Jeff

Apologies Wolf for stealing your Tagline...
 
Also apologies for all that have followed my other posts, things have been fraught the past year or so, but, I have been busy...
 
I have decided, to increase my modelling enjoyment, to take things to another level.
A Good friend of mine, Mark is helping me and what you will see on this thread, will be available eventually...
 
I have always loved the Mosquito (doesn't everybody?)  and I love the 1/32 Tamiya Kit, especially with the fact that they push boundaries every time a new kit comes out.
 
So why not make the Airfix Kit as every part as good as the Tamiya Kit?
That is where it started...
 
I am throwing everything at this kit;
 
Made a very worthwhile visit to the De Havilland Museum to study the real thing;
 

 
The Airfix FB.VI Kit of course  Well, everything on Scalemates My own photoetch  

 
 

 
3D Designed and printed Nose Guns with Master Barrels;
 

 

 
3D Designed and printed Belly Cannons with Master Barrels;
 

 

 
3D Designed and printed Starboard Engine
 

 

 
Various other 3D Printed bit like the fuel tanks, more on that as I go...
 
My subject is NS850 'Black Rufe' of 418 Squadron RCAF
I am using the rather stunning Aviaeology 1/24 RCAF Mosquitos in Fighter Command Set.
 

 
So all, to the build...
 
 
 
 

As my F-51D project winds down, I've started preparing for the next one.   I'm pretty much addicted to Tamiya's 32nd series and having completed their F4U-1D and Mustang, I decided to take a shot at their Mosquito FB.VI next.   Thanks to an awesome wife who got me this rather expensive kit for Christmas, I'll be starting this build in the few weeks.  I spent a great deal of time thinking about what subject to build.   There are many interesting and historically noteworthy subjects out there so it took me quite a while to selection one.  I was assisted in my decision when I read this book:
 

 
Truly a fascinating and somewhat overlooked part of WW2.   These crews took heavy losses flying (very) low level anti-shipping missions over Norway. It kind of fits my general criteria for somewhat more off-beat subjects.    In addition, many of these Mosquitoes were repainted in the field in the Special Duties Scheme - A, which (on paper) is Extra Dark Sea Grey over Sky lower surfaces.   

 

 

 

 
Personally, I really like this option, it's a nice break from the run of the mill Green / Grey "Night fighter" Scheme that 90% of RAF Mosquitoes were finished in.   These aircraft got worked pretty hard so I'll also have some nice opportunities for weathering.  
 
So that's where things stand right now.   I'll be posting more info later and once I've got my F-51 100% will jump into this project full speed (which for me probably means I'll be finishing this build around Christmas).    As always, any comments, suggestions, etc are always welcome.
 
 

OK - more randomness from me - and it's been a while - but a good friend, and member of this parish, has been looking at 1:200 ship models - which, in turn, has pointed out that I really ought to post a progress post on my lack of progress on the kit...
 
Actually - I had mentioned, back in the mists of time, that I was trying to sort out the space to build and photograph the Hood as I (hopefully) start to make progress.
 
As some will know - I now have 'studio space' courtesy of my employers and the exchange of a small(ish) amount of cash from my salary each month - so the excuses are disappearing fast!
 
So - photography - and excuse the mobile phone pix - I don't have a DSLR with me today:
 

 
I also have black and coloured backdrop sheets - but I need to find something that doesn't crease - and gives an even black I think...
 
Model in the photo above is a 1:32 Spitfire for a sense of scale...
 
Big enough for Hood (with proper camera anyway):
 

 
And someone was asking about mounting finials - these are brass lamp fittings from Ebay at about £3 each - used succesfully the other year when I built a 1:400 Titanic for a friends son.
 

 
Now looking at suppliers of clear cases...
 
Stay tuned, or not - but I will make a proper start soon!
 
