Airfix 1/24 Scale Mosquito Museum Restoration Diorama

[nsmekanik]

Awesome work, really enjoying this build. Looks like you have some good reference pics but just in case here are some I took of the one in Nanton which you may find useful, Nanton Mosquito , it is a Canadian built one used post war.

[NAVY870]

Mosquito under restoration? I got one of those 😎

 

 

 

My smug gittedness aside, if you need references let me know.

Cheers

[1964rac]

3 hours ago, nsmekanik said:

Awesome work, really enjoying this build. Looks like you have some good reference pics but just in case here are some I took of the one in Nanton which you may find useful, Nanton Mosquito , it is a Canadian built one used post war.

Hi, thanks for the link, will have a closer look at these, especially the interior shots.

Cheers

richard

[1964rac]

14 minutes ago, NAVY870 said:

Mosquito under restoration? I got one of those 😎

 

 

 

My smug gittedness aside, if you need references let me know.

Cheers

Hi Navy870, I thought for one moment you had built a Mos Diorama, then I saw the pics.

Thanks for the offer, I may well be in touch.

If you see anything wrong with the build let me know, I want to be as accurate as possible.

Awesome to have your on Mosquito 😎.

cheers

Richard

[1964rac]

Ok, so what has happen since Sunday?

Well, a lot really...

Finished the tailplane with Uschi wood decals.

It was a bit of a learning curve. The initial pre-shading was a bit to heavy, so had to tone it done, this allowed the grain on the decal to show through...

 

 

Close up of the left hand side:

 

Close up of the right hand side:

 

The finished restored tailplane in its frame ready to be attached to the fuselage:

 

 

Just got the plague to do "RESTORED MOSQUITO TAILPLANE"

 

This is the real thing:

 

And finally for this instalment, the finished restored landing gear in its frame, ready to be installed on the wing...

 

 

 

 

 

Plastic sheet is a strip of Cling-Film, then given a light spray of mat varnish.

And here is the original pic..

 

 

That's it for today.

Tomorrow I shall make a start on the frame to support the wing.

 

Thanks for all your comments and for following this build.

Cheers

Richard

[GrahamS]

Oh boy, this is such good stuff.

 

Graham

[Nickthebrief]

Looking good Richard - going to be ready for our show?!

Can't wait to see it...

Cheers,

Nick.

[Azgaron]

Looks very nice!

 

Håkan

 

[1964rac]

On 5/29/2018 at 11:02 PM, Nickthebrief said:

Looking good Richard - going to be ready for our show?!

Can't wait to see it...

Cheers,

Nick.

Nick,

A long way to go yet, but I might put it on our table as a WIP, along with some pics of the real thing.

Richard

[1964rac]

What has been happening with this build since the last update?

A few things, the main work has been on the wing.

As the build is a restoration diorama the wing needs a lot of work doing to it to get to the stage of applying the wood decals.

The wing will have the appearance of having been stripped of the old fabric covering, so the wood effect will be old and stained, with some new wood panels.

 

 

With this in mind I needed to remove the access panels on the wing, this proved to be a very time consuming exercise.

First thing was to drill holes into each of the areas to be cut out:

 

 

An hour or two later the deed was done:

 

 

Next step was to remove the radiator intakes:

 

 

The gaps that appeared after removing the intake panels needed filling, so out came the plastic card.

 

 

This had the added bonus of hiding the joins between the lower and upper sections of the wing which would have been hidden within the fuselage.

 

Attention now turned to how the wing would be supported during its restoration. Not having found any clear images of what was used, I had to think of what would work, and came up with this. A centre section to take most of the weight plus allowing room for the under carriage to be worked on.

 

 

I will be making two additional supporting towers to go under each of the wing tips to give them some support.

 

 

Now that the major itms of the diorama where taking shape, and as I am going to display it at as WIP at our forth coming model show (this Saturday 2nd June), I stared on the base. First laying out the different elements of the diorama:

 

 

This allowed me to take some measurements. The wing section was always going to be the biggest element of the diorama, so careful consideration had to be made as to the width of the base. Of course the width was going to be governed by the wings overall length but I want to keep it as narrow as possible.

I have not found a plastic box big enough to carry the build, so this added to the need to keep the width to the bare minimum. I'm considering having to build a wooden box to carry and store the finished diorama.

After a lot of measuring and positioning of the various elements of the model I was able to draw out the overall size of the base, making sure the wing tips were inside the base (this angle makes it look as if the wings over hang the edge of the base):

 

 

And here is the base with the various elements of the model in place:

 

 

I might not have time to prime the base before the model show, will be spending most of Friday packing models & setting up the hall for the show.

Also have a new washing machine being delivered tomorrow, so have to get the old one out ready for the new one. Sadly wont be here when it arrives, my wife chose the time slot for delivery even though I said I would not be around in the afternoon. O well never mind.

 

A lot to do yet. I have the two supports for the wing tips to make, also a cradle for one of the engines, the other engine will be installed, plus platforms to allow access to the engines.

Then I will focus on finishing the fuselage, interior etc. Then on to the wood panels.

 

Well that's it for the next couple of days, hope to continue with it on Sunday.

More updates to come.

 

Cheers

Richard

[f111guru]

Outstanding progress so far. Most impressed with all the fabrication. Best of luck at the show.

Ron VanDerwarker

[Biggles87]

+ 1

 

John

[Azgaron]

Very nice progress!

 

Håkan

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Does the kit come with merlin(s) ? If so id place at least one on an engine dolley and either make it look like its getting overhauled or wrap it in a plastic tarp as if its being sent/recieved to/from an overhaul. 

 

Dennis

[1964rac]

3 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Does the kit come with merlin(s) ? If so id place at least one on an engine dolley and either make it look like its getting overhauled or wrap it in a plastic tarp as if its being sent/recieved to/from an overhaul. 

