Martin's Mossie *** finished ***

[Martin R]

Name: Martin
Online Name: Martin R
Model: Coastal Command De Havilland Mosquito FBVI
Kit: Airfix Mosquito Mk II / VI / XVIII
Scale: 1/72
Aftermarket: True Details wheels, Eagle Strike decals

[Dirkpitt289]

Welcome to the group Build Martin. I look forward to seeing your build

[Martin R]

OK, here is the obligatory pic showing what I'm going to work with. I've deliberately not gone into loads of pics of the sprues as I reckon most of you know what's in the Airfix Mosquito kit by now and, if not, the details are readily available in various threads in the Airfix Mosquito SKGB sub-forum.



Having said that, if you do want more detail on the box contents of what is, in my opinion, one of Mr Airfix's finest kits, then let me know.

Gotta love the Roy Cross artwork! Very 633 Sqn. I will be doing a EDSG / Sky Mossie with invasion stripes although I haven't chosen a particular airframe yet.

The sprues (originally bagged) look pretty good, with only a tiny bit of flash evident. A nice touch is that the clear sprue is separately bagged. Another nice thing is that the decals look well printed and eminently usable: in register and with nice glossy carrier film. This has not always been the case with Airfix Mossie decals.

I would like to add some cockpit details to the kit, and will try to add some blanking bulkheads fore and aft to the main wheel wells, but apart from that, it'll be pretty much oob.

AM? I may use some of the decals from within the Eagle Strike sheet 72008 "Mosquito Fighters", and I plan to use AM wheels. Either the Airwaves ones shown, or a set of True Details wheels (which have the block tread).

More details when the build commences:

regards,

[Jagewa]

..... but apart from that, it'll be pretty much oob.

I've heard that one before....

Martin was strolling though his stash one day,
He saw a kit and the kit looked good, oob it will be this time...

Quickboost saw him and said, "Why don't you add these resin barrels, to your kit"
Martin said, "Why Quickboost, thank you so, but I'm making this oob you know, and I don't need any aftermarket for my Mosquito"

Martin was checking his sprues, when Aries saw that Airfix pit, "Martin, you can't be satisfied with it, here's some belts and somewhere for your pilot to sit"
Martin said, "Why Aires I appreciate your tips, but I'm using these Airfix bits. I'm making this oob you know, and I don't need any aftermarket for my Mosquito"

Martin was inspecting his canopy, when Falcon said, "Martin, you won't be able to see your nice painted pit through that canopy, you need a vac that's built for it"
Martin said, "Why Falcon, thank you for your offer, but a vac will make me suffer. I'm making this oob you know, and I don't need any aftermarket for my Mosquito"

Martin started on his kit, and the kit was sort of good, well its ok, actually it could use a bit here and there....

So before the week was out, we heard Martin shout... "Oh help, oh no, I've gone and added some aftermarket to the Mosquit oh!"

Seeing your Gruffalo tag made me do it...

Cheers
Jim

[Martin R]

Jim,

That's a rare and special talent you've got there

But apart from the wheels . . . and the decals . . . and maybe a vac canopy, it'll be oob.

. . . Apart from the scratched 'pit.

regards,

[Jagewa]

But apart from the wheels . . . and the decals . . . and maybe a vac canopy, it'll be oob.

. . . Apart from the scratched 'pit.

[Martin R]

OK, in between decorating my daughter's bedroom, some progress has been made.

Tailplanes: upper & lower halves glued together . . .

Wings: radiator outlet flaps thinned; radiator back face added (plastic strip); radiator front and backs painted gunmetal, rest of radiator bay interior humbrol metallizer polished Aluminium; flashed holes for underwing tanks and 2 inboard rockets drilled out; wings joined.

Not worth a photo, but I've begun.

Next time: start scratching the 'pit. Depending on results, that may be worth a pic.

Till then . . .

regards,

[Jagewa]

You'll be done before you know it...

Cheers
Jim

[Martin R]

Hee hee! A night off from redecorating my daughter's bedroom . . . I can't wait!

regards,

[Martin R]

Well, after such anticipation, that was a bit of a disaster! Two hours modelling time and I made a mess of the cockpit structure (the 'shelves' behind the crew's seats in the cockpit). Oh well, I'll have another go tomorrow!

regards,

Martin

[MerlinJones]

Martin...chill!

It's not a race.
It's supposed to be fun, so PLAY.

Regards,
Bruce

[Martin R]

That's a bit better! Basic cockpit structure in place.



Still need to do seats, rudder pedals (p'rhaps), some wiring (if I can find my fuse wire), throttle box and radios.

Other progress: wings, tailplanes.



If I get the bedroom walls painted tomorrow daytime my wife may let me do some more modelling after dinner.

regards,

[Jagewa]

Still need to do seats, rudder pedals (p'rhaps), some wiring (if I can find my fuse wire), throttle box and radios.

Nice clean work Martin. Can you see much through the kit canopy?

Cheers
Jim

[Martin R]

Can you see much through the kit canopy?

Erm, no . . .

[Martin R]

Well, that was a pleasant and productive evening's frottering of plastic, resin and what-have-you on the Mossie, after last night's lack of progress. All I managed to do then was to open up the cannon troughs for the 4 20mm Hispanos on the undernose insert. To be fair, there were mitigating circumstances. I had spent the day painting my daughter's bedroom (pink and white - nice ) and when I sat down in front of the TV for 5 minutes with kids in bed and dinner eaten, what should be on the box but "The Battle of Britain". Bl**dy marvellous! (direct quote from the film by the way). That was me for the evening.

So, to tonight. I started off by adding some wiring looms down the starboard side of the cockpit using lead wire folded over a few times to the correct length. I then drilled out some 'dials' on the starboard panel. The photo below shows how it looks after an initial coat of interior green and semi-gloss black on the panels and wires. Yep, the painting of the black looks pretty pony, but I can tidy that up and it looks better in real life anyway - honest, guv.

In the bottom left of the picture, you can see my attempt at a pilot's seat and back armour. I'll paint this up and attach it later. this will be quite difficult to position at the correct angle (raked back slightly).



Still to make are a throttle quadrant and a couple of radio boxes (I think I'll give the rudder pedals and supports a miss). The amalgam of strip and sheet styrene in the pic below will, after some shaping, be the radio boxes - at least that's the plan. We'll see how it goes.



Undernose insert with protruding cannon barrels from stretched styrene tube. I'm happy with that.



Main wheels are from Aeroclub. I have sanded off the mould stubs and drilled out the axles to fit the axle shafts on the u/c legs. Re the axle shafts, one was short shot; I drilled out the centre of this verrrry carefully with thin micro drills and have inserted some thin plastic rod. Metal would have been more substantial, but hopefully it will be OK. I'll trim it to length once it is dry. If you look closely you can see the X-shaped cross-beams already cemented to one of the undercarriage legs. It's important that these fit properly into the recesses in the leg, so a little time was spent ensuring that this was so.



Finally, I have stuck together the two halves of the tailwheel, painted it, and installed it.



So, a lot of 'detailing' progress has been made. I'm now getting impatient and want to get the fuselage joined. However, I'm trying not to rush. I must say that this kit feels like an old friend as I've built it a few times in the past, and I'm enjoying it so far.

Hopefully more tomorrow (although I may be back decorating tomorrow night ).

regards,