Iain
 

Yes Gerhard it does include the lighting kit, I don’t think you can purchase this kit without it. Here are some photos:
 
Box and instructions:


the parts:

 
A view of the first page showing you what’s in all the little baggies:


A typical page of steps:

 
It’s a nice touch that Trumpeter includes this, but it’s a bit heavy handed. And not lighting belowdecks is silly; that really needs to be done to make this model really pop. They provide a 6- meter roll of SMDs lights as well as a couple dozen loose LEDs, wiring bits including connectors, resistors, a USB connector with switch, etc. They do not provide a power source, they advise buying a 5V 2-amp battery - like a cell phone charging battery I guess?
 
I am well versed in wiring LEDs as I put them in nearly every architectural build I do. I don’t like resistors at all as they can generate enough heat to be dangerous. I use current limiters, which, although they can warm up if you run too much voltage through them, don’t heat up enough to melt plastic like resistors do. And the LEDs they provide for the deck lighting are just waaaay too large. I may use the SMD strips and control them with an Arduino board and replace everything else. Perhaps I should do an  LED wiring tutorial in the tips section.
 
jimbo

Yes it is Brian. Really will build up to quite an impressive display.
 
Some more detail photos:
 
Lifeboats:
 

 
Davits:
 

 
Promenade Deck windows; you can see the “stagger” of the windows, a result from the “shear” of the decks:
 

 
The “cockpit” lol:
 

 
jimbo

Well folks it’s here. I figured I’d start a new thread in the non- LSP forum. My box of this kit showed up today. Holy c**p this is absolutely the biggest kit box I’ve ever beheld. Even Finn, at 52 pounds (and growing) doesn’t know what to make if it.
 

 
I figured I’d get the ball rolling and report on this insanely large model. I’m six feet tall and this hull literally reaches my armpit standing up. This is a 6-foot nook in my dining room:
 


This hull is just a massive example of injection molding. I’m pretty well versed in the IM process but, wow, this is intense. A few quick observations, some with photos to explain and some not. It’s difficult to capture some of the subtleties I see with quick snapshots. Not photographed but pretty apparent: each side of the tooling for this hull is composed of what look like 6 sections; whether they are inserts or some other way of sectioning this tooling is something I don’t know, but it may explain how they corrected the stem line/ bow angle without re-cutting an entire tool of such massive size. The porthole detail is NOT a mirror image, there are unique and different patterns for both port and starboard flanks. The sides of the open top of the hull are a bit wavy. This should be easy to pull together during assembly. The decks are pretty robust and the hull averages about 2mm thick. My hull measures out to 53.140”; in scale it should be 52.965”, so it’s roughly 3 scale feet too long. Once built and under glass (as I feel it should be) NO one will ever be able to check!
 
So, one issue I see is exhibited below; along the bottom of the hull, between the 5 large injection port/sprue locations, the hull is a bit “ballooned” or “saggy” between the sprue points (not noticeable at the bow and stern sections really, only the wide portions). The photo below shows one of the sprue points (at the 20-5/8” position) and how the hull dips down. Probably not an issue if you intend to mount it on finials on a base, but if you want to do a “dry dock” type of base with the ship on blocks it won’t sit evenly and flat. Looks like the hull wasn’t completely cool when pulled from the mold, with the waviness and sag. 
 

 
The angle of the bow looks spot on to me:
 

 
The plating and rivet detail is quite nice if you ask me. Playing may be a bit “thick” but doesn’t bother me. The smaller portholes, well even some of the larger ones, feature a bit of flash, that make it look like the hull was pulled from the mold in a hurry. 
 

 
My final photo displays the underside of the counter-stern; there is some plating detail missing here, which I think Trumpeter wisely did not try and fudge; it would not have molded well. There are some portholes that come across as ovals, a typical problem of molding limitations and a steeply sloping surface. 
 


