A Separate Little War - Strike Wing Mosquito FB.VI

[John1]

Finally got a bit of time for modeling.   First up are the wing radiators.  Unlike the relatively cumbersome radiators on the Lancaster, DeHavilland engineered a very elegant solution by installing the radiators in low drag housings on the inner wing leading edges.   Tamiya offers decent photo etch for the radiators but I opted for aftermarket.  

RB's photo etch is very nice but more importantly, they include very nice PE carburetor inlet screens (part L3).   For some weird reason, Tamiya opted to replicate these very visible screens in clear plastic!  Not a good solution IMO.   RB's service and pricing were first rate, they are highly recommended for anyone building the Tamiya Mosquito. 

 

Next up, I went back to the bomb bay.  I'll be doing a lot of extra work in this area but most of it will be once the fuselage sides are installed.   However, I just received some very nice photos that show the FB.VI bomb bay in detail (thank you Anthony!!!) and based on these, I was able to add a few more details at this stage of the build.  

More paintwork is required for those hydraulic lines at the base of the pic.  The ends will be relocated once the wing is mated with fuselage. 

 

After this was done, I completed assembly of the wing.   Tamiya provided a very strong internal framework that is screwed together.  No chance these large wings will be working loose!  

I also added the upper portion of the engine firewalls.   They come with very well detailed coolant lines.  

 

I hit the firewalls and coolant lines with a few oil washes to replicate the typical grunge found in these areas.   Still a work in progress. 

 

Lastly, I also added a wash to the upper wheel wells.   This is another area on aircraft that tends to be pretty dirty.   I also applied some grey / brown pastels in this area.   More work will be done here as well but so far I'm pretty happy with the way the weathering has brought this pretty basic area to life. 

 

Lastly, I dry fitted the wing to the fuselage.   Did I mention that this model is big?  

 

Here's the full bomb bay, in all of it's glory.   Interesting that a Mosquito could haul the same payload as a B-17, at a higher altitude and much higher speed.   Very impressive engineering going on here. 

 

That's it for now.  Thanks for looking! 

[RLWP]

Wow - I'm glad I found this thread

 

Lovely stuff, John. Your brushwork is excellent

 

Richard

[Lothar]

Madman or genius? I've rarely seen such outstanding work and abilities - I'm just blown away 

Lothar

[turbo]

Fantastic John, those internal areas really popping with the detail!

[John1]

On 6/11/2020 at 4:18 AM, Lothar said:

Madman or genius? I've rarely seen such outstanding work and abilities - I'm just blown away 

Lothar

Lol. I’m leaning towards “madman”.  

[airscale]

that is all looking REALLY nice

 

the Mossie was the first kit I bought when I got back into modelling in 2010 and I never did finish it - the great job you are doing on it makes me wish I did

 

Peter

[John1]

Just a somewhat boring update.   Been working on sub-assemblies, just killing time with busywork so I don't have to deal with the engines, which for some reason, I hate building.   

 

I've completed the engine nacelles.   Unlike the rest of the Mossie, these were fabricated from conventional metal with the only exception being the wooden frame work that the cowling sections were secured to.   Tamiya's attention to detail is amazing.  They provided PE ribs with all the holes included.   They also included the leather pouches that contained the landing gear down-locks and some sort of "T" handled tool that was secured in one of the wheel wells.   Very nice stuff.   I sprayed these with AK Extreme Metal Matt Aluminum with a touch of flat white added.   I first used these paints on my F-51D Mustang build and am very impressed.   Sprays on great, looks great and is very durable.   Don't mind the pin marks on the aft section of the nacelles, they won't be visible when everything is buttoned up.  Still need to weather the interiors of these.  Might try a light coat of Tamiya Smoke and see how that looks. 

 

 

I also started work on the fire wall / engine bearing frame.   More work to do on these.  One nice thing is that Tamiya included some extra plastic to protect that fragile landing gear strut.   They instruct you to cut it off just before final assembly.  Nice touch!

 

Lastly, I completed the engine oil tanks that are installed in the forward part of the wheel well.  Tamiya even provides decals for these tanks.  I'll be adding some oil lines to these once they are installed. 

 

That's all I've got for today, thanks for looking!

[John1]

Still looking for reasons not to start working on the engines.   To kill more time, I did some weathering and installed the interior fittings to blank off the wing openings in the engine compartments.  Like the firewall, these are metal, finished with aluminum lacquer, so they got a coating of the AK Matt Aluminum.  After it dried, I painted the wooden sections that the cowling was secured to.  I then hit the bits with various color washes to highlight the very nice detail and add some filth. Both the wheel wells and engine compartments on combat aircraft were typically filthy.  Want a good example, open the hood of your car.  In addition to the washes, I used some dark grey pastels.  Still much more to do but I like the look so far. 

 

Sorry for the dark pictures, I was losing the light when I took them.   Note the exquisite plastic spring.   Tamiya truly has done some wonderful work here. 

