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Tamiya 1/72 Mosquito VI RS504 of 248 Squadron


Simon

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Hello everyone

 

I've been busy with this for a couple of weeks, and have finally got round to uploading some photos onto Flickr, so here's the start of a Work in Progress thread.

 

I'm doing Tamiya's rather nice 1/72 Mosquito VI, as RS504 DM-Z of 248 Squadron, and another aircraft with a local connection to the North East of England. RS504 became a quite famous Mossie in May 1945, when flown by F/Lt Gerald Yeates, with his Navigator being Thomas Cecil Scott, who hailed from Newcastle-upon-Tyne. From the 248 Sqn ORB:

 

May 4th 1945

ORB Form 541:

Airborne Banff, armed 8 x 25 lb A.P. .R.P., in company with 32 other Mosquitos of the Banff Strike Wing.

During attack on ‘F’ [ex-Dutch Gunboat] Z/248 struck top of mast which became lodged in the nose of a/c together with the ships pennant; boat door was ripped off and nose of a/c smashed in, but a/c landed base safely with mast and pennant still in place.

 

On the flight back another Mosquito took a photo of the damaged RS604, which has featured in several books and magazines, and there's a photo taken after it had landed safely back at base here:

 

https://twitter.com/andydbird/status/1213112113117454336

 

I'm doing it in 'undamaged' state - I'm thinking of maybe doing the 'damaged' version with the 1/48 Tamiya Mosquito at some stage...but I think I will need a bank loan for all that resin (bomb bay and cannons, nose gun bay, engine).

 

Anyway, here's what's been going on so far...

 

The Tamiya kit is already nicely detailed, and (so far) fits like a very well-fitting thing, but I've bought a couple of aftermarket bits and pieces, including the Quickboost pilot and navigator seats which are a bit of an improvement on the kit parts:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-02

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-01

 

So, starting with the cockpit, I've added a few odds and ends to the space behind the Navigator's seat. Some cabling, plus the flares stored under the seat:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-04

 

and here's the painted seat, plus a fire extinguisher, in place:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-05

 

Some extra gubbins on the cockpit walls:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-08

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-06

 

And the Gee box, to go behind the pilot's seat:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-09

 

Luckily I had a spare etched Gee from a Lancaster. It fits in, just about, behind the seat:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-12

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-11

 

I've got a few more bits to add to the rear deck (the other Gee box plus some cables), plus the instrument panel. Unfortunately Eduard don't currently do a colour etch for the Tamiya Mossie, but Yahu do a very nice one:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-13

 

So, a steady start, but plenty still to do...

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2 minutes ago, Serkan Sen said:

Not my era but lovely detailed cockpit. Just for my curiosity: are all these circle sinks the injection molding pin holes or exist on real aircraft?

Serkan

 

Yes, they're ejector pin marks (injection molding pin holes). They're just about hidden by everything once it's all closed up, so I chickened out of filling them...:blush:

 

Simon

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Hello again

 

So, Chrimbo over and done with, and a chance to get back to the workbench (well, the Ikea table in the spare bedroom...).

 

I've added the other Gee box to the cockpit rear deck, and I think the cockpit is now pretty much all done.

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-15

 

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I've also done the main undercart, pretty much out of the box, except for some Brengun 'weighted' wheels to replace the Tamiya ones:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-21

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-20

 

I've also made a start on the engine nacelles. First up I thought I'd open up the intakess, so they were drilled out and the filed:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-23

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-24

 

It's not perfect, but I do have the Eduard etch set which has some mesh guards for the intakes which should hide any untidiness.

 

The undercarriage bays are okay, but could benefit from some extra bits and bobs adding. At the rear of the undercarriage bay there's a small curved section that Tamiya haven't included, so I made a couple of them: from plastic sheet:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-22

 

And at the front of the bay there's an unsightly gap which needs sorting:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-18

 

I'm making some replacement bulkheads, so out come the kit's ones:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-19

 

I'm still fiddling them into submission, so will update when they've given up and done what they're told...

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A quick update. First off, I'd like to wish everyone a (slightly belated) Happy New Year. Let's hope 2021 can do a better job that its predecessor...

 

So, on to the progress report:

 

I've done the replacement bulkheads for the undercarriage bays, both front and rear.