Overall, to me, this is probably the most impressive kit I have ever seen. The parts look gorgeous, photoetch looks great. I have a pretty sizable stash, which includes 3 other Trumpeter 1/200 kits (Missouri, Arizona and Yorktown), but none have me shaking my head in awe like this one. No surprise, my 1/350 Minicraft Titanic looks pathetically small compared to this kit. I can’t say I’m ready to start this build, this is a bench-clearing effort and you will need a LOT of room. Did I mention this thing is HUGE?
 
I’m by no means an expert and provide the above only as simple observations of the kit as it comes. If anyone would like photos of anything in particular let me know. Let the games begin. 
 
jimbo

Thank you Michael!
 
And the build goes on ...
The fuselage is closed. The fit is excellent except for the underside triangle which needs a bit of tweaking and putty to restore the canvas texture.


A nice detail: the oil tank ahead of the cockpit. It’s countersunk. Don’t try to make it level with the rest of the fuselage 

 
Explorer Max warned us about the fragile tailwheel and the equally unstable horizontal stabs, argually some of the few weak spots of the kit. They were duly fixed before going further.
 
The tailwheel join was made stronger by the addition of a length of guitar string.

 

 
The two horizontal stabs are joined by a single metal rod for extra stability.

 
The cooling mat is installed. A final detail: a hole on the right cowling with a curved tubing protruding

 
The fuselage is now ready for the paint shop to-morrow.
 
That's it folks. Comments and questions are welcomed.
 
Until next time,
Cheers,
Quang
 
 

Back to the build: THE COCKPIT
The interior can be finished in a variety of ways: aluminium-dope overall, grey-green overall or a mix of the two. I chose to do mine with the skeleton armature in aluminium and the rest in grey-green as I find the contrast interesting.
 
Left side

Paints are decanted Tamiya AS12 and Vallejo acrylic Green. All details in Vallejo acrylics.
 
Right side

The side door is glued in closed position.
 
Seat and cockpit 'floor'.

 
RB Productions Sutton harness prior to be installed

 
Interior installed in right fuselage half, dry-fitted and stuck in position. Black goo under the cockpit after-deck is 2-part epoxy glue

 
Everything in place with IP in situ

 
Some other views

 

 
That's it, folks.
Hope you like it.
Have a good day,
Quang

Hello all,
 
You might as well know that I'm standing on Max's @mozart shoulders while doing this WIP. Max led the way. I just followed.
 
As a modeller, my main interest has always been the Cold War period with the occasional incursion in the late WWII.
Although I have a fascination in the between-the wars planes and their shifting technologies, I never had the chance to build one.
Let me also add that this is my FIRST BIPLANE.
 
So hang on tight and let the ride begin!
 
A picture of my Belgian Edition ICM Gladiator,

 
basically a regular release with a sheet of Dutch Decals added.

 
I won't repeat what has been already said about this kit. Let me add that the design of this kit is exceptionally clever, making the building a real pleasure ...  except on one point. But more of it later.
 
As usual, a fine coat of Mr Surfacer 1200 is sprayed on all the parts with the sprues still on.
It helps to bring on the details as well as the blemishes we'll have to deal with.
Then a careful study of the parts, especially since I'm new to the subject. Similar-looking parts are hand marked to avoid confusion.

 
followed by a dry-fit of the different components.


 
The cockpit is correctly detailed while being basic. It can be easily improved by refining and adding some smaller details like switches and map cases, ...


 
Gun shell ejectors added

 
Wing gun pod ejector slots

 
Side doors opening latches refined

 
Refined throttle

 
Instrument panel is correct for MK I. Looks convincing with stock decals added

 
That's it for today, folks.
Hope you like it.
 
Cheers,
Quang
 
 
 
 

I went to a superb restaurant in the Netherlands a few years ago Mike called Carte Blanche.....there was no menu but the chef came around to each table, asked about likes and dislikes then prepared your food based on that, up to 9 courses!  We had 5 I think. 
 
