sunray

Thanks everyone for the kind comments which are most appreciated as always.

Thanks everyone for your kind comments which are most appreciated as always. Thanks Dave. The fabric effect is how the kit comes and I rubbed it down to dull the effect down.

Here is my go at this excellent aircraft and beautiful kit. Here is the link to the build thread http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234995571-172-tamiya-de-havilland-mosquito-fb-mkvi/

Thanks Leoni. Next on the list was to do the nav lights on the wing tips. This is where I had a bit of a problem because when I cut them off the sprue and was in the process of cleaning them up. One of them decided to go walkabout and to this day it is still exploring the floor of my shed somewhere. So I had to make a replacement using a scrap piece of acrylic rod. First I filed on side flat and one end roughly the opposite side angle of the light. When I was happy I drilled a small hole half way into the acrylic. This was to be the nav light bulb. Now I painted the acrylic rod red as well as the nav light base on the wing tip. Now I glued them both together using CA glue. Once the glue had cured I started to first file and then sand the light to the profile of the wing. When I got the correct shape I just polished it clear. Then I did the other one using the same process. Before I could attach the canopy I had to add a few spars of the canopy frame that were inside the canopy. The kit supplies decals but I just masked and sprayed them in then I attached the canopy to the fuselage only to realise that I had missed a few off! Oh well never mind. I then masked the canopy, wing tip nav lights and landing lights ready for spraying. That do I primed the main aircraft and props. To get the silver dope effect I used Tamiya silver. That I coated it with Acrylic Car Lacquer which I found out doesn't like Tamiya silver paint. The lacquer started to pit the paint a bit like the orange peel effect. I have used the lacquer a few times and it has never happened before. Anyway I decided to leave it a few days then I gently rubbed everything down and I gave it another coat without any problems. But to be honest to me it looks like the silver flecks in the Tamiya paint are just too big for this scale so I don't think I will be using that again. Now on went the decals. I used Micro Set & Sol for the decals and gave them a coat of varnish to seal them. On went to props. For the weathering I used oil paint thinner quite heavily and I didn't want a clean aircraft so I added a few oil spills, etc especially on the underside. To tone down the finish I gave it a coat of flat varnish. The stand is made from a scrap piece of oak flooring which has been routed and waxed. Then I cut and bent a piece of 5mm brass tube. Using CA glue I stick them all together. Here is the link to the final reveal thread http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234998510-172-mosquito-fb-mkvi-in-flight/#entry2285206

I saw a Piper Cub fly at Duxford last year so I thought I would have a go at making one. Here is the build thread http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234992501-148-smer-piper-l4-cub/page-1

Thanks Bob. I have finally made the stand and its finished. Here is the link to the final reveal thread http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234998492-148-smer-piper-cub-l4/

Thanks guys for the kind comments.

Here is my 1/35 Tamiya M3 Stuart Tank. I haven't built a Tamiya tank before so I thought I would give this one a go. It is straight out of the box build with a home made stand made from oak flooring.

As I am making an in-flight display and I have done a few before, I like to anything that stick out like guns, antenna, etc out of something thats a lot stronger than plastic. I was in two minds whether to use the kit nose guns or make my own. If I use the kit ones I run the risk of them getting knocked and snapping off in the future but if I make some I will loose the detail. After some thought I would do the latter thinking if I put the kit ones on and they do snap off the detail is gone anyway. So here is what I did. I first measured the length of the inner and outer gun barrels of the kit part and made a note, then I cut off the barrels leaving me with just the staggered barrel mount. I am going to use 0.6mm brass tubing with an internal diameter of 0.4mm for the new barrels. So I drilled four 0.4mm holes where the original kit barrels sat on the mount. Then I stuck the mount to the nose cone ensuring that the holes lined up. Once that had dried I then cut four small pieces of 0.4mm steel wire and pushed them through the holes I drilled and using CA glue I stuck them in position. The job of the wire is to act as a spigot to hold the new barrels in position. The pin is just for scale. Once the glue had cured I trimmed the wire to size. Next armed with a set of callipers, the barrel measurements and a cutting clamp by Expo I cut the 0.6mm brass tubing to size. Two outer barrels and two inner barrels. Here are a few photo's on how I used the Expo clamp on my previous build of a 1/48 Piper Cub which you might find useful. First I transferred the measurements using the callipers to the clamp to set the stop distance from the razor saw slot. Then I tightened the screw just below and to the left of the Expo name. I opened the lever which is the clamp. Then I put in the brass tubing. I closed the lever and applied just enough pressure to hold the brass but not to damage it. Now it is just a case of putting your razor saw in the slot and cutting the brass tubing. The good thing about using this tool is that its easy to use and you get exactly the length you want. So using this method I cut four barrels, two at one length and two at another. Now I added so CA glue to the end of the brass tube and slid it down the correct wire spigot on the nose cone. When I was happy with the alignment of the four barrels I stuck the nose cone to the fuselage. As you can see from the photos I have also attached the engine exhausts. Before I did glue them on I drilled out all the exhausts, twenty in total. The other bits I made were the antenna from scrap photo etch sprue. And the pitot tube in the tail. While I was waiting for the glue to cure I put the props together. The other good ting to happen to day I worked out how to correctly set up my bridge camera for close up shots and here are a few more of the crew before I close up the cockpit.

