A Separate Little War - Strike Wing Mosquito FB.VI

[MikeMaben]

15 hours ago, John1 said:

From the original RAF drawings, it should be on the right side, pretty much in line with the guy's elbow, directly above the duct work for the gun heating lines.  The cockpit layout drawings just show a very rough outline labeled "Observers Intercommunication Panel".  It also has a clip to hold the oxygen hose. 

 

 This from the Pilot's Manual ,  Could #74 Switch for Transmitter Type F be it ?

edit : Just saw Anthony's pix. Looks like it could be for the intercom transmitter.

Need to find out what a Type F transmitter is/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by MikeMaben

[Anthony in NZ]

Mike, the F Type transmitter, Monica and 'Z' Equipment are a tough subject to answer!

 

Have a read of a discussion I was involved with here....

 https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235065576-dh-mosquito-tail-fairing-monica-or-signal-light/

 

Cheers Anthony

[John1]

5 hours ago, Anthony in NZ said:

Mike, the F Type transmitter, Monica and 'Z' Equipment are a tough subject to answer!

 

Have a read of a discussion I was involved with here....

 https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235065576-dh-mosquito-tail-fairing-monica-or-signal-light/

 

Cheers Anthony

To Anthony's point, I never knew how complicated the Mossie's equipment was until I started reading up on GEE, Type F, Monica, etc.   I believe that the Type F Transmitter was an infrared "flasher" lamp located in a bulge under the tail cone.  It was supposed to be used on nightfighters and intruders to avoid friendly fire.  For Mosquitos doing strike work (such as my subject) or tactical bombing, this opening was simply plated over.  

Edited May 4, 2020 by John1

[John1]

6 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

 

 This from the Pilot's Manual ,  Could #74 Switch for Transmitter Type F be it ?

edit : Just saw Anthony's pix. Looks like it could be for the intercom transmitter.

Need to find out what a Type F transmitter is/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks Mike, those are the drawing's I'm working off of.  They (and many more) are present in the awesome Valiant Airframe and Miniature book on the Mosquito (mandatory reference for anyone interested in this aircraft.    That being said, for item 74, I've got other references that label that part as the Nav's morse code key and have the Type F control panel next to the flare rack, under the Nav's legs.   Confusing....

 

Edited May 4, 2020 by John1

[John1]

7 hours ago, Lothar said:

When I look at your progress picture I always think you're posting pictures of the real aircraft.

Wish I had a fraction of your skills!!

Lothar

 

Thanks Lothar but honestly, compared to the masters on LSP, I'm just a lowly apprentice.   

[John1]

So based on the pictures graciously provided by Anthony, I spent a bit of time building the intercom panel.   I also added a few more wires that show up in those pictures (more to come in this area).   Here's how it looks.  Not the best pictures but hopefully you get an idea of what I did.   I'll be doing a bit of paint touch up.   Everything was built up from scrap PE, plastic card, wire and stretch sprue.  I also need to correct the tan power lead going from the panel to the black intercom connector below it. 

 

Here is how it looks minus the main cockpit assembly:

 

Note that this closeup really magnifies some of my rough paintwork (especially on those fuze blocks).  Not sure what I can say, my painting skills aren't the greatest.  On a positive note, from a normal viewing distance, things look halfway decent! 

 

And here is how it looks with the cockpit floor in place.  Note that this was roughly dry-fit so the yellow cable isn't seated properly.  This will be addressed when I glue everything together. 

 

In the big scheme of things, you can barely see this panel but it still adds yet a bit more clutter to the cockpit.  Hope you guys like it and as always, thanks for looking!

[Anthony in NZ]

Very very awesome John!

 

Glad I could help with the photo's, just sorry it took me so long!

 

Keep up the amazing work.  Watching this scares me doing my 24th scale cockpit!

[MikeMaben]

19 hours ago, John1 said:

  That being said, for item 74, I've got other references that label that part as the Nav's morse code key

 

Makes sense, I couldn't find anything re Type F transmitter.

 

I'm confused tho, which is the intercom panel ? 

[John1]

4 hours ago, MikeMaben said:

 

Makes sense, I couldn't find anything re Type F transmitter.

 

I'm confused tho, which is the intercom panel ? 

Hi Mike,

 

It's not labeled in the drawing you posted but you can see it pretty clearly in the picture Anthony posted.

It's the small panel consisting of two black rectangles with the intercom connector hanging off it and resting on sheet metal gun heating duct.    

 

[John1]

Work continues on the port cockpit side wall.  From my previous post, I'm trying to replicate this:

 

Just note that this Mosquito is a different version, some of the fittings on the sidewall aren't the same as mine but you get the general idea...

 

So here is the nearly completed sidewall.  I added the pilot's oxygen hose (taken from the kit's pilot figure), his intercom connection hanging next to the hose, multiple wires, light fixures, dimmer controls for the lights, etc, etc. 

 

Honestly, this isn't my best work but again, from the viewing angle once the cockpit is assembled, it gets the job done. Most of the lines towards the lower back of the cockpit will barely be visible.   

 

Here is how things look with the cockpit floor in place:

 

 

 

 

 

As I look at these pics, I see multiple areas that need touchups.   I'm on it guys!   For now though, thanks for looking and have a great weekend!

 

[John1]

Work continues (a bit).   Now that the cockpit is mostly complete, I'm puttering around with the nose MG bay (no real progress to show) and the bomb bay.   The FB.VI version of the Mosquito used the forward half of the bomb bay to house 4 x 20mm cannons and their ammo boxes.  The aft section of the bomb bay was identical to the bomber version and could house 2 x 500 lb bombs or a long range fuel tank.  The Tamiya kit gives you the option of having the bomb bay doors fully closed, just the aft section (housing the bombs) open or fully open with the cannons also exposed. Tamiya did a nice job on the cannons, so I'm opting to have the full bomb bay exposed.  

