WE GOT WOOD! Mosquito Madness #3

[Youngtiger1]

Phil, your cockpit is looking awesome dude. I don't have this kit yet but I know after following your build I'll be getting one soon. I can't wait to see how the Ally Cats resin will fit. I would love to do a sea Mosquito someday. Keep up the good work

 

Mike

[Barry]

Tremendous Work Phil!

The Instrument Panel and Controls are awesome.

 

Barry

[Jamme]

Very Very nice and clean job you did here Phil.

I'm scotched!

Cheers,

Jamme

[PhilB]

Thanks for all the kind words Gentlemen, it really makes a difference when you are this early on in this huge build!

Jim, I painted the pedals Humbrol satin black.

I then dry brushed across the frames in the lower areas with good old Humbrol #11 silver.

I've tried lots of other silvers for dry brushing but nothing still comes close.

I kept going in the area where the pilots boots would have chipped the paint until the black went completely in some places.

I then gave the actual footrest part a coat of matt black then some brown chalk to give them a dirty look.

 

I've been working on the control column which looks different to the airfix one out of the box here:

 

Looking at the SAM FBVI book this is very accurate for an FBVI. It needs cables from the "head" of the stick but its good.

 

This is a crop of the TF37 cockpit which Chris (Monty Pyhton) sent me.

I'll quote the "fair use" criteria just in case:

 

 

The two buttons on the kit stick looked to have been moved around to the back of the head somewhat and there's an additional larger button above.

The main button on the front appears to be similar to the good old fashioned "tit" on the Hurricane.

There also appears to be a whitish slider or top to the head.

We know the TR33 had no MG's but it still had the cannons and the ability to carry rockets, bombs and a torpedo.

 

So I cut off the kit buttons and moved them round the back slightly.

I made the larger button by dishing the end of a 1.2mm piece of rod with a 0.9mm drill then drilling a small hole through and using the wiring on the back to poke through to look like the small button.

I added the wiring to the back of all 4 buttons then used strips of tape to simulate the ties.

I gave the grip a string "wrap" which also fastens the wiring using 0.08mm steel wire as I did on my Hurricane.

I've also made a small bracket from rod at the base of the column to connect to the linkage rod under the pilots seat which I'll put in later.

 

Back view:

 

Front:

 

Then after some paint:

 

Good thing about being this early in a build is if you get fed up or are waiting for paint to dry you can do some work on other things!

Back in a minute with the props.

 

Phil

[PhilB]

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

[JRutman]

Nice work again buddy. That is a nifty little prop gizmo.

J

[Out2gtcha]

Awesome man!

 

I do like those props...........freakin HUGE. Reminds me of a Brit version of a P-47 prop.

 

Keep the pics comin buddy! I DO so love my PropMaster jig as well.........saved my a$$ on my 5 blade Mk XIV.

 

Brian

Edited February 22, 2011 by Out2gtcha

[dodgem37]

I'm with Jerry, Phil. Nice clean work. Always a pleasure.

 

Sincerely,

Mark

[Loic]

Very nice and clean job!

[PhilB]

Thanks for the kind words Jerry, Brian and Mark.

Loic, Merci mon ami!

 

I'm still grinding through the cockpit.

I would have loved to use Radu's harnesses but this version entered service in 1946 so it would probably have had the late style harnesses.

Therefore it was back to Eduard. I always scrape all the paint of these things as its needed for decent glue adhesion and the paint always seems

to flake off when you try and pose them (which is a PITA compared to the paper ones) plus I am not a fan of all the overt stitching they paint on.

I have managed to complete the pilots harness and installed the seat.

The control column is in with the scratched linkage beneath the seat.

The spice rack has been done (Hmmm loved those tiny decals!) and I've painted the fire extinguisher red.

Airfix say the FBVI one's were copper but as this is years later and a Navy one then a bit of colour in the cockpit never hurt anyone!

 

 

I removed the molded attachment point on the seatback and made it more central as per the reference material:

 

 

I painted the belts with some Humbrol khaki and then give them a matt dark wash to bring out a bit of detail.

 

 

All thats left to do is another set of belts for the Navigator then its onto the sidewalls which are going to have a lot of "C.R.U.D" on them!

 

Phil

[Out2gtcha]

 

CRUD()

Slang.

1. A coating or an incrustation of filth or refuse.

2. One who is contemptible or disgusting.

3. A disease or ailment, imaginary or real, especially one affecting the skin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Love the belts, looks the mutz nutz!

 

 

 

 

 

B

 

 

 

[PhilB]

CRUD = All those wee discs they glued over the inside of the walls.

Methinks:

 

C - Cockpit

R - Reinforcing

U - unmentionable, ungulate, umbilical, underwater, underpants............ still working on the "U" and am open to suggestions!

D - Discs

 

P

[big matt]

U- ugly???

 

Great cockpit Phil!

[Anthony in NZ]

Fantastic cockpit work Phil, I especially love the control colum, very very nice!

[PhilB]

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