The next job on the list was to make the mount for the stand using a steel bolt. I have used this method before quite a few times now as it works and is easy to do. First I decided where on the fuselage is the bolt going to live, which in this case was easy. I am putting it in the front of the bomb bay doors roughly in line with the back wing support. I drilled a 4mm hole (the diameter of the bolt) in the bomb bay doors part and then using the bomb bay doors part as a template I cut a thick piece of plasticard and I drilled another 4mm hole in it. This piece is to give the mount a bit more strength. Then I just dry fitted them together just the check they all fit. Once I was happy I first glued the doors, plasticard and bolt together using a two part epoxy. The epoxy instructions says that it is fully cured in an hour at normal room temperature but because I am in my shed I left it over night to go off. The following morning the mount was rock solid and I glued the mount to the fuselage just using Tamiya Extra Thin. Next I made the wings and when they were complete I moved on to drilling out the air in-takes on the engine nacelles. I attached the wings to the fuselage and then I attached the engine nacelles to the wings which isn't the way the kit instructions tell you. They attach the nacelles to the wings and then the wings to the fuselage, which seems a strange way to do it to me. While I was waiting for everything to dry I moved on to the tail plane. As ever I test fitted the elevators and I found the fitting a bit loose, so using small pieces of copper wire, a drill and some CA glue I made some spigots to help get the elevators at the right angle and support them while the plastic cement is drying. First I decide where the spigots are going then I drilled two holes and attach the copper using CA glue then I cut the wire to size. Then using the elevators as a guide I mark the holes in the fuselage, drill them and attach the elevators. You can now move the elevators to the right angle and the cooper wire will hold them there allowing plenty time for you to glue them. Then I just glue them together using Tamiya glue. I use this trick all the time when I am attaching wings, etc, on old Airfix kits and it makes life a lot easier. To finish for tonight I attached the wing tanks.

Thanks guys. My last few kits have been wheels up and this is how I do props. Testors 1/48 O2. Airfix's 1/72 Chipmunk. And jets. Revell's 1/72 Mirage. Airfix's 1/72 Hawk I make the stands from scraps of oak flooring, brass tube and acrylic rod. I like the look they give and they are cheap to make. I hope this helps. Matt if you do decide to do wheels up I would recommend the Revell figures. As I have said before, the problem being they are out of production at the minute and they are a pain to get hold of now in the UK so if you see a set Down Under I would get them. Also the wheel doors on the engine nacelles are a touch small so you will need a strip of plasticard along the edge to get them to close correctly, which isn't a hard job.

Thanks Col heres just a quick update. I have painted the pilots and as you'll see the detail on these Revell figures is excellent. Like I said they aren't bad for 1/72. The next job was the instrument panel. I did look around to see if there was any photo etch around but I couldn't find any so I used to kits panel. Tamiya do supply a decal but I though I would have ago at painting it instead. Also as you can see I painted the rest of the cockpit. The paints used were Tamiya and then I used a home-made oil wash. With all that done it was just a case of gluing it all together which went without any problems. The kit does supply a gun sight but because I put the crew in sadly there wasn't any room, but I will see what I can do before the canopy goes on. I am quite pleased how the cockpit and crew turned out and its on to the next part which will be attaching the bolt for the stand, so until then...........................