 

Here's a drawing that shows the aft bomb bay.  Originally, the British only could mount 250 lb bombs (as seen above).  However, they quickly figured out that if they shortened the tail on their standard 500 pound bomb, it would also fit in the bomb bay.   500 pounders became the standard bomb after that, although some bomber variants had bulged bay doors and could carry a massive 4,000 lb "Cookie" demolition bomb!  Pretty impressive, a fast, high altitude 2 person bomber that could carry the same payload as a B-17.  

 

Here's a period drawing showing the layout of the aft bomb bay.

 

Here's a shot of a 333 Squadron Mossie being re-armed.   Note that this aircraft is fitted with the long-range tank in the aft bomb bay.

 

Anyway, as far as modeling goes, not a great deal to show.   I completed the aft bomb bay assembly.  This includes the internal frame work.   If one was inclined, they could use this as the basis for the aft radio compartment.  I thought about doing this but didn't feel like cutting out the compartment access door.   This assembly is nicely detailed and has all the basic structure included, including the bomb bay illumination light in the aft bulkhead.  What Tamiya didn't include was all the wiring, control lines, fuel lines, etc.   I've got some work to do in this area!   Here is my current progress.  Only thing added so far is the bomb loading cable running from winch to pulley on the roof and some electrical lines. Much more work to do.

 

The four black pads are supports for the optional long range fuel tank.  

 

Here is the assembly dry fitted into the aft fuselage half.

 

That's it for now folks.  More updates soon, thanks for looking! 

[Anthony in NZ]

Lovely progress John!  Love every update, thanks for posting!

[John1]

Quick update on the bomb bay.  Thanks to a very kind gent over on Brit Modeler, got some quite helpful info on the layout of the bomb bay.   I've started to add additional lines and fittings:

 

Much more to do in this area but it's not practical until I get the rest of the bomb bay installed.  I also will be adding some additional weathering.   More to come for this aspect of the build. 

 

 In addition, here is the two-part fuselage side glued together.   She's a big bird!

 

That's it for this update, I'll be back in a bit with some progress on the nose mounted MG's. 

[John1]

Moving forward (no pun intended), the FB.VI had 4 x .303 Browning machine guns in the nose.   The British seemed to have an obsession with rifle-caliber light machine guns that lasted all through the war.  These weapons had proved inadequate as early as the Battle of Britain but the British persisted with using them.   Now keep in mind that the Mossie also had a very powerful battery of 4 x 20mm cannons (more on these later in the build) but another issue was that the mg's had a different ballistic trajectory than the cannons so it was also next to impossible to get all the rounds to hit at the same point.   Very inefficient if you ask me.   Most folks acknowledge that the American approach of 6-8 heavy machine guns was more practical than having a mix of light and heavy weapons.  

 

Anyway, I digress a bit.  Tamiya provides a nice representation of the MG gun bay.   Mounted forward of the cockpit armor plate, it contained the MG's, their ammo boxes and the gun camera.  I'm not a huge fan a bunch of open access panels on my models but I may make an exception here, not sure yet.   Here is the real thing being rearmed.  No idea how the mechanics managed to get up there without climbing over the canopy but this was typically how it was done.  

 

Here is where I am at so far.   The Tamiya MG's are pretty decent.   I added the cocking solenoid and it's wire (note that the bottom of the wire won't be visible once the fuselage is buttoned up, so I didn't spend a great deal of time on it).  I also added the drive cable for the windshield wipers and various wiring to/from the other "black boxes". MG's were painted semigloss black with a dab of silver added.   I'll finish them with a bit of pencil graphite.   I also painted the ends of the barrels to represent shot out units that had the finish baked off from sustain firing.  I may or may not keep this effect.  Gun bays typically got filthy from leaking lubricant, soot, etc.   I dusted the armor plate and floor with black pastel, also added some oily stains to the floor (which is now pretty much impossible to see).  There is some touchup work needed on the MG's but when finished, those areas won't be visible, they will either be hidden by the fuselage sides or the large ammo boxes and their feed trays.    

 

Some pictures:

 

Don't mind the ejector pins on the cartridge collectors and barrels, they won't be visible (I promise)!

 

I continued the wiper drive cable and electrical lines through the armor plate into the cockpit area.  These lines will be partially visible through the open crew access door.

 

Last picture.  I always wondered how the Mossie mechanics were able to work on the area behind the instrument panel.  While reading up on the aircraft I discovered that a section of the armor plate was hinged to give (limited) access to this area.   Mosquito avionic technicians must have had long, skinny arms!

 

That's it for now, thanks for looking!

Edited May 20, 2020 by John1

[John1]

Ammo boxes completed.  Only addition was some scrap PE, cut to replicate the carrying handles.  Ammo feeds were a lot of fun.   I used Barracuda's resin set (they also include feeds for the 20mm cannons).  The Tamiya parts don't have any shells present in the feed cut-outs.   I think the Barracuda parts are a nice upgrade and like all their stuff, it's first rate quality at a very reasonable price.   Feed trays on many restored Mossies are natural aluminum, while most (but certainly not all) Mossies had the trays finished in flat black. I decided to go with the "hairspray" method to replicate severely chipped feed trays. I figured they would get banged up quite a bit during removal of the MG's for maintenance and rearming activities.  So again, just a bit of touchup and I think I'll be ready to seal up the fuselage.   Again, don't mind the semi-crappy paintwork and ejector pins on the bottom, they will be invisible once the fuselage is assembled.