caterhamnut

lol - could build a kit from the amount of flash, and the 'extra' sprue look like plasticine!! Thanks for the links above - very useful!! Just looking at your Spit build as well BBBodge - very cool. So after my first fleeting trip to Telford, I'm back and cracking on...I'd done the next bit on Thursday, but had not posted.... I was going to add some detail to the cockpit - only really what might be visible through the canopy - but the pilot hides almost everything anyway - still wanted to add details to the fuselage skins - I scratch built some bits to add to the - 5 - parts in the kit Again - not going to perfect accuracy - just an idea of stuff going on.... Level of kit detail: Started to add bits and bobs... What you might actually be able to see!! Also added detail to the bulkheads: Lidl purchase!! £3 ish Also have to work on this chap - very much a beginner on figure painting, so this will be interesting - also working on the 1/32nd Mossie crew at the same time... Info on another build suggests this seat is too large... Certainly old Ginger is a bit small when in the seat - may require a re-build... Right - time to get some colour on tonight (cockpit, that is)

Brilliant - just read the whole thing.👍👍

Right - after a year 'off' modelling and a move back to the UK, I'm getting back into the modelling game again- for my 2nd military plane, I'm building this large scale kit for a friend. Pretty sure this was bought as part of a group buy via good 'ol Blatchat (7 Club) I've not finished the Mossie yet, but need something new to get me back into it all.... From what I have read, these old big Airfix kits can be a bit hit and miss in terms of fit etc - certainly not quite the same as the new Tamiya stuff, that is for sure! But a lovely subject. The kit had been very slightly started, with a few parts of the cockpit assembled and painted. I've undone this work, so I can paint again with new paint and so keep colour consistency. It also means I can add a bit more detail - despite my plan to build totally OOB, I can't help myself. I've ordered the Eduard seatbelts, Master 20mm cannons and some masks for spraying the cockpit I'm going to scratch build some cockpit internals - but not go mad - hopefully. Researching forums on this subject, there are a huge number of opinions, variations etc etc - I'm going for a nice kit - if the radio headset is not correct for a particular month in the 40's, I'm ok with that That said, I do want to get the big stuff accurate.... So the first job was to dismantle the very small amount of assembly, just to make it easier to tweak. I didn't take many pictures at this point, but it was only really a little bit of cockpit area stuff. I primed over the green paint, just to make it easier to see what was going on... At this point I was going to work on the engine, so I had stripped this to work on as well - I was just going to show one side panel open - the panel fit is so bad, I was going to glue the other side shut! Now the plane is 'in flight' I can miss this step out... I took the very small amount of 'detail' in the kit and improved it a little - as now much of it would be properly hidden I did not do too much of this - at this point! ....I cut the end off and replaced with wire - if this had been visible (it wont be) I would have rebuilt in its entirety - but I want to actually finish this model! I had bought a few detail parts...cannons (nice) seatbelts (now not needed, or at least not all of the parts) and cockpit canopy masks... I started to assemble the 'big' bits, knowing that the real work was going to be the filling, sanding and finishing - this is not a complicated kit to assemble in terms of part numbers of complexity... Nothing glued here obviously... The wings have lots of panels to fit - used to show the guns inside the wing if required...they went in ok - with some fettling obviously... In order to get the panels to fit over the engine, I had to cut away the back to thin them... Could be fairly crude as unseen... I glued a crossmember in the wing root to fix the oft-mentioned drooping wing, after joining the wing parts.... I had fixed the undercarrige in place - I'll fit the cover panels later.... That really was it for the big stuff - could now turn my attention to the cockpit area...

