Mosquito NF36

[franky boy]

Hi everyone 

 

This was my entry to the deHavilland GB earlier this year which I’ve only recently finished. It’s Tamiya’s NFxiii/xix kit with Pangolin Models two stage resin Merlin engines and the correct exhaust shrouds pinched from an old Airfix kit. I did a bit of scratch building in the cockpit to get the correct AI set. The sharp eyed among you will notice that there’s no bulge on radar operators side window. I tried to replicate this a few different ways using various vac form options as there’s no direct replacement available anymore but it just looked rubbish. So I decided to just live with the kit canopy as is. 
 

Anyway, we have Mosquito NF36 RL147 of 85 squadron based at West Malling circa 1951. Decals are from Freightdog, paints are Colourcoats, weathering with Flory wash and oils. The weathering looks heavier in the photos than to the naked eye. 
 

0940DEDC-05B0-408D-AD5A-F880244B02C2 by James Halls, on Flickr
 

3B68DC54-5E82-4A53-A58D-03D52CD9C8F9 by James Halls, on Flickr
 

CEF6F596-314E-4B4D-952A-E53E033B4AC6 by James Halls, on Flickr
 

8512E014-46FE-4BCE-ABCD-0155C2FFC358 by James Halls, on Flickr
 

3BA7EA9F-B17B-4EE3-B713-D558382BA884 by James Halls, on Flickr
 

D499CE04-D74D-4CE1-8CF4-324E0E9A37A1 by James Halls, on Flickr

 

Thanks for looking. Questions and comments welcome as always. 
 

James

[Farmerboy]

Beautiful model, but I’m not sure the thimble nose and exhaust shrouds add to the beauty of the mossie!!

[Rabbit Leader]

Those two stage Merlin engines look like they’ve mated very well with the kit nacelles, you’d almost think they were OOB. I’ve never noticed how large the new exhausts were on this variant too. That’s an excellent build and has convinced me to source a pair of these engines for myself. 
 

Cheers and well modelled.. Dave 

[stevehnz]

Fantastic job on a version we don't see very often.  I like it.

Steve.

[franky boy]

9 hours ago, Farmerboy said:

Beautiful model, but I’m not sure the thimble nose and exhaust shrouds add to the beauty of the mossie!!

Thanks @Farmerboy  Agreed that the nose and exhaust shrouds do nothing for the Mossies good looks. 
 

9 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Those two stage Merlin engines look like they’ve mated very well with the kit nacelles, you’d almost think they were OOB. I’ve never noticed how large the new exhausts were on this variant too. That’s an excellent build and has convinced me to source a pair of these engines for myself. 
 

Cheers and well modelled.. Dave 

Thanks very much Dave. The new engines do fit like the proverbial glove. I’m not sure how easy the Pangolin Merlins will be to find right now but Brengun now do a set so that might be the way to go. I’ve found through this build that the hardest part for modelling a late Mossie is finding the correct canopy. 
 

8 hours ago, stevehnz said:

Fantastic job on a version we don't see very often.  I like it.

Steve.

 

Thanks Steve. I have to say I find in general the post war Mossies more interesting than the war time versions. 
 

Thanks all

 

James

[Rabbit Leader]

26 minutes ago, franky boy said:

The new engines do fit like the proverbial glove. I’m not sure how easy the Pangolin Merlins will be to find right now

Funny you should say that. A good mate of mine happened to offer me a spare set of these nacelles just before I saw this RFI post. I was a little unsure at first, but your great model convinced me to say yes and open my wallet. To be honest, the asking price was too good to knock back either way.

 

Cheers.. Dave 

[franky boy]

6 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Funny you should say that. A good mate of mine happened to offer me a spare set of these nacelles just before I saw this RFI post. I was a little unsure at first, but your great model convinced me to say yes and open my wallet. To be honest, the asking price was too good to knock back either way.

 

Cheers.. Dave 

That’s great Dave. You won’t regret it when you come to use them. 
 