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-25

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-26

 

and added a couple of small bits and bobs:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-28

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-29

 

I've also added some cabling to the UC bay roofs as well, just to make it a bit less plain:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-27

 

And here's the engine nacelle and wing together:

 

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There are a few other bits inside there that could be added, but by the time the undercarriage is in situ, it'll be crowded enough.

 

I've started work on the underwing armament too. I'll be doing it with the distinctive 'double-deck' rockets fitted to Coastal Command Mossies around this time, plus the larger 100 gallons wing tanks.  I've bought a pair of Freightdog Models' rather nice resin tanks:

 

https://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/freightdog-1-72-mosquito-200-gal-slipper-tanks.html

 

and have started on constructing (re-constructing?) the rockets from those supplied in the kit. I'm using the two pairs of outer rocket rails, plus another pair of rockets attached under them using the two inner sets as donors. Fortunately the rocket bodies are almost exactly the same diameter as Evergreen 222 rod, which makes life a little easier.

 

Here's one of the outer rockets, and a length of rod with the rocket fins attached, and one of the inner ones under that ready to section up:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-32

 

Cutting done, and test fitting the components:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-33

 

And the four pairs done and primed, with some extra length added to the bottom of the rear brackets of the upper rockets:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-34

 

They're a bit wonky in places, but not too bad. And a test to see if they work okay together:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-35

 

Starting to look the part, and  will look better when painted, hopefully.

 

I'm working on the rocket guards and wing re-inforcement plates at the moment, and pondering the best way to put them together... :wonder:

 

More soon...


Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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This is an undercarriage bay photo I took of the Mosquito at The Alberta Aviation Museum a number of years ago.

 

49137627793_faa1c52d2a_b.jpg

 

 

The double rocket mounts on a Mossie:

 

From the Aviaeology decal instructions:

 

49159177818_37cf2832a0_b.jpg

 

49159664161_edaf18d84b_b.jpg

 

49159664121_7e867fa20e_b.jpg

 

 

 

Chris

 

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9 hours ago, dogsbody said:

Found another Mossie RP photo:

Note that's a prototype/trials installation, the operational installations were staggered and had 4 fins per rocket as per the Aviaeology drawings you posted earlier - the drop tank guard rails are also missing form this photo.

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4 hours ago, Dave Swindell said:

Note that's a prototype/trials installation, the operational installations were staggered and had 4 fins per rocket as per the Aviaeology drawings you posted earlier - the drop tank guard rails are also missing form this photo.

 

Ah! That's probably why the photo wasn't with the others on my 'puter and wasn't labelled properly. 

 

Thanks, Dave!

 

 

 

 

Chris

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Back with another quick update.

 

I'd been struggling to get my head around the arrangement of the two-tier rockets and their rails, plus the wing reinforment strips, so on the off-chance I dropped an e-mail to Aviaeology. I was pleased to get a very helpful reply from Terry Higgins there, who's working on some updates for Mosquitos, including sets of rocket rails in various scales to be released later this year:

 

https://www.aviaeology.com/store/p186/AES72001.html

 

The long and short of it, as I now understand it, is that 'my' Mosquito had just the forward reinforcement plates, and that the pairs of two-tier rails are essentially the same, rather than the rear mounting stub on the inner rail being staggered backwars slightly to follow the shape of the rear of the wing, as the 'regular' four rocket rails do.

 

So, with that knowledge gained, I've started to assemble the rocket rails. Firstly, I've test-fitted the reinforcement plates (and filled-in the rear hole for the inner rocket rails):

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-36

 

These are the outer rocket rails from the kit, painted up, and four 'spare' rockets for the lower ones:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-38

 

Next up I had the amend the 'inner' rocket rails so the mounting stubs were the same as the outer ones:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-40

 

Two of the spare rocket rails supplied the new rear stubs, positioned as per the outer rails. And here are the four rails and eight rockets all done, and weathered a bit (the two 'new' ones at the top):

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-41

 

More test fitting, and I think they'll be okay:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-42

 

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I've also had a go at making the 'pigtail' leads for the rockets:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-37

 

Done by dipping the ends of strips of thin Plastruct 0.3mm plastic rod into acrylic paint three or four times, letting it dry, and then repeating until you a blob of built-up paint on the end. They look okay for 1/72 leads, hopefully.

 

Overall I'm pretty pleased at the rockets. I've made a start on the guards that sit between the inner rocket rail and the 100 gallon drop tank, and once the wings are painted up I'll see how they work in conjunction with the tanks and rockets.