Thanks lads and I the more I think of it NT223 looks the favourite. Rob I did an Airfix Mosquito a few years ago and I remember that the wings are a pain to fit but everyone love a "Mossie" and I look forward to seeing yours. As this is going to be an in-flight display my next job was to sort out the crew and as you probably know these kits don't have any figures included so off to the spares box I go. I did think about using pilot figures from Airfix kits. The figures did fit in the pilots seat but not the co-pilots seat so they were a non-starter and anyway they were lacking in detail. So I decided to use crew from a Revell set, their 1/72 "Pilots & Ground Crew - RAF WWII". I have had this set for a few years and I think now Revell has stopped making them, why I don't know as I think the detail for 1/72 is spot on. To get the figures to fit I had to do a bit of surgery with my razor saw to get them sitting in the cockpit. I managed to get them in the positions I wanted and also at the correct height, well sort off. But as you can seen from the photo's there was still a bit of work to do, like how do I fit the arms in? After a bit of more cutting and filing I managed to sort them out, first the pilot which wasn't that bad and then the co-pilot which was a bit harder. As you can see for the photo's above there is no room for his right arm and also for the left because of the pilot's seat. To get around the right arm I cut off the co-pilots seat pad to drop him further in the cockpit and his right shoulder just fits under the cockpit wall to hide it. All I then did to the right arm before I glued it on was to sand down the top of his arm to my it a lot thinner and it allowed me to bring his right arm across his body away from the cockpit wall. For the left arm I decided it would be better if it went behind the pilots seat as there was more room so I had a look at the left arms in the set. I needed one that would not come across the body and went straight out to the left. The only one was for a mechanic and was bent which wasn't perfect but with a bit more surgery should work. As I am going to have the Mosquito banking slightly I was going to have the co-pilot holding on to the pilots seat. This is how they look seating in the seats. And in the cockpit. With the canopy. The other thing I did today was the tail wheel. The kit doesn't give you the option of it retracted so all I did was use a few bits of plastic to support the leg and glued in position.

Here is what I am going to have a go at next a Tamiya's 1/72 Mk.VI Mosquito. I am planning to do this as a flying display so here we go. I haven't decided yet but I am thinking it will be one of these, either RF838 or NT233 This is what I have done so far. First I put together the engine nacelles which was step one in the instructions but I was going to do these first anyway just to make sure the wheel well doors were large enough to close. I cut off the four pins that hold the doors open on the nacelles then I tried the doors which I found were a bit small. This was easily sorted by adding a few strips of plasticard and sanding flush once the glue has cured. Next for the cockpit because I wanted to sort out the crew. The detail is excellent but I did notice that the backs of the radio transmitter and receiver were hollow so I covered them was a small piece of plasticard just in case they be seen through the canopy. to be continued..................................

Thanks Col. I am glad to say the decaling, varnishing and weathering are all done. All I have to do now is make the stand.

Now for the masking. As you will see there is a lot of glass in a Cub that needs to be masked for painting. To do it I used thin masking tape and Vallejo masking fluid and due to the amount of glass this took a few hours of fun. That done and its was time for the primer coat. Now for the base coat. I mixed Vallejo Model Air Sea Gull Grey, 10% thinner and 20% Vallejo Gloss Varnish in my airbrush and sprayed the undersides. I added the gloss varnish to the mix to give the paint a harder finish and protect the grey as I was going to mask off the underside to paint the upper surfaces, which worked quite well. The upper surfaces were painted with Tamiya Olive Drab in a 50/50 mix. The paint scheme I am doing is for Operation Torch so I had a bit more masking to do before I painted the cowling Tamiya Yellow. I was going to leave it over night before I sealed it but knowing my luck I would knock it or mark the paint so I decided to seal it using Simoniz Clear Acrylic Lacquer from a can. This stuff dries in minutes,gives a rock hard gloss finish and ready for the decals.