I made the bomb bay gun that comes in the kit - the Eduard one is in the model... Canopy - multi-level this one - after masking, you spray the interior colour on the outside, so it shows through, then the outer colour over the top of that! Throw some PE inside as well, and it looks amazing - with an interior framework also built onto the model... Tamiya supplies masks, but not die-cut which is a pain - Eduard do... I used the tamiya ones to fill in the centers left by the Eduard ones - if that makes sense! 'Inner' color - cockpit green... Followed by outer colour... Some of the camo green goes over the cockpit...making sure it lines up! Had to weather the visible strips! Slight seeping removed with Windex on an cotton bud... Now the frame... Dipped into Future/Pledge to clean off the canopy - worked a treat... Eduard extra PE set has a nice frame for inside the canopy... Tiny PE parts within... Dry decal on the top (with film on in this shot) Just placed in to position, so not seated properly... Right - bit of a break now - I'm relocating back to the UK, so all this has to be packed up for a few weeks - no idea how - then I can finish and photograph properly - so close to the finish as well!! Back soon....! cheers

I think so Andy - one slip.....if I hadn't painted, then I would have risked it.. Right - built the 'kit' engine now - as supplied in the Tamiya box - this one will be hidden by the panels, so don't need the full detail, but I thought it would be good to compare the Tamiya Merlin and the Eduard one, which will be on show. The tamiya one is still superb...\ Tamiya tell you to leave that bit of sprue (bottom frame) on while you are building - I forgot on the top one! You won't see any of this, but I'll still make it look nice Joined with the previously prepared parts - all fits perfectly... So now she can finally sit on here 3 wheels!! Still gotta do exhausts...but panels will fit nicely... Lots of stuff to work on obviously, but last big job is the canopy - a part that received universal praise in the reviews when the kit first came out....

Not going to risk that cut The gap is very very fine, if not 100% deadly straight, it will cut a detail line...unless I can extract the doors off the model to cut - but even then its a bit dodgy once painted....next time!!

Molotow markers are chrome pens that are incredible for recreating ....chrome! Or mirrors. I used them to fill the lights before adding the red/green lenses. People are using them for chrome trim on car models, engine details etc - they are amazing.... Amazon link: http://a.co/gPHitlk

Glad you did! (sort of ) Those micro saws are pretty sharp - if I make sure I hold everything securely, I think it will work. Plastic below is grey, so shouldn't have to paint...

Ooh - yes, you are right! Cock - the kit provides every option - closed, open, half n' half....I keep skipping over those pages, I will have to see if they separate the 'fully open' option in the book - but regardless, you are correct. I wonder if I can cut them in-situ with a micro-saw....

(That nose panel is not in place)

More pics - sorry, I'm using this as a ref. for myself as well.... I'm learning about the aircraft here as well - wondered what the silver blocks were in the bomb bay doors - now I have fitted them I see that when closed they fit directly over the guns and allow spent shells to eject out of the aircraft... Lights below are Molotow marker with clear tamiya color dropped in... Silver panels around the exhausts on the side panels... All this detail on the front of the Merlin is about to disappear... Method for grubbiness... Cover in diluted oil paint... Wipe off! (in direction of airflow (or gravity) I like the way the oil gets left behind around features - just like in 'real' life... Undercarriage assembly... Note the piece at the top of the struts that Tamiya supply in order to keep everything lined up during assembly... Cockpit hatch (gloss before weathering) Can't resist test assembling - but it is always night time when I get to this stage! Saying goodbye to this view as I attach undercarriage doors... Can't put it off anymore - I have to build the other engine so I can fit the other side together!

Thanks guys - the kit is superb, you will enjoy building it - and you do NOT need to get any of the extra detail stuff I did - as it comes it is very very good....I just wanted to extend the build time

Thanks guys - I'm enjoying it. Starting to assemble the various parts now... ***TIP IF YOU ARE BUILDING THIS KIT*** Note the silver collars on the end of the outer gun barrels of the belly gun. These barrels disappear into the body work under the cockpit, and are visible as the ends of the gun barrels on the underside of the plane - but the visible parts are a separate part in the kit - no point in extending huge barrels under the cockpit. That is why these gun barrels are tapered - it is so they can be easily threaded into the fuselage and hidden. The silver collars butt up to the bulkhead. As molded and glued (they slip over the ends), they are too close to the ends of the barrels and prevent the gun assembly from sitting properly. I ended up cracking them off as you cannot see them in situ. Now these are Eduard parts, but I thing I recall reading that the same happens with the Tamiya bits, in that book you can buy about building the kit. It could be that I could have pushed my collars on further before gluing? Bomb rack fitted... This little panel covers the radiators. They are held on by the magnets you can see in the shot below - very neat (you glue two small PE flats into the panel underside) Now fitting the fuselage sides that are under the wing structure, and line the bomb/gun bay sides... Also fitting the hydraulic struts that open/close the doors...

Thanks guys - appreciated - and great photo Andy! I shall be wiring yellow cables tonight!!

Thanks Joss - I think there is a few reasons I did it like that, and it is specific to this model, and also to the fact that it is my first plane (ie: learning) and one of the things that is certainly a skill is figuring out when the best time to paint the various parts is....before assembly, sub-assembly etc... 1) The design of the Mosquito....the main wing section is one large part in 'real life' - as opposed to two separate wings that join into the fuselage. So it is one nice big assembly to work on. Because of this, the join between the fuselage and wing is pretty 'hard' - ie, 90 degrees with no 'blending' as you would see on a Spitfire, for example. This makes it a 'real' join line, so you can paint separately and join later and it does not matter if you see a slight join....although this is helped by the second point... 2) The accuracy of the kit is amazing - so this particular joint is very very sharp - therefore no filing or sanding required (which would have to be done before painting) 3) As this is my first plane/camo/weathering model, I was concerned about painting the fuselage and wings joined....easier to paint and weather then wings as one big flat - and the fuselage as one tube...if that makes sense! I thing when I try future planes (1:48 Spitifire next) I will have to paint everything joined.... Think that makes sense!! cheers

Fuselage...applied all the smaller wet decals, now it was the 'normal' the big decals from the kit... Once the decals were on and sealed, it was time to weather - I used the same method I had used with the wings etc - flood with diluted oils and wipe off - was a bit nervous about that bit, as the streaks would all have to be 'in line' with the airflow - the wings were easy as it was simply 'front to back', but the fuselage is a bit more 3D...once I had figured out how to hold it without touching anywhere, it went surprisingly easily. I am aware this only works for a grubby plane! Sealed with matt clear and I'm pleased. I will now do a bit more work locally' once more is assembled (nothing is fixed in these pictures)

Spray can arrived, so it was on with getting the camo sorted on the fuselage - that was holding me up! I popped the half-weathered wings in place so I could line up the camo, and proceeded with the blue-tac method again.... I admit I rushed this a bit so I could let everything set over night, so a tiny bit of over-spray - but that will 't-cut out' I like the finish that the tamiya flat clear has given the model...you can see the difference in the green particularly... Couldn't resist adding various bits.... Hoping to get quite a bit done this weekend....got to apply all the decals to the fuselage, weather the left port wing and fuselage and assemble the bits. Small matter of building another Merlin engine as well.... Getting excited for how this is turning out....