 

Hopefully I can finally start putting the engines and wings together, and finish off the fuselage...

 

More soon

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello again, time for a long-overdue update...

 

I've had a few minor issues to sort out, one of which was down to my own stupidity (:doh:), and other which took a while to sort out. (:hmmm:)

 

Firstly, in my infinited wisdom, I thought it would be a good idea to paint the various main elements separately, before gluing the lot together. The fit of the Tamiya kit is so good, I thought I'd get away with it. So, engines, wings and tail planes pre-shaded and sky'd:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-45

 

And spot the (non) deliberate mistake - I seem to have two starboard horizontal tails. I'd even marked them P and S on the clips holding them. Easily sorted, and fortunately before I've done the dark grey uppers...

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-46

 

Engines and wings were united, and another slight issue cropped up - the fit of the upper trailing egde of the wing to the upper part of the nacelle on both port and starboard wings wasn't great, and took a fair amount of filling and sanding to get corrected.

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-48

 

It almost got the best of me, but I heroically struggled on...:whistle: So, once that was sorted the wing uppers had a mixed coat of MSG and EDSG added to make it looked a bit weather-worn:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-49

 

The fuselage was also painted, then the wings and tailplanes glued in position, and trussed up like a Christmas turkey:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-50

 

And here we are at the moment:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-51

 

Some minor filling along the tailplane to fuselage and wing to fuselage joints needed, but fit is pretty good.

 

The other thing that had me scratching my head was how to paint the spinners. RS504 had black spinners with very small white circles on the front. I tried masking tape, but that was a right faff-on, and I considered white decals but the curve is too sharp to get them to bed down. I then came up with the idea of painting the white tips, then masking them off with short section of plastic tube, with the inside whittled and sanded down to a very thin edge so it gets a nice snug fit, and held in place with Blu Tack:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-52

 

It worked pretty well, and I'm happy with the results:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-53

 

So, all the major painting and construction done. Next up decalling, I think, then some further weathering for the airframe before adding the underwing gubbins, the undercart and all the other bits and bobs...

 

More soon,

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Simon
typos
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  • 2 weeks later...

Onwards and upwards...

 

Decs are now on. The kit decals are really good. I was worried about the 'Keep Off' markings on the wing uppers over the radiators, as there are a few bumps and lots of rivets, but they went down really well:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-62

 

I did trim them out round the large bumps, and then liberally coated them Daco Products' 'strong' decal solution, which bedded them down really well.

 

From the two photos I've managed to find of RS504, it seems to have had new codes applied, and the area beneath them repainted, so I applied a 'fresh' area of EDSG:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-54

 

Codes applied (my own artwork, printed by DrawDecal):

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-55

 

Undercarriage, doors and Quickboost exhausts on too, and given a bit of dirtying:

 

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I then added the larger-style wing tanks and reinforcement plates for the rockets:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-58

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-59

 

I'd also started to get the cockpit glazing masked ready for painting, and was wondering why the Eduard masks weren't a very good fit, when I realised I'd bought the 'bomber' canopy masks, rather than the 'fighter' ones...:doh:

 

So, rockets next, and then all the final fiddly bits.

 

More soon...

 

Simon

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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  • 1 month later...

Back with an update (at last`). Life and work and stuff in general has meant I've been away from the workbench for a few weeks, but I managed to get a few hours in today.

 

I've added the rockets to the wings, and got the inner guardrails done too. Fiddly as a very fiddly thing, but look okay. I've also added the two radio altimeter aerials inboard of the drop tanks.

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-66

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-67

 

I also had to re-do the rockets' 'pig-tails' as they're paired together - one pair for the upper rockets, and a second pair for the lowers. The carpet montster snaffled two of them  but fortunately I found one, and had a spare.

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-68

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-69

 

I think (he's says with great confidence...:whistle:) that that's all the fiddly stuff done. I need to add the nose guns, wingtip lights, fin pitot, a couple of aerials plus the cockpit glazing and I think I'm done. I've already made the base for it to sit on, with a couple of photos of the damaged RS504, an ORB excerpt from May 4th 1945, a D.F.C., a schematic of Banff and a couple of articles from a newspaper and the London Gazette relating to the two crew:

 

tamiya-mosquito-vi-70

 

Hopefully I can get this done and dusted pretty quickly now, carpet monster permitting...

 

Cheers


Simon

 

 

 

 

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