Mosquito FB Mk.VI - MM417 EG-T No. 487 Squadron RNZAF - FINISHED and in the Gallery 08/05/17 -

[GREG DESTEC]

Real nice work (as always) Stix. I really like your detail painting and dry brushing, which gets maximum effect from the kits details.

 

I look forward to the next update.

 

Cheers

 

Greg

[PlaStix]

On 10/04/2017 at 3:38 PM, stevehnz said:

Looking great, that spinning prop really looks the part.

Steve.

Hi Steve and thank you. I have now managed to get both working. I will post some photos soon.

 

On 10/04/2017 at 4:34 PM, Ozzy said:

Nice going Stix, looking good the detail in the cockpit is fantastic. I do take my hat off to modellers in the gentleman's scale, Mrs Stix is to be commended for her grip during the test run. I'm hopefully  going to have a go at this spinning prop shenanigans in the 109 STBG.

Hi Ozzy and thank you very much for your kind comments. That made Mrs P laugh! Good luck when you have a go at getting the prop working. Just let me know if I can help in any way. Each of the kits I have adapted for a working prop has been different - a lot will depend on what's in the front end of the 109 you've got.

 

On 10/04/2017 at 7:38 PM, Grandboof said:

Live prop is awesome looking forward to more Well done indeed 

Martin H

Hi Martin and thank you. As I mentioned to Steve, above, I have now managed to get both working - I will post some photos soon.

 

On 10/04/2017 at 7:42 PM, CedB said:

Great stuff Stix, glad to see you've got it working after all the effort - good job!

The crew and cockpit look very nice too. Using the camera torch - great tip!

Hi Ced and thank you for your very kind comments.

 

On 10/04/2017 at 7:50 PM, nimrod54 said:

Fantastic work on the prop motor Stix, and well done to the hand model too.  

Hi John and thank you for your comments. You made Mrs P laugh too.

 

On 11/04/2017 at 10:30 AM, wimbledon99 said:

Coming along brilliantly Stix!!    Looking forward to the video  

Thank you very much Nigel. I will try and get a video done soon to show the props working. I may wait until I've got it attached to a base though as, at the moment, it's a bit of a ht'n'miss affair with the wires just taped to the battery!!

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited April 12, 2017 by PlaStix

[PlaStix]

On 11/04/2017 at 4:58 PM, GREG DESTEC said:

Real nice work (as always) Stix. I really like your detail painting and dry brushing, which gets maximum effect from the kits details.

I look forward to the next update.

Cheers

Greg

Hi Greg. Hope you are well and thank you very much. I'm hoping to get an update posted soon. Had a day off work today  so got a fair bit done.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[PlaStix]

As I mentioned above I had a day off today so managed to get some more done on this project.

 

First off I got the starboard wing with the motor in attached to the fuselage:

 

Then I spent a bit of time getting the motor installed in the port wing nacelle and once it was glued in place and working I glued the nacelle to the upper wing:

 

Then this was glued to the fuselage:

 

These are the exhausts I got painted - it's worth looking at them now........:

 

.......because once they have been fitted in place........:

 

.......they are forever hidden from view by the covers:

 

This is how I've got the wires coming from the wings into the fuselage:

 

Finally today I thought I'd get a photo taken with both motors working:

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited April 12, 2017 by PlaStix

[CedB]

It's alive! Are the props generating much 'pull'? You might need to clamp her down!

Great stuff. 

[Grey Beema]

Great work Stix.  Love it.  Mossie is one of those designs that looks like it's going fast even when on the ground...  How are you going to mount it and run the wires to the base?

[SimonT]

Oozing awesomeness!

[Ozzy]

Nice going Stix and another well done to Mrs Stix for her vice like grip, now having to deal with both engines. 

[wimbledon99]

      

[Biggles87]

11 hours ago, CedB said:

It's alive! Are the props generating much 'pull'? You might need to clamp her down!

Great stuff. 

I was wondering about that too. Perhaps if it was on it's wheels it might have moved with both props turning.

Great progress so far.

 

John

[stevehnz]

Brilliant.

Steve.

[MickE]

Great work, excellent idea with the motors.

[PlaStix]

On 12/04/2017 at 6:37 PM, CedB said:

It's alive! Are the props generating much 'pull'? You might need to clamp her down!

Great stuff. 

Hi Ced and thank you for your comments. I think Mrs P would object to being clamped down but there isn't a lot of pull from the props. Having said that, if the Mossie isn't tilted upwards more than a little the props do have enough umph to fly off - they're not fixed on yet.