So while waiting for the spray can to arrive, I started work on the wing. The 'blu tac' thing worked, but I rolled slightly thinner pieces to get a slightly finer shade-line at the edges. I taped the separate engine cover panel and rear section in to place, where they also had the camo touching them, so everything lined up. Success! These panels are just in place for spraying the green... Now it was time to put the decals on the wing. I used the HGW wet decals again... The blue sheet are the wet decals - the white sheet is the Tamiya one. At least it meant I had spares! Had issues here with the normal tamiya decals, which I needed to use for the roundels. I was getting spots on the decal - seems I just needed to not let drops settle, as it was marking the decal. Someone said that I was using the wrong decal solution for Tamiya decals, someone else said use My Mark setter, which I did....luckily later application of clear seemed to disguise the marks....these were NOT air bubbles (as everyone on the forum insisted!) Annoyingly, this was the one wet decal from HGW that I did not use - the one with the largest area of clear carrier on the normal decals. The HGW one was misaligned on the sheet, with the white under the red showing slightly - and worse, it was slightly wide and smudged, so it hung over the edge. So in this picture you see the kit-supplied tamiya decal. This set with no problems - phew, again! So some of you may have noticed that I did not do any pre-shading on these surfaces. Two reasons - I didn't want to use the airbrush to do this , but rather wanted to use the oil paint method on top of the paint instead. It gave me more chances (you can wipe off and start again) and freedom. Secondly, with a mainly wooden construction there are few areas with visible ribs underneath the skin. I figured I'd try the smallest part first - the tail plane. Deep breath, and cover the whole lot with very thinned black oil paint - ooh, after first spraying some clear - I used tamiya from a can. ....and then simply wipe off. I made sure to wipe in the direction of the airflow, so any marks would be 'streaks'... Now this is all very subjective, and over the next few hours I changed methods, learnt and developed - so the order of events got a bit mixed up. I used panel gap black to highlight areas, but i was then wiping this back out again as I worked the oil, so I need to tweak my methods going forward - but using the always-wet oil gave me the ability to 'play' and learn. NOTE: my Mosquito is grubby and oily, so the back worked well - but any excess is easily removed with (odor-less) thinners. Oiled on the left... Pretty chuffed with first attempt! You need to be REALLY careful about finger prints, as the oil paint is never 'dry' so marks - but you can brush them out with a soft dry brush, re-apply oil etc etc Then it was the top surface - same process... To 'fix' the finish I used 'flat' tamiya clear from the can. I tried something else first, but was not happy with how it went on - it was 'rough' and will be a bugger to get off and try again - I used the fin for that (later) Was VERY pleased with how this looked once dry... On the pic above you can see my oil ribbing shading - more detail on that in the wing pictures...but basically I did this... ...and wiped off, dry brushed, experimented etc - and removed some oil paint 'between' the rivet lines to lighten the shade....I lucked out for the first attempt Very similar method on the fin - I even tried lightening the grey between the ribs with white oil, and it does work... I cocked this part up with a different flat varnish - hopefully I can remove without damaging the decals. (not shown here) So - I had my method - now it was the wings...much bigger! I did each side, top and bottom surface, separately...so I had somewhere to hold! Scary moment... And wiped.... I highlighted rivets and brushed gently - always thinking of airflow... ...and again highlighted any ribs or rivets on the metal control surfaces. Very slight mottling caused by flat clear application - but in reality this is a close zoom - don't see it really. Example of thinking about airflow - this streak around the curved top surface was blended in to give a hint of exhaust and rubbish coming back from the prop... Ribs below the rivet lines... Finished on the right... ...now left! Daylight! Just got to make the other side look the same now!

Time to get some colour going... Thought I'd try this on the smaller part - the tail plane! Trying the 'rolled up blu-tac' method of getting a soft line. I thought about freehand airbrush, but maybe next time... I really should try these things out on scraps etc - but I seem to be impatient! Well that was easy! Dark Green Tamiya from a can. Seems very 'rich'... Quite happy with the result - a little bit fuzzy near the edges, but I think that is ok. A bit 'dotty'.. So these are the 'wet' decals I am trying. No carrier film left behind, so look better apparently. Learning from error on the tanks under the fuselage where I added the decal after I had used some oil paint, which was affected by the process. Using Mr Mark Setter as recommended by the manufacturer (HGW) - You apply as normal, but leave to set and dry for a good few hours - over night is best, then you peel off the top film. You can see the top film as it all dries - this will be peeled off.... Like so.... Left with film, right without... It works well - there was still a little residue around where the film had been, and marks caused by the Mr Mark setter - I cleaned this off with warm water and cotton bud, but it has not entirely gone. Luckily, when I then applied some tamiya clear the marks seemed to go... So now to the wings - I was showing these with the flaps in the down position (Tamiya gives you the option, and different parts are used for up/down) but I don't like that big slot (however accurate) and prefer the purity of line with them up - so last minute change led me to gluing the flaps up/level. I have also sprayed the panels and cowlings that join onto the top surface of the wing structure, so I can add the green camo in the same way as above... The fuselage also needs priming and painting - so have attached a few of the parts. I am gluing the nose cone on, but the hatch over the gun is removable, the cockpit hatch removable as well - but I placed these in position to spray to ensure an even finish (and even camo pattern) I am pretty impressed with how well all these panels as the front come together with minimal gaps, I have to say. And then the most annoying thing - primed the fuselage, and then painted the top coat - can ran out - just at the start of a holiday period. Won't get another until about Wednesday! I wanted to paint and finish the fuselage this weekend, but not now...oh well, plenty of other bits to build. Like the starboard engine!

Hi HGW - using these now on my 1/32nd Mosquito, and working like a charm. Is there anything better I can use than damp cloth to get rid of the glue marks after removing the film? I can still see the outline of where the film was, and the marks left by The setting liquid...paint below is Tamiya acrylic or enamel . thanks!

Small update. I'm this close to closing up the fuselage and losing all that lovely detail -have sent my light box back to the UK, so still figuring out best way to get some good pics before I commit... Here are some detail pics - anything PE in these shots is the PE set from Eduard. As I am using their kits for the guns and engines, I have the Tamiya kit ones as 'extras' so I am building those anyway - either to display or compare. So the front gun ammo boxes below are the Tamiya kit versions, with extra Eduard PE added (the bronze colour bits) if that makes sense. Right now the decision to be made is when to paint the camo green onto the model - I'd like to paint the wings now, before they have engines fitted and before they are joined to the fuselage - and also paint the fuselage before everything is joined together, but wondering if it is best to assemble everything first... Paint has gone on well so far - I think this is the primer - Tamiya Fine Surface Primer from a can. I am also using Tamiya enamel sprays for the top coats, as recommended in the kit. Tidying didn't happen... I want to paint this as is, rather than assembled onto the fuselage.... Tamiya kit gun ammo boxes - with Eduard PE parts added - note the straight chains... Same chains bent into loops... Nice mudguard PE gives a more realistic scale thickness than the plastic version in the kit - but once again, the kit one is still pretty damn good. Front hatch with PE added (I had sprayed 'anything green' when I first started, so some will require spraying again as I add parts - as I said, first time!!) Not fixed yet... Oil paint finish... Some more detail shots of little bits - tail wheel, radios etc... Pre-muck. Love the shape of that casting... Seriously considering lighting the interior!!

A few 'general' pictures as I pretend to join the parts together - nothing fixed, just trying them out... I think I'm going t have to fit some internal lights!! At least the plane has a large cockpit glass.... Testament to the Tamiya kit and the Eduard Merlin extra parts - all the pipes will line up perfectly when I come round to fixing everything together... I certainly need to do some work on the top of the engines - looking very bland here, but yet to pick out the various leads etc... Tonights job - having a bit of a tidy!!

Spotted a bit of arc welding going on on the workbench last night!!

Gradually getting through the many parts! This is a wing insert, and I'm showing how I get the 'oily/grubby' look, which is all new to me - so learning! I had sprayed the part with alclad aluminium and I have now brushed on an oil paint wash. I have already found that it gives more control than the Tamiya panel wash - which is much thinner and great for picking out....panel lines! I then use a cotton bud to wipe off the excess (obviously access is important here) and I quite like the finish it gives - it takes the shine of the ali finish (used/in service) and picks out details nicely. And in situ... Next bit of weathering learning was the wheels - I wanted the muddy look so tried my hand at using some pigments - I had bought some MIG products - scraped pastel would also work I am sure... Brush with some water, dab on... It dries to dust, and I clumped it a bit around the 'bottom' of the tyre (where a flat spot is already moulded) - you can see 'dabs' here on the side wall, which I removed as I went - first time I have used the pigments. But pleased with the results - filled the tyre tread and then cleaned off the top surface. It dries to dust very quickly, and of course it rubs off, so I 'sealed' with some matt finish spray... It looked like I had lost the effect, but as soon as it dried it came back...

I'm sort of ready to join the fuselage halves together, but I want to get some decent pictures of the sub-assemblies that will get hidden!!