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Erinyes over Denmark (1/72 464 Squadron Tamiya Mosquito FB.VI)


Procopius

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Win's Tiffies are done (save the rockets, as he sternly pointed out to me), and they are providing top cover while he sleeps tonight.

 

PXL_20211012_232344177

 

If anyone has thoughts on bulged vs non-bulged side window, NOW IS THE TIME TO TELL ME.

 

PXL_20211012_235247301

 

Not glued yet, but test-fitted. Johnny-come-latelies will receive the full force of my passive aggression.

 

I attached the little PE engine grilles and promptly lost one, fortunately I have three sets of this (fairly awful) PE from Eduard and only two kits, so I may just bite the bullet and go full robber.

 

PXL_20211013_001250608

 

Amazingly Tamiya doesn't even have a plastic part to mimic the grille, just flatness. 

 

 

 

 

 

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Absent input from the peanut gallery, the canopy with bulged window is on:

 

PXL_20211018_025909004

 

I've also added the PE fuel caps(?) to the underside, as well as the little window, which doesn't appear to be a feature of the non-PR versions, so also a dollop of Mr Surfacer:

 

PXL_20211018_031114201

 

 More later, long weekend, and not in a fun way. (Mrs P had parent-teacher conferences all day Saturday, and then was exhausted today, leaving me with two full days of exposure to my children, who emanate dangerous, fatiguing C-Rays.)

 

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Nice progress Edward.

 

14 hours ago, Procopius said:

leaving me with two full days of exposure to my children, who emanate dangerous, fatiguing C-Rays.

 

Hmmmm, I'd like to say the C-Rays become less harmless as they grow older ..................................... but I can't do that 🤣

 

Terry

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry for proceeding in such fits and starts, all, middle middle age is a cruel time. I've also been somewhat distracted by my other hobbies:

 

PXL_20211031_002211293

 

In the forground are shells for a .577 Snider-Enfield breechloader conversion, as used by the British Army during the thoroughly successful 1868 Abyssinia Expedition, which may be most familiar to modern readers through Flashman on the March. The cartridges in the rear are 577-450 Martini-Henry rounds, and if you don't know what those are, you probably never saw Zulu as a child, which is like not having a childhood at all. I sadly don't have a Snider-Enfield, but my friend Marcin does, and I sometimes get to use in in exchange for making the cartridges for it. 

 

But you don't care about my faffing about with hundred-plus-year-old firearms! I have in fact worked on the Mosquito some more.

 

PXL_20211101_234936201

 

 

 

 

 

Last night I primed it (and discovered the air tank for my compressor seems to have failed -- there's no leak in the hoses, so I suspect the poor thing, which must be at least fifteen years old, has finally joined the choir eternal and rusted through in the tank area. So that's on the list for replacement.

 

Then out came the Colourcoats Medium Sea Grey (I'll add the stripes later for this one), and all over the model it went:

 

PXL_20211102_010747736

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I've got this one, old Snider round. It's just the bullet in a fired cartridge. My Dad picked it somewhere decades ago and I got it when he passed over 15 years ago.

 

51649911036_d79dc5507f_b.jpg

 

 

 

 

Chris

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Tonight I used the LF camo mask set for the Mosquito to mask the camo, and I think it's just about the worst set I've ever come across, with opaque and minimalist instructions and masks that don't ever quite seem to match up to the camo pattern; much bodging had to be done with Tamiya tape to get things more or less close to the aircraft's actual appearance.

 

51655790003_c951f38029_b.jpg

 

 

I've also started putting the props and spinners together -- these aircraft use the earlier needle-bladed props (which makes sense, as the paddle blades were better for high-altitude performance). The spinners were black, which was very kind of the RAF and greatly simplifies things. 

 

 

I wandered over to the optometrist yesterday to get my prescription updated, and talked myself into getting contacts in addition to new glasses (total cost to me, after insurance: $440), since we're all wearing masks for the foreseeable and I'd like to be able to shop for groceries without peering at canned peas from mere inches away, and so this morning I went into the bathroom to put the damned things in.

