Guest Vincent Posted June 29, 2020 Share Posted June 29, 2020 Pity that the Barracuda covers bolts positions don't align with the kit's ones Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dutch Man Posted June 30, 2020 Share Posted June 30, 2020 Thanks for sharing the engine installment / maintenance photo above. Kind regards, Robert Jan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 On 6/29/2020 at 4:49 PM, Vincent said: Pity that the Barracuda covers bolts positions don't align with the kit's ones Thanks for the catch. That could very well be on me, not an issue with the resin. It's amazing how easy it is to catch issue like this from the pictures, I didn't even notice this during the assembly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 (edited) So I'm pretty much done with the engines. I'll be leaving one Merlin partially exposed, the other will be sealed up in it's cowling. In retrospect, I could have saved some time and effort by only assembling the basic engine parts and skipping the painting stage entirely. Oh well.. I've added some bits to the Merlin that will be partially exposed. Tamiya did a fantastic job recreating the motor but they left off all the wiring and the various oil and coolant lines, of which there are quite a few. I just don't have the time (or skills) to replicate every single hose and fitting on these motors. I added the ignition harness (on each side and the top), as well as a selection of lines and pipes. I simply want to make this engine look "busy" when it's installed. After all this, I added additional weathering with pastels, a few oil washes and picked out various nuts and bolts with a silver artists pencil. Here are some pics of the modified engine with the stock one so you can see the additions. Note - excuse the horrible spark plugs sticking out. They will be completely covered by the exhausts and at best, you will only be able to see the ignition wires. I'll probably still do some additional weathering but for the most part, I'm finally done with this step! That's it for now, thanks for looking and for my American friends, Happy 4th of July, Happy Birthday America! Edited July 3, 2020 by John1 Landrotten Highlander, Anthony in NZ and Greg W 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted July 3, 2020 Author Share Posted July 3, 2020 Actually got a bit of extra modeling time today. Got the starboard engine mounted in it's support frame. Once installed, I added the large oil tank to the backside of the firewall, some additional coolant lines and a few other bits of hardware. I'm amazed that all these winding hoses and pipes mate exactly in the right spot. Tamiya magic at work! I'll be doing the final painting and will then add a few final details to the engine. At that point, I'll finish up the nacelles. Doing my best to replicate the grunge found on operational engines. Supposedly those Merlins leaked oil heavily. Don't use modern pictures of "warbirds" as guides for weathering, those birds are meticulously maintained and often times, completely cleaned after each flight. Operational Strike Wing Mosquitoes were flown hard and all maintenance was done outdoors in the harsh Scottish weather. I highly doubt those hardworking crew chiefs spent much time worrying about accumulated grime on those engines. Still more weathering to do. Dutch Man, Dpgsbody55, Landrotten Highlander and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolf Buddee Posted July 3, 2020 Share Posted July 3, 2020 Nice work John, A word of caution though. Make sure you test fit the exhaust heat shields and exhaust manifolds before going too much further. You may find that your spark plugs may extend out too far and not allow the heat shields and manifolds to mount properly. That was very much the case with my Spitfire's Merlin. Cheers, Wolf Anthony in NZ and MikeMaben 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted July 4, 2020 Author Share Posted July 4, 2020 15 hours ago, Wolf Buddee said: Nice work John, A word of caution though. Make sure you test fit the exhaust heat shields and exhaust manifolds before going too much further. You may find that your spark plugs may extend out too far and not allow the heat shields and manifolds to mount properly. That was very much the case with my Spitfire's Merlin. Cheers, Wolf Thanks Wolf, I think you are going to be correct. It shouldn't be a major issue. I can easily remove those plug and trim the leads so that they are just visible going under the heat shield. Speaking of exhausts, this is an area I don't have much experience in. The Mossie's exhausts are very large and very exposed. If anyone has some finishing tips, I'd be interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted July 5, 2020 Author Share Posted July 5, 2020 (edited) Now that the engines are mostly behind me, I can get back to the fun parts of the build. I'm gradually getting the nacelles ready to be glued together. Before that happens, I need to add some additional details and weathering for the wheelwells. Right now I'm focused on the area aft of the engine firewall. Here's a nice picture that shows this area: This is a restored Mosquito bomber version in the RAF Museum. Just note that there are a few detail/color differences between this and a WW2 vintage FB.VI. Picture is from the awesome walkaround file on LSP ( https://www.largescaleplanes.com/walkaround/wk.php?wid=123 ). I've had a hard time finding detail pictures of certain parts of the Mosquito. This is probably the best resource I've found