MOK61 Posted December 28, 2024 Posted December 28, 2024 Here we go again, my friends. First some history. On the night of 2nd May 1945 Bomber Command performed their last raid of the Second World War, against Kiel and the surrounding area. Included in the operation were twelve Mosquito B.XVI aircraft of 608 Squadron and it is generally accepted that the last aircraft to bomb was PF505, 6T-D, flown by the CO of 608, W/Cdr Gray, with Capt Mehre as navigator and bomb-aimer. But the aircraft that interests me more is Mosquito EV347, 6T-A, flown by F/Lt Hobbs with P/O Dennis. Facing no lesser dangers than any other crew that night they carried their 4000lb bomb all the way to Kiel, only to have the release mechanism hang up. Apparently unknowingly, they then flew all the way home and landed safely with the fully armed weapon still on board. No mean feat and, in my mind at least, that means they had The Last Cookie Left in the Jar. So, in honour of all unsung heroes everywhere, let us begin. 13 1
Dunny Posted December 28, 2024 Posted December 28, 2024 1 minute ago, MOK61 said: Here we go again, my friends. First some history. On the night of 2nd May 1945 Bomber Command performed their last raid of the Second World War, against Kiel and the surrounding area. Included in the operation were twelve Mosquito B.XVI aircraft of 608 Squadron and it is generally accepted that the last aircraft to bomb was PF505, 6T-D, flown by the CO of 608, W/Cdr Gray, with Capt Mehre as navigator and bomb-aimer. But the aircraft that interests me more is Mosquito EV347, 6T-A, flown by F/Lt Hobbs with P/O Dennis. Facing no lesser dangers than any other crew that night they carried their 4000lb bomb all the way to Kiel, only to have the release mechanism hang up. Apparently unknowingly, they then flew all the way home and landed safely with the fully armed weapon still on board. No mean feat and, in my mind at least, that means they had The Last Cookie Left in the Jar. So, in honour of all unsung heroes everywhere, let us begin. Looking forward to this one Murray - if I may I shall take the first seat! 1
MOK61 Posted December 28, 2024 Author Posted December 28, 2024 33 minutes ago, Dunny said: Looking forward to this one Murray - if I may I shall take the first seat! Gosh, you were quick in the door there, Roger. I was just changing from laptop to phone before I posted the first photos. Make yourself comfortable. Murray
MOK61 Posted December 28, 2024 Author Posted December 28, 2024 This is my starting point, one of last year's Christmas presents. I've got to say, after the Stirling, those fuselage halves look absolutely tiny! Now, I know that I had said that I wanted to do a smaller, OOB, build next, and fixing the bomb bay doors and the fairing hardly counts, but somehow I seem to have started acquiring extra goodies already. What else do we think, maybe a mask set? I'm going to need some aftermarket decals to change the serials and squadron codes too. Oh well, at least I can tick the "smaller" box. I must not, I must not, I must not get sucked down the rabbit hole of what radio equipment was carried by late war Pathfinder Mossies! Onwards and Upwards, my friends. 18 1
ColinChipmunkfan Posted December 28, 2024 Posted December 28, 2024 If there is no room up front I will squat in the bomb bay. Looking forward to the trip. Colin 2
MOK61 Posted December 28, 2024 Author Posted December 28, 2024 27 minutes ago, ColinChipmunkfan said: If there is no room up front I will squat in the bomb bay. Looking forward to the trip. Colin Welcome aboard, Colin. You might have to push Niels Bohr out of the way. Don't mess up the oxygen supply like he did.