OK, on with the build and preparation for the low-wing monoplane becoming a biplane!  Despite my fears of a spaghetti mess of rigging lines, I've glued in all the rigging for the upper wing, attempting to keep some sort of order and discipline with the aid of coils and tape:
 



 
Then onto the rigging between the interplane struts, close examination of the real thing shows the wires enter through the "boots" or "fairings" at the top and bottom of each strut:
 

 
So I'm carefully drilling out each then planning to use thin metal rod or plastic cut to length, stretched sprue seems favourite at the moment but this could change!
 

What is GFC?
Global Financial Crisis?

Tamiya has an F-51D variant of their Mustang coming sometime this year. It's listed on Lucky Model as well as TamiyaBlog.com. So they haven't given up on the scale completely. 
 
Carl
 
 
 

There has definitely been a "Shift" in the market since I started back into the hobby in about 2007-8 ...
 
I remember when things slowed down a little - post GFC - and there were doom and gloom posts everywhere about every company pulling out of anything Large scale and that the Hobby was dead and/or in the process of dying. In reality nothing could have been further from the truth ... The amount of product released in the years 2008 - 2015 is staggering. Most people forget to include the Chinese market in their calculations also - at nearly 20% of world population. Dragon were the primary producer of LSA's chuffing out about 3-6 new releases per MONTH ... while either Trumpeter or Hobbyboss dominated LSP production (among other things) at that time releasing several new LSP kits per year ... averaging at least 1 per month at one point.
China has been the last of the world markets to slow down economically and it shows ...
 
It has to remembered that the primary reason for any cut back in production - from anywhere - will be a waning of demand (measured through sales statistics) ... Also the larger the company - the greater demand will have an influence on economies of scale. I believe this is why the smaller to medium newer companies - birthed around that post GFC time - are doing reasonably well now (Zoukei-Mura, Wingnut Wings, Hong Kong Models, Takom, Meng, Rye Field Model) etc ...
 
Trumpeter, Hobbyboss,  Dragon, Revell, Tamiya etc have still been pumping out product ... yet it's been in less quantities over time - as the pipeline (development to production) has dried out ... The bigger the modelling wing of the company ... the sharper the decline - especially as company rationalisation kicks in ... although it's interesting to note that they haven't given up completely ... Tamiya is releasing a (re-box?) of a Mustang this year ... Revell is releasing re-pops of their own and other companies products, the Chinese based companies are releasing new moulded kits (just a LOT less of them) ... They're just holding off on development at the moment.
 
I think that when worldwide demand increases again, you'll find these bigger companies will reemerge with something new.
 
Rog
 

'precise surgery would be needed to center the prop shaft hole'

Inexpensive Dremel Drill Press would do the trick.
 
The detail on the resin parts is astounding.  Great show.
 
Sincerely,
Mark

Instead of showing all of the sprues, maybe I'll just cover the extras since I took the time to take photos of them in my light box.  The Vector cowl flaps are the biggest addition.  The set comes with a crankcase assembly but it might be too much of a bother to incorporate since it is a solid piece and some precise surgery would be needed to center the prop shaft hole, which is not something I am particularly good at.  I'll compare it with the kit parts before I make a final decision.


 
Photos of 740 indicate that it had smooth tires so I've picked up a set of Barracuda resin wheels as replacements for the kit's vinyl tires, which are treaded.

 
The cockpit will feature fabric belts from HGW.  Not as many buckles as a typical Luftwaffe set so this should be easy.

 
I'm also going to be using the Barracuda cockpit stencils.  Lots of tiny decals, many of them color-separated, which should make for lots of fiddly placement, I imagine.

 
Montex masks will be used for the large markings.  Masks are ideal for US markings since they cover so much real estate.

 
And here's the True Details parachute that lots of people have used on their Corsair builds.

 
There was one little thing that I wanted to take a look at before the build begins in earnest... the exhaust stubs.  They are semi-hollowed out but are on the thickish side.

