PhilB

Thank you to all the kind members who commented on my last picturefest.
I was hoping to show the completed wheel wells but its a bit of a saga so I thought I'd let you know what I've done so far.
The wells are pretty bare apart from the kit oil tanks.
I'm using the SAM datafile and the aviation guide and both have pictures of two different aircraft's gear so its a case of putting in what appear to be common parts to both and winging the rest.
It doesn't help that both have parts and hoses missing but there you go.
 
The retraction jacks on the kit are basic:
 

 
I've added a line along the jack body and made three hoses and connections.
They're a bit bright but will be weathered later:
 

Thanks mate and this next bit is courtesy of your great photo of the resto tailwheel bay!
 
Thanks for the kind words Gentlemen.
Mark,
I can't claim any kudos for the balanced gear, the resin wheels have nice flat bottoms
already molded!
 
Its a bit hard at the moment to get much done with the Easter Holidays and a little one to amuse.
I am still plucking up the courage to do the extra detailing in the wheel wells so I had a go at the tail.
The rear mudguard is molded as a solid piece in the tailplane in the kit.
In reality it is separate and held in by bracing rods.
I had already separated it and boxed in the side panels here:
 

 
I made a hoop out of thin brass rod and ca'd it to the back of the mudguard out of sight.
This was trimmed to size and I used thicker rods to run from the wall into the tail.
These were joined with thick ca and painted to simulate a bracket:
 


 
The fairing that goes over this lot wasn't a brilliant fit.
I added a 10thou shim to the rear of the bay to tighten up the panel lines.
I also sanded down the fasteners which Airfix had molded a bit to thick for my liking.
Here it is just placed in position. The gap with the tailplane does close with a little pressure:
 

 
I have also added the horizontal stabs which are part of the conversion.
The TR33 had enlarged stabs to assist with carrier landings. These had to be adjusted slightly to get a good fit.
I enlarged the "notches" on the kit tailplanes following Anthony's build:
 


 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Phil

I gave the gear legs a good enamel wash to tone down the chrome on the oleos.
Added some grease to the top and bottom of them as well.
Brushed some oil stain on various parts of the legs.
Used a rust colour to simulate grease at the top joints of the legs.
The brake lines have been added using plastic coated wire and connectors from an electrical connectors set
I got from a model car place.
I havent added the top brake lines as I intend to fold the gear inside the nacelles for painting the main fuse colours.
I didn't want to have to mask off the extended gear.
Once down and locked these lines and the rest of the gear apparatus will be installed.
I've drilled holes in the central A frame to take the gear door wires which will be added later.
 

 
Better shot of the brake lines.
 

 
Next step will be to attach this lot to the firewalls and add the oil tanks and some extra plumbing.
 
I managed to fill all the ejector pin marks inside the nacelles.
These were painted with alclad aluminium and given a good bash of oil stain which I then blended in and feathered using a dry cotton bud.
 


 
Thats all fer now.
 
Phil

I really don't want to moan about this kit but if there is one thing that really is a problem is ejector pin marks.
The inside of the nacelle halves are covered with them.
Most have to be filled as they are too deep for sanding.
 
Here's what I mean:
 

 
I have sanded off two leaving 12 more in just the gear bay
 
Anyway, My references show the wheelbays had strengthening ribs installed with lightening holes in them.
Strangeley Airfix only do them on one side of each nacelle half. I drilled them out to give a bit more interest:
 

 
These have cut outs to accomodate a large bracing rod which fits either side of the bay.
 
One the other side I made my own out of card, with holes punched out.
It was a bit tricky as the bare sides are shorter and more deeply curved so the braces are thicker.
 

 
These need a bit of cleaning up but I might actually be able to paint the insides soon.
 
Thanks for looking,
 
phil

Thanks Richard for the kind words.
Anthony those photos are really great, they also help in sorting out those bloody fastners
on the engine cowlings which Airfix haven't got quite right.
 
Trying to move forward is a bit like swimming in treacle at the moment as to get the nacelles installed you have to install the landing gear.
Ok you may say but its about 32 pieces per side and you have to get some of the wheelbay detailing done.
I am hoping that by installing just the first part of the gear I can retract them into the nacelles and mask off to make painting easier.
 
The Tr33 had smaller wheels than the standard mossies and without the John Deere tread.
These are the resin wheels just in base paint with the kit hubs.
The hubs will have a connector for the brake lines added soon:
 

 
The tail wheel fork is one of those bloody awful split halves which makes painting a nightmare with the wheel installed.
I removed the pins and drilled it out for an aluminium tube which will be cut back to size once the wheel is in.
The forks were opened out and a brass rod put in either side to replicate the towing brackets.
 


 
This will all be toned down with a darl wash and weathering.
 
