Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

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Migrant
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Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by Migrant »

My plan is to build this Mosquito from the Tintin 'Red Sea Sharks' book (which also happens to be the subject of my avatar). I have a Hasegawa 1/72 Mossie in the stash and have ordered the decals for the Tintin a/c from eBay, so I should be set to go.

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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by JamesPerrin »

Do you have a clear idea of the roundel design?
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Migrant
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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by Migrant »

Yes, there are a couple of clear images in the book showing the markings, and the 'Blue Rider' decals I've ordered look like they got it right.
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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by Purplethistle »

Migrant wrote:My plan is to build this Mosquito from the Tintin 'Red Sea Sharks' book (which also happens to be the subject of my avatar). I have a Hasegawa 1/72 Mossie in the stash and have ordered the decals for the Tintin a/c from eBay, so I should be set to go.

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Cool! Will you be doing Skuts eye patch?


(Note to self - watch the DVD ......to make sure I got the eye patch thing right! :-D )
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Migrant
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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by Migrant »

Good memory PT, it is indeed flown by Skut :) Whether I can model him in 1/72 is another matter. Got the kit ready, though. It's the NF version but has regular parts too.

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Migrant
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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by Migrant »

Work has begun on the Mossie, although progress has been slow as I'm having to fit it around another project. Hasegawa's cockpit is a bit simplified but plenty good enough for this build. I found a 1/72 pilot and sanded off most of the helmet and goggles to make a rudimentary Skut. My figure painting ability is, appropriately, comical, but I think he'll look OK under glass. I tried painting his mouth and facial features and he looked (even more) ridiculous.

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I've also painted the props and the cockpit walls.
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Clashcityrocker
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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by Clashcityrocker »

Lovely work on Skut the pilot.

Nigel
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DavidWomby
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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by DavidWomby »

Great job on the pilot!

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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by Purplethistle »

Love it!!!! both Skut and the radio look authentically like Herge illustrations. Cracking work.
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mattbacon
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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by mattbacon »

Great job, Mike... I always rather liked Skut, poor guy. He was the Tintin books' equivalent of the pirates in Asterix... in my mind, anyway. Am I hallucinating that he was Estonian? It wasn't until a lot later in my life that I realised that General Alcazar's post war arms trading was very much an accurate portrait of what the Israelis got up to in 1946-7-8...

You do realise that this needs to be your first "box art" project, with some forced perspective and a teeny-tiny dhow, don't you? ;-P

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M.
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VickersVandal
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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by VickersVandal »

Fantastic job on Skut, especially considering that's 1/72!

I'm taking notes for the Skut Mozzie on my stash ;)
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Migrant
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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by Migrant »

mattbacon wrote:Great job, Mike... I always rather liked Skut, poor guy. He was the Tintin books' equivalent of the pirates in Asterix... in my mind, anyway. Am I hallucinating that he was Estonian? It wasn't until a lot later in my life that I realised that General Alcazar's post war arms trading was very much an accurate portrait of what the Israelis got up to in 1946-7-8...

You do realise that this needs to be your first "box art" project, with some forced perspective and a teeny-tiny dhow, don't you? ;-P

best,
M.
Thanks for the comment Matt, he was indeed Estonian. Not sure about a forced perspective diorama, might be a bit beyond me. Though there's a scene from the same book where the Mosquito shoots up a couple of Humber armoured cars, that might be feasible at some point with a couple of small scale vehicles.

For now, I'll concentrate on just getting the plane built. Hergé drew the Mosquitos with a non-standard 2-over-2 nose gun configuration. I can't find any reference showing this was an actual variant (which surprises me as he was generally pretty accurate with his drawings). But, I've blanked off the Hasegawa nose with stubs of plastic rod which I'll trim and sand to shape later, before drilling the new holes.

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Inspired by Daz's 633 Sq. Mossy, I'm going to do mine in flight too. I've drilled a hole through the bomb doors and attached a piece of tubing which will allow the support strut – a length of BBQ skewer – to be pushed into it.

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The bane of my modelling life is also done: canopy masking, using Parafilm. Some of the frames were actually internal struts so I'll leave those Interior Green and will gloss varnish them as if they're under the glass.

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When Skut is rescued there's no mention of his unfortunate navigator/co-pilot, so maybe he flew alone, but I wanted a 2-man crew so added another figure. He looks suspiciously small compared to Skut, but I'm hoping it won't be quite so obvious once the canopy's on. I also had to amputate Skut's feet to get him into the pilot's seat.

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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by DazDaMan »

Great work so far!
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Migrant
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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by Migrant »

Thanks Daz!

A bit more progress. Hasegawa don't intend you to build the kit with the wheels up, so the fit of the doors in the closed position is horrible. Lots of superglue filler was needed to eliminate the big gaps.

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Just finished spraying the primer. Looks a bit patchy but it should do the job.

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Re: Migrant's Tintin Mosquito

Post by gnomemeansgnome »

Nice work Mike. Yes, I remember the same gear door issues with their Shinden as well. Lots of muttering and grousing punctuated by vigourous outbursts of sanding and eyeballing.
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