 

 

 

I also did the same for the nacelle interiors.  

 

And for the fire wall assemblies. With the engines installed, a lot of this will only be visible at a sharp angle, or hidden completely.  

 

That's it for now, thanks for looking! 

[Dutch Man]

Boring? This is what counts. Love it.

 

Regards,

 

Robert Jan

[John1]

On 6/18/2020 at 6:18 PM, John1 said:

 

 

One note on the picture above.  If you look closely, you will see an access door on forward, lower section of the two nacelles on the right.  These are the port and starboard inner nacelles.  This may be fake news but I was watching a walk-around video on the Mossie filmed by Kermit Weeks (well known vintage aircraft collector) and he mentioned that the Mosquito’s motors had to be manually primed through those access panels.  Supposedly the poor maintenance guys had to reach in and hold down the primer mechanism while the pilot started the motor.  I say “poor” because this put them directly under the Merlin’s exhaust!   Not a pleasant place to be during the starting sequence.  Again, no idea if this is accurate but since Weeks flew the Mossie, I’ll assume he knew what he was talking about.  
 

Just something I found interesting.  

[turbo]

Looking amazing John, love the detail!

[John1]

So my build is still motoring on.   As much as I dislike engines, I need to get this phase over with so I've started building them.   The Tamiya Merlins are absolutely fantastic.   I'm not a fan of displaying engines on models but these are so nice, I feel like I need to.   As another plus, the cowling panels are held on with magnets so if I don't like the look, I can always button up the nacelles.  

 

Each engine is around 30 parts, including 4 PE.   Great detail, especially the supercharger.  Another fun fact - later in the war, Rolls Royce introduced a two-stage supercharger that provided greater power at higher altitudes.   The extra hardware required the later version Mosquito's cowlings to be lengthened.  However, since the fighter bomber variants pretty much conducted their business at lower altitudes, they were never upgraded the newer motors and longer cowlings.  

 

Here is the first engine.   Completely stock so far.  I'll add some wiring / piping once it's installed in the nacelle. 

 

Dry fitted in the engine supports.  When it comes time to permanently install it, you are provided with a couple of screws to keep it secured. 

 

And dry fitted into the nacelle.  There are many more cooling lines to be added. 

 

One note - the cylinder heads are only tacked on.   The real ones had prominent Rolls Royce markings stamped on them.  I'm guessing Tamiya couldn't include these due to copyright issues.    So I i opted to go with Barracuda's very nice update set. 

 

And a picture of the real thing:

Once they arrive, I'll get them installed and start painting.   

 

That's it for tonight, thanks as always for looking. 

[John1]

I think I mentioned it before but I had some interest in cutting out the cockpit's overhead escape hatch.   The kit canopy is amazingly clear but I thought having the hatch off would still increase the visibility of the cockpit and also add a bit of visual interest.   It wasn't often done but I have seen a few pictures that show the hatch removed, including:

 

My only issue was the thought of botching the surgery.  If I did that, my project would be at a dead end.  Thankfully, due to a very kind gent, I've got a spare Mossie canopy on the way.  Once it arrives, I'll start the surgery.   Initial plan is to cut out the escape hatch by drilling multiple holes inside and then between a very new X-acto knife and a rat-tail file, finish out the opening.   The escape hatch itself would be re-built using a donor B.IV vac form canopy (not sure it's the same as FB.VI, if it isn't, I may use the spare Tamiya canopy as a donor).  Here is the removed emergency escape hatch (picture courtesy of Anthony).  

 

If the surgery goes easily, I may also cut out the sliding "clear vision" quarter panel as well.  On that note - if anyone has a picture that clearly shows what the retracted quarter panel looks like from the inside, please feel free to share.   

 

That's it for now guys.  

[MikeMaben]

Looks like they slide out then rearward .

 

 

You may have this one already ...

 

 

hth

[John1]

Still plugging away on the motors.   The Barracuda valve covers are a nice upgrade.  Very reasonably priced, perfect fit and very well cast.  Typical Barracuda! 

 

So both motors are now complete.

 

Next up is a coating of semi-gloss black.  To that, I added a dark brown wash, some pastels and started highlighting some of the nuts and bolts with a silver artist's pencil.  Have a lot more detail painting and weathering to do here. 

I've added the ignition housing on the motor above.   At this point, I think I'm only going to add details to one motor.   I highly doubt I'd ever have both cowlings off the finished model. 

 

I'm winging the paintwork on these motors.   Just about every color pictures I've seen are Merlin's mounted in restored warbirds or in museums after being "restored".  Either way, they typically don't represent wartime engines.    Here's one pictures I thought was pretty nice (assuming it's not colorized), not a Mosquito but shows a WW2 vintage Merlin pretty well.

Note the spark plugs, their wires and the ignition assembly.   Tamiya didn't include these bits.   BTW, what's with the green and blue paint scheme on those Spitfires?  Never seen that scheme before..

 

That's it for now, much work to still to do.