Oil tanks need to go in the bay with the gear. These are in base paint without any weathering at the moment.
Used a bit of brass alclad for caps and unions etc
The central cap is just a circle on the kit parts, I added a circular cap from punched out card:
 

 
The landing gear legs are again different on the TR33.
Apparently the usual rubber compression legs were not up to deck landings so they used Lockheed hydraulic oleos.
These are the resin conversion jobs in base paint.
I have added the brake lines but not yet done the flexible hoses.
I used resin connectors from an am model car place on the lines.
I have added the rollers for the gear door wires from the Paragon gear door set.
The instructions were for the kit legs so I made an educated guess where they would go on the TR33.
The oleos are alclad chrome which will all calm down with a darkwash.
Nice to see the resin legs with steel wire inside but a bit sharp on the fingers sometimes:
 

 
This another large piece of the gear which is unpainted.
This will go in later as once fitted it it locks the gear down.
I have replaced the plastic hydraulic ram with steel rod.
It will need a bracket adding to the top of the mudguard frame for the gear door wires but it needs to be installed to get the alignment right.
 

 
Back in a mo with lots of ejector pin marks!
 
Phil

Thanks Jerry!
 
 
Thanks for the info Anthony.
As regards the FBVI he must have a bloody big shed and does he realise the potential worth of that thing?
Methinks I am going to set my brother (who lives on the south side of Lake Taupo) a mission to trawl the NZ countryside looking for things like that!
As regard the nacelles, after reading your post I pulled some sprue (that kit isn't exactly short of sprue is it? ) and filled the lines as you suggested:
 

 
I have both the early SAM datafile and the newer Aviation Guide for the FBVI and the nacelle panels are slightly different on both plans.
They both show the lines as per the kit but differ on how the angled line on the outer nacelle half (bottom one above) finishes either butting up against the remaining line or as it is above.
As you have seen it with your own eyes and it does make logical sense then thats another thing sorted.
That's a great picture of the fastners around the side panel. It looks like they are way too heavily moulded on the kit being thin strips of metal on the real thing.
I think I'll sand mine right down and use a beading tool to show the screws.
 
Out of interest I was going to remove all the raised "fastners" on the wing radiator panels and put in new flush ones with the beading tool which appears to be right.
I cannot see them building a very smooth aeroplane to get maximum low drag and putting great big raised screws on the aerofoil section.
Any views on that?
 
Thanks for the help mate!
 
Phil

I've seen various methods for adding the taped areas to the wings, filler. primer and card.
I've used 5 thou card ca'd in place with thin glue using capillary action.
Then sanded them right back. Had to remove primer to ensure a good bond:
 

 
On the plans there's an additional strengthening plate on the FBVI in the bottom corner trailing edge but on the TR33 with the
wingfold apparatus behind the skin, common sense would say it wasn't needed.
 
On the underside I've added the larger panel for the rocket rails.
I drilled out the mounting holes for the rails with a smaller 0.5 drill to give an impression of the mounting points on the completed model.
I was going to put the outer 2 rails on but info says the TR33 would carry the outer 2 rails with 3 inch rockets but ONLY with the 30 gal tank.
As mine is a 50 gal job (and I cannot get the 30 gal tanks) then it perhaps should not be done.
All the raised panels have been sanded off and rescribed with fastener detail. The oval panel became a bit trench like so its got some correction fluid to bring it back a bit:
 

 
Next will be to get the nacelles and landing gear done.
Two more kits within a kit!
 
Phil

Thank you Amigo's
 
I've been working hard at this one over the last few days but its one of those times when
all the work doesn't seem to add up to much.
Its mainly been detailing the airframe for some of the conversion bits and pieces and adding the dreaded weathering strips and plates for the
rocket rails.
 
I managed to get a good fit on the cannon troughs although a fair bit of sanding on the kit parts was needed to get it fairly flush.
I've painted the troughs with a drop of sky as it would be a real bear to do it with the cannons in place:
 

 
Cannons were painted with Alclad gunmetal and drybrushed with silver.
 
Seven holes drilled into the belly for the torpedo swaybraces, strop and mounting bracket:
I've also fitted the radiators and panels though I've yet to fill the ejector marks on the radiator flaps.
Again I've painted sky inside before assembly:
 

 
Added this blister from the conversion on the starboard side. Kit instruction's text says port,
but kit panel numbers and other photos in the instructions show its starboard:
 

 
Four holes each side for the RATO packs. I've also scribed a round plate around the resin ID lights:
 

 
I've followed Anthony's method for the tailwheel mudguard. This has been cut out, panels blanked in with card and the guard extended with card.
Needs another coat of filler to finish off and adding some bracing/support rods:
 

 
Back in a mo with the wings.
 
Phil

Thanks for the kind words Karl, as for it being clean, it is in the photos but my desk is a mess!
 