 

On 12/04/2017 at 6:42 PM, Grey Beema said:

Great work Stix.  Love it.  Mossie is one of those designs that looks like it's going fast even when on the ground...  How are you going to mount it and run the wires to the base?

Thank you very much Grey Beema. If you check below I've been sorting out the support today.

 

On 12/04/2017 at 7:39 PM, SimonT said:

Oozing awesomeness!

Thank you Simon!

 

On 12/04/2017 at 9:15 PM, Ozzy said:

Nice going Stix and another well done to Mrs Stix for her vice like grip, now having to deal with both engines. 

Hi Ozzy and thank you. Yeah she's pretty strong!

 

On 12/04/2017 at 10:35 PM, wimbledon99 said:

      

 

On 13/04/2017 at 6:22 AM, Biggles87 said:

I was wondering about that too. Perhaps if it was on it's wheels it might have moved with both props turning.

Great progress so far.

John

Hi John and thank you. Although there is some pull from the spinning props the weight of both engines makes the overall aircraft a bit heavier.

 

On 13/04/2017 at 8:12 AM, stevehnz said:

Brilliant.

Steve.

Thank you Steve!

 

On 13/04/2017 at 2:48 PM, MickE said:

Great work, excellent idea with the motors.

Hi Mick and thank you.  

 

As I mentioned above, today I needed to get the support sorted so I could get the lower bay doors fitted ready for final tidying up before I can start painting.

 

Having checked through my supplies I decided to use some aluminium tube for the actual support in conjunction with some slightly larger diameter plastic tube for the securing section inside:

The external diameter of the aluminium tube is larger than the internal diameter of the plastic tube so I drilled partway down into the plastic tube with a drill the same size as the outside diameter (4mm) of the aluminium. This was so I could have the aluminium tube only going so far down into the plastic tube to allow me to cut out a section to enable me to safely get the wires into the support:

 

This is how it fits together:

 

Then I fed the wires through the plastic tube section before I glued it into the underside of part of the cockpit base:

 

Then I fed the wires through the aluminium support before attaching it inside the plastic section:

I also drilled a 4mm hole in the bay doors.

 

Once the above had had time to set I glued the bay doors in place:

 

At each stage I tested the motors and, so far, they are still working!

 

Today I also painted up the canopy before getting it glued in place:

 

Tomorrow I need to do a bit of filling around the canopy before I start some painting.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[nimrod54]

That's a nice tidy solution Stix. The end result will look fantastic.

[Cookenbacher]

Wow Stix, the spinning props look amazing - well done. I'm also impressed with the exhausts - care to share your technique?

[PlaStix]

On 14/04/2017 at 9:41 PM, nimrod54 said:

That's a nice tidy solution Stix. The end result will look fantastic.

Thank you John, most kind!

 

On 14/04/2017 at 10:55 PM, Cookenbacher said:

Wow Stix, the spinning props look amazing - well done. I'm also impressed with the exhausts - care to share your technique?

Hi Cookie and thank you. The exhausts were actually done in my usual way even though I knew they wouldn't be seen! First I gave them a couple of thinned coats of Revell's Anthracite. Then they were dry brushed with Humbrol's Gunmetal. Next I used Raimatch's Light Rust in a very thin wash which I built up in several layers. Finally I used some Revell Steel to drybrush over some of the highlights.

 

Over the weekend I started getting the painting underway - pre-shading first:

 

I know some people aren't keen on the effects of pre-shading but I think, because I don't use an airbrush, that it helps give a bit of variation to the colours for me. I try to paint over it until it's hardly noticeable in places. I use my go to paint of thinned Revell's Anthracite applied with a small, flat brush.

 

I painted the underside first using Revell's Light Grey - thinned with water and applied with a medium flat brush:

 

The upper surfaces were painted with thinned Humbrol's Ocean Grey:

 

Unfortunately the light wasn't great when I took these but it'll give an idea of what it looked like:

 

 

Next I decided I wanted to get the panel line washes done on the undersides - I used very thinned Revell's Gunship Grey applied directly into the panel lines using a very fine, pointed brush:

 

Once dry I then began painting the green camo areas using thinned Humbrol 116 - US Dark Green - which I applied freehand using a medium flat brush. There are about four coats of this - it took a while to build up for some reason! Once applied I also got the panel line washes done using Revell's Anthracite:

 

This morning I started adding some basic weathering effects but didn't get chance to take any photos. Hopefully it won't be long before I get a coat of Pledge (new Klear) on so I can begin the trauma of decalling!

