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New 1/72nd Airfix Mosquito, converted to a B.35 (and a PR.XVI!) with the help of Freightdog Models ***FINISHED****


tonyot

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2 hours ago, tonyot said:

It wouldn`t be a Tony O`Toole thread without some reference,...... so here we are!

 

First off,.... here is the subject of my model,..... as depicted in this superb painting by Anthony Cowland GAvA,..... showing how low these aircraft flew, here it is seen over the UK during an exercise, flying from its German base to exercise Fighter Command;

g-F09-01-copy.jpg

 

Ad here is the real VP202, CX-B  a its home base at Wahn;

CX-B-Wahn-1948-14-sqn-association.jpgVP202-CX-B-at-W-Malling-1950-14-sqn-asso

 

 

And here are a mix of pics showing other 14 Sqn Mosquito B.35`s,...... they did operate a mix of camouflaged and silver aircraft, but I`m opting for a silver one,..... and maybe a camouflaged one from another of the BAFO Mossie Wing`s aircraft from Celle,.... possibly 98 Sqn;

mosquito-VP191-CX-X-Celle-1949-14-sqn-as

Original-photo-RAF-Mosquito-B35-VP191-14Mosquito-TH999.jpg

2-TA695-Wahn-1948-Mike-Levy.jpg

 

Awesome scheme selection @tonyot

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And a bit more of an update,..... just to show the Airfix bomb bay doors (closed) with the TT.35 detail on them which can be sanded off,..... but also the incorrect rear bulged section with a cut out on either side,..... these parts are just dry fitted;

 DSCF2259.jpg 

 DSCF2263.jpg

DSCF2264.jpg

 

Highlighted with felt tip on one side just in case they are hard to make out,

Cheers

          Tony

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As usual Tony, excellent and speedy progress on this new tooled kit. It's always great to watch you at work combining an informative WIP with a good number of excellent reference photographs.

Colin's AM parts look good and I'd be interested to know if there's a set that includes the rear fuselage blister as a sperate piece to a pair of open bomb bay doors.

Cheers and watching on.. Dave  

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5 hours ago, tonyot said:

Thanks mate,..... it will be having yellow spinners too. The RAAF one will be PRU Blue.

Nice choice, I am doing an overall Aluminium one from 87 (Survey) Sqn, but will do the PR Blue one as well at a later stage.

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12 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

As usual Tony, excellent and speedy progress on this new tooled kit. It's always great to watch you at work combining an informative WIP with a good number of excellent reference photographs.

Colin's AM parts look good and I'd be interested to know if there's a set that includes the rear fuselage blister as a sperate piece to a pair of open bomb bay doors.

Cheers and watching on.. Dave  

Thanks Dave,..... I received Colin`s parts today and they are superb quality,.... but the bomb bay unit is one piece so to have the bomb doors open I`ll have to razor saw the rear section off,.... which is no hastle really. 

 

9 hours ago, Greg Law said:

Very good work Tony.

Is this one of the Mosquitos that had the extended bomb bay for the 4000Ib bomb?

Thanks Greg,..... yes mate, it has the bulged bomb bay capable of carrying a 4,000lb Cookie. The post war bombers also used smaller bombs too. 

 

8 hours ago, 72nd SQN said:

Nice choice, I am doing an overall Aluminium one from 87 (Survey) Sqn, but will do the PR Blue one as well at a later stage.

Cheers,.....that will look nice too in overall silver, especially if you do the red white and blue spinners too.   

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I just checked the Freightdog site and Colin does indeed have the B.35 enhancement/correction kits listed - two of them. I shall be ordering one shortly, as well as any other fiddly bits that strike my fancy (hmm, I do like that Red Beard bomb for the Buccaneer S.2...). Oh dear, I just noticed that the B.35 set I wanted is out of stock. I'm sure Colin* is busy casting a new set. I can wait, especially since I don't even have the kit yet!

 

Regards,

 

Jason

 

*Colin, you are busy casting a new set, aren't you?

