Sprueloose Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 To get some relief from my Whirlwind, which has stalled a bit over the summer, I found this old Monogram kit and thought it might be fun to bash together. The kit supposedly gives you four options to choose from, the MK IV Bomber, the MK II Night Fighter, the Mk II Night Intruder and the MK VI Fighter Bomber. I decided to do the MK VI Fighter-Bomber... I think. I bought a cheap cockpit resin kit designed for the Tamiya kit and a set of resin wheels to correct the too narrow kit wheels. The kit had been opened and was missing one of the propeller blades. So I cast a new blade in resin using dental alginate for the molding material. Attached it to the hub with a metal pin and epoxy. After doing a little research about this kit online I cut the tail fin down. The fuselage is too narrow but I decided to not mess with that.. I inserted some brass tubing for the missing canons in the nose (I decide to use the gun nose and so sawed off the bit of nose for the glassed in version). I substituted brass rod for the radar antenna and subsequently added the additional bit of antenna missing on the kit part. Drilled out the oleos and pinned the resin wheels in place. I think that the stiffening fin on the mud flap is wrong and will fix that later. The kit cockpit was minimal and had both the pilot and navigator on the same level. Started to modify the kit to accommodate the resin. I attached the wings at this point which may or may not have been a good idea. i certainly made modifying the cockpit easier in some respects. Enough for now... sorry for the long post... doing catch up here.. Thanks for watching. Terry 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 Thanks for the link from your Crikey build Terry, this should be fun - Monogram kits usually are I find! 10 hours ago, Sprueloose said: I decided to do the MK VI Fighter-Bomber... I think I'm certainly no Mossie expert, but I think the aerial you've fitted was used on the NF II (& maybe the intruder) version rather than the VI? But I stand to be corrected on that! And my books are a bit inaccessible at the moment so I can't check more. Good start! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprueloose Posted August 7, 2017 Author Share Posted August 7, 2017 I think you are right about it being for the NF or interceptor. I just couldn't remember last night what version I had settled on! As I mentioned, I'm playing catch up as I started work on this thing months ago and I've gotten absorbed in the details of the cockpit (with the radar equipment installed!) and I am currently having fun in the bomb bay. As you can tell accuracy is more of a tool I use to find interesting things to do on a kit not a end in itself! I will upload another batch of photos tonight and might bring the thread up to date within a few days. This build is a bit odd as I am not working with a particular aircraft in mind. Image working on a kit and forgetting which version you are doing! Perhaps it will end up being a "What If" or more likely a "What the **** is it?" Hope you are doing well. Cooler today. Terry 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted August 7, 2017 Share Posted August 7, 2017 I'm not doing too bad thanks Terry, still breathing anyway! Cooler here too - high of 18C & wet all morning! 39 minutes ago, Sprueloose said: "What the **** is it?" Sounds like most of my builds...!! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprueloose Posted August 8, 2017 Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 Still working on the cockpit. Gave it a coat of Mr Surfacer 500: Began making wire harnesses to detail the cockpit, out of lead wire and foil. Added wires to the radio equipment: Discovered that if I chucked up thin wire in my Proxxon I could twist it evenly. Even worked with the lead wire! Added the pilot and navigator's seats. Made the boot that covers the linkages to the column. Decided to populate the cockpit. It became very crowded very quickly. I can see why Monogram didn't add any details! The width of the kit's fuselage is about 3 mm too narrow and putting the resin bits in there really made it a tight squeeze for the navigator figure... plus his feet didn't want to reach the floor! Added the resin control panels and radar equipment (night fighter, remember? ) Decided not to use the rudder pedals as they won't be seen once the canopy is on and besides I had trouble getting the pilot to place his feet on them! Made the little boxed drawer below the radar set.. not sure what it was for.. You can see that space is cramped as the piece of radio equipment that sat behind the pilot's see had to be mounted up on the shelf above. Made a little bracket to support it out of spare PE. Added gunsight and throttles with their linkages that slide beside the pilot's seat when the nose is put in place. The navigator figure had to undergo some major surgery to fit into his assigned seat. I work hard to get his feet on the floor and had to cut him in two , sliding his legs and hips in from the front and wiggling his de-armed torso in from the top. He doesn't look too happy With the nose on, you can see the height difference between the two figures is greatly exaggerated. (Monogram kept the height of the fuselage about right but with the width narrower....) I suppose that the figures aren't exactly to scale either... I hacked off some arms from a figure set that I had and bent the navigator over (had to take a saw to his neck!) so that it would appear that he was hunched over a map in his lap.. Enough for now... Thanks for checking in. Terry 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 This is shaping up to be a real silk purse. Lovely attention to detail and high skills award for the propeller repair! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprueloose Posted August 8, 2017 Author Share Posted August 8, 2017 Thanks John for the kind words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted August 8, 2017 Share Posted August 8, 2017 Excellent stuff Terry, the crew looks great after undergoing all that major surgery! And aren't people really all different scales anyway...?! Good info on twisting lead wire together in a mini drill, I've never tried that and it always breaks when I try to twist it by hand! Looking forward to more! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprueloose Posted August 9, 2017 Author Share Posted August 9, 2017 11 hours ago, keefr22 said: Excellent stuff Terry, the crew looks great after undergoing all that major surgery! And aren't people really all different scales anyway...?! Good info on twisting lead wire together in a mini drill, I've never tried that and it always breaks when I try to twist it by hand! Looking forward to more! Keith The hand grinder that I have can be turned down to fairly slow rpm so that made it easier. The cooper wire is really fine and worked well. I think that with practice I could produce longer runs of useful stuff. The lead wire was interesting as it would twist up so easily and then automatically break off! Really I was trying to represent what we call Romex cable or metal-sheathed cable. I saw someone here doing it by winding really thin wire around a thicker wire and then coating it. Looked much more like Romex that my twisted affair. After getting the crew sorted I started working on the bomb bay. Installed a couple fuel tanks and strut details: Made room for the cannons which I will have to scratch build. More details. Made the hydraulic cylinders for the bombay doors out of several sizes of brass tubing: Added bits of PE for the mounting hardware and lead wire for the hydraulic lines. Installed and ran the lines for the bomb doors. The doors for the cannons are separate and don't have hydraulics. Set the doors in place and realized that my previous attempt at representing the hinges is not good enough: So I started to make the hinges out of copper wire. Heated the wire, then bent it around a pin and hammered it flat. : Made a jig to help me cut the hinges at the right angle: Here is what I am trying to represent: I bent a little foot on each leg of the hinge to facilitate attaching them to the model. There are 18 of them for the bomb and cannon doors and the engine nacelles as well. Made a few spares and picked the best ones for the model. Hope they do the job! That's enough for now. Almost up to date! Thanks for watching. Terry 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Hello Terry, Good job on that old kit I send my best wishes to your Navigator, hope that he will grew better soon I also have that old Monogram kit. I enjoy the way you create these hinges, that's clever ! Congratulations ! Sincerely. Corsaircorp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr22 Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 More great work Terry, this will never be recognisable as the old Mono kit wit when you've done with it! I do like that little anvil you have there! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devilfish Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 This is amazing, for such an old kit. But, after the confusion at the start as to what version you are building, you stated you are making the nightfighter, yet you seem to have given it bombs.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keith in the uk Posted August 9, 2017 Share Posted August 9, 2017 Wow , I admire your patience , this kit has so many faults it should be binned or the easy option would have been a Tamiya FB IV kit. however your skill shines through and you have my admiration for turning this old howler around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprueloose Posted August 10, 2017 Author Share Posted August 10, 2017 19 hours ago, corsaircorp said: Hello Terry, Good job on that old kit I send my best wishes to your Navigator, hope that he will grew better soon I also have that old Monogram kit. I enjoy the way you create these hinges, that's clever ! Congratulations ! Sincerely. Corsaircorp Thanks Corsircorp, coming from you, high praise indeed! Thanks for stopping by. 17 hours ago, keefr22 said: More great work Terry, this will never be recognisa 10 hours ago, keith in the uk said: Wow , I admire your patience , this kit has so many faults it should be binned or the easy option would have been a Tamiya FB IV kit. however your skill shines through and you have my admiration for turning this old howler around. ble as the old Mono kit wit when you've done with it! I do like that little anvil you have there! Keith I can't remember where that little anvil came from but it has been quite useful! Thanks for keeping an eye on me Keith. 16 hours ago, Devilfish said: This is amazing, for such an old kit. But, after the confusion at the start as to what version you are building, you stated you are making the nightfighter, yet you seem to have given it bombs.... LOL , well you caught me out there Devilfish, apparently I'm building some sort of night fighter bomber! Truly a "What the heck is it?". Basically I just like the shapes involved and after wavering about at the beginning and decided to go with the flow... 10 hours ago, keith in the uk said: Wow , I admire your patience , this kit has so many faults it should be binned or the easy option would have been a Tamiya FB IV kit. however your skill shines through and you have my admiration for turning this old howler around. Thanks for the kind words Keith. I appear to enjoy the challenges of working with these old kits.. To bring us up to date. I have been working on the cannon bay. Here is the real thing (up side down): I had to remove the bulkhead that I had added previously (a common practice with me it seems, add a bit and then rip it out!) and then constructed the new piece out of three thin sheets of plasticard : I had started mocking up the cannons earlier but then I actually did a little research and I have been re doing them: Here I am just checking the height of the spacer beneath: Here are the real things (upside down again): And my attempt so far: All for now folks! Hopefully things will continue and I might get some paint on the Whirlwind! Terry 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted August 10, 2017 Share Posted August 10, 2017 10 hours ago, Sprueloose said: All for now folks! Hopefully things will continue and I might get some paint on the Whirlwind! Terry Yes, get some paint on the Whirlwind! Martian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Lyttle Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 (edited) On 07/08/2017 at 05:09, Sprueloose said: I found this old Monogram kit and thought it might be fun to bash together. When it comes to therapy, there's Nothing better than a Monogram job! Look what I just picked up at a show, Major hold up, though. What's the distraction? Love what you've done so far. Edited September 20, 2017 by rob Lyttle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Happy Posted September 20, 2017 Share Posted September 20, 2017 Wow this turning out to be epic👀👍 Nice work‼️ All the the best and Cheers, Mr.Happy(In name only) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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