I decided to connect the two doors together before installation.
This would enable me to add some strengthening for the torpedo mounts and
to get a good shut line between the panels.
In the fuse I drilled in some plastic rod "pegs" to support the centreline.
I taped the doors in place and pinned the centreline with ca.
I then added a central rib from 20thou card and also some strips of 10thou where the doors would meet the pegs to get the height right:
 

 
The centre shut line is pretty good but I might even it up a bit with a scriber later:
 

 
Fixed in position.
It needs a tiny bit of blending in a couple of places and I will again probably resribe some of the panel lines once its had a day or two to settle down:
 


 
Don't think its very often you see the Airfix Mosquito with its belly closed but there you are.
I'm now working on the cannon fairings to get them smoothed out and installed.
 
Phil

One of the things with the TR33 is that the bomb bay doors have to be closed up to hang the torpedo on underneath.
Unless you are building this conversion I would suggest that nearly all builds of this kit would have the doors open.
On this conversion you have to use the single piece doors as per the kit NF version.
Before I fixed the wing I did a dry fit and found they were about 2mm short.
Much cussing of Airfix followed. Then I realised that there was a good deal of flex up and down of the cockpit end of the fuse
with the thin pieces of sidewall in the kit.
Sure enough there was enough flex to get a good fit with the doors.
When I dry fitted the wing there was a gap which would close if you gently pulled the nose down.
 
Here's a picture of its location just in front of the cannon "pack" after I've filled it with ca and rocket powder:
 

 
I can't for the life of me think of anything I've done in the construction so far that would cause this gap as its separate
from any forms of construction.
As this joint is vulnerable to coming apart I decided to use another form of trickery to hold it all together.
Going back to the old cowboy films the only way was to hog tie the bugger!
I used 60lb test fishing braid. Those of you who fish will know that this stuff has no stretch unlike monofilament but its tricky to tie.
I drilled a couple of holes in the aft panel and tied it up before I glued the seam.
Its also important with braid to give the knots a drop of ca to prevent any slippage.
 

 
After doing this the fuse sidewall pieces still fitted well lengthwise so its still a bit of a mystery.
Height wise there is a bit of an issue.
I need to make sure the joint with the doors is straight to get a good fit so there was going to be a gap to fill
so its best to have it on the wingroot join:
 

Nothing a drop of filler won't cure.
 
There are no tabs to help locate the doors in the closed position and as they will be drilled along the centre seam for the torpedo mounts
its important to get them mounted firmly so the next job will be to fix card tabs to get the doors on right but at least we now have a better fit:
 

The ejector chutes have been lined with card and will be painted black at the end.
 
Apologies to those who may think I should have painted up the cannons and the bay but its not going to be seen and I've
got enough to be going on with!!!!
 
Phil

Thanks Martyn and you are right there's a nice big Rad just out of shot which is handy given the weather here at the moment.
An added bonus is that I can look out of the patio doors at all the t*ts in the garden!
 
Phil
 
EDIT: It comes to something when the computer anti profanity device doesn't recognise the proper name of a native British bird. Its still a t*t as far as I'm concerned. Hmm, it will still let you say bollocks though so it can't be all bad.

Thanks Matt!
Thanks Anthony and I'm glad you are OK mate after recent events.
 
One of the things that would hold up a bit of progress is the need to do the landing lights so I can get the wings together before I saw them in half.
Thanks to Tomek and his fantastic idea on his Aircobra I am unashamedly copying his method.
Firstly I couldn't find any thick foil as all my booze bottles appear to have been opened.
Luckily my little one had some chocolate coins left over from Christmas with nice thick foil on them:
 

 
We have an understanding, I get the foil she gets the choccy!
I cut out a square and flattened it on the mat with the handle of a brush to remove the "designs"
 

 
I have a set of burnishing heads for dry transfers.
I used the biggest ball one to dish the foil using a sponge sander as a support.
An added bonus is that this also shines up the foil:
 

 
Made two and trimmed them to size.
I intend fiting a small lens in the centre to simulate the bulb but I didn't have any the right size so I'm waiting for a delivery!
 

 
The foil is thin and easily crushed so I put a big gloop of thick ca on the back and some rocket powder.
These are now nice and hard:
 

 
To prepare the wing I needed to fit the kit glass and then sand it flush on the inside, polish it and give it a coat of Klear/Future:
 

 
The new foil lenses can be glued inside. As I said I'm still waiting for some lenses for the bulbs but here's what they look like taped in situ:
 

 
And yes I know my Mossie friends I have yet to do all that sanding and rescribing of those lower wing panels.
 
One last thing!
The next time some Mr SmartyPants comes on these forums showing off his new uber designer workroom with all the bells and whistles (you know who you are! )
Give a thought for those of us having to do this stuff on the dining room table on a bloody plywood tray!!!!!
 

 
Rant Over!!!
 