 
Using a dremel and some metal bits, I thinned the exhausts a bit and deepened the openings. Something that caught my eye when reviewing the kit parts.

 
I'll probably be doing little odds and ends like this for a few weeks as I clear off my work bench of recently finished builds.

I know, I know!  ANOTHER Tamy Corsair build!  Forgive me for choosing a kit that is more than well represented on these boards but it is next on my list and I wanted to share my work here.  I'm primarily a modeler of Messerschmitts and Focke-Wulfs so this is going to be new territory for me.  Hopefully, I'll receive some help along the way and hopefully, the build journey will be of interest to at least some of you.  Many of us grew up watching Baa Baa Black Sheep on TV and I was one of those kids.  So I'm going to do one of Greg "Pappy" Boyington's many reputed mounts: Bu No. 17740 of VMF-214 based on Vella La Vella in 1943.
 
  




 
The kit will be, of course, the magnificent Tamiya 1/32 F4U-1a kit.  I've heard so many glowing reports of this masterpiece that I half expect the kit to magically build itself!  I'll be adding some customary bits and pieces including the Barracuda cockpit stencils, Barracuda resin wheels to replace the kit's vinyl tires, HGW belts and the Vector resin cowling flaps.  Markings will be masked using Montex masks.  Fundekals produces a nice set of dekals for some of Boyington's Marine Corsairs and the informative PDF instructions will be used as a painting guide.

 
Does anyone have an interest at looking at the sprues of this kit?  I don't want to bore anyone but it is actually beneficial for me to present the sprues as a way to familiarize myself with the kit contents before I start.  I'm not as familiar with the Corsair as I am with Luftwaffe fighters and I will be using past builds here as references, of which there should be many.  I thought I was being cute when I picked up a True Details parachute to serve as a visual interest prop but there are at least 3 Corsair builds that have had the same bright idea as me.  Takeaway?.. there will be nothing new here.  Except what I bring to this build.  And at this moment... it ain't much.
 

Chance to do a little more today after the necessary bit of seasonal socialising!  I've sprayed the metal bits of the Gladiator in White Aluminium and all the fabric parts in Silver (both MRP).  The difference is slightly more stark than I'd anticipated but I'm generally satisfied with the effect, especially in the varying light conditions:
 

I found that the tailwheel is a bit fragile - a rather heavy "plonk" down onto a surface resulted in it snapping off.  I intend drilling it out and replacing with a piece of brass.
 
Like this:
 

 
I've also started the checkers on the top wing.  Masks in place (fiddly):
 

 
Little bit of bleed in a couple of places to tidy up, but not too bad at all:
 

 
Couldn't resist this shot!
 

New to LSP.
I never stepped inside one of these, but the S2-F were on the Yorktown in the 60's, I was with HS-4, and I love the sound of their round engines taking off, and landing.
Your interior detail looks fantastic.

GEEZ.........................................................

It does............ thanks Andy..............my goal would be to do a Conair Firecat..... I just have to get the decal set from Syhart resized to start with, then a TON of civvie mods......

Andy...... this one or rather the "A" is on my list, is it as really as bad as everyone says? I want to get the Kinetic A version..................... but don't really need a lot of head aches...... also what AM are you going to use? Apparently there is a ton of it out there...... I will be watching your build with much interest
 
Jeff

Nice! I would love to see a 1/32 Tracker!
Cheers
Alan

Hi Andy - I'm relatively new to LSM so was very pleased to find your Tracker build - really like the detailing you are adding and was interested to see your remarks on the ED cockpit set with the D mould forward fuselage - I have  one of these to do one day and have the D mould fuselage correction already and am thinking about the nacelle correction set as well as the other AM bits you are using too.
Now following your build
CJP

Okay, the rear compartment just needs the Hyd fluid tank and some plumbing and some wires.  Avionics are done and will add a few wires here and there.  Almost ready for paint!
 
Andy