Edited by Learstang
Additional comments added.
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6 minutes ago, Learstang said:

I just checked the Freightdog site and Colin does indeed have the B.35 enhancement/correction kits listed - two of them. I shall be ordering one shortly, as well as any other fiddly bits that strike my fancy (hmm, I do like that Red Beard bomb for the Buccaneer S.2...). Oh dear, I just noticed that the B.35 set I wanted is out of stock. I'm sure Colin* is busy casting a new set. I can wait, especially since I don't even have the kit yet!

 

Regards,

 

Jason

 

*Colin, you are busy casting a new set, aren't you?

Hiya Jason,.... should have ordered it when you saw it mate,..... I`ve done that on Colins site too while browsing for other stuff!! I`m sure he`ll be getting more in stock soon. 

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Hiya Folks,.... well I got the sets from Colin through the post today and they are excellent;

 

B.35 set on the left,..... and the B.XVI (H2S) set on the right; 

DSCF2291-NEW.jpg

 

And anybody who has followed one of my builds will not be surprised by the following,.... I think they call it mission creep?;

DSCF2290-NEW.jpg

 

Yes,.... as well as the Hasegawa conversion at the rear,.... I`ve also started a second Airfix kit!! 

I`m building one of the Airfix kits as a B.35,..... the Hasegawa kit as a PR.XVI and the second Airfix kit,.... well I`m not too sure yet! 

Cheers for now,

                       Tony

Edited by tonyot
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Jeez, Louise, Tony! You've got as many two-stage Mossies on the workbench as there are preserved examples, methinks. (Just goes to show the wisdom of buying them by the case! :giggle:) Seriously, all of the posted photos and text by you and the other Mossie Maniacs are very much appreciated, and I will be saving this WIP for future reference! Can't wait to see the RFI's for all three, and I definitely agree with your choice of scheme and markings- there;s something sooo elegant about a silver doped Mosquito! Glad I saw your build as soon as you posted it, as I ordered the Freightdog BMK 35 correction set, which is on the way, and will snag the PRXVI set as soon as it's released, as that variant is my favorite!

Mike

 

BTW @Colin @ Freightdog Models, thank you, thank you, thank you! :thanks:

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Thanks for the kind words, and glad the castings get Tony's seal of approval. The first batch of 25 sets of each have sold out in less than 24 hours, which is very nice, lets hope the next batch sell so well. This has left me with a slight logistical issue, in that Freightdog is very much part time now, and I need to finish the instructions around working shifts in the day (and sometimes night) job. So I hope to get all the orders out by the end of next week, when the second batch should arrive to start all over again.  

 

There are a total of eight sets planned, the next two releases are likely to be the early PR.34 and probably PR.XVI/PR.32. All the other sets need vacform canopy parts which will be done by Rob Taurus and may take a bit longer.

 

Enough high jacking of this thread, Tony has supported me right from the beginning, and kindly offered his research services to. I know he will be honest about the sets, and look forward to seeing the results of his rapid assembly technique!                

 

Colin

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16 hours ago, 72modeler said:

Jeez, Louise, Tony! You've got as many two-stage Mossies on the workbench as there are preserved examples, methinks. (Just goes to show the wisdom of buying them by the case! :giggle:) Seriously, all of the posted photos and text by you and the other Mossie Maniacs are very much appreciated, and I will be saving this WIP for future reference! Can't wait to see the RFI's for all three, and I definitely agree with your choice of scheme and markings- there;s something sooo elegant about a silver doped Mosquito! Glad I saw your build as soon as you posted it, as I ordered the Freightdog BMK 35 correction set, which is on the way, and will snag the PRXVI set as soon as it's released, as that variant is my favorite!

Mike

 

BTW @Colin @ Freightdog Models, thank you, thank you, thank you! :thanks:

Thanks Mike,...... yeah I want to do a few PR.XVI`s and also a few PR.34`s too. The Airfix kit is so easy to build too,..... jut a hame they got the bomb bay area wrong,.... but at least it makes a TT.35 easier to build...... silver liings and all of that!!