Gondor44 Posted December 28, 2024 Posted December 28, 2024 I'll follow as there is not much room in a Mossie Gondor 1
Dunny Posted December 28, 2024 Posted December 28, 2024 20 hours ago, MOK61 said: What else do we think, maybe a mask set? Definitely - also don't forget that the Mk.XVI canopy framing differed from earlier marks. No internal framing as I recall... 1 1
R T Fishall Posted December 28, 2024 Posted December 28, 2024 Good story behind the build Murray; since you're doing a Pathfinder it's probably only natural that there'll be a number of us following along; I'll tuck into the stream somewhere. Cheers, Richard. 1 1
Jeff G Posted December 29, 2024 Posted December 29, 2024 I'll set my follow preferences to look for the TI's whenever you drop them! 1 1
T-21 Posted January 6 Posted January 6 (edited) Following this with great interest as I live in No.8 Group country and close to RAF Bourn. I have a lot of Mossie references if you need any help. Happy New Year. Ps. The Barracuda B.XVI undercarriage upgrade set is superb, fine casting very scale like. Will enhance the model greatly. Edited January 6 by T-21 1
MOK61 Posted January 6 Author Posted January 6 5 hours ago, T-21 said: Typo EV347 should read RV347 6T:A. Well spotted, Nigel. Thanks! In my defence, what I've done is copied an 80-year old typo from the 608 ORB. I'm sure it makes me a geeky weirdo, but I think stuff like that actually adds to the human fallibility interest of the story. 😁 Murray
MOK61 Posted January 8 Author Posted January 8 There was some progress last night, but not much of it was Mosquito shaped. To be honest I'm struggling to kick start the mojo after the holidays for a whole raft of real world reasons. I decided that something simple and relatively fool-proof was in order so I gave the Mossie's sprues a gentle bath in warm water and detergent and while they were drying I revisited the Flightpath type C bomb trolleys that I had started to go with my Stirling build. They were almost finished before I noticed that the 2000lb AP bombs were sitting far too high on the M-shaped cross stretchers. I had worked out that the cause was the stretchers were the wrong shape so very reluctantly prised them off one of the chassis to try some modifications. That was about six months ago. The paintwork has suffered a bit since then and there are still some detail parts to add but here is what I managed. The top image shows how those big bombs should sit on the cross members, the middle is the unmodified version back in July last year and the lower one is last night's effort. It is still slightly too high, but the trolley is suffering with all the handling and I think it will get much worse if I carry on fiddling about. Obviously the paintwork will need fixing, the trolley is missing a hook at the rear and a towing handle at the front and I still need to fix that lifting bracket on top of the bomb. I will probably use the Flightpath etched tie-down straps to go over the bomb casing on the third and fourth cross pieces, but make replacements from masking tape, maybe using the Flightpath buckles, to wrap around the first and second positions, to look like unused straps stowed away. We shall see. Onwards and Upwards, chums. 9
The wooksta V2.0 Posted January 10 Posted January 10 A nice collection of extras but I'd advise caution with that canopy. The B.XVI was pressurised and had heavier canopy framing than the earlier Mosquito bombers, so it's likely that the Airfix one is correct with external framing (which you'd need to keep the canopy in place). I think Roy may have got a bit too clever with that one. 1 1
MOK61 Posted January 11 Author Posted January 11 9 hours ago, The wooksta V2.0 said: A nice collection of extras but I'd advise caution with that canopy. The B.XVI was pressurised and had heavier canopy framing than the earlier Mosquito bombers, so it's likely that the Airfix one is correct with external framing (which you'd need to keep the canopy in place). I think Roy may have got a bit too clever with that one. Thanks, I'll bear it in mind!
MOK61 Posted January 13 Author Posted January 13 Still no Mossie related progress but after some very crude butchery of the cross stretchers, and a lot of caffeine, I have got all four of these blighters to line up, more or less. I also fettled the lifting brackets on the bombs, too. Tie-down straps next, but probably not until Tuesday. Onwards and Upwards! 10 1
MOK61 Posted January 13 Author Posted January 13 I'm starting to wonder how much effort the straps on those trolleys are worth. I know they were used, and they are supplied with the Flightpath kits but trawling online photo-resources the only image I have found so far is the one I have already posted of the AP bomb in front of a Whitley where there are unused straps wrapped around the stretchers. It seems that the straps were probably undone and possibly removed as soon as the bomb train came to a halt. I wanted to set up a scene where the driver has just detached the train of trolleys and is heading straight back to the bomb fusing point to collect another loaded train. So straps fastened round bombs, straps undone but still attached or straps removed? I am feeling a bit stalled. If anyone can shed any light on what the accepted custom and practice was I would love to know. Confused of Cambs!
