t-bird_models Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Hello and Happy New Year all! I hope this is the appropriate place for this, I'm more used to posting in the vendors section. I thought it was about time I try out these decals I've been producing for the past few years, here then is the Tamiya 1/72 Mossie in Thunderbird Models WWA racer decals. I'm pleased to say the decals were excellent both in fit and ease of application, and I can say this without fear of inflating my own ego because it's down to the original Whiskey Jack artwork and the quality of Fantasy Printshop's work rather than my own efforts! On the other hand, I must be the only person on the planet that is less than enthralled with Tamiya kits; this is the second one I've built that I had major fit problems with. The bomb bay doors were half a millimetre too long and there were large gaps on the sides - an internal spreader bar or two in the fuselage would be an advantage here. The crew hatch also didn't fit well and there were large gaps on the rear of the engine nacelles which necessitated copious amounts of filler. The separate wingtips also needed filler and the fuselage halves weren't the best fit either. On the plus side the fit of the wings to the fuselage was superb, needing no filler at all. Paint is Humbrol 103 Cream which is a very good match for the original aircraft's Diana Cream. The green was mixed from Humbrol 3 Brunswick Green, Xtracolour 151 Willow Green and a bit of blue and white to match the decals. Landing gear and wheel hubs look very dark in photos; I went with Humbrol 85 Coal Black but they could just as easily have been painted in the same green as the trim and spinners. There are also natural metal panels behind the exhausts which I represented with Bare Metal Foil Flat Aluminum. Note that the forward edge of these panels do not follow the panel lines as moulded by Tamiya, they are about 3/32" behind them. I drilled out the exhausts, replaced the pitot with Albion Alloys micro brass tubing, flattened the tyres and added Eduard Superfabric seatbelts and an antenna from Uschi elastic thread but other than that it's straight out of the box. Anyway, for better or worse, here it is: Andy 34 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeW Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 She does look pretty spiffy. I used Thunderbird Models decals ( Nordair Boeing 737 ) and was most impressed. Magnificent is not too strong a word. Cheers, Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 That's very striking and very smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennis_C Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Very nice! And very unusual! Mosquito certainly can look like a speed-racer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barak1 Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Modeller Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 (edited) Very nice, that sure is a pretty looking Mossie and the cream/green scheme is quite stunning I must say - well done!! :coolio: I like the look of some of the WWII birds that were later converted to racing aircraft, especially the ones used at the Reno Air Races? Kev Edited January 2, 2016 by Mr Modeller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Lime Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Nice to see a familiar subject presented in strikingly different colours. Like it! Mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 She looks brilliant Andy,........what a refreshing change! Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Cameraman Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Hi Andy, fine job there matey. any Beaver news? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcode Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 very smart looing mossie, nice work... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 That's really excellent. I have this kit and an original Whisky Jack sheet saved up in the stash, so I'm really happy about the colour suggestions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woody37 Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Now this is different and very nicely done too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 Very nice, a very different Mossie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul J Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 I did one about a year ago using the very same T-bird decals. I was also pleased with them but don't recall having the build problems with the kit though. However a very nice build Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelh Posted January 2, 2016 Share Posted January 2, 2016 I have several of Don McVicars books. His Mossie always fascinated me. I oftened wondered about the Diana Cream. I absolutely love your interpretation of his Mossie. Guess I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy the decals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 The pics links are broken in Firefox, Chrome and Safari on my Mac system… :-( Kind regards, Joachim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Gorgeous looking Mossie, and nice to see one in a civvie scheme. I'm tempted to do one now. Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t-bird_models Posted January 3, 2016 Author Share Posted January 3, 2016 Thanks all for your comments, much appreciated. I find I'm getting more swayed to the civvie side of things these days, though I could be accused of being slightly biased due to the nature of the decal business! Sorry no Beaver decals planned for the near future Reggie, but there will be more eventually. You need to start building some of that big stash of them you've already got! Cheers, Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh65 Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Lovely Mossie, very nicely done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rpaddy Posted January 4, 2016 Share Posted January 4, 2016 Lovely finish! Well done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
426 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 Most warbirds look weird to me in civilian schemes - however, this looks amazing. It really brings out the best in the Mosquito. Top notch stuff Sir. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 That's lovely work, nice and different Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wimpy1997 Posted January 5, 2016 Share Posted January 5, 2016 You've done a fantastic job with this mossie. It looks great to see it in such an unusual scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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