Ventora3300

Oh dear, my sympathies. I’ve noted on one of the new modern Airfix kits that I have built that you either have an open cockpit where you can see the brilliantly detailed rudder pedals but no pilot in or delete the pedals and put the pilot in with the stick forced through his legs - the Instructions include this. Also, any hint of a smear of paint on a contact surface and it don’t fit! Maybe once the moulds wear out and these become vintage kits……

I did mean your 2nd tooling Airfix kit which gave me excellent references for what the Mossie should look like! @AdrianMF also did a Molins version of that newer kit and it was @old thumper who built the first tooling in comparison. More of a Westland Whirlwind type nose on this artist's rendition but recognisable as a Mossie all the same! I'm hoping my Mk.VI can improve on 'Poh, Poh, Poh' with more of a Tacca, Tacca, Boom, Boom, Whoosh, Whoosh, Whoosh'! Many thanks, it's all good practice I'm telling myself! You're a hard man, @AdrianMF.... I think this kit has had enough sport with me for one build! You are right, of course, the nose does get ahead of the spinners a tad too much. I've made a sprint for the finish on the Airfix Mk.VI now and the Frog canopy has been grafted on and hopefully paint hides the worst of the scars. That nose remains just too long but at least it curves down from the canopy with a better profile. Transfers/decals went on beautifully as I used only tepid water and let the backing really soak - only the starboard side messed up due to the fuselage reinforcing strake and I had to source some more transfers for the squadron codes which I just applied on top. The serial number in blue has to remain to remind me that this is supposed to be a 'build the old kit' exercise! In looking at the nose, I twigged that the .303 m/g's had to be moved to below the centre line and the Frog ones do look much better than the Airfix originals. I left one of the original m/g ports above the nose open as the gun camera and put small cannon barrels (sections of hair brush prongs!) in the lower ports. The Frog rockets and rails look good to me and the pics remind me that there are lots of minor touch ups still required. I've coated with some Humbrol acrylic matt varnish and this needs a quick fly round the room and put down before I'm institutionalised! Now I really need to get on with the wingtip lights on the Frog Mk.IV. Some clear sprue from a 1/32 kit came in handy. The crew figures are tiny in this kit.

Some time later.... Airfix Mossie cockpit extended and a little re-profiling of the nose in front. Crew back in. Working away with the canopy - some filler may be required.

Matt, lovely work on this Mossie to date. I am waiting with bated breath to see what decision you make on the rearward facing wingtip lights. I am in knots with this on my current Frog Mk. IV build and now wishing I'd left the wingtips alone! All the best for your build. Mike.

Me too for another Mosquito @Johnson, I've obviously not had my fill yet but it will definitely be a more modern kit than the two 'terrifiers' that I am locked in combat with right now! Regards, Mike

No need for that - just sit back and watch me on the rack........ Wise words indeed! However, being firmly in the grasp of this old kit and after much trawling about, including looking at previous related builds by @stevehnz, @old thumper and @AdrianMF in the De Havilland Mega GB of 2017, I've come to the conclusion that a longer canopy is the easy answer and there is a handy Mk.VI option available in the Frog kit! Here are the two canopies together...(and hope to improve on my frame painting next time!) The Frog canopy sitting on the Airfix kit looks like this so a bit of trimming required, maybe of the cockpit lip as well as the canopy lower surface (it looks a bigger scale again). If the canopy extends to where the nose starts to curve down then that should do. There actually are some photos of MM417/EG-T in my reference books so I can see how the canopy should look (and I'm studiously ignoring the fuselage low camouflage demarcation line and the bombs!) The spinners do look like they are in Ocean Grey though. Here is the area under the Frog canopy to be 'altered' - a bit late in the build to be doing this... This looks more like the cockpit area in the later Series 3 Airfix Mossie. I've also noted that the .303 m/g's from the Frog kit would look better than the Airfix versions although there is a short shot on one of the muzzles. I may just have got away this this graft on job.

It's terrifying! The crew are in and the first coat of Ocean Grey is on. Looking at that nose now, m/g's removed, it looks like the cockpit is too short, hence the Pilot and Nav being squeezed together, and the pilot should be sitting further forward with the canopy extending over the 'level' bit of the nose. I'll think on.... Second coat of Ocean Grey on - Xtracolor shiny and looking pretty 'blue'. I've gone with the spinners also in this grey (rather than the MSG of the undersides) as that is how it appears in the reference pics I have. I'm just cracking on with the shiny Xtracolor Dark Green, using the camouflage pattern in the Airfix Instructions - don't see many reference pics reflecting this but there may be 'A' and 'B' pattern options as done for other aircraft. I had to add some green on the nose and the port tail as it looked like it should be there! M/g's are back in and a pitot tube added to the tail. As done on the Frog Mk. IV, radio added to the cockpit although now that it is clear that the cockpit needs extended forward, the Nav will get a table as well!