on the net. In addition to great detail shots, it's got a wealth of text that explains what you are looking at. Well done Max Otten! In the picture above, note oil feed lines at the bottom of the oil tank and running up the strut to what I assume is the oil transfer pump. Also note some additional hydraulic lines. I added these lines, tanking account some differences between this example and the Tamiya kit (the oil feed pump is on the opposite side of the Tamiya kit and some hydraulic lines are different. Here is what I've added so far: I've also added additional grunge to replicate oil leaks and built up filth. Aside from the engine compartment, the wheelwells are typically the dirtiest area of any aircraft. Here are some additional pics to show you my progress. And lastly the aft section of the wheelwell. Weathering still in progress but note the exquisite springs that Tamiya provides. This was a trademark of the Mossie. Instead of complicated (and heavy) hydraulic pistons or other mechanical devices, DH attached the aft end of the landing gear doors to heavy duty springs with a length of wire. Simple, light and it works. So that's it for now. As always, thanks for all the feedback and thanks for looking! Edited July 5, 2020 by John1 Dutch Man, Landrotten Highlander, Greg W and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbo Posted July 5, 2020 Share Posted July 5, 2020 Lovely detail work really beefing up those wheel wells John! Anthony in NZ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Mmhmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anthony in NZ Posted July 6, 2020 Share Posted July 6, 2020 Another great update John...loving it mate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted July 7, 2020 Author Share Posted July 7, 2020 Thanks very much guys. No building today but just for S&G's I dry-fitted one of the nacelles to the wing. Perfect fit, no need for any putty and if I was inclined, I could probably skip gluing it and it would lock firmly in place. Wheelwells are an area that most kit makers skimp on. To their credit, Tamiya did a fantastic job. Between the PE ribs and the smaller detail parts, they are pretty much 75% of the real thing, which says a great deal about the quality of this kit. Many other manufacturers give you a rectangular box with nothing but a few semi-defined shapes molded in place. I've still got some additional bits to add but I really like they way they look. If I get close enough, I think I can catch a wiff of avgas and motor oil! Notice how the gear door retraction springs anchor to the rear wing spar. The gap aft of the spar is per the real thing. And a view of the upper surface. Just note - this is the un-detailed engine that will have the cowling panels glued in place. The other engine has the additional parts added to it. I'm glad I opted to leave one engine exposed, it would be a shame to cover all this great detail. That's it for tonight, thanks for looking! Greg W, Anthony in NZ, Fvdm and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted July 12, 2020 Author Share Posted July 12, 2020 (edited) Small update - I've gradually been adding some extra bits to the starboard engine, which I plan on leaving partially exposed. So far, I've just focused on the inboard side. At this point, I've added approx 10 additional bits, ranging from a cylindrical (filter?) housing on the forward engine bearer, to the yellow high voltage cable that runs off the side-mounted generator, to multiple small diameter hydraulic and instrumentation lines. Again, I'm not attempting to replicate every single fitting / line perfectly, I'm just striving to generally represent the cluttered nature of the Merlin engine. Here's a shot of the real thing. Note also, this is a modern warbird, which may not be completely accurate and certainly is much cleaner than engines on operational aircraft. Here is my "enhanced" motor (sorry for the poor pics, I was losing the light as I took these): It does appear that the exhaust heat shields will cover the spark plugs. I'm going to remove the plugs and just leave the bottom part of the leads which should be visible. Probably a big improvement, given those plugs are pretty "rough". I'll add my standard disclaimer - I'm still in the process of incorporating a few more bits and still need to finish my final painting / touchups / weathering. Lastly, I stumbled upon this nice picture of a 333 Squadron Mosquito online. It's painted in the Coastal Command scheme of Extra Dark Sea Grey over either Sky or Medium Sea Grey (can't tell which from this B&W picture). Note the Norwegian flag on the nose, the very dark framing on the canopy and the rough finish and multiple touch-ups around the MG ports. Also note that this aircraft had the mesh "snowscreens" removed from the carburetor intakes. That's it for now, thanks for looking. Edited July 13, 2020 by John1 Landrotten Highlander, MikeMaben, Greg W and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jep1210 Posted July 13, 2020 Share Posted July 13, 2020 On 6/18/2020 at 6:18 PM, John1 said: 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. All that is kit supplied? Dang!!! That is fantastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted July 13, 2020 Author Share Posted July 13, 2020 11 hours ago, jep1210 said: All that is kit supplied? Dang!!! That is fantastic. You are correct. I can't say enough about the quality of these kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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