Mosquito N.F. XIII MM465 Tamiya 1/48 in-flight

[Collin]

Well I decided against 1/32, although I will be converting my HK bomber to a PR XVI. 
 

Got too wrapped up in research and just decided to pull this out and start working on it. 
 

Here we go…..more to follow. 
 

Cheers

Collin

[Rabbit Leader]

All the best Colin, a wise choice to just crack on and know that it won’t fight you too much.

Cheers.. Dave

[Collin]

Biggest fight I have right now is sourcing good 1/48 RAF figures in-flight with O2 masks on.  

[Collin]

Spent the evening doing some pilot work. Hard to source good pilots for in-flight builds. Pulled the navigator from an Airfix Spitfire and the pilot is from PJ Productions. Scratch built the O2 masks. I’ll clean them up a bit more in the morning before a primer coat. 

I think they will look the part painted up and under that greenhouse canopy of a Mossie. 
 

Edited April 3 by Collin
Added content

[Troy Smith]

12 minutes ago, Collin said:

Hard to source good pilots for in-flight builds.

The 1980 era 1/48th Airfix Mosquito has a really well sculpted pair,  navigator looking out with a map, but no oxygen masks.

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235084772-airfix-148-de-havilland-mosquito-fbvi-an-old-kit-07100/

 

The radio has more detail than the Tamiya too, but it's not an easy build, unlike the legendary Tamiya engineering

 

Very neat work on your pair above though.

[Rabbit Leader]

They both look great @Collin, I'm sure all painted up under that cockpit they will do the trick. 

As an aside, if you wanted a set of Airfix crew, I'm more than happy to send a set on, however postage might me an expensive exercise from Australia (even without a Tariff slapped on!). 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Ngantek]

The masks look great!

[Collin]

Two toughest parts of an in-flight build…making sure the crew fit when the fuselage is closed up, and getting the gear doors closed up. 
The pilots left arm had to be broken and repositioned or the fuselage wouldn’t close…and so far the gear doors have had their initial positioning and gluing completed. 
 

[Rabbit Leader]

That crew look rather snug in there which looks right. These chaps were dressed for the high altitude temps so need to look bulky. Nice work on the gear doors too. This will look stunning once built up and on display. 
Cheers.. Dave. 

[The wooksta V2.0]

Those blisters on the doors will have to come off for a pre-March '44 aircraft, otherwise it's looking spiffing.  Especially the crew.

[Collin]

11 hours ago, The wooksta V2.0 said:

Those blisters on the doors will have to come off for a pre-March '44 aircraft, otherwise it's looking spiffing.  Especially the crew.

Yeah…gathering I can remove those gear bay stiffing plates. 

[Collin]

Light curing putty is a great tool to have. Let’s you plug up some substantial holes or depressions instead of shrinking putty or Mr Surfacer-like products. 

 

Now I go in with some CA, and after sanding it will be glass smooth with no shrinking. 
 

Cheers

Collin

[Collin]

Major subassemblies are together, time to start painting the interior bits/pieces. 
 

Had some fun with the punch and die set replacing the filler cap and drains on the external tanks. They may be a bit out of scale…but oh well…I had a blast scratch building. 
 

Finished off the in-flight prop hubs. CA glue mixed with metalizer pigment and a hint of Mr Surfacer when all done. Smooth and ready for paint. 
 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

Nice progress and I like that idea of the slow curing putty. This kit is coming along most nicely. 
Cheers.. Dave 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

8 hours ago, Collin said:

Light curing putty is a great tool to have. Let’s you plug up some substantial holes or depressions instead of shrinking putty or Mr Surfacer-like products. 

 

Now I go in with some CA, and after sanding it will be glass smooth with no shrinking. 
 

Cheers

Collin

What brand is this ? 

[Collin]

Funcrecol brand light curing putty. 

[Collin]

7 hours ago, Rabbit Leader said:

Nice progress and I like that idea of the slow curing putty. This kit is coming along most nicely. 
Cheers.. Dave 

It’s actually light curing. It’s like a wax putty and after filling the hole…hit it with UV light and you are sanding in seconds. 
That fills the larger holes, then I use CA with metalizer powder (Gun Metal) and after a kick of CA….sanding in seconds. 
 

I threw on a quick smear of Mr Surfacer. After that was polished put….all finished.  
 

Sure beats waiting for solvent based putty to set up. And there is zero shrinkage. 
 

Cheers

Collin

[Collin]

Away on a work trip for the last week, finally back to the build. Cockpit complete along with the crew. Once the canopy goes on…very little will be seen. 
 

Cheers

 

 

 

[Rabbit Leader]

The crew and painted up cockpit look fabulous. It's a pity to hide them all under glass, so take as many good photos as you can prior to close up. 

Cheers.. Dave 

[Keeff]

This is a nice build... the crew look very good and suitably 'busy' too. 

 

Keith ☺️ 

[franky boy]

Lovely work. As others have said the crew look very convincing. 
 

James

[Collin]

Good solid weekend of progress. Main body put together, seams filled with CA and rescribed where needed. More importantly put in the needed mods to build her in-flight. A Mosquito is just too beautiful to build with all those parts hanging down from her. 
 

[Rabbit Leader]

That’s looking quite special @Collin. I display all my aircraft gear down, however have to agree that a Mossie in flight is just something else! Nice progress. 
Cheers.. Dave 

 

[Ventora3300]

7 hours ago, Collin said:

Good solid weekend of progress. Main body put together, seams filled with CA and rescribed where needed. More importantly put in the needed mods to build her in-flight. A Mosquito is just too beautiful to build with all those parts hanging down from her. 
 

 

That's what I call fantastic progress!  In flight is always exciting and your crew really add to the action! Congrats on this beauty and looking forward to more! All the best, Mike.

[Collin]

Prepped for paint. Figured I would knock out the base first. My NF XIII will be starting a high side attack on a 217 after it’s been found on radar and the pilot picked it up visually. Black cloudy background is actually a wallpaper sample I ordered online. 
 

Cheers