James

[Lord Riot]

This is brilliant! The post war Mossies look so good and yours has captured that look perfectly.

 

I’ve got the Airfix NF30 and Freightdog decals in the stash, I’m hoping it turns out like this. Will I need to change anything to make an NF36 out of it?

[franky boy]

Thanks @Lord Riot

 

I think externally your pretty good oob with that kit. 
 

The NF36 used AI MKX radar. I’m not sure if that’s the same as the NF30 so you may have a bit of scratch building in the cockpit. It’s also worth checking the positions of the various aerials for the different marks.
 

The only other thing which I tried to address but didn’t in the end is the bulge on the canopy on the operators side. Paragon used to make a vac form replacement for this but it’s long gone.
 

From doing the research for this build it does seem to be the replacement canopies with their various bulges and blisters that are the tricky bit for late mark mosquitoes. 
 

HTH

 

James

[woody37]

That's a lovely build of a not so lovely version of the Mossie! Lovely paintwork and those engines are well blended

 

[Collin]

Anyone in the aftermarket world listening??  Late mark replacement canopies are a gapping wound in our hobby. 
 

Very nice build, inspiration for my NF Mosquito waiting to be built. 

[georgeusa]

Great looking (if you ignore the nose) Mosquito.  The weathering is not too much as you expressed concern in your post.  I do have a question, though.  There is weathering of the aircraft, but as far as exhaust staining and/or weapon discharge there is nothing there.  Was this intentional, in that maybe a good ground crew that cleaned the aircraft after every flight?  Anyway, thanks for sharing this wonderful build.

[franky boy]

29 minutes ago, georgeusa said:

Great looking (if you ignore the nose) Mosquito.  The weathering is not too much as you expressed concern in your post.  I do have a question, though.  There is weathering of the aircraft, but as far as exhaust staining and/or weapon discharge there is nothing there.  Was this intentional, in that maybe a good ground crew that cleaned the aircraft after every flight?  Anyway, thanks for sharing this wonderful build.

Thanks for the kind comments George. I know it’s like putting a great big nose onto your favourite super model!
 

As far as weathering goes I wanted a bit of wear and tear as by buy 1951 this a/c would likely have been at 3 or 4 years old (that’s a slight guess) but would have likely seen it’s fair share of use. But I’m pleased you don’t think it’s too much. 
 

Re the exhaust staining. Photos really didn’t show that much staining. Weather the great big shrouds have something to do with this or as you say the ground crew were cleaning it regularly I’m not sure.
 

HTH, thanks again. 

 

James

[LimaOperator]

It’s a great looking Mossie (despite that nose) and like others I really like the weathering on it.

 

The only thing for me is this:

3 hours ago, franky boy said:

As far as weathering goes I wanted a bit of wear and tear as by 1951 this a/c would likely have been at 3 or 4 years old (that’s a slight guess) but would have likely seen it’s fair share of use. But I’m pleased you don’t think it’s too much. 
 

when I’ve looked, far from being 3 or 4 years old in 1951, RL147 crashed and was written off on 8th March 1948! 🤔 😂

[franky boy]

21 minutes ago, LimaOperator said:

It’s a great looking Mossie (despite that nose) and like others I really like the weathering on it.

 

The only thing for me is this:

when I’ve looked, far from being 3 or 4 years old in 1951, RL147 crashed and was written off on 8th March 1948! 🤔 😂

OMG you’re right. I worked from the decal sheet and I found photos in my books of RL148. Obviously the the next a/c off the production line. Well I can’t change it now so I guess this makes it Mossie WHIF!

 

Thanks for the info. 

[binbrook87]

That looks great....nice to see a post war Mossie for a change. Great work 👍

[bigbadbadge]

Looks fantastic James, I like the paint modulation effects  too and it's great to see a post war Mossie.

Cracking work

Chris

[corsaircorp]

Great conversion James !!

I really appreciate !!

Sincerely.

CC