 

Dear reader, ninety minutes later, I had one contact in my right eye, which I was unable to extract, and three destroyed contacts for my left eye, and the timbers of Hedgehog Manor were reverberating with the mightiest, vilest oaths I know, and I know some good ones. It took me another twenty minutes and two false positives before I got the one contact I'd managed to shoehorn in out so that I could use my glasses. Apparently, per the optamologist, I'm cursed with long, luxuriant eyelashes that would leave Gilda-era Rita Hayworth green with envy. But does anyone use my poster to cover up their prison escape tunnel? No, it's just the drawbacks for old Edward. So I'm not really sure contacts are for me.

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On 10/12/2021 at 9:07 AM, Procopius said:

DSCF3279

 

This photo is in late '44, and the below is in August, which suggests at some point 464 actually extended the height of their invasion stripes, or that someone considers July "late" for purposes of the calendar, which would be weird.

 

 

A bit late to comment, but I really don't believe that's "late" 1944. From the sun angle, shadows and the grass, that's definitely summer on Thorney. There's also a set of bright fields on the South Downs in the background, typical of a summer-ripening crop.

 

By the way I used to live two miles away from there, and learned to fly at Goodwood. Late in the year, the scene would have much darker hues, with the lush,wet grass. Thorney Island is virtually at sea level so tends to retain the rain.

 

I think that a mistyped photo caption is much more likely than late-year extended invasion stripes, which would otherwise make 464 Sqn unique.

 

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4 hours ago, Procopius said:

much bodging had to be done with Tamiya tape to get things more or less close to the aircraft's actual appearance

Results look good from here! 

 

I feel your pain regarding contacts! - I used to wear them, but had to switch to glasses all around when the air conditioning at my work decided to remove all moisture from the air.

 

Which does not bode well for staring at a computer monitor for the majority of the day. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

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9 hours ago, KevinK said:

 

 

I think that a mistyped photo caption is much more likely than late-year extended invasion stripes, which would otherwise make 464 Sqn unique.

 

 

Well, the footage from the camera ship during the Aarhus raid proper shows at least one Mosquito with the full-height stripes at 0:27: https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060030265

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9 hours ago, KevinK said:

 

A bit late to comment, but I really don't believe that's "late" 1944. From the sun angle, shadows and the grass, that's definitely summer on Thorney. There's also a set of bright fields on the South Downs in the background, typical of a summer-ripening crop.

 

By the way I used to live two miles away from there, and learned to fly at Goodwood. Late in the year, the scene would have much darker hues, with the lush,wet grass. Thorney Island is virtually at sea level so tends to retain the rain.

 

I think that a mistyped photo caption is much more likely than late-year extended invasion stripes, which would otherwise make 464 Sqn unique.

 

The Mossie in that pic appears to have tropical filters under the engines,..... I`ve noticed that on a British based Mossie before. 

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9 minutes ago, tonyot said:

The Mossie in that pic appears to have tropical filters under the engines,..... I`ve noticed that on a British based Mossie before. 

Oh crap. Who makes a set?

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6 hours ago, Procopius said:

Oh crap. Who makes a set?

What Andre says,..... however  Colin is out of stock at the moment. A friend did make some from Hurricane Vokes tropical intakes and they looked great,..... just needed a bit of chopping and changing;

https://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/product/freightdog-1-72-dh-mosquito-fb-vi-t-iii-tropical-intakes/

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Wow, it sure was a busy weekend. On Saturday I bought groceries (twice), made a pavlova for the first time, did some work on the Mossie, mowed the lawn, and went to bed.

 

Behold! My pavlova! 