Thanks Jessica. Next I made the additional wing supports. I used the plastic kit supports as a template, measuring them with my callipers. Then transferring the measurement to an excellent tool made by Expo which makes cutting the small brass rod easy. Once the measure is set you tighten the screw just below the Expo logo and open the clamp. Now you just add the brass rod and ensure it touches the stop. Then just close the clamp and just add enough pressure to hold the rod in place as too much can dent the rod. Now its just a case of placing my razor saw in the guide and cutting the rod. With all the pieces cut to size I decided I would have a go at soldering them. Using a scrap piece of MDF and the kit part again as a template, I drew around the part on the MDF in pencil. Then using Blutac to hold the brass rod I just lined up the tubes to the pencil lines. All I did next was using my soldering iron a joined the pieces together. The good thing about using solder is the the joint is strong and cleans up pretty well. When I tried the small supports against the wings I discovered the were too wide for the large wing supports already attached to the wing. Then I tried the kit parts against the large wing supports and that was the same. My mistake was trusting the kit parts instead of taking the measurements off the wing itself. Oh well here we go again but this time I changed my mind and I decided after checking a few photo's that I would use thinner brass tubing and the Connect O system that I used in the cockpit frame. This time I took the measurements off the wing and I cut the tubing the same way as with the rod but using CA glue to join the brass. The elevators on both sides are really a loose fit, so to add a bit more strength and to make lining them up easier I drilled a 0.5mm hole through fuselage. Then I drilled corresponding holes in the elevators. Then using a 0.5mm diameter copper wire and CA glue I attached it to one of the elevators. I just cut the copper wire to allow it to pass through the hole in the fuselage and into the other elevator, gluing the copper wire again with CA glue. When I am happy I glued the elevators with Tamiya extra thin. Doing it this way I find it easier to do any adjustment required as the copper is soft enough to allow this but strong enough to hold the elevator in place allowing the Tamiya glue to cure. I next added some pipework to the engine and the main undercarriage. My last job tonight was to make the foot rest for the cabin. I could use the kit part but I prefer to make a replacement out of metal as I think they are stronger and I know will not snap off as easily. Also as I am using a scrap piece of copper wire wire for the rest so its cheap. As before I used the kit part as a template and I just bent the copper wire to the right shape gluing with CA glue.

Thanks chaps. With the cabin interior finished I attached the canopy. Normally I would use PVA glue but because the canopy had to support the wings roots I needed a strong joint so I carefully used Tamiya Extra Thin and to fill the gaps I used a mixture made up of extra thin and chopped up sprue. One of Phil's Flory's excellent ideas. I find it works well filling gaps around canopies because its thick goes where you want it go and nowhere else. While the canopy cured I worked on the engine and cowling. I used syringe needles for the engine exhaust and oil breather tube instead of the kit parts. Then I attached the wings which aren't the best fit using CA glue and Tamiya Extra Thin. Even with the CA glue the wing joints weren't as strong as I wanted them. Plus there are big gaps on the wing roots where they join the canopy on the underside of both wings. But apart from that the pilots look happy enough. So to add a bit more strength to the wings I decided to brass rod for the wing supports instead of the kit ones. First I cut them to size and test fitted using Blu-Tack. When I was happy out came my soldering iron to join the rods together. Then I just glued them in position with CA glue after a bit of adjustment with a file. As you can imagine the wings are a lot stronger now and I think they look better than the kit ones.

I haven't done much but this is what I have done. I finished making the brass frame for the cockpit and I glued it in position then I made the radio transmitter for the back shelf. Then it was just a case of painting them.

Jessica the scenario I was thinking is as the aircraft is climbing and the observer has spotted something. He has just taken his glove off and is just about to tap the pilot on the shoulder to tell the pilot to bank right to have a look.Col. you are right it is a bit of a tight squeeze but I don't think they had space in mind when they designed the Cub more like cupboard if you pardon the pun

To make the observer I used the figures that were left from the ICM set. I used the head and left leg from a standing figure and the rest from the crouching mechanic figure. After a lot of cutting and sanding then gluing with a touch of filling I came up with this. Not a pretty sight I much admit but when I worked out if I could do I cut out the rear seat with a razor saw and took out the rear joystick. I then used the kit rear seat to replace the one I took out. After a couple of test fittings I decided to reduce the height of the rear seat to allow clearance for the observers head and the roof of the canopy and move it a bit further back. Also I removed the back of the pilots seat to give me a bit of room to play around and I also removed the rear rudder pedals. Here's how it looks on a test fit. When I was happy with that I had the arms to sort out. After a bit of sawing, filling, sanding and gluing it looked like this. I had also reattached the back of the pilots seat and the rear joystick. I didn't bother with rudder pedals. All is needed now is a touch of paint.