While I was doing 'lights', I foiled the two which appear in the Frog Mk.IV bomb bay doors but looking at reference material, these look more like just viewing ports so the foil came off again. This belly is ready for fitting to the fuselage but will need a centre line for the bomb bay doors scribed. I actually got the Frog Mk.IV fuselage together and it looks like the wings have settled straight in profile and with a slight dihedral - success! Laying the two kits side by side now, the Frog version looks to be slightly bigger scale, or is the Airfix smaller than it should be? A quick measure between wingtips shows that the Frog one is nearer 1/72 scale for 54'. I've taped the Frog Mk.VI belly option to the Airfix fuselage for scribing in the missing details. Looking at the hints from @Johnson in his Mossie restoration, I added in a bit of additional detail as a Nav table and one of the choices of radio set at the back of the cockpit. The top of the provided armchair for the Nav was squared off which I think is a bit more accurate. Don't look too closely. I've also very bravely cut out the wingtip lights (ref pics show ones at the rear as well). On the Airfix Mk.VI, I scribed the bomb bay doors and drilled / cut out cannon shell ejection ports, also enlarged the cannon ports in the nose to try to make them look bigger than the .303 barrels provided further up, which are huge! I'm scribing in paint and filler now (should have done much earlier) so drew in some pencil lead to hopefully make them visible under the next coat of paint. Also, I drilled out landing lights, which were only raised detail on the Airfix kit, filled with foil and daubed on Clearfix lenses. These were then the reference points for the templates made from the Frog kit to place and drill the rocket rail holes. Getting there!

To put the Frog Mk.IV wings together, the propellers, exhausts and undercarriage doors need to be assembled to the lower wing half first. I put some tape inside the wheel wells to stop the doors falling through (like wot the Airfix ones did...) The propeller bushes were really tight in the slots in both halves of the wing so required a bit of thinning down and the exhaust stacks weren't exactly a positive fit. There may be trouble ahead..... Landing lights are in with the obligatory foil backing and the rocket rail holes remain undrilled (but were a good template for adding to the Airfix Mk.VI) I assembled the wing halves with glue and with much squeezing and taping are persuading them to set straight against a handy scale rule.

Lovely work Adrian, you just can't put this one down, can you! There's plenty space on that piece of paper for more items...I'm enjoying this build. All the best, Mike.

Great work, Pat, on this Frog oldie. This is a nice stage to get to when the model has shaped up and is ready for the overall paint job, without too many delicate sticky-out bits which can get knocked off of course! Looking forward to the stripes. Regards, Mike.

Glad to see that rigging method works and avoids a rash of holes in the top wing. I have an unfinished Nieuport 28 which stalled at the rigging stage as I just can’t seem to source any EZLine ‘over the counter’ (internet deliveries raise too many questions…)

Thank you @Johnson, of course I am watching your Restoration build of a Mossie with bated breath for hints along the way. You are putting a lot of work into that. Excellent work on that and best of luck for a good end result. Regards, Mike

Wow, blink and you'll miss this build. I don't know the kit or even the aircraft but it looks to be a cracker already! Rigging looks simple on the box art but stick to your 'rules' - at all costs, avoid looking for other references! Good luck, Mike

While paint was drying on the Airfix Mk.VI, I made a start on the Frog Mk.IV Mossie with cockpit painting first coat. I see that there is a proper well for the tailwheel this time and the pitot tube on the fin - I'll need to go back to the Airfix Mk.VI to add that. Nose windows are in and the holes pre- painted with black to avoid bare plastic on show. The cockpit assembly actually mounts to the locating tab on the starboard wing when it is fitted to the fuselage rather than locates within the fuselage itself so I'll need to look at assembling the wings before I can get the fuselage closed up. Oh dear, there are a few warped wings here!