MOK61 Posted January 14 Author Posted January 14 Well, I think I can blame that wobble on a temporary loss of confidence fuelled by lack of sleep. Today I found two images of bomb trolleys with straps draped over the frames. Those will do nicely. Now all I need are a squad of armourers in winter rig. I foresee more adventures in Milliput haute couture in my future! But first, fingers crossed for a couple of hours at the bench tonight. Murray 7
MilneBay Posted January 14 Posted January 14 3 hours ago, MOK61 said: Well, I think I can blame that wobble on a temporary loss of confidence fuelled by lack of sleep. Today I found two images of bomb trolleys with straps draped over the frames. Those will do nicely. Now all I need are a squad of armourers in winter rig. I foresee more adventures in Milliput haute couture in my future! But first, fingers crossed for a couple of hours at the bench tonight. Murray Have you considered putting these posts in the Stirling build thread? 1
MOK61 Posted January 14 Author Posted January 14 3 minutes ago, MilneBay said: Have you considered putting these posts in the Stirling build thread? I probably should. I seem to have hi-jacked my own thread! 3
MOK61 Posted January 16 Author Posted January 16 While I was waiting for the paint to dry on some detail parts for those trolleys I took a bit of a leap and made a start on proper plastic bothering for the Mossie. It is only five pieces but it is the first five and I had to start somewhere. Of course there was a problem. A problem involving a fair bit of lost time and a few choice Anglo-Saxon words. The fifth piece to be added, part G8, that pair of rails, or tubes, or whatever they are in front of the forward spar was broken on the sprue, but I did not notice until I snipped through the first attachment point and the left side pinged across the room. Lovely, I thought. What a great start. How marvelous. Or something like that. At least I found it eventually. Onwards and Upwards. 4 3
T-21 Posted January 16 Posted January 16 The external bulged bomb bay surfaces need to be smooth. The rear is based on a T.T.35 Lidared at Cosford. Are you going to use filler to round off the rear. I purchased the correction Freight Dog bulged bomb bay in resin and it fits beautifully. I have an old Aeroclub 1/72 bulged bomb bay in vac form which I can send you ? if required. 1
MOK61 Posted January 16 Author Posted January 16 37 minutes ago, T-21 said: The external bulged bomb bay surfaces need to be smooth. The rear is based on a T.T.35 Lidared at Cosford. Are you going to use filler to round off the rear. I purchased the correction Freight Dog bulged bomb bay in resin and it fits beautifully. I have an old Aeroclub 1/72 bulged bomb bay in vac form which I can send you ? if required. Thanks Nigel. I shall see how I get on with sanding and filling the kit parts. As I understand it there are some small scoops on the engine nacelles that have to go, as well, and although I have bought a vac form canopy replacement it turns out that the framing might be incorrect for the pressurised mk.XVI so I could be better off sanding and repolishing the Airfix part. As for what radio equipment was carried by late-war Pathfinder mosquitos and where it was installed I will go with what Airfix have given us with some nice Eduard enhancements. I already have the 4000lb cookie and its trolley from the Bomber Re-Supply set so that should keep me busy for a while! Thanks again. Murray 2 1
Gondor44 Posted January 17 Posted January 17 On 1/14/2025 at 10:54 PM, MOK61 said: I probably should. I seem to have hi-jacked my own thread! A bit of crosswind there to cause such drift I would say. Gondor 1 1
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