Yank does a Mosquito

[Hairtrigger]

Viewed your progress so far with fascination, you are a true perfectionist.  I want to do this model myself and intend to go for aftermarket cannons, I find what you are doing at this scale with this model mind blowing...  I can't wait  for your next installment..

[billn53]

Before I can paint, I need to finish up the cockpit and install the canopy. Tamiya's canopy is beautifully clear, but it doesn't hurt to do a bit of polishing and give it a good clear coat. For this, I use Alclad's Aqua Gloss Clear.

 

While the canopy is drying (safely tucked away in a plastic container to avoid any dust), I thought I'd take a few pics of the cockpit... as clear as the canopy is, this might still be the best chance to show the cockpit detail:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In case anyone is wondering, the seatbelts are Eduard's Super-fabric. I have found these much easier to work with than any kind of photoetch belts.

 

One more thing: While looking at what's involved with assembling the landing gear, I discovered that the Armory resin wheels that I worked so hard on earlier have a problem: They are much too big! Here's the Armory wheel (on the left), compared to the kit's offering:

 

 

 

So, in search of the "perfect" wheel, I threw money at the problem and bought wheels from Attack Squadron (ARMA Hobby) and Squadron Shop. Here is how the alternatives shape up:

 

 

 

All of the wheels measure out to 15-mm diameter, except the Armory set which is 17-mm. Of the others, Squadron Shop's offering is out of the running (the wheel hub is much too large, not to mention being a different style from what I need). Attack Squadron's has a circumferential tread instead of the alternative checkerboard pattern, but I can live with that. Also in Attack Squadron's favor is that the wheel hubs (provided in both styles!) are separate pieces, which makes painting easier. So my decision is (drum roll please)... Attack Squadron.

 

Don't get me wrong, the kit wheels are perfectly serviceable. I just hate dealing with the seam that runs through the tread.

 

That's it for today.

[billn53]

My update for today:

 

Glued the canopy in place. It's pretty clear, so my work on the interior hasn't gone to waste. But that beautiful IP from Yahu is tucked pretty far under the console, so I'm happy that the side window can be left open for visibility.

 

    

 

For gluing clear items, I've begun using a clear acrylic product that cures in seconds by exposure to UV light. In the past I've used watch crystal cement, which works fine but requires clamping an up to 24-hours to set.

 

 

 

I used Eduard canopy masks (wonderful time saver), Blu-Tack, and sponges to mask prior to priming. My plan is to paint up the topside camo first, followed by the black undersides. I'll use white Stynylrez primer up top, and black on the bottom.

 

 

 

White primer in place:

 

 

 

But before I can go any further, I will need to attend to these little problem areas:

 

My big, clumsy hands brushed up against the fuselage before the primer was dry:

 

 

Some debris from my static grass experiment found its way to my painting booth. I'll need to fix this and give the booth a good vacuum:

 

 

There's an "invisible seam" running down the fuselage spine. I'll treat this with Mr. Surfacer and re-prime:

 

 

Oops! I forgot all about this. Looks like I need some cleanup behind the canopy, and re-scribing for the life raft hatch:

 

 

Finally, for some reason the fuselage decided to split open at the tail. A quick re-glue with Tamiya green cap should set things straight:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 28, 2018 by billn53

[Courageous]

A few hiccups along the way but coming along nicely.

[JanuszPL]

I watch with interest.

My Tamiya Mossie one step further:

https://imgur.com/OT4zXbA

[bruce bay]

I am in awe. i would have lost faith at any one of those set backs. Can't wait to see how this works out - looking great so far!

[billn53]

I've addressed the various issues described in my last post and re-primed my Mossie's upper surfaces. Taking a cue from this most excellent build article:

 

http://www.themodellingnews.com/2015/03/hong-kong-models-132-mosquito-b-mkiv.html

 

(see Pt III of the linked build), I've done some pre-shading to hopefully add some interesting variability to the otherwise uniform gray and green camo:

 

 

 

I'll let that dry, smooth the paint surface with a finishing cloth, and begin painting the upper camo pattern.

Edited April 26, 2018 by billn53

[billn53]

Painting in progress:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Black under-surfaces are next...

[Courageous]

Nice to see paint on the 'wooden wonder'. 

 

Stuart

[billn53]

Continuing with painting...

 

Black underside is on. For this, I primed with Stynylrez black and followed up with "black basing" using Tamiya Nato Black to add some interest:

 

 

The tonal variation doesn't show very well in the above pic, here is a better one:

 

 

Next, I gloss-coated with Future and added some panel line wash top & bottom:

 

    

 

That's it for this evening, tomorrow I'll clean up the panel line wash and maybe do some light weathering. I want to get as much of the paint and markings-related work done as I can before tackling the landing gear.

 

 

[billn53]

I have been fortunate to get some good building time in today, so there's a lot of progress to report. Let's start at the beginning...

 

I cleaned up the panel line wash and then worked on getting the decals in place. Here's what my War Wagon looked like with decals on, but prior to any weathering:

 

 

My goal is a lightly-weathered aircraft (completely different approach from my Black Widow build). I added a few fuel and other stains here & there, gave everything a clear flat coat, and finished off with a neutral gray filter to unify and de-saturate the topside colors:

 

 

 

 

The canopy masking came off cleanly and I was blessed that no overspray found its way inside the cockpit. A wee bit of cleanup still needed around the canopy framing, but I'm very happy:

 

   

 

To finish up today's efforts, I spent some time working on the Mosquito's various navigation and identification lights. Tamiya provides an exceptionally clear set of wingtip lights, I enhanced them by drilling small holes in each clear piece and dabbing a bit of red and blue paint in the holes to represent the wingtip light bulbs.

 

    

 

On the lower fuselage there are three colored lights (red, blue, and amber) used to identify the aircraft as friendly (an early version of IFF). There were rules about when and under what conditions the lights had to be displayed, and the proper combination changed on a daily basis. 

 

I first drilled out a dish-shaped recess for each light. Eduard's PE set includes the circular rim for each light, which I installed around the recesses. Next, I used a chrome pen to paint the recess, followed by transparent paint in the appropriate colors. Finally, I filled in the recess using clear, UV-activated acrylic (same as what I used to glue the canopy in place, see above).

 

 

 

    

 

I used the same chrome + transparent color + clear acrylic method for the lights on the tail:

 

 

 

And to complete the Mosquito's lighting story, here is one of the landing lights that I installed much earlier, when I glued the wings together:

 

 

 

That's just about it for painting. I still have the nose to complete, but before I get to that, I am going to begin work on the landing gear.

 

Stay tuned!

Edited April 29, 2018 by billn53

[billn53]

It took a bit of work, and not an insignificant amount of cursing, but I managed to get the landing gear pieced together and installed in the wheel wells. For some reason the starboard wheel isn't exactly straight. For the life of me I can't figure out why it is, it's as if the resin wheel is warped. But, I have a plan....

 

But that's in the future. Here are today's pics:

 

 

   

 

And a teaser of where I'm trying to take this project:

 

 

 

Keep on modeling!

[billn53]

Only a very few small things to do and this aircraft will be complete. Then I'll focus on making a mini-diorama on my grassy base. My next post will likely be an RFI.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Courageous]

Truly a 'wooden wonder'.  

[billn53]

No wood here. Just styrene, resin, and a bit of PE. The 'wonder' is that I managed to fit it all together (mostly) ;-))

[billn53]

RFI has been posted here:

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235037848-wags-war-wagon/

 

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[Azgaron]

Excellent work! Looks amazing! Hard to believe it only 72nd scale!

 

Håkan