 

14 hours ago, Colin @ Freightdog Models said:

Thanks for the kind words, and glad the castings get Tony's seal of approval. The first batch of 25 sets of each have sold out in less than 24 hours, which is very nice, lets hope the next batch sell so well. This has left me with a slight logistical issue, in that Freightdog is very much part time now, and I need to finish the instructions around working shifts in the day (and sometimes night) job. So I hope to get all the orders out by the end of next week, when the second batch should arrive to start all over again.  

 

There are a total of eight sets planned, the next two releases are likely to be the early PR.34 and probably PR.XVI/PR.32. All the other sets need vacform canopy parts which will be done by Rob Taurus and may take a bit longer.

 

Enough high jacking of this thread, Tony has supported me right from the beginning, and kindly offered his research services to. I know he will be honest about the sets, and look forward to seeing the results of his rapid assembly technique!                

 

Colin

No worries Colin and thanks mate,...... I appreciate you sending me that rough instruction guide so that I can crack on. I`ll probably leave the XVI(H2S) variant for a later date? 

 

12 hours ago, Dunny said:

Look forward to this with interest Tony - great to see a positive approach to the new Airfix kit!

 

Cheers,

 

Roger

Thanks Roger,.... too much negativity in the hobby,...... best to crack on and be thankful for what we have eh! It is a lovely kit to build,.... shame about the bomb bay area and the rer of the canopy has external rather than internal framework,...... but at leat it makes it easier to paint! 

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1 hour ago, tonyot said:

No worries Colin and thanks mate,...... I appreciate you sending me that rough instruction guide so that I can crack on. I`ll probably leave the XVI(H2S) variant for a later date? 

 

 

You bought it Tony, build it at your leisure, or rob parts from it, I don't mind. If I'm honest I didn't think there would be so much interest in the H2S version, having only seen three pictures of the real things, but most of my orders so far were for one of each. It is the B.35 I'm looking forward to seeing built.

 

I should point out that Tony was involved in the decal sheet, not the resin sets, these where researched and mastered by Paul Lucas, so Tony isn't marking his own homework on this one!

 

Colin

    

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Thanks for the kind comments fellas,...... and sorry for the gap in coverage,..... life sort of got in the way again, plus I`ve been deciding on schemes etc for all three kit. Here is where I am at,..... sort of;

 

1- The original Airfix kit,..... B.35 using the Freightdog set;

       Here is the set cleaned up and test fitted,...... when pressed down it is a perfect join,..... but I`m not using the full set in this case;

DSCF2296-NEW.jpg

 

I`ve decided to have the bomb doors fitted open, so the kit doors were sanded smooth,.... the left hand door seen here has yet to be sanded.;

DSCF2300-NEW.jpg

 

The the rear bulge behind the bomb bay of the resin set was then cut from the rest of the Freightdog part and attached to the model, alongside the bomb bay interior rear wall. The resin rear wheel has also been attached too, I need to refer to the instructions and reference photos before adding the resin intake on the fuselage wall below the wing and the rear warning radar;

DSCF2312-NEW.jpg

DSCF2313-NEW.jpg 

 

2- Airfix kit,.... built as a PR.XVI;

         Using the second new Airfix kit,..... I`ve used the flat resin bomb bay doors and the cover behind them from the Freightdog B.XVI(H2S) set to built this model as a PR.XVI. I have also drilled out the camera ports in the rear fuselage plus those in the resin bomb doors,..... and eventually the cockpit access door too;

 DSCF2304-NEW.jpg

DSCF2302-NEW.jpg

 

3- Hasegawa kit with resin engines,..... another PR.XVI,..... using a vacuformed canopy;

            Like above,..... I drilled out the rear fuelage camera ports and the ports in the bomb bay doors too;

DSCF2306-NEW.jpg

DSCF2310.jpg

 

So that is it for now,...... still not fully decided on schemes for the PR.XVI`s.....,.... the options being;

 

1- RAF, SEAC, Silver with blue SEAC bands.

2- RAF SEAC, PRU Blue with dark blue spinners.

3- RAAF, PRU Blue.

4- SAAF, PRU Blue, D-Day stripes and red/white striped fin, yellow spinners.

5- SAAF, Overall Silver, Post Wr

6- USAAF, PRU Blue, Red tailplane.

 

So time to check the decal bank and the references!

 

Cheers for now,

                        Tony 

Edited by tonyot
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Jeez, Louise, Tony- you're cranking them out almost as fast as DeHavilland did! Looking good, so far! My vote is for the silver RAAF XVI with the blue bands. Betting you must have bought a case of Tamiya rattle  can AS-12, judging by your many posted builds. Can't wait to see the RFI photos. (I hadn't thought of using my  two sets of two stage Merlin cowlings on either my Hasegawa or Tamiya Mossie kits, but your WIP has given me inspiration. Making the new Airfix B XVI into a PR XVI looks like a pretty painless conversion.

Mike

Edited by 72modeler
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2 hours ago, 72modeler said:

Jeez, Louise, Tony- you're cranking them out almost as fast as DeHavilland did! Looking good, so far! My vote is for the silver RAAF XVI with the vlude bands. Betting you must have bought a case of Tamiya rattle  can AS-12, judging by your many posted builds. Can't wait to see the RFI photos. (I hadn't thought of using my  two sets of two stage Merlin cowlings on either my Hasegawa or Tamiya Mossie kits, but your WIP has given me inspiration. Making the new Airfix B XVI into a PR XVI looks like a pretty painless conversion.

Mike

LOL,.... cheers mate. Yeah the PR.XVI conversion is pretty easy using the Freightdog flat bomb bays as a basis. I suppose you could do it without too, just by sanding, filling and altering the kit doors but the conversion set makes it so much easier.

 

2 hours ago, bigbadbadge said:

They look good fella with doors being sorted.

Looking forward to which ever schemes you decide on , the SEAC PRU blue one sounds nice with the dark spinners.

Chris 

Cheers Chris,..... yeah I must admit that I do want at least one PRU Blue aircraft,....... just checking what decals I have do be able to do the codes, serials etc. 

 

1 hour ago, Max Headroom said:

I’m lost for words (as I am always by your masterclasses).

 

Wotabout doing one as yer aktuell TT.35!

 

Trevor

Thanks Trevor,..... I do intend to do a TT.35,..... I`m just leaving it for now in case they do an actual TT.35 boxing which includes the additional winch parts and tail parts.    

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Just to share a few of my colour scheme ideas i more detail,..... I will do all of them eventually;

 

 

1- RAF, SEAC, Silver with blue SEAC bands...... need to check if I have some suitable light blue codes.

d0126210deefe62a30c8aee24f5859ca.jpg

66e702c74ff234940db4534fdb761125.jpg

Aircraft-in-Royal-Air-Force-Service-1939

Akyab-Island-airstrip-Burma-1945.jpg

 

2- RAF SEAC, PRU Blue with dark blue spinners.

684-sqn-alipore.jpg

 

 

3- RAAF, PRU Blue.

img-30-1-41.jpg

mosquito-a52-600-su-a-04aug45-moratai-en

PR-XVI-A52-609-Mosquito.jpg

 

4- SAAF/RAF, PRU Blue, black and white D-Day style stripes and red/white striped fin, yellow spinners,..... these aircraft were based in Italy and the bright markings were added to try to stop USAAF P-51 pilots from shooting them down....... it still didn`t work however!

MOSSIE-1.jpg

MOSSIE-2-zps06521607.jpg

SAAFMOZ1-2.jpg

 

5- SAAF, Overall Silver, Post War

DH98-Mosquito-PRXIV-SAAF-4802-JS-Q.jpg

 

6- USAAF, PRU Blue, Red tailplane.,..... although I do like the Red Stocking special duties aircraft too with the glossy black undersides.;

AMosquito-Zserialnumber-MM345ofthe25th-B

AMosquito-PRMk-XVIofthe654th-Bomb-Squadr

Groundcrewofthe25th-Bomb-Groupattendtoac

media-378762.jpg

Ensign-B-Shaver-of-the-25th-BG-8th-AF-wi

media-6966.jpg

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