1/48th Airfix Mosquito PR.XVI & PR.34

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,

                 I`m keeping busy at home and as my last bottle of Polly Scale Interior Green Grey was all but finished I decided to use it up before it dried out and get some models pre painted,..... including this one which I`ve had on the `to do' shelf for a while. I`m intending on building it as a 684 Sqn PR.34 aircraft in the silver and PRU Blue finish, although I would like to do the overall silver PR.XVI with dark blue bands scheme too at a later date. Here is what I`m aiming for;

 

 

 

And just for balance,..... an earlier PR.XVI (without the bulged bomb bay) wearing the overall silver scheme with dark blue SEAC bands, decals for which are included in a later boxing of the Airfix kit;

 

This is the decal sheet I`ll be using,.... I also intend to built the Tamiya FB.VI wearing the colours of PY-F sometime soon too!;

 

And the model;

 

 

So,... that is it for now,...... another model on the go to join 2 x P-40`s, 2 x P-36`s, a Liberator C.IX and Hercules in 1/72nd,....the Airfix Tiger Moth in 1/48th and a 1/32nd scale P-40F,...... but it isn`t as if I have anything much better to do in the forthcoming future,....... stay safe out there folks and for those working in essential servies like by missus,..... thank you so much!!

Cheers

           Tony 

Edited March 26, 2020 by tonyot

[Col.]

Nice subject choice again Tony

Take care and say thank you to your good lady.

[tonyot]

56 minutes ago, Col. said:

Nice subject choice again Tony

Take care and say thank you to your good lady.

Thanks mate and you too bud,...... hunker down and I shall pass on your thanks!

[tonyot]

A quick update;

 

 I did take more pics but quite a few didn`t come out! Here is a fuselage half with the cockpit in place,..... hopefully you can also make out the three camera ports which need to be opened out in the rear fuselage, one of which is a oblique just behind the bomb bay. It seems that some Mossies from this unit had different placings for the oblique, with some being mounted higher and just in front of the roundel....... if it turns out that is the case,.... no problems, I can fill over the glazing and drill out a new one; 

 

 

A closer view of the cockpit area,...... ready for the fuselage halves to be joined;

 

 

Cheers for now,

                         Tony

 

PS,... I have since turned the roof of the bomb bay roof the right way around too! Also,...had a bit of a brain fart re the camera ports and have opened up one in the rear fuselage not used by the PR.XXXIV,...... and most had the oblique added just in front of the roundel,.... although I`m not sure if RG203/E from the decals has the oblique in the position of the earlier PR.XVI,.... I`ll have a scour through my references on Wednesday for any further pics. 

Edited March 26, 2020 by tonyot

[Shorty84]

Ah, a two-stage Mosquito, now you have my attention  I did not know such a camo variant existed (silver/PRU blue), looks slick.

Is that the stock cockpit? Not bad considering the vintage of the kit.

 

Cheers

Markus

[tonyot]

3 hours ago, Shorty84 said:

Ah, a two-stage Mosquito, now you have my attention  I did not know such a camo variant existed (silver/PRU blue), looks slick.

Is that the stock cockpit? Not bad considering the vintage of the kit.

 

Cheers

Markus

Yes that is the stock cockpit Markus,.....nothing added at all. 

 

I`ve only gone and misplaced one of the engine nacelle parts for the top section while assembling the engines and wings tonight,..... they were both on my desk and then,.....one was gone! Hopefully it will turn up somewhere,..... usually somewhere really silly!

 

Cheers

           Tony

 

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,..... a bit more progress but a few setbacks too,....... first the fuselage, wings and engine nacelles have been assembled,...... however;

 

1- One of the upper engine nacelle parts has gone missing,...... I cannot find it anywhere!

2- Because I started off out of the blocks too quickly I failed to do my research properly for the PR.34,...... so rather than going back and altering the camera ports that I have opened up and adding new ones,.... I`ll just built it at a PR.XVI instead with the flat bomb bay, as I was going to do one later anyway,....and build my next one as a PR.34/XXXIV.

 

Here is my progress so far,.....I may have to fabricate a new top nacelle cover!

 

 

 

Cheers for now,

                       Tony 

Edited March 26, 2020 by tonyot

[tonyot]

Has anybody please got the silver option from this kit left over in their decal bank? I thought I had it,..... but cannot find it anywhere!

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-a07112-havilland-mosquito-prxvi--721978

[franky boy]

Nice work Tony

 

As said above this old kit still builds up very nicely. 

 

Looking forward to more progress. 

 

James

[tonyot]

Right

3 hours ago, franky boy said:

Nice work Tony

 

As said above this old kit still builds up very nicely. 

 

Looking forward to more progress. 

 

James

Thanks James,...... I`ll try my best. 

[tonyot]

Right,.... I`ve had to have a re think!

 

First of all I`ve spent the day looking for an old trashed Mossie kit to recover the nacelle part which has gone missing,.... finally found it at tea time and the nacelle part is now ready to fit to the model!