 

Dennis

Hi, just what I have planned. One engine will be in the process of being installed, the other one will be on a cradle waiting installation.

Cheers

Richard

[Anthony in NZ]

Wonderful work and concept!!  I love stuff like this.

 

One word of caution, you need to give that wing some dihedral as it is way to flat. I had to put a spar through my one (still unfinished).

 

If the nose is going to be open, then hold fire (LOL pun not intentional) there is a superdetailed nose set being done, I am sure you wont believe the detail that has gone into it.  Its at the printers now and decal artwork is being done now.  Chap called Robert is doing it in the States.  We have been helping with our Mosquito restoration of HR339 and Avspecs as well. So the details will be spot on. He has been posting progress over at LSP in the Modelling Discussion section if interested.

 

Keep up the great work!  Watching with interest!

 

Cheers

Anthony

[(ex)Sgtrafman]

I've been away from the modelling scene for a while and just happened across this - what a great idea for a diorama! I love what you've done so far and I'm looking forward to seeing the end result (with all the updates in between)..

 

Cheers mate

 

Iain

[1964rac]

Hi,

Sorry for not getting any more updates on recently, Saturday 2nd June was our club's annual model show, spent Sunday recovering, did a bit of work on this project.

But forgot to take images. I tend to do that, get so wrapped up in the build that I only remember to take phots when I have finished.

Not this weekend.

So what has been done since the last update:

 

Renovated engine frame done:

 

Next step is to paint the engine, add a few pipes etc.

 

I then finished the engine that is to be in the process of being installed:

 

 

Got some more pipes etc to add, plus the exhaust system.

 

Then it was onto a frame to go around the engine so it can be accessed.

I have seen images of something for this, but yet again, did not save them or bookmark mark them. Could I find them again. NO!

So had to make something of my own.

Started with a base:

 

The figure (1/24 scale) is from Nuts Planet, still to put her on a base/diorama, so she is standing in as my yard stick for getting things looking to scale.

 

Top on, base that is:

 

 

Frame to stop people falling off:

 

 

Added some steps to get up on the base, then a chain to stop unauthorised access. Going to make a sign to hang from the chain:

 

 

Then painted. Went with silver this time, so that there wasn't too much yellow frame work. Artist licence:

 

 

Then how it will look with the engine mounted on the wing:

 

 

Needs some weathering, as do all the frames.

 

All this done under the watchful gaze of the Overseer...

Tyson, my cat, who has taken to sleeping in my modelling room, especially when I'm in there woking.

Doesn't like it when I'm spray painting tho.

 

 

Thats a short update, more to follow of course.

Working on the interior of the fuselage now, want to get the two half's glued together so I can get on with the wood effect.

 

There will be another small update after the weekend. I have some filming to do, then its the 2nd test England v South Africa on Saturday, then fathers day lunch, followed by some more filming on Sunday, hope to squeeze some modelling in as well.

Have a good week.

Cheers

Richard

 

[1964rac]

On 6/2/2018 at 10:53 PM, Anthony in NZ said:

Wonderful work and concept!!  I love stuff like this.

 

One word of caution, you need to give that wing some dihedral as it is way to flat. I had to put a spar through my one (still unfinished).

 

If the nose is going to be open, then hold fire (LOL pun not intentional) there is a superdetailed nose set being done, I am sure you wont believe the detail that has gone into it.  Its at the printers now and decal artwork is being done now.  Chap called Robert is doing it in the States.  We have been helping with our Mosquito restoration of HR339 and Avspecs as well. So the details will be spot on. He has been posting progress over at LSP in the Modelling Discussion section if interested.

 

Keep up the great work!  Watching with interest!

 

Cheers

Anthony

Hi Anthony,

Thanks for posting.

I am going to make a couple of wing supports to go under the wing tips, this should give the appearance for why the wing is lying flat.

Had thought about leaving the nose open, but liked the images I saw of the nose in place and some of the wood panels that restores had used.

I have spent enough on this build especially with the plastic lengths for the frames, and the other diorama items, that I'm bulking at the idea of spending any more more money.

Its a nice idea. May be I will build a fulling restored Mosquito next time.

All the best

Richard

[Matt_]

This is amazing. I love this kind of diorama.

 

Random thought. With it being 24, you could maybe get a 24th van and have it (or just the back section of it) reversed in through a loading door with the doors open and some parts being delivered.

[Azgaron]

Very nice looking engine and base!

 

Håkan

 

[1964rac]

6 hours ago, Matt_ said:

This is amazing. I love this kind of diorama.

 

Random thought. With it being 24, you could maybe get a 24th van and have it (or just the back section of it) reversed in through a loading door with the doors open and some parts being delivered.

Hi Matt,

Nice idea, may be for another diorama. Always thought of doing a ram raid diorama, but thats for another day.

Dont want to take away from the over all feel.

Certainly going to have lots of boxes, parts etc.

Cheers

Richard

[1964rac]

Hi,

Had some time off today and was able to do a little more to this project.

Attention has turned to the fuselage, in particular the cockpit.

Painted the items as per reference images. Its amazing how different the interior of the same mark Mosquito are, I can only think its down to the various restorations they have been through. So I have used bits from each of the images I have:

 

 

 

Added the decals for the instruments, weathered the cockpit:

 

Wanted to do some detailing on the interior of the cockpit walls:

 

 

I think it adds more depth to the interior.

 

 

This is glued ready for the other half.

I'm going to add some wires hanging down, I might or might not have the seat installed, not sure yet.

 

Next update should see the fuselage half's glued ready for the wood decals.

 

Cheers

Richard

 

[Glen T]

Wonderful work, look forward to watching this one.

 

Glen.

[phildagreek]

Wow. Just wow.