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The Outriders, 333 Sqn (Nor) Coastal Command Mosquito FB VI (Tamiya 1/48)


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After doing two consecutive builds ti finish on time before a competition where both models were rushed to the finish line I've had enough of deadlines for a while.

From now on, or rather until august atleast I will not bother with time schedules but just doing things whenever I feel like it, in any order and on any kit.

But, in order to reduce the stash a little I will off course start another kit, instead of carry on with another one at full focus.

Not to worry, the Sea vixen WILL get a little more love before soon.

 

Anyway, what do we have here then?
106379-10911-pristine.jpg

Well, a Tamiya Mossie from the 90:s is not the most difficult of kits, so I need to complicate things a little bit more.
Hence, a light load of aftermarket candy:
45445371931_5032597dca_o.jpg

Turned gun barrels, some resin for the cockpit (more about that later) and some rather tasty decals from Aviaeology.

Only thing missing is off course some quickboost exhausts, but that will come in due time.

 

333Sqn seems to have been a rather busy bunch, venturing up and down the Norwegian coast looking for prey for the rest of the Banff Strike Wing to obliterate.

I have not yet decided which one to do, but I have in my mind a dirty, beaten up old warhorse in Extra Dark Sea grey over Sky, with suitable amount of repaint here and there. It's oh so clear in my mind, i just need to make that happen in the meatspace...

 

The Tamiya plastic sure is fine though!
30505097377_2797f9454e_o.jpg

 

45445372111_41b5fe90ae_o.jpg

 

Ok, where to start then?

Digging for references might be a good idea, and then prepare the cockpit for the resin pieces I guess.

But for now, I need to head off to the office instead and do work.

Too bad 🙂

 

 

Edited by Christer A
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1 hour ago, Christer A said:

333Sqn seems to have been a rather busy bunch

 

They were well used on Norwegian coastal ops because of their knowledge of the Norwegian coastline and conditions so it was common to have 333 running as "outriders" to lead following squadron(s) to targets.

 

I'll be watching this with interest. I've had a 333 Mossie planned for years but it's one of those that I've never gotten around to, but this might spur me on ;)

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Right, let's get this show on the road, shall we?

 

First up, the True Detail cockpit set, which really is a mixed bag, or perhaps just verging on bad...

The good things is that it's quite few parts, but not anything approaching complete cockpit tub replacement, which can end up very very ill fitting. (as my Aires-pit in the F-4C that currently residing in the cupboard of doom)

The bad part is that most parts are just a copy of the tamiya plastic, with a few added details...

See here:

43820399760_4e74e1b9b7_o.jpg

Tamiya plastic is a little more definied, and lack plumbing, belts and oxygen hose.

I decided to scrap most of the resin, add the pipes myself and move the seat cushion.

43820399490_79b14ff036_o.jpg

Atleast the left side wall details look a lot better!

43820400260_cd6bde2e5f_o.jpg

I've joined the front and rear fuselage sides together and added some resin pieces.

45711967351_14ab4003b0_o.jpg

The fit was ok, but with some clamps and ca-glue it all got installed.

45711967281_1be1b974b7_o.jpg
The back armor for the navigator fouls the resin cables on the right side, so a suitable cutout was made after this picture.
The fuel tanks in the bomb bay was painted and masked of.
45711967091_09c9161fcd_o.jpg
Now, here is a clear indication of my modelling skills:
31840032028_08ba69ebef_o.jpg
I need to fill, and putty and sand a lot on the nacelles, on a freakin Tamiya kit. They're supposed to be as close to shake and bake as possible!

Oh well, I'll just blame the bad fit on the weather or something. Let's do something more fun, like guns.
45711966881_b44fa22859_o.jpg
4x.303 Brownings and 4x 20mm Hispanos. With careful drilling and sanding I'm sure they can look the part! But I'm a lazy bugger, with other plans.
Bring forth the turned brass from Master!
30771457167_5a27220f04_o.jpg
A slight difference...
30771457637_b5c227d010_o.jpg

31840032658_ca3e72d7ea_o.jpg

Yeah, I can live with this!

Note to self: paint the gun throughs  before installing the Hispanos, and then mask it all off...

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  • 2 weeks later...

Time to test that new paint från Mission Models properly!

45157265364_2ca7b3118c_o.jpg

"Change the way you paint" is the slogan and they got that right!

It's not possible to thin as much as one is used to, and all regular settings that I'm used to doesn't quite work the way they use to, or maybe I'm doing something terrible wrong.

For my first proper test, I was aiming to have 2-3 drops of thinner for every 10 drops of paint, but I might've ended up with twice the amount of thinner.

Standing on the balcony in +7º is probalby not ideal either.

The paint mix was WAY too thin, almost good enough to do a wash with. Since it's water based it tends to pool a lot and due to the low temperature the water is not evaporating fast enough. Darn.

Quickly I changed to only spray unthinned paint instead, and that went a bit better at first, but then it felt as the airbrush became clogged.

Spray-performance was quite poor, but I didn't get any paint build up on the needle so that part as consistent with what others are saying.
Look at the bomb bay opening to see where the paint is more washy.
45881511851_5437b8234c_o.jpg
A few days later, the paint has cured enough so that I can make a final assessment.  (it does not have that long drying time, I just need daylight to view it in!)

I did not get any orange peel effect, so that is good. Not totally happy either, since I was forced to add a lot of paint, destroying the blackbase in the process.
The shade of interior grey green is a lot more greyer and greener than Xtracrylix though:
32010135318_92a38bcaa2_o.jpg

(the Tiffy is painted with Xtracrylix)

Well, the sun is up, I'm working from home today so why not add another coat and see what happens?

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I quite like that shade of green - I think it still looks good and works well as RAF interior green. New products are always a bit of a gamble - especially as you don’t know how to use it 100%. But at least now you know not to thin that paint too much next time. Another thin coat and you should be good to go.

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I will be following your build

I have this in the stash with the same decals, all part of my aircraft to build from RAF Leuchars.

Strange thing is that they operated the Mosquito from RAF Leuchars but also flew Catalinas from Woodhaven on the banks of the River Tay.

I like the Brass barrels they are a big improvement so i might invest in them.

 

Darren

Edited by MADMUSKY
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Excellent start Christer! That cockpit was disappointing to find out about, at least the sidewalls should make the purchase worth it for you. It's amazing how something as simple-seeming as wiring can improve the kit cockpit so much.

 

On 11/5/2018 at 4:56 AM, Roger Newsome said:

The real thing must have overflown where I am at present, or very close by. The more I think about it the more I think I need to do a Banff Strike Wing Mosquito. ☺

Something's in the air, so to speak: the latest restoration here, revealed last week, is in Banff colours! Banff fever is spreading!

45755324472_5204d34a4b_c.jpgUntitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr

45755324422_285f4f5e9f_c.jpgUntitled by Zac Yates, on Flickr

(My iPhone screenshots from a Facebook video, so my apologies for the quality!)

Edited by k5054nz
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Brass barrels are highly recommended! I tend to add them to almost everything nowadays.

 

One could probably just go with some seatbelts and do the major wiring with some scrap wire instead, but where's the fun in that?

No, lets buy more stuff instead :king:

 

@k5054nz, that's some fine pictures of Kiwi Mossie! Are they execting to get it airborne soonish?

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6 hours ago, Christer A said:

 

@k5054nz, that's some fine pictures of Kiwi Mossie! Are they execting to get it airborne soonish?

Next month, I believe! There's an Open Day display tomorrow and I understand they may do a taxiing demo, unfortunately I'm working so I can't get up there. They put the rockets on yesterday!

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This weekend I learned two important things.

  1. Mission Models are excellent to brush paint! Even though I did not have the correct shades for anything particular in the cockpit, some touch ups that I needed to do was flawless, without brush marks or a noticeable difference in hue compared to the airbrushed areas. I think I need a standard set now for all my detail painting needs.
  2. Old Vallejo paints is not something to use on models. It's the exact opposite of the above, and it looks hideous in any sort of magnification. All my Vallejo will be thrown into the bin at the earliest notice. That's not all, since the rubbish will be incinerated in a powerplant and used to heat up a few homes or thousands. Yes, Vallejo, burn in a fire and DIE! I've used normal indoor and outdoor wall paint that are of a thinner consistency and works better than my old bottles.

Even so, I've completed the detail paintings of almost all cockpit parts and have added a clear coat in front of the weathering that is due.

Sorry, I forgot to take a few snapshots of the progress, but that'll come later.

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Pictures!

I guees you'd like those?

Well, i did manage to snag a few so here goes.
Yes, I'm a wierdo for spending lots of time masking, so that I could airbrush 1,5 cm². 
45135495575_1bfd08f0b0_o.jpg
Well, considering how my Vallejo paints behaved, this was probably the correct decision. What is a little bit strange is that this is supposed to be Tamiya Flat black...

Well, it's black all right, but not especially black. The pot was very old though, and just some drippings left on the bottom so I guess all mat properties had already been sprayed on other subjects.

When thinking about it, I should've painted it NATO black instead, for scale effect. Very well then, I might redo it later on.

 

The result of manhandling the hairy stick (the paintbrush! 😎 Stop sniggering).  for a while gave me this.
45135495455_1de755e588_o.jpg

 

Ok, so that was the pictures from last time.

No with all details in place, it's time to scruff it up a bit.

So far I've only added a brown/black wash from a mix of Tamiyas Panel line wash, which I sploshed about like so:
45135495025_4db9de6638_o.jpg

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A good enough start I reckon.

I was going to add a flat coat to seal it in, but with the temperature going below 5ºC and even into the freezing and my airbrush place is located almost on the outside (not really, but the balcony is neither isolated or heated enough to support modelling life) the weather is not supporting this activity.

Give me more time to repaint the shiny black areas then...but that will also require a working airbrush.

Oh well....the kind weathermen promises lots of rain and 8 degrees the upcoming weekend so there is a chance that some paint might hit these parts.

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