Peter Lloyd Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 I would like to claim the 25% rule for this one please. Airfix kit with a few additions to make it better, without spending too much: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted November 28, 2012 Share Posted November 28, 2012 (edited) Looks good to me Peter, look forward to your build Les Edited November 28, 2012 by wellzy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_jza80 Posted December 6, 2012 Share Posted December 6, 2012 Looks good so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted January 9, 2013 Author Share Posted January 9, 2013 I decided the cockpit as provided is simply too poor, especially those seats.  In particular there are no bits associated with the radar installation (um, what did the RAF call 'radar' before the Americans named it for them?).  Some might think it's trying to make a silk purse from a sow's ear, but methinks the Airfix airframe deserves better so I have been getting carried away making an interior from scrap bits:     Cockpit photos of NFIIs are a rarity, but a bloke on the internet told me that night fighters rarely had their radios in the cockpit, so I will just be adding a bit of stuff on the rear deck based on preserved Mossies.  Any enlightenment is welcome.  This is pretty much my second attempt at a cockpit, my first was basic plastic card decks with kit seats and scratchbuilt (if that's not too strong a term) radios, but since this was still grossly inaccurate and I upped the ante with the radar installation, I used the dimensions of the first to save a lot of time on the second attempt.  What you see in the photo below only took about an hour to produce and it fits pretty snuggly.  It's amazing how much time I will spend to avoid spending $15 on the Aires cockpit...  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kev67 Posted January 9, 2013 Share Posted January 9, 2013 How good is the Airfix Mosquito, is this another kit that Airfix should retool Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Being driven a bit mad with the fiddliness of this cockpit, especially as I don;t have an overall plan. Â So things keep running into each other: the panel sits under the thick coaming, so the gunsight is too low, and I broke off the flap actuating lever, and the panel is too wide for the thick fuselage mouldings, so I gouged them a bit.... this could have looked pretty good with more planning and patience. Â Â Next, it's working out how much of the surface detail to remove... I've already sanded it heavily and it still looks like an iron bridge. Â Â 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonhoff Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Well it's looking good so far - Glad to see you've bought a better transparency - I did a more basic upgrade to one I built a couple of years back and the original glazing meant that you couldn't really see any effort expended beneath it. Still a fun kit to build though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maxidad Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Considering the scale and lack of resource material, I think you are doing a fine job. Keep it up! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 Looking good and working in 1/72 ,keep it up  Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisrope Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 That cockpit is superb, it will look good under the vac canopy.  I'm nearly at the decal stage with one of these, done as a Swedish J30 Nightfighter. After peeling of the canopy masks last night, i'm glad I did nothing extra in the cockpit. You can't see a thing in there  Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 That cockpit is superb, it will look good under the vac canopy.  I'm nearly at the decal stage with one of these, done as a Swedish J30 Nightfighter. After peeling of the canopy masks last night, i'm glad I did nothing extra in the cockpit. You can't see a thing in there  Chris  That's the main reason why I keep the standard clear parts on my models! Wouldn't know where to start trying to do the kind of work that Peter's doing - but it's a pleasure to watch.  Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert A Posted January 18, 2013 Share Posted January 18, 2013 Hi Peter, Â You're doing a crackin' job on this old kit. Â PM inbound. Â Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Hello again and special thanks to Bob. I was perhaps slightly hasty in wanting to close this one up, but long sessions with tweezers in both hands were taking their toll on my eyesight and sanity. The wings fit very firmly into the fuse halves and are held at what looks to me like the correct angle. At the very least they are symmetrical. This kit is made from a soft plastic that melts readily, so I was able to avoid any gaps in the fuselage by getting the joining surfaces good and gooey. It all lines up well. But the same plastic is hard to etch smoothly, it's a bit too brittle like some Eastern European kits. The horizontal stabilisers were allowed to flop, so I have to break them off and re-fit them and gaps appeared, so I have puttied them. I am terrible with putty, I just can't make the edges of the putty disappear. I toned down the rivets- they're still huge- and removed and etched some of the detail: A large gap appeared in the centre of the engine nacelles, where they join the wing underside.... the fit was not bad froward and aft, so a bit of clamping was required to persuade the nacelle-wing gap to close. Zeppellin the cat was there to help: On with the Squadron vac canopy... ... but I am not friends with vacs and can never get them to sit down snugly on the fuselage. Is there anything better than white glue (Krystal Kleer) to cement them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted January 24, 2013 Share Posted January 24, 2013 Looks like that effort is paying off though, Peter - she'll be smoother than Terry-Thomas at a cocktail party! I had the opposite problem - droopy wings and pert tail - and I think the wings are still a bit off, but only by a fraction. I use Klear to put glasswork in place. A good coat underneath and then a varnish coat on top. Just have scalpel super sharp to remove the masking tape! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted January 24, 2013 Author Share Posted January 24, 2013 Looks like that effort is paying off though, Peter - she'll be smoother than Terry-Thomas at a cocktail party! I had the opposite problem - droopy wings and pert tail - and I think the wings are still a bit off, but only by a fraction. You know, I probably need to actually check things before I make such endorsements... I use Klear to put glasswork in place. A good coat underneath and then a varnish coat on top. Just have scalpel super sharp to remove the masking tape! I started with Testors clear parts cement, but it's too thin, so went to Microscale Klear to get some gap-filling happening. One of my 'issues' with vac canopies is that the tape invariably lifts from the smooth plastic at some stage during painting. I also lost track of where the ribs were (I rub the tape on, then cut it with a fresh razor) and I think my framing will be asymmetrical.... oh, and you can see a vertical scratch down the windscreen where I slipped. Pictures show Mosquito framing to be very fine, so a well-done vac canopy is a worthy addition. I think the Squadron canopy would look very good with more care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted January 26, 2013 Share Posted January 26, 2013 Nice Build looking good Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted January 27, 2013 Author Share Posted January 27, 2013 (edited) Paint is on. Kit decals are on. They're not too bad, colours look good to me. Fairly impervious to Mr Mark Softer setting solution, but in my experience while Mr Mark is best for Japanese decals, Solvaset might have been a better choice here. Still need to add stencils and detail parts, including the pole antennae on the wings which Airfix don't say anything about. Fortunately there is a John Weal cutaway picture of the NFII in Daniel March (ed) British Warplanes of World War II , and a couple of decent photos in Ian Thirsk's excellent ​de Havilland Mosquito, An Illustrated History vol 2. Thirsk's book is especially good for images of early and prototype, as well as postwar, Mosquitoes. There is a certain cloudy quality to the finish which is visible in the photos, the result of using Xtracolour clear gloss. It was my first time using this, and on opening the bottle it looks for all the world like PVA glue. I thinned it with isopropyl alcohol and it sprays quite nicely, but went on with a bluish tinge, which disappeared but left this subtle white which I am pleased with. This is only because it went over black: I simultaneously applied it to a camouflaged Mitsubishi Dinah and no change in the colouring is discernible. Edited January 27, 2013 by Peter Lloyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted January 27, 2013 Share Posted January 27, 2013 That's beautiful, Peter. 10/10 stuff - great to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted January 29, 2013 Author Share Posted January 29, 2013 By William or by Harry, I'm the first in the gallery! The canopy fitting needed more care, but otherwise the model turned out okay by my own standards. The Airfix undercarriage is supposed to be fitted when the nacelle halves are joined, but I fitted them toward the end with quite a lot of anguish and careful tweezer use. I sort of assembled the main parts, then fit them up, pulling apart where necessary and re-joining while the glue was semi-dried. My undercarriage parts were pretty warped so it's hard to say how badly they fitted: I think certainly the axle was too long and this had to be trimmed, but it might fit better with the Airfix wheels. But it's a pretty decent rendition for an old model, and I hope I have shown that with a bit of aftermarket it is still worth putting some of these old models together. I used the Airfix decals which were rather nice, and the Barracuda Studios stencil set. Photos of NFIIs show some stencils that were not in the set, but happily I can get another Mozzie out of the sheet because it gives most stencils in both black and red. I wasn't sure about the red cross 'do not walk' markers over the radiators, Airfix didn't include them, but they add interest to the very plain (and hard to photograph!) finish. Thanks very much to those who commented, offered help, or just had a look. See you guys here for my next Mosquito! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Well done, Peter - she's a cracker! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hardtarget Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Lovely Peter, very well done with an old bird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted January 29, 2013 Share Posted January 29, 2013 Nice one Peter. I always liked the black scheme for the mosquito. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wooksta V2.0 Posted January 31, 2013 Share Posted January 31, 2013 NIce work so far. I'm sure Tally Ho do a stencil sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts