1/72 Airfix Mosquito B.XVI

[Steve 1602]

I bought this kit recently in my LHS, so this GB seems like a brilliant excuse to build it. It will be out of the box, but I will try to address the bomb bay doors and fairing errors.

 

I haven’t decided on which scheme I’ll build yet, but I think I’m veering towards the 109 Squadron version - ie the black undersides. 
 

Steve

 

[Col.]

Sure I'm not the only person who's keen to see how you go about correcting the errors Steve  

[Steve 1602]

Just now, Col. said:

Sure I'm not the only person who's keen to see how you go about correcting the errors Steve  

If in doubt apply milliput Col  😆

[Adam Poultney]

Airfix really should just take the loss on this kit after such a monumental mistake as that bomb bay and tool a correction sprue to include in every future release, if a few replacement parts are all that's really needed(?).

[Steve 1602]

8 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

Airfix really should just take the loss on this kit after such a monumental mistake as that bomb bay and tool a correction sprue to include in every future release, if a few replacement parts are all that's really needed(?).

I’m no mosquito expert at all - in fact only picked up the errors thanks to BM, but an updated correction sprue would certainly be welcome. Judging by the Freightdog correction set, the bomb bay and tail wheel are the main areas requiring attention.

 

https://www.freightdogmodels.co.uk/product/freightdog-1-72-dh-mosquito-b-xvi-b-35-improvements-set-1/#

 

[Dave Swindell]

10 hours ago, Adam Poultney said:

if a few replacement parts are all that's really needed(?).

New bomb bay doors, fairing, tailwheel, undercarriage, cockpit interior, canopy, propellers, exhausts, firewalls, missing fuel cooler. You're just left with the basic airframe with pretty much the rest of the kit needing retooling.

[Steve 1602]

2 hours ago, Dave Swindell said:

New bomb bay doors, fairing, tailwheel, undercarriage, cockpit interior, canopy, propellers, exhausts, firewalls, missing fuel cooler. You're just left with the basic airframe with pretty much the rest of the kit needing retooling.

Well that’s just killed my enthusiasm for the Group build 😆

 

I’ll try and struggle through… 😉 

So apart from the wings, the tail plane, the fuselage and the box, What have Airfix ever done for us? 

Steve

[Angus Tura]

On 1/20/2022 at 9:36 AM, Dave Swindell said:

New bomb bay doors, fairing, tailwheel, undercarriage, cockpit interior, canopy, propellers, exhausts, firewalls, missing fuel cooler. You're just left with the basic airframe with pretty much the rest of the kit needing retooling.

Good grief man!

 

I was thinking about one of these as a PR34. What's wrong with all these bits?

 

Alan

[Dave Swindell]

On 20/01/2022 at 09:43, Steve 1602 said:

Well that’s just killed my enthusiasm for the Group build 😆

I’ll try and struggle through… 😉 
So apart from the wings, the tail plane, the fuselage and the box, What have Airfix ever done for us? 

Steve

 

19 hours ago, Angus Tura said:

Good grief man!

I was thinking about one of these as a PR34. What's wrong with all these bits?

Alan

Apologies Steve. I didn't intend to kill your enthusiasm. The new Airfix kit is the best 2 stage Mosquito kit out there, it builds up quite well and except for the noted bomb bay is accurate in outline.

The Mosquito is one of my favourite aircraft, and my initial enthusiasm for this kit was dampened somewhat by quite a few simplifications, minor errors and omissions that most people won't bother with unless they're looking for a really accurate model, if you want an OOTB build don't fret about these, just go ahead and enjoy it. 

Alan, Freightdog have mentioned a PR34 as being a possible subject for a conversion set. I'd say it's also a distinct possibility for a future Airfix release, it's not in this years announced releases but the kit has a sprue C with Mk XVI (TT35!) parts on it, but no sprue D so there's something planned for the future.

[Steve 1602]

Don’t worry Dave - it was tongue in cheek. I’ll sort the bomb bay door errors if I can as they have been well documented elsewhere and would look ‘obviously wrong’ to me now. 
 

I don’t know very much about Mosquito variants (other than the very obvious differences between Bomber/ FB etc) but have always loved the aircraft. I’m more than happy to learn how this one can be improved in all honesty - I may not incorporate all changes, but I’m certainly happy with a bit of fettling around the edges to iron out errors where I can; please feel free to share away - even if I don’t manage all the changes, others might 👍

 

Steve

[Dave Swindell]

2 hours ago, Steve 1602 said:

Don’t worry Dave - it was tongue in cheek. I’ll sort the bomb bay door errors if I can as they have been well documented elsewhere and would look ‘obviously wrong’ to me now. 
I don’t know very much about Mosquito variants (other than the very obvious differences between Bomber/ FB etc) but have always loved the aircraft. I’m more than happy to learn how this one can be improved in all honesty - I may not incorporate all changes, but I’m certainly happy with a bit of fettling around the edges to iron out errors where I can; please feel free to share away - even if I don’t manage all the changes, others might 👍

Steve

 

Hi Steve, I'm really glad to hear that, as I thought I might have put my foot in it there. I was part way through typing a PM to my mate Alan @Angus Turaexplaining my views as he had asked, but since you've asked as well I'll post them here - please feel free to use or ignore any or all of my musings as you see fit and enjoy finishing your model as you choose, however, brace yourself, these are my current thoughts on the kit:-

 

I was really looking forward to the Airfix PRXVI kit, but once it arrived and I’d had a look at it I was quite disappointed as it could have been so much better. It’s accurate in outline and the basic airframe is good, but there’s lots of little details where they’ve dropped the ball, missed things or given us clunky detail. Some of these have been addressed by a Freightdog correction set

There’s the obvious and well documented TT35 bomb bay doors and rear fairing which is incorrect for all other marks – Smooth out and fair in, or use Freightdog replacement

The tailwheel tyre is the plain tyre only seen on very early Mosquitos with the short nacelles and short span tailplane, instead of the Marstrand “anti-shimmy” twin contact type seen on all other marks, Vampire nosewheels etc. – included in the Freightdog set

Airfix made a big deal about how the undercarriage had been cleverly designed to be built up and fitted after painting, but in doing this they’ve moved the undercarriage legs closer together, the main wheels are therefore 1mm (25%) too narrow. The legs have some rather clunky detail, including stubs on the bottom of the legs which are part of the museum axle stands and should be trimmed off. The tread detail is also rather exaggerated and could do with sanding back if you’re not replacing the wheels. Tamiya got the undercarriage correct, and with care, this can also be built up and fitted after painting. The complex nature of the undercarriage and the fine detail on it makes me think this would be a prime candidate for a single piece 3D printed drop in unit with as separate wheel. 

The cockpit rear shelf is moulded flush with the top of the spars on part A2, this area was in fact the top of the wing, so its too low by the thickness of the upper wing, and the rear bulkhead is consequently too deep. Tamiya got this right by moulding the shelf together with the rear bulkhead which then sat on top of the spar assembly

Airfix give you a T1154 radio transmitter (G3) to sit on top of the rear shelf, if this was fitted it would always be accompanied by an R1155 receiver mounted sideways behind the pilot (as per Tamiya and many other Mosquito kits, but missing in this kit) I doubt however this would have been an appropriate fit for BXVI. This was a W/T (morse) setup and used a trailing aerial for long range comms. The trailing aerial on a Mosquito was on the right-hand side of the cockpit and went out of a mast below and behind the entrance door – unless this mast is present it’s unlikely a T1154/R1155 setup was being used.

Instead of the R1155 receiver Airfix give us a (rather undersized) Type 62 Gee display unit (G14). This was used for long range navigation and would be more appropriate for a BXVI, however when this was fitted the Gee receiver and other associated connection boxes would be installed on the rear shelf instead of the radio gear, which was now installed in the rear fuselage and controlled remotely. Gee is usually associated with long whip aerial(s) on the rear of the canopy or rear fuselage.

The Pilot’s seat is moulded solid on top, it should be a bucket seat to accommodate the pilots parachute pack The control column yoke is rather over sized and the observer’s seat is missing the folding upper armoured screen.

The flat canopy top section shouldn’t have the offset frame over the pilot’s seat, it should be a light internal frame on the centreline – only the canopies with the astrodome blister had the internal frame offset to clear the blister. The two horizontal frames and the vertical frame aft of the side bulges/blisters are also incorrectly shown as external frames, they are internal only. There have been comments that the frames are rather heavily done, but they don’t look too bad to me for a pressurised cockpit canopy. Earlier non pressurised canopy framing wasn’t quite as thick.

The propellers have the correct blade shape, but they’re rather plank like and could do with thinning to give an appropriate aerofoil section.

After the hype about the ease of fitting the undercarriage after painting, Airfix give us 3-piece exhaust units that need care assembling and fitting before closing up the nacelles, they’re accurate in shape, but I would have thought single piece units that could be fitted after painting would have been more in line with the earlier philosophy. 

The firewalls E17/F17 leave a large gap at the bottom, they should seal off the whole of the front of the nacelle with domed cavities over the top of the undercarriage leg tops – a common omission on most mosquito kits. A single part to fit here shouldn’t have been difficult to design.

The intercooler intakes under the propellers are moulded with a gaping hole into the nacelle interior, they could easily have been moulded closed with a roof to the intake and a representation of the intercooler at the back. Conversely the carburettor intakes are moulded blanked off right at the front, they really should be open for a couple of mm to represent the intake.

A lot of 2 stage Merlin Mosquito’s were fitted with a fuel cooler on the stbd side of the fuselage below the wing, this is missing from the kit parts. It is difficult to see in most photo’s because the engine nacelle blanks it, but there’s an excellent photo of one of the kit subjects 8K*K / ML963 taken from directly behind in flight where this is clearly visible.

A large number of Mosquito’s featured a concave/convex fairing under the tailcone including 8K*K / ML963. This is missing from the kit. The fairing is often noted in connection with Monica, this is now thought to be incorrect and it’s thought to be associated with Type F Infra-red identification/signalling equipment. The part included in the Freightdog set I’ve only identified fitted to one particular Mosquito, possibly a trials installation, it doesn’t represent the fairing seen on most Mosquito’s which includes a concave section at the rear going into the tailcone.

 

Not a shortcoming of the kit per se, but given the bulged bomb bay was there to enable the carriage of a 4000lb cookie bomb, it would have been nice to see one of these included to show this off.

[Steve 1602]

Thanks @Dave Swindell that is genuinely interesting and I think I will have a go at putting some of that information to use. 
 

To pick your brains a bit further, do you know of any photos of the other decal option in the kit - the 109 Sqn machine? That’s the one I’m leaning towards and I was trying to work out if the nose was likely to be painted over like some other 109 Sqn machines. 
 

Steve

[Dave Swindell]

1 hour ago, Steve 1602 said:

Thanks @Dave Swindell that is genuinely interesting and I think I will have a go at putting some of that information to use. 
 

To pick your brains a bit further, do you know of any photos of the other decal option in the kit - the 109 Sqn machine? That’s the one I’m leaning towards and I was trying to work out if the nose was likely to be painted over like some other 109 Sqn machines. 
 

Steve

109 Sqn operated some BIV's equipped with Oboe, this was fitted in the nose and the nose windows were painted over as you say. Airfix show clear nose panels for their option, I'd go along with that unless you find photo's to the contrary. or evidence it was fitted with Oboe. I'll have a scan through my refs and see if I can spot any. 

A quick google picked up a couple of photo's of BXVI's credited as 109 sqn at Wyton with mostly clear windows

 

Edit - these are all BIX's with non pressurised cockpit and needle props, not BXVI's, but it shows 109 operated with both clear and painted windows, and black or MSG undersurfaces (Night or day roles)

They also appear to have regularly painted the aircraft ID letter on the bomb aimers window irrespective of whether the rest of the windows were painted out, so it's likely that ML957 had a dull red D painted here.

 

Bomb aimers panel possibly painted?

The bomb aimer's panel is painted out with code A on this one

 

Definitely painted! ML907 HS-B

J with MSG undersides

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1845817792234468&set=g.1614750728754586

 

The last one is from 109 Squadron & 582 Squadron Pathfinders Facebook group, if you're on FB its an open group, it might be worth a trawl through their photos - I only had a quick look and found a couple of useful photo's of target indicators I needed for a Mustang build I'm planning.

 

Another error that I've just remembered after looking at the above photo's - the air intake on the inboard sides of the nacelle below the exhausts (not the ones that appear on both sides) is B35/TT35 specific, remove them (one each engine) for a BXVI

[Steve 1602]

Thanks @Dave Swindell I’ve taken a look at the FB group page - some great images there. I think as you suggest I’ll leave it clear unless I find something to the contrary. 
 

Steve