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Tamiya 1/72 BIV early production


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Hello again.

My next offering will be the Tamiya bomber with the Paragon conversion for the early short-nacelle Mosquito.

Most of these planes lived (relatively) long and productive lives. I have a decal set somewhere which I will reveal once I dig it out.

0Boxandparts_zps2a9eaf43.jpg

This shows the Paragon set (rather poorly), the other bits here are not relevant to the bomber.

1resinandsuch_zps2dccaac8.jpg

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Cutting first...

3Cowlcut_zpsb12a757d.jpg

4Wingsandandcut_zpsf893d76a.jpg

My second cut on the wing was better than my first... a little care is needed because Tamiya don't just give you a scored line, but a profiled groove. For filler I used super glue. This works much better for me than putties which I can never sand perfectly flat.

5Bothwingssandandcut_zps107afb00.jpg

... and finally to fill the exhaust apertures... super glue wasn't going to work here so I'll have a bit of a time sanding back the hard epoxy putty without making a divot in the softer plastic. But then it's just building.

6Exhaustsfilled_zps38380b4b.jpg

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This is the aircraft I will be modelling, taken from de Havilland Mosquito, an illustrated history by Ian Thirsk.

(sorry, this image appears determined to lie on its side).

W4072_zps5a7d4acd.jpg

And the decals from PD Decals set 72-004 'Mosquito Bombers'. Unfortunately, the code letters lack any outline.

IMG_zps605deff8.jpg

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The only thing with this is that the Paragon conversion is really only applicable to W4050. I did intend to split it up to do a few early Mosquitos but found it was for what it was.

Best advice would be to put the Paragon bits to one side and get the Silver Cloud early Mosquito bomber set - they're the same ones released by SAMI some years back mastered by Paul Lucas. Complete drop in nacelles that fit like a glove plus early tailplanes. Again, simple replacement.

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Bah! Now looking at it... the air intake, behind the exhaust fairing was different on W4050 and is as per the Paragon kit, as you say not accurate for the other early production Mosquitos. The exhaust shroud itself looks okay and the nacelle should work with most of the Tamiya detail removed (which is where I'm at at the moment).

As for the rear nacelle fairings, I have no reference pictures except W4050.

Economics will require me to make the best of the Paragon kit, so I'll be doing the best I can with the air intake, and hoping the rest is not too different.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Slow progress, but progress. Mostly playing with the Paragon nacelles. I suspect problems are the result of my skills rather than Paragon's, but they're nothing too difficult.

Most of the detail has to come off the engine covers. I glued the front of the nacelles first, and allowed to dry:

7Exhaustsfilled2_zpsc7497047.jpg

Getting a nice join between Tamiya and Paragon parts is not too hard, but I forgot about all the dimensions in which it had to line up, but some super glue and light clamping allowed me to beat this gap down:

8Gapatflaps_zpsaa998deb.jpg

Quite important to shave the Paragon nacelle extension as flat as possible on the top, and remove some material from the Tamiya upper wing as well:

9SculptingParagoncowls_zps6e739476.jpg

Seems to me the rear nacelle is actually part of the flap, so these gaps have to be eliminated. Note chip on the corner of the resin part where I was not careful enough with the motor tool. Gaps filled with sprue and super glue.

10Fillinggapsatnacelle-flap1_zps0f330611

Edited by Peter Lloyd
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  • 4 weeks later...

Sorry for recent lack of updates, had some 1:1 scale vehicles to work on.

The cockpit ended up like this... I'm sure it's ot accurate but I couldn't find an image of an early biomber office:

14Cockpit_zpsc94350b4.jpg

Got the wings on, all a perfect fit:

12Wingson_zps9758e6e9.jpg

This image shows the difference between the Tamiya stabilisers and the conversion kit parts (before final work on the elevator-stabiliser joint):

13Elevatorscompared_zps11bb2b22.jpg

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Office looks good to me and with what you will see ,and the build is coming on good work

Les

Edited by wellzy
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Excellent work Peter, that office really looks the buiness. It's nice to see such a variety of Mossie variants being built and I wish you well.

Mark

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  • 1 month later...

The Paragon exhausts look nothing like the pictures I have: possibly they represent exhaust covers fitted to the prototype at a different time:

145Paragonexhaustshroud_zps4a04b50b.jpg

So I carved out some new ones: not great, but a bit more accurate. Possibly a better way to do this would be to make a master and then form lead foil to make the shrouds themselves. The pressure of finishing means I have to push on!

15Exhaustcoverprogress_zps7b48679d.jpg

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The supercharger intakes (?) are also not accurate, my pictures show a teardrop shape, sharp at the front and fairing into the cowl panel similarly to the exhaust. The resin parts stand very proud, like 'pods', and are a fairly constant taper and far too thick at the front. Again, perhaps a different pattern on the prototypes compared to the series i bombers. I sliced them to get them closer to the pictures.

19Carbintakefixed2_zps638a896b.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

And a gloss coat.... Xtracrylics gloss as used on my NFII. Odd stuff, it's like spraying on PVA glue, and the pebbly finish required a lot of buffing. I'm not sure what the best thinner is for this stuff, perhaps not isopropyl alcohol.

24glosscoat_zps4683793f.jpg

25Glossunder_zpsd424917c.jpg

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The plot thickens... then burns and sticks to the saucepan.

My decal sheet and sources don't add up. The W4072 in the photo above is obviously repainted: it has Sky spinners and the later style of fuselage roundel with narrow white band. So either the PD Decals sheet is totally incorrect, or the plane was repainted between late May 1942 and June 26 when it was damaged. While I have no earlier photos of W4072, and the PD Decals reference is a book printed in 1970, I have big holes in my knowledge whichever incarnation of W4072 I depict:

Seems to me it's either:

1. Model the crashed version so I at least have a decent reference image: this will mean guessing the colours used in the repaint and either ignoring or hand-painting the dark outlines to the squadron code letters.

2. Model the Cologne raid, 'May' paint scheme- which is my preference as it's alread DE/DG/Sky- take on faith the accuracy of PD Decals instructions and guess the roundel arrangement on the upper and, problematically, lower wings.

I would love some suggestions/ideas/requests as the model is sitting here waiting for decals.

Edited by Peter Lloyd
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FWIW I say go with option 2 Peter - youve done a good job on the DE/DG/Sky scheme and its something a bit different. Also if you cant find any reference on the decals then the best thing is to stick them on so someone can then produce the photo thats shows where your wrong ;)

Cheers, Stu

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A few years ago I built a Mosquito and the decal manufacture showed it wearing a type A camo pattern, when It really had a type B. Oh was I angry, good thing though, nobody noticed :)

Personally I would go with whatever independent references you have.

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I went with the kit description. The June Mossie has Sky undersides and Sky lettering, making the outlines a tricky necessity. The earlier Mos would likely have had light grey codes, thus giving some contrast with the Sky paint, and also explining which of the two sets of GB-D codes from the decal sheet I should use. PD don't say which is with which of the two options thus coded. This also allows me to leave the spinners black, most photos of very early Mosquitoes show black spinners.

I have cross-checked this with the excellent info in Michael Bowyer's 'Bomber Colours' which cites W4072 as having light grey codes at the time of the Cologne raid (as did the vast majority of Bomber Command aircraft at this time, though in varying shades).

It wasn't just the decal info that was poor, the film also lifted.

27Baddecals1_zpsea576b72.jpg

28Baddecals2_zps8b19b6db.jpg

Looked a lot better after a generous coat of gloss clear, but still work to do on this:

Baddecals4_zpsb353707d.jpg

29Baddecals3_zps93118761.jpg

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