Thanks Dave. You know how it is! Things got so bad for me that I 'put my foot down' (faintly) last year when I was given a kit for a birthday and declared that I would be having 'Craft Hour' every Sunday at 4pm to build it. OMG, I had to fight for that hour every week but I did get that and subsequently a Christmas gift kit built - reminds me I should post those as RFI's. I managed to get paint onto the Airfix Mk.VI Mossie - I've gone for the Medium Sea Grey on the undersides and was struggling to get Humbrol so I ended up with XtraColor paints. I really mixed them but still ended up with a glossy finish as you can see. Exposes all the less than perfect filling/sanding of course! The cannon ports turned out OK given that I just took a small hand drill and did freehand. The undersides of the nacelles and the fuselage are looking too lacking in detail so I'll try my hand at some scribing. I know what the u/c doors look like now but more references required and maybe help from the Frog kit for the details of bomb bay doors etc. The Frog kit actually comes with a choice of undersides to cover the bomb bay doors on the Mk.IV as well as the cannon shell ejection ports on the Mk.VI so I can use the Mk.VI belly as a template to scribe the underside of my Airfix model. Also, a comparison of the rockets and rails provided - those in the Frog kit are much superior so I'm going to pinch them for the Airfix Mk.VI. The rockets provided with the Airfix kit look like just sticks with tails but the reference publications show 'solid shot' rockets to have this shape. I'll also have to drill out four sets of holes under each wing to mount the separate Frog rocket rails (and fill in the two holes for the 'block' Airfix ones) so have made templates from the Frog lower wing halves for this. I'll use the landing light holes in the lower wings as reference points.

Thanks Richard, I'll keep a look out for that fin on the Frog kit. Here is a link to the Mosquito / Me262 encounter I think you mean... Also a link to another account of a Mosquito / Me262 encounter from pilot Colin Bell who was flying with Ian Redmond’s father Doug as navigator -all in the books which got me going on these Mosquito builds. https://www.raf.mod.uk/display-teams/battle-of-britain-memorial-flight/news/reproduction-messerschmitt-me-262-visits-the-bbmf/

Yes, John, and I predict that this build will be reducing most of us to tears but worth the fly round the room at the end! I was saying above that the u/c doors needed a lot of filling in the up position and indeed the 'undersized' carburetor intake fairings extended to fill in the cut-outs at the front of the doors. I've had a good run so far (house unexpectedly to myself) and now got the fuselage together with nose on and wings and stabilisers fitted. Filling and sanding required again at all the seams (especially the nose). The wings, starboard in particular, want to take on a pretty big dihedral so a bit of work required on the locating tabs and slots. to bring this back to almost flat. The ports for the cannons under the nose have been made 'in relief' - i.e. they are lumps that stick outwards rather than are holes inwards. More work required there. Also, the tailwheel can only be fixed in the down position so I've cut out a small well to let it 'retract'. I had to stuff the well with card and filler so that the tailwheel did not completely disappear inside. Also test fitted the canopy which looks OK at the moment - no real locating ledge exactly where it goes but it seems to fall naturally above the cockpit.

Dave, sorry, I missed this one last year. This is an absolutely beautiful build and as others have said, bears your trademark preciseness and quality of end result. This high standard all takes time though, eh? And good planning. I immediately spotted the tyre logos and thought you had achieved those with a paint pen! (rather than being in the decals). I think my own build was inspired by someone else's on BM so it really is what it's all about in this great BM community - sharing and learning and improving. I can't imagine a better result on this kit than your build, though. Congratulations and well done. All the best, Mike.

...and just to get the hosts further excited, last year I did start to hunt down and pay some silly money for the few hard to get Frog aircraft kits which I didn't have already in my retirement fund stash....

Thanks Dave. I did do a check to see if you were co-host but didn't see it up on the listing at the beginning. I of course knew better than to even mention the words within earshot of @JOCKNEY but now I know your're 'it', I'm delighted! All the best, Mike.

Thank you, @AdrianMF. I have made the mistake of drowning myself in Mossie literature and also looking at previous builds on BM, which I think included one or more of yours! So thank you for all that learning. However, I am starting to feel like Marley's ghost weighed down with all that knowledge of detail now when before I have been happy with a graceful shape and a good paint job (that's the kit I mean, not me!). All the best, Mike

How are you doing, @JOCKNEY ? I just woke up and made the mistake of posting on BM again so here I am snared! Not sure what the kit will be yet but I do have an embarrassing choice sitting about 20ft above my head! Looking forward to it. Regards, Mike.

@CliffB @TonyW , please put me down for this one, kit choice still to be made but it will help reduce the strain on the loft rafters! Regards, Mike

Yes V-P - but I need to keep my hand in although so slowly at the moment. I'll be ready for next year since there is still an alarming amount of classic Frog and Airfix kits in my loft! I could even do that Series 3 Mosquito mentioned earlier.