Phil

The Tr33 had four bladed props using the thinner blades.
Alley Cat give you a new hub and an additional resin blade and you use the three blades from the kit to make up the prop.
I noticed that the kit blades each had a pronounced blob on the tips which needed sanding off.
The fit was pretty snug and pitch was set due to lugs on the blades but after cleanup there was a bit of movement so I used the excellent UMM jig.
This is the 1/32 version, their biggest but it will still take these:
 

 
These blades are probably the biggest I am ever likely to make measuring 6" from tip to tip!!!
 

 
On the kit the central blue piece fits into a socket inside the spinners but the new Alley Cat spinners don't have this so I'll probably use a
plug of Milliput inside the spinners to mount them at the end of the build.
 
I've also started on the engines.
These were brush painted satin black.
Have done some dry brushing and picked out the Rolls Royce logos in red.
I know there are many different schemes for these engines but I'll go with black for the main parts.
 

 
To do the logos I waited for the black to dry for about 3 days. I then picked out the letters with satin red,
gave it 30 mins or so to start to dry then used a cotton bud with isopropyl alcohol to remove the excess red paint leaving the letters.
The beauty of this stuff is that it takes longer to remove paint depending on how long its been drying so it would take off the red without moving the black underneath.
 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Phil

Well there seemed to be a few 1/24 mosquito's flying around here so why not one more?
 
I will be using this kit to help my 1/32 Revell also WIP to try and get something appraoching a Mossie!
I can't do a box top shot as I haven't got a wide enough angle lens.
Here's the terrific AlleyCat TR33 conversion:
 



 
This is the scheme I will be doing.
Its from the Culdrose Wing from RNAS Culdrose near Helston in Cornwall.
I grew up about 10 miles from this station in the 60's and 70's so it has special memories.
 

 
The AlleyCat conversion is very extensive including a full set of masks. Unfortunately it only has masks for two roundels
so I have got hold of the Ad Astra Masks 'C' Roundel set which includes all the roundels and fin flashes so I can keep the decal count right down.
I have also got a couple of bits from Paragon.
U/C doors:
 

 
And the ID lights:
 

 
Chopping up a £100 kit is going to focus the mind a bit but having seen a built-up one at Telford
with folded wings and a bloody great torpedo slung underneath, I think it will be worth it!
 
Best I get the glue out!
 
Phil

Ha!
I knew you would eventually turn to the dark side.

If it is any help I built an F Trop from the F kit.
Did most of the mods mentioned, round wells, removing scoops and rescribing hatches etc.
The rudder is undersized but fixed that as well.
 
RFI thread here with a link to the build on the first page.
 
http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=31927
 
Well it looks like a 109 to me at least!
 

Oh I understand now.
All their stuff is bad and anything that is any good was copied from someone else.
 
Thanks for the information.

I guess Trumpeter just got lucky with their 1/24 Hurricanes, 1/32 Avenger and a few others that seem to be regarded highly amongst the modelling community then?
 
Silly me for thinking it was anything other than pure chance.
 

Thanks for all the kind words gents and Brian, she says "Hi"!.
Starfighter, thanks for the info, I've got the black resin Contact Resine wheels and the G Factor gear for this one so I'll take on board your comments.
I decided to work on something else after the pit bogged me down for so long.
I'm doing this one with the airbrake closed so I thought I'd work on the belly for a bit.
Using the Aires gearbays means you leave off kit part F1 and only use the outer panel F2.
 
There was a gap under the panel which I can't see on any ref pics so I added a shim to fill it and also make it easier to fit the panel.

 
Fitted.

 
I then made up the airbrake and added the panels from the fuse, needed a few shims.

 
Dry-fitted. Its going to need a bit of fettling but its not bad at the moment.

 
One of the things Barry detailed on his superb build is that they have left out the catapault attatchment pin and fairing so oob it can't be launched!
Following his build I cut out a section of the T shaped panel.

 
Dry fit.

 
Made up the box from card adding plastic rod for the pin.

 

 
Then a dry fit of the air brake and panel.

 
Its not bad but will need some adjustments to get it all nice and tight.
 
Thanks for looking!

1/24.......................Perfect.
I'm in!

Thats given me a headache!
You talking like Yoda now mate?

Wey Hey!
Its been a while since a kit got criticised before release just on the boxart alone!
 
Right!
I'm going to complain to Airfix that there wasn't a scale version of Amiens Jail in my 1/24 Mossie kit!
Well, it WAS on the boxart!!!!!
 
   

Thats given me a headache!
You talking like Yoda now mate?

Thats given me a headache!
You talking like Yoda now mate?

Wey Hey!
Its been a while since a kit got criticised before release just on the boxart alone!
 
Right!
I'm going to complain to Airfix that there wasn't a scale version of Amiens Jail in my 1/24 Mossie kit!
Well, it WAS on the boxart!!!!!