Thanks Melvyn for pointing that out but if you read the beginning of the thread I did mention that I had seen photo's of the real thing and there wasn't much detail in the cockpit. I added the detail to make it a bit more interesting. I tried to base the added detail on the fuselage frame behind the wall covering to help show the "V" style of the frame, if you know what I mean? I got the idea off the maintenance manual I mentioned in an earlier post which has drawing of the frame around the cockpit. Thanks anyway for taking the time to let me know, much appreciated. I am in the process of making the observer from body parts from two figures off the ICM set, the only problem is that there is only one seated figure and I have already used that one. As for the rest, one is kneeing and the rest are standing. There is a lot of cutting, sanding, pegging and gluing but I think I will be able to shoe horn him in on the back seat.

Thanks Jessica for keeping right to be honest I didn't know about the centre of gravity problem. To get around this I think I can add a passenger in the back seat. Also I was going to add the radio transmitter (RCA AVT-15) on the back shelf of the cockpit thats why I haven't added the cross member in the brass frame I am making so I should be able to get another figure in with a bit of surgery. I have got a copy of the "Erection & Maintenance Instructions for Airplanes Army Models L-4A to J - British Model" dated 1943 and what an exciting read it is but thats where I got the info about the radio. I wouldn't mind after reading your post that reminded me that I saw a couple of Cubs flying at Duxford this year and guess where the pilot is sitting in the L-4, yes at the back. As Captain Black Adder would say to Private Baldrick "Bugger". Thanks again Jessica for keeping me right and for being so quick to do so, you're a star.

I have never made a kit by Smer so I thought I would give their Piper L4 Cub a go which I got off ebay for a few pounds. As you will see from the photo's there isn't a lot to the kit so hopefully it should go together pretty fast. I will be doing an in flight display and as the kit didn't come with a pilot I bought a figure set by ICM. The wings and fuselage have a nice textured cloth feel but there isn't much interior detail for the cockpit but after looking a photo's of the real thing there wasn't much detail to start off with. Pushing on I have already started on the fuselage by adding a floor, new pilot's seat and joysticks made from pins (because the kit seat and joysticks wouldn't work with the pilot). I also added so detail to the cockpit walls to make it a bit more interesting. As I have done before on other builds I have added a bolt glued with epoxy to the fuselage side which in turn will be attached to a brass tube as part of the home-made stand. I have attached the bolt to the fuselage via a piece of scrap plastic to increase the surface area to give a stronger fixing. The seat belt on the passenger seat is made from rolled lead cut to size and glued in place, also I made the two throttles on the left fuselage wall from bent pins and the rear rudder pedals are also made from a pin. To ensure the pilot fitted in the seat and that his hands touched the throttle and joystick he needed a bit of modification when I attached his arms. I did this by adding a few plastic shims in his right shoulder to enable his hand to come across the front of his body further to grab the joystick. For the throttle the pilots arm had to bent back slightly so I cut a small notch out of the bottom of his elbow and I put a small cut in the top of the elbow joint taking care not to completely cut all the way through. Then I just bent the arm back and glued in position and filled in the notch at the bottom of his elbow. Here is the pilot test fitted in position. The canopy comes in four parts with a tubular frame inside but because the plastic for the frame is a bit thick and I am adding a pilot it made the fit is a touch tight. So I decided to have ago at making a new frame from brass. I have left off the the windscreen to enable access while adjusting the frame. To make the joints in the frame I decided to use "Connec O" by Albion Alloys and CA glue which works quite well and allows a bit of moment to adjust the frame to gain the right angles. Here is a rough idea how hopefully it will look.

Thanks again lads and I look forward to seeing your O-2 Speedy.