1/72 Tamiya Mosquitoes - NF.II and PR.IV

[Stew Dapple]

Thanks very much gents, and thanks for the pic and the info Dave - in one post you provided what google did not give me in a couple of hours searching before I got bored and gave up . I love Britmodeller  

 

Just to show that none of that information went to waste, I painted the flares in their racks, but thought better of trying to add the coloured stripes. metal percussion caps and stencil data:

 

 

I also remembered to add the bombsight the porthole window in the access hatch (you can't see it here) and the cameras. I used a bit of Micro Kristal Klear to glaze the camera lenses:

 

 

... and here. I also drilled out the recognition lights and backed the holes with some scrap plasticard, these will be filled with Kristal Klear at the end of the build and tinted with Tamiya clear colours (green and amber in this case, going left to right, and there is also a red one just aft of the bomb-bay doors on the starboard side):

 

 

I've now joined both aircraft's fuselage halves so my next job will be cleaning up the seams - the fit has been exemplary and there is not that much will need to be done to tidy up so if I apply myself I should be able to get that out of the way reasonably quickly.

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[CedB]

Great detailed work there Stew - those flares and cameras look really effective. Good job Sir  

Edited March 12, 2017 by CedB
Goof? Sorry Stew! Edited.

[Basilisk]

Nice build Stew. I always thought that the identification code lights are made up of three lights - white, amber and green.

But I am not sure if they used only two early in WWII. Maybe someone else knows more.

 

If you build DZ383 which comes with the kit, I came across this picture on the IWM site.

Always nice to see the real deal.

 

Cheers, Peter

[Stew Dapple]

Thanks Peter - very interesting pictures those. The Tamiya kit depicts three lights but not all in a row - one behind the bomb-bay door on the starboard side and two in tandem further aft on the port side. I'm not sure if this is correct, or as you suggest possibly an earlier set-up than on the aircraft in the picture you posted, but the 1/24 Airfix kit seems to have the same arrangement. As for the colours of the lights, I basically stole those from Juhana Britschgi's build here. It's a shame he hasn't been on the forums for a while, I would have liked to see how his came out.

 

I haven't got much in the way of references for Mossies beyond the Ducimus Camouflage and Markings book so I've no idea how accurate what half of what I have done is... but I reason that I might as well be wrong for doing something as for not doing it  

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Basilisk]

I think the light (or whatever it is) behind the bomb bay isn't an identification code light as they have to be next to each other (as far as I know).

 

I am by no means a Mosquito expert and it is really difficult getting the information for all these little detail. Another issue is the square opening in the center of the rear fuselage (Tamiya part H2). most (if not all) profiles show this as a round clear part. But I came across this picture on the IWM site.

Here it is definitely square(ish). It also clearly shows the opening (light?) behind the bomb bay and two identification code lights. But I think the white light doesn't show up well on pictures and you see only the amber and green light. Looks like there is a third light in front of the other two - or maybe I just see something I like to see... Hopefully someone else knows more.

 

By the way, the aircraft above is DK338, a B.IV from the Series II build.

Cheers, Peter

[Dave Swindell]

Stew's ID lights are correct, the red light got moved on later production mosquitoes  when the bulged bomb bay doors and extra PR cameras were introduced. The forward light in Peter's first photo should be red.

[AdrianMF]

Looking good Stew, and it's interesting to pick up all the extra details that this thread is producing. Another way of dealing with decal seat belts is to cut them out rather than soaking them off so the backing paper gives them some thickness - I've not done it myself, being ever-ready to have an excuse to buy more wine bottle foil!

 

I know what you mean about the Tamiya spoiling the Airfix kit. I picked up a Tamiya kit for less than the price of the Airfix one, and it's spoiled my Matchbox and Frog ones too!

 

Regards,

Adrian

Edited March 11, 2017 by AdrianMF

[Basilisk]

11 hours ago, Dave Swindell said:

Stew's ID lights are correct, the red light got moved on later production mosquitoes  when the bulged bomb bay doors and extra PR cameras were introduced. The forward light in Peter's first photo should be red.

Thanks Dave to clarify this. Interesting regarding the red. In some publications it states the colours had been red, amber and green and in others it states white, amber and green. Was there a change from red to white or was white an additional light?

 

Cheers, Peter

[Dave Swindell]

I'm away from my books at the moment,  I don't recall references to a white ID light Peter, where did you read that?

[Basilisk]

I read it in Haynes Owners' Workshop Manual on the Mosquito on page 127. There has to be something to it as the Mosquito at Hendon has these lights too (see picture in earlier post).

 

But the good news is that Stew got it right.

 

Cheers, Peter

[Dave Swindell]

10 minutes ago, Basilisk said:

I read it in Haynes Owners' Workshop Manual on the Mosquito on page 127. There has to be something to it as the Mosquito at Hendon has these lights too (see picture in earlier post).

 

But the good news is that Stew got it right.

 

Cheers, Peter

I don't have that one Peter. The Hendon mosquito is a post war  ex TT35, maybe the white light had something to do with this? I'll look into it when I get home.