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

[Ozzy]

Nice job Stix, I've had mixed results when I've pre shaded aircraft. It looks as though yours has worked out ok, again nice brush work. 

[CedB]

Very nice Stix - those panel lines look spot on to me, you must have the patience of Job!  

[nimrod54]

Excellent job on the paint Stix. I could be easily convinced that it had been airbrushed, had you not said that it was brushed on, Great stuff. 

[Biggles87]

Flawless paint job, as usual.

 

John

[PlaStix]

On 19/04/2017 at 10:20 PM, Ozzy said:

Nice job Stix, I've had mixed results when I've pre shaded aircraft. It looks as though yours has worked out ok, again nice brush work. 

Thank you very much Ozzy. Most of the pre-shading seems to have worked okay - there are a couple of areas where it shows through more than I'd prefer but I think once the matt varnish is on it won't be as noticeable.

 

23 hours ago, CedB said:

Very nice Stix - those panel lines look spot on to me, you must have the patience of Job!  

Thank you very much Ced. I actually find the process of painting in the panel lines and around detail quite relaxing.

 

5 hours ago, nimrod54 said:

Excellent job on the paint Stix. I could be easily convinced that it had been airbrushed, had you not said that it was brushed on, Great stuff. 

Thank you John, that's very kind of you to say.

 

1 hour ago, Biggles87 said:

Flawless paint job, as usual.

John

Thats very kind of you to say John.

 

This morning I did a bit more of the base weathering I wanted to do and then gave everything a coat of Pledge (new version of Klear) - upper surfaces:

 

Lower surfaces:

 

I applied the Pledge using a wide, flat brush.

 

While waiting for the Pledge to dry I decided to start on this:

 

It's going to be part of the base scene for the Mosquito. Sprues:

 

...........and then, after some seam line removal and drilling out the end of the gun, I got some paint and weathering applied:

I still need to paint the tires and do some detail painting but it's not far off being complete. I'm not going to use the base supplied with the kit.

 

Tomorrow I need to start the decals! 

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited April 20, 2017 by PlaStix

[wimbledon99]

Hi Stix, Is that just one coat of Pledge? If so, how conservative / liberal are you with the application? I really struggle to obtain a shine with anything less that 3 coats!!  

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good morning Stix

 Your Mosquito looks great with the paint very

Patrice

[PlaStix]

 

22 hours ago, wimbledon99 said:

Hi Stix, Is that just one coat of Pledge? If so, how conservative / liberal are you with the application? I really struggle to obtain a shine with anything less that 3 coats!!  

Hi Nigel. Yes that's just one coat and what I will apply the decals on to. How do you apply your Pledge? I use a wide flat brush and apply it reasonably thinly - I try not to let it pool anywhere but I try not to over-brush it either. Have you got the earlier version of Pledge or the later one? I read somewhere that the newer version has changed and might not be as good. I think even the early version of Pledge isn't quite the same as original Klear.

 

13 hours ago, TEMPESTMK5 said:

Good morning Stix

Your Mosquito looks great with the paint very

Patrice

Hi Patrice and thank you very much. 

 

This morning I decided to make a start on the decals. My biggest concern was the two large(ish) keep off red boxes with the cross in. I'd seen quite a few people have problems with silvering because of the large amount clear carrier film and the amount of lumps and bumps these decals have to go over. I was thinking I'd probably end up painting them but I thought I would have a go with the decals first. If you have seen any of my aircraft builds before you may know that I usually cut away as much of the carrier film around decals anyway.

 

First off, while the decals were still on the sheet, I cut out the internal triangles - putting the ones saying 'keep off' to one side - this photo was taken while cutting the first on out:

 

Then it was all cut out:

 

I then put the decal next to where it was due to be located and used a paint brush to soak the decal with warm water. It was a bit fiddly getting it into place but, with the help of some Decalfix, it seemed to look okay. Long story short: I got both on and they looked okay. Here they are after a coat of Pledge:

You can probably see I also got the other upper wing decals on. I have subsequently got the 'keep off' decals cut out and in place too.

 

At various stages, while waiting for stuff to dry, I finished off the Howitzer for the base:

 

 

Most of the rest of the day was spent cutting out the other decals and getting them fixed in place. I still have four more to apply before I can get another coat of Pledge on.

 

More tomorrow I hope.

 

Comments and suggestions welcome.

 

Kind regards,

 

Stix

Edited April 21, 2017 by PlaStix

[Ozzy]

Nice work on the transfers, your cannons looking tidy too.