Mosquito bomber

[Chek]

Can anyone recall seeing if anyone has tried combining the Tamiya FBIV with the Revell BIV?

All the searches I do seem to only return articles on the HKM model.

The Falcon canopy/nose blister vac set* should also look far more like a Mosquito than the HKM interpretation.

 

*While it is produced by Falcon, it's sold under the Tasman brand as set no. TA257

Edited January 19, 2022 by Chek
Tasman detail added.

[Chek]

It wouldn't take much. The area forward of the wing basically.

[Mark P]

Would require a new cockpit, canopy, fwd nose section. Bombay too perhaps and of course, decals.

 

Mark Proulx

Edited January 17, 2022 by Mark P

[Rick Griewski]

All the parts that Paragon produced years ago for the… wait for it, Revell Mosquito.   

[Mark P]

Paragon didnt include parts for the bomb bay should one opt to leave it open, nor decals...

 

Mark Proulx

[Chek]

Would you care to break it down a little more J?

[John1]

The Tamiya kit comes with some parts specific to the bomber version.  Forget the specifics but I I believe they included everything for the bomb bay plus a few others.   It seemed obvious that Tamiya had designed the kit to facilitate a B.IV.   

[Tony T]

The Tamiya FB.VI is a classic example of unnecessary overengineering driving up cost and complexity. Would it not be cheaper to correct the Hong Kong Models Mk.IV? And easier? And quicker? 

 

Tamiya FB.VI sales were possibly too low to warrant the company investing in a bomber variant, but they still have the capacity to surprise us from time to time. However, the "will they/won't they" dawdling has seemingly stymied any enthusiasm to produce a conversion set of any kind for 6½ years.

 

(And all I wanted was a Night-Fighter universal/bull nose.)

 

Tony 

 

 

[Mark P]

The HK model Mosquito has some bad shape issues. It would be nice to be able to correct them.

 

Mark Proulx

[mrp]

I have recently completed building a 1/32 Mosquito XX, combining the Revell fuselage , few HK parts and the Tamiya wing and associated parts, including engines and propellers.Yes,it is entirely possible to create a better looking bomber version using this combination.

 

 I do have pictures, but I will have to sort out my picture hosting to put them up here. I didn't buckle to the  hold of photobucket

I used the Revell fuselage, essentially just the 2 pieces, combined with a Paragon cockpit set and the Falcon vacuform canopy set. I also used the internal framework for the canopy from the HK kit. Again , I bought the HK  sprue on E-Bay.  I also used the Eduard set for the HK kit for the cockpit. The radio fir for the MKXX is also a bit different than the standard radio fit, so I had to create the set up from scratch.

The  Revell front side windows  are not at all accurate in shape, and require some modification to look more like the real thing. The real work on getting the fuselage to fit the Tamiya wing requires some cutting, but the fit isn't that bad. I essentially tackled the build like the original air frame, where the wing slots up into the completed fuselage. I cut the bomb bay doors and piece above it, using panel lines as a guide. . Given that the Tamiya wing is also depicted just as the real wing as one unit. The wing will fit the fuselage quite well, and is very strong, even without using the screws that the kit has I assembled the fuselage with the Paragon cockpit and had a completed fuselage. I also cut out the tail plane area, again so I could use the one piece Tamiya tail plane. The wing can built as per the Tamiya instructions . In my case I didn't use the Merlin engines, so its essentially just the cowlings, undercarriage  and propellers.

 I finished the aircraft as a No 8 OTU aircraft which was based at RCAF Debert in Nova Scotia. I used an Aeromaster set for the codes and serial number and I painted on the roundels.

This may seem a little expensive to do, but I do feel that the end result looks pretty good and captures the shape of the bomber version better than the HK kit, which I think has some issues with the nose profile..

There are a couple of things, that I did that helped may this easier. I bought most of the sprues for the Tamiya wing off a seller on E-Bay. I had a Tamiya 1/32 kit in my stash, so I had the instructions and had figured out what pieces I needed to pull it off. The only items I used from the Revell kit was fuselage, and the control column . Having the Paragon cockpit set , helped, but it also had to be modified, and I ended up using some Tamiya cockpit, including control panel and other controls, like the throttle.

In my Tamiya kit, it came with a set of clear engine panels. I used these , as I would never build the kit  that way, and they were surplus. A coat of paint and there is no noticeable difference between parts.

A couple of things also helped, including having had complete access to a full size air-frame  on a couple of occasions, and having a good archive of photos of no 8 aircraft . I will hopefully share pictures at some point, as I think the pictures tell the story better than the words.

 

[Kagemusha]

I look forward to seeing the photos - I have the HK XVI, and am think of using the Revell forward fuselage, and maybe some Tamiya parts to fix the inner wings, along with a few Paragon sets to produce a PR.34.

 

It's a real pity the HK kit was badly researched.

[mrp]

Here are a couple of shots of the project. Here you can get the basic idea of the conversion. You cn see the difference between the front windows on the unfinished kit and what they look like finished.

Edited January 17, 2022 by mrp

[mrp]

 

 

Edited January 17, 2022 by mrp

[Chek]

Thanks MRP for your photos and description. Your model looks the part. I hate that HKM didn't portray the correct 'double bubble' look for the nose cone glazing.

 

I'm planning on using the Tamiya kit and replacing front end forward of the instrument panel cockpit bulkhead using the Revell nose and Falcon vac transparencies.

I've found enough information on the HKM build to modify the interior to match and don't believe there are any or many even minor differences to the rear fuselage, fin, tailplane or wings. As the bomb bay will be closed, its internal details will only be included where they add structural support.

 

TBH I'm more concerned with trying to make the two stage supercharged Grey Matter engines look like reasonable facsimiles which will involve excavating a void to add improved chin inlets, outlet louvres and  radiator matrices. If that's not achievable via my abilities, there is always the Tamiya cowled engine option.

[Chek]

5 hours ago, Tony T said:

The Tamiya FB.VI is a classic example of unnecessary overengineering driving up cost and complexity. Would it not be cheaper to correct the Hong Kong Models Mk.IV? And easier? And quicker? 

 

Tony 

 

 

 

I don't know Tony, but I do know I've got a Revell BIV and a spare Tamiya. So making do is the way forward for me.

The Revell parts needed look pretty good, and the Falcon vac transparencies look a lot better than either the Revell or HKM kit parts.

I've seen sufficient builds online to whip up the interior detail, and a good amount of epoxy should keep it all structurally sound.

The bit I'm  not looking forward to is making the Grey Matter 2-stage engines look adequate.