[Stew Dapple]

Thanks for providing clarification there and so quickly too - much obliged to you Dave and Peter  

 

I added the various gun panels and bomb-bay doors to the nightfighter underside:

 

 

Once that had set, I added the stabilisers:

 

 

... and shortly thereafter, fitted the wingtips and attached the wings:

 

 

... and suddenly it looks a lot more like a Mosquito

 

Now to repeat the process with the PR.IV.

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[AdrianMF]

Looking good all buttoned up!

 

12 hours ago, Basilisk said:

 

I read it in Haynes Owners' Workshop Manual on the Mosquito on page 127. 

If you use a Haynes Manual does that mean you still have to do your modelling lying in a pool of oil outside your house??

 

Adrian

[CedB]

Seamless Stew - as usual! Great stuff  

[TEMPESTMK5]

Good afternoon Stew

 Very good job  ..

Regards

Patrice

[Stew Dapple]

21 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

If you use a Haynes Manual does that mean you still have to do your modelling lying in a pool of oil outside your house?

 

You mean there is another way?  

 

Thanks Adrian, Ced, Patrice

 

I got the PR.IV to the same point as the NF.II:

 

 

... and then this happened:

 

 

Now I do understand the need for the clear canopy inserts for the PR.IV in order to avoid having to mould the side-window blisters as solid teardrop-shaped lumps... but why the extra side panel for the fighter cockpit eh? Why, Tamiya? So I deducted one kudos-point for that as it was just annoying, but it did at least prove two things to me: i) Tamiya Extra Thin liquid cement does not, under normal circumstances, fog clear parts and ii) if you have your thumb in the way when you apply Tamiya Extra Thin to join two clear parts it will leave a print on the glass that you will have to sand off - so if you do that, do it on the Mosquito kit which has the frames moulded on the inside, which means you can take care of it with Micromesh and a dip in Klear and no-one will be any the wiser so long as you keep your big mouth shut.

 

Incidentally the reason the embossed frames are moulded on the inside of the clear parts is that Tamiya provide a transfer for the framing of the rear part of the canopy which was indeed internal in the real thing. However I have the Eduard mask set, so the hell with that; all my framing will be external as I'm not very comfortable with the idea of applying transfers to clear parts and expecting to get away with it.

 

Additionally, I made some propellers up. The kits provide both 'needle'-type and 'paddle-blade' props, both the aircraft I am modelling have the earlier thinner type:

 

 

I had hoped at this stage to have got the primer applied, but I haven't, so hopefully I can get that done during the week...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Beard]

Nice work Stew (I won't mention to you-know-what).

[CedB]

Seconded! you're making me want to build one now...

[SoftScience]

I love mossies. And PR mosies are the sexiest of the lot. 

 

I've been following this thread eagerly, and I'm looking forward to seeing more. 

[TEMPESTMK5]

Hi Stew

Very good progress ..

 

Patrice

[Cookenbacher]

On 3/13/2017 at 4:46 PM, CedB said:

Seconded! you're making me want to build one now...

I have a Tamiya Mosquito in the stash. I think I heard it whisper, "build me" the other day, and when I ignored it, I could swear it said, "I knew I should have gone to Stew's."

 

That's some sweet interior work Stew, and now construction to match.

[Procopius]

On 3/12/2017 at 5:08 PM, AdrianMF said:

If you use a Haynes Manual does that mean you still have to do your modelling lying in a pool of oil outside your house??

 

I got some special soap, so no longer for me!

 

Well done so far, Stew, you make it look easy.

[Basuroy]

I built the mk.VI kit last year and it is a great kit for sure ; evidently you are enjoying the build too and I am looking forward to both of them . Indeed ,  going through your build log is tempting me to get another of these haha .

[Stew Dapple]

Thanks very much gents; there was a brief period of hesitancy during the week as I contemplated applying the Eduard mask sets - and this is how spoiled and sissified I have become: I don't even have to cut the shapes myself but it still isn't enough for me, given the opportunity I would pay handsomely to send my kit canopies off to the Czech Republic to have the masks fitted in Eduard's factory then shipped back to me.

 

Then they would have had to deal with this... those big canopy blisters? Eduard think you can just stick one solid quadrilateral shape on there. They are completely wrong in their belief, obviously, I had to make one out of little bits of tape and masking fluid:

 

 

Aside from that it all went pretty straightforwardly and I ended up last night with this:

 

 

I did replace the wing AI dipoles on the nightfighter with Albion Alloys brass tube as the kit's plastic parts were fine but would forever have been waiting to snap of if mishandled, except they wouldn't have to wait forever, probably at some point during priming the inevitable would have happened. I sealed the ends of the brass tube with Micro Kristal Klear so they became rods - I didn't have any rod material of a suitable diameter.

 

Speaking of priming; that was this morning's work:

 

 

I went for a thinner, patchier coat than usual, as I got a bit carried away on my last build and got some grittiness to the finish and also I hope to get a bit of variation in the monotone schemes of both aircraft, especially the nightfighter which, being black, will not easily lend itself to tonal variety...

 

So I'll give those 24 hours to cure fully (translation: me and the dog are off down the pub in a half-hour or so and may be some time, I may also be of impaired capability on my return).

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

 

 

[Grey Beema]

Don't tempt me over to the dark side away from my theme of FAA fighters...  But there again I'm sure there was a Mossie flown by the RN....  Bu@@er!!  LMS is calling me.....