 

Secondly,.... I have begun to build a PR.XVI by mistake through my own daft lack of research,....... so I have decided to carry on building it as this variant. I thought that I had the new boxing in the loft which has the silver SEAC scheme in it,...... but it doesn`t appear to be there,..... so I`m looking for a different scheme,......maybe USAAF based in the UK?

 

Thirdly,..... I remembered that I had an excellent Ftreightdog Resin Conversion set for the PR.34,....... so I dug out a second kit and have decided to build that as the originally intended aircraft instead,....... here is the set!

 

 

So,.... that is the new plan,....... I`ve started pre painting the interior of the second model tonight!

 

Cheers

           Tony 

Edited March 26, 2020 by tonyot

[Max Headroom]

Where would I be without one of your masterclasses to drool at?

 

Hunkering down for this one 👍🏻😷

 

Trevor

[tonyot]

2 hours ago, Max Headroom said:

Where would I be without one of your masterclasses to drool at?

 

Hunkering down for this one 👍🏻😷

 

Trevor

Oh crikey you`ve gone and said it now  haven`t you Trev! I`ll try my best mate,...... but it won`t be a master class!

[At Sea]

6 hours ago, tonyot said:

Has anybody please got the silver option from this kit left over in their decal bank? I thought I had it,..... but cannot find it anywhere!

https://www.scalemates.com/kits/airfix-a07112-havilland-mosquito-prxvi--721978

Hi Tony.  I think I have the complete decal sheet for the PR & SEA schemes in my decal stash.

Free to you, but I won't be home until the 8th April.

 

Can you wait?

 

Cheers,

 

Peter.

[tonyot]

1 hour ago, At Sea said:

Hi Tony.  I think I have the complete decal sheet for the PR & SEA schemes in my decal stash.

Free to you, but I won't be home until the 8th April.

 

Can you wait?

 

Cheers,

 

Peter.

Thanks Peter,.... that is very kind of you indeed. If I don`t use it on this model,.......I have another kit which I would love to finish in that silver scheme,.... but only if you are sure? 

I will PM you my address,......is there anything that you are looking out for?

Cheers mate and thanks again,

                                                Tony

[mackem01]

Great progress and nice problem solving, coming along nicely.

[Col.]

Sorry to hear about your troubles with this one Tony but if the result is you're now building two Mosquitos then some good has come of it  

[tonyot]

Cheers fellas,...... a bit more progress;

 

Well the PR.XVI is together now,..... note the PRU Blue painted engine nacelle cover that was recovered from another scrapped model when the kit part went astray. I have added a few plastic shims at seams to fill in gaps, especially on either side of the cockpit where the wing to fuselage joint isn`t the best ;

 

 

And here is the PR.34 on its way;

 

 

Some detail painting was then done in the cockpit and the fuselage halves have been joined tonight. The resin bulged bomb bay has been attached too,..... it had to be put in a bowl of boiling hot water to bend it so that it would match the fuselage contours.

 

All the best

                  Tony

 

 

[rob85]

Nice progress Tony, and shame about the issues with your original plan, but that means your building another so that’s a win for us! 
 

stay safe mate.

 

Rob

[tonyot]

4 minutes ago, rob85 said:

Nice progress Tony, and shame about the issues with your original plan, but that means your building another so that’s a win for us! 
 

stay safe mate.

 

Rob

Cheers Rob and yes you too pal,....... and keep washing those hands!

 

                                                                                                         Tony

[rob85]

sorry deleted 

Edited March 27, 2020 by rob85

[tonyot]

Hiya Folks,...... well another day in lockdown,...... and a bit more progress;

 

Here is the PR.34 fuselage with resin bomb/camera bay and tailplanes fitted;

I`ve got the wings together too;

 

And both Mossies together;

 

Cheers for now and stay safe out there,

                                                              Tony

[Tail-Dragon]

A question for you, how do the resin 'bulged Bombay doors' compare size and shape wise with the kit parts supplied in the PR XVI? I have the kit, but was never sure of the accuracy of the bomb doors. I'd rather modify/detail the kit parts the chased resin replacements, if possible.

[tonyot]

11 minutes ago, Tail-Dragon said:

A question for you, how do the resin 'bulged Bombay doors' compare size and shape wise with the kit parts supplied in the PR XVI? I have the kit, but was never sure of the accuracy of the bomb doors. I'd rather modify/detail the kit parts the chased resin replacements, if possible.

They look very similar in shape to me,...... of course the kit parts do not have any camera port holes in them. I was going to use the kit parts and drill holes in them, then I realised that I had the conversion set. On the plus side,.... the kit parts can be mounted open and they have the internal structure detail moulded into them, the resin part is a resin block. 

[Tail-Dragon]

1 minute ago, tonyot said:

They look very similar in shape to me,...... of course the kit parts do not have any camera port holes in them. I was going to use the kit parts and drill holes in them, then I realised that I had the conversion set. On the plus side,.... the kit parts can be mounted open and they have the internal structure detail moulded into them, the resin part is a resin block. 

Thanks, just what I needed to know. I'm torn between doing a 'red tailed' recon and an 'ersatz' fighter-bomber from the movie 633 Squadron! Both need the deep belly.

 

Thanks,

Colin