 

51665046015_72c767a3e1_b.jpgPXL_20211106_220710831 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

Every recipe for meringue I've ever seen gives wildly differing bake times, and none have ever worked for me. I only managed to get it to the consistency of meringue in lemon meringue pie, but as my children regarded it as a vehicle for whipped cream delivery, it can still be said to be a success. And I will try again. Plus I have the yolks to make creme brulee now.

 

 

Then on Sunday I drove eighty miles to Wisconsin, a drive I do not normally enjoy -- indeed, I dislike driving in general -- and had a lovely drive up through the Autumn colours and went trap-shooting for the first time. This, if you're not familiar with it, it shooting those little whizzing clay pigeons with a shotgun, or in my case attempting to. I only hit one, and that was pure luck as the sun was in my eyes. Trap shooting is interesting to me, as the great "Johnnie" Johnson regarded it as the secret of his success in the air and an important training tool for training pilots in deflection shooting. It's  safe to say I would not be a great fighter pilot out of the gate, so there's one more youthful dream dashed.

 

Me, properly attired for making a fool of myself with a borrowed shotgun:

 

51665046415_e83a561811_b.jpgPXL_20211107_181055962 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

Also while at the range, a friend presented me with a knitted hedgehog in battledress that they knitted for me:

 

51664171576_42ebd87eb1_b.jpgPXL_20211107_180701601 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

It now resides with our other household gods:

 

51663366292_0d81a44fbf_b.jpgPXL_20211107_235119830 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

Anyway, the model! I painted the exhausts a Tamiya brown, the specific number of which escapes me, then used some of the Tamiya metal weathering powder on it. The effect looks nicer in person, I swear.

 

51665046535_1d6d65d57c_b.jpgPXL_20211108_030549240 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

In any case, they'll be covered by the exhaust covers, so it's needless frippery, the best kind of frippery!

 

I also painted the props and spinners Colourcoats Night, and added the guns to the nosecone:

 

51663366382_bca84e7620_b.jpgPXL_20211108_030604394 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

We're getting to the point where I'll need to do the invasion stripes and assemble the fiendishly complex landing gear.

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8 minutes ago, Procopius said:

We're getting to the point where I'll need to do the invasion stripes and assemble the fiendishly complex landing gear


Hmm, I think I’d be very tempted to sort out the stripes and do the decals, then worry about the landing gear once everything is nice and matt varnished.

 

A delivery system for whipped cream, you say? Sign me up! 

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Looking good Edward! (not sure about the hat, tho...). Despite your troubles with the masks, the camouflage looks terrific. Exhausts too.

 

As for contacts, anything that involves sticking your fingers in your eyes first thing at morning and last thing at night must surely be a bad idea.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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1 minute ago, AdrianMF said:

Looking good Edward! (not sure about the hat, tho...).

 

It's a Stormy Kromer, part of the traditional garb of my people (midwestern dads) after the temperature drops below 60 F. I would be lying if I said I didn't choose it to look deliberately old-fashioned. It's also much, much cheaper than shooting tweeds.

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I can see it, wait!

 

Can I? 

 

Yes I see you stalking the halls at SMW in that hat, in vogue and very 'of the moment'

 

Looking forward to whichever year we are freed to enjoy your company again Edward.

 

Mossie looking very élite too.

 

I like the about to vanish exhausts, all in the best possible taste.

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2 minutes ago, John Laidlaw said:

You should have let me know - I could (finally) have got that sheet of styrene to you 😁.

Are you close to Eagle? Damme, missed opportunity! I might be back up next week.

Just now, perdu said:

Also I hope you dont think Johnnie 'got' trap shooting all at once, I do not believe anyone does.

Some people are naturals. One of the guys I went with had never fired a shotgun before (like me), and was knocking them down on crossing shots. It was insane.

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1 hour ago, Procopius said:

Are you close to Eagle? Damme, missed opportunity! I might be back up next week.

I’m about 40 minutes east of Eagle - I suppose if you’re passing closer on the freeway we could do a quick transfer at a convenient Park & Ride?

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