at work but I am not sure how fine a resolution it can achieve. Unfortunately I'm so busy I never get to play with it.

 

 

 

Thanks Keith. If you ever get the chance to play with your office machine, I'd be happy to send you the 3D files.

 

regards,

Jason

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

Canopy. Interior framing. Argh.

 

After trying and failing to:

  1. Mask the inside (horrible tight curves)
  2. Hand paint (less said the better)

...I decided to do it with decals. The interior colour was painted onto clear decal film and sealed(?) with Alclad Aqua Gloss. This was cut into thin strands which were applied inside the canopy to pick out the relevant frames. As with many things in life, not perfect but good enough!

 

32083982295_48e4688ae9.jpg

 

32083982525_02571cab54.jpg

 

 

 

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I've. Ever been able to pull this off with decals, painting them causes them to delaminates from the backing paper. Looks like you've nailed it there though, now stop messing and get this finished :P

 

Still got my nacelles from you to get a Mossie built, maybe this year :)

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Sounds like I might have been lucky with the decals then. For the record I was using Microscale clear decal film and water based acrylics (Reaper MSP paints). I figured the film itself would act as a barrier to the paint.

 

J.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In the past, I've always shied away from pre-cut canopy masks, out of some vague sense that they were somehow 'cheating'. In this particular instance the Mosquito greenhouse overcame any such qualms. On a mildly annoying note, Eduard included the interior framing (see above) as part of their exterior masking set, meaning I had to mask over those particular frames in order to keep the interior decals visible.

 

31950395060_cff8b19796_z.jpg

 

32288278506_978aa304b4_z.jpg

 

J.

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