Andrew's 1/72 Tamiya Mosquito Mk XIII

[adt70hk]

Not easy Andrew. How far out is the original? It would still allow you to use the quick boost replacement if that goes wrong. Not sure the wood will work, the surface finish will be different and may show under paint. You would have to skim the surface with filler to get the surface right. You could use a wooden former to cast a replacement, but that’s a whole new field to investigate. Personally, for a one off like this I would start with a stack of plasticard formers, and smooth it out with a filler like milliput. You will need a drawing to work to though. It should work very much like a wooden ship hull or balsa wood aircraft fuselage.

Hi Tim

The FB kit nose is two pointy and the angles won't work unfortunately.

Thanks for the thoughts on the formers.....definitely something to think on but don't have a drawing to work to at this stage. I had another idea in terms of getting the angles and shapes so it might work combing the two in some way. I suspect that it might need more than one attempt!

On thing I have noticed is the the AM part is has a bit more of a hard angle at the end, whereas on further review the real nose is a far smoother curve.

Thanks again for the thoughts!!

ATB

Andrew

 

[adt70hk]

Great work on your build Andrew. And your in-depth research puts my efforts with Google to shame.

Thanks Colin, glad you're enjoying it! As for the research my problem is learning to know when to stop on something like this!!

Thanks again.

Andrew

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Tim

The FB kit nose is two pointy and the angles won't work unfortunately.

Thanks for the thoughts on the formers.....definitely something to think on but don't have a drawing to work to at this stage. I had another idea in terms of getting the angles and shapes so it might work combing the two in some way. I suspect that it might need more than one attempt!

On thing I have noticed is the the AM part is has a bit more of a hard angle at the end, whereas on further review the real nose is a far smoother curve.

Thanks again for the thoughts!!

ATB

Andrew

To my mind, to scratch it accurately a drawing is a bit of a must really Andrew. Could you just sketch it onto a 1/72 mosquito drawing (perhaps the Camo drawing from the kit) to give yourself a guide?

 

[adt70hk]

To my mind, to scratch it accurately a drawing is a bit of a must really Andrew. Could you just sketch it onto a 1/72 mosquito drawing (perhaps the Camo drawing from the kit) to give yourself a guide?

Great idea Tim. The kit camo pattern isn't at 1/72 because of the size of the plane but I scanned them in at work and blew them up to the right size to create the camo masks, so I can use that.

I just need to remember where I put them......

Thanks again.

Andrew

 

[adt70hk]

Hi all

So I've been playing around with the nose - not so much an attempt to get the nose perfect - more get an idea of length, shape and angles right. I've not yet found a decent drawing.....although I did find some instructions at lunchtime the other day at work but now I can't find it....

I still think Tim's is the best idea but until I've work out the length and angles it will be a waste of time trying.

To create my test piece I marked a the nose fuselage outline on some 0.5mm card. I then put a round rod of 3.somehting mm styrene in the middle. Then I cut lengths of 0.8mm round styrene and lent them at an angle from the edge of the card to the edge of the central rod.

I deliberately cut the 0.8mm rods too long, so once the glue had dried I could snip them off at exactly the right length. I've then started to file the edges off to get a vaguely curved nose.

This has actually been shortened three times as the first one was way too long! It's still a bit too long and the angles still aren't quite right but it's getting there.

As I said this is not about getting the nose perfect, more a play at what I need to aim for.

ACW as usual.

ATB

Andrew

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Right had sinde angle looks a bit better than the left IMHO.




Not perfect but getting there
It does line up better on the front....that was fitted in a rush with blue tack

 

[JR]

That sounds quite idyllic Mr Race.

It was Colin, a really beautiful place to live. Most families went mushroom picking in season , I can remember the walks over the airfield looking for them. Not the small things you see in the shops either !
Happy times and memories.

Excuse me Andrew butting in.

 

[JR]

Andrew sorry for not commenting much, had a good read through this morning.
Impressive work all round and a great deal of research has paid off. Can't help with that nose thing, far to technical for the likes of me .
Hope mine didn't need one

 

[adt70hk]

Andrew sorry for not commenting much, had a good read through this morning.
Impressive work all round and a great deal of research has paid off. Can't help with that nose thing, far to technical for the likes of me .
Hope mine didn't need one

No problem at all John. I know how hard it is to keep up with everything going on...... Plus being brutally honest I do waffle on a lot.....

As for the nose I'm sure yours will be fine!!

See you Sunday!!!

ATB.

Andrew

 

[JR]

No problem at all John. I know how hard it is to keep up with everything going on...... Plus being brutally honest I do waffle on a lot.....

As for the nose I'm sure yours will be fine!!

See you Sunday!!!

ATB.

Andrew

Yes Andrew looking forward to meeting up again Think you have my phone No .

 

[adt70hk]

Yes Andrew looking forward to meeting up again Think you have my phone No .

I do indeed!

 

[Allen Dewire]

Morn Mr. Waffle,

like John, I missed this one too and also had a good ketchup on it. It appears your work and scratchy just keeps getting better and better Andrew. This should make for great addition to your series and I'm sure you'll get the nose job you want. May take a few tries, but you'll nail it Buddy....

Have fun at the show, keep the boys on the narrow and leave your wallet in the car!!! Enjoy..........

Prost
Allen

 

[adt70hk]

Allen

No problem at all and I'm sure I've missed plenty of yours!


Coming from someone of skill, your comments really are appreciated. I've actually had a minor revelation on the 'nose job' this morning, which has helped me realise why I was struggling with the shape and length. Details to follow in due course - about to have breakfast with Junior.

Thanks again for the support.

All the best.

Andrew

 

[adt70hk]

Hi all

So earlier this week I was having a look at the material I had collected for this and discovered a copy of Scale Aircraft Modelling Colours 'Combat Colours' number 6; the trip-off-the tongue "de Havilland Mosquito Day and Night Fighters in RAF service: 1941 - 1945". That has a picture of Mk XIII that gives a much better shot of the nose and from a better angle.

It made me realise that the top and bottom angles on the nose are slightly different - not by much but obvious enough to see. If you take rough angles off an approximate centre line - accepting the angle of the picture isn't a perfect side on shot - the slope coming down the top of the nose is about five degrees more than the angle of the bottom - and maybe a bit more. It makes it clear that it is much shorter than I thought!

The plane in question is serial number HK428 and I'm building HK425. I don't know at what stage they got their serial numbers allocated but regardless I would imagine that they must have been fairly close in the production line (but am willing to be proved wrong) and the nose does look like Lonesome Polecat's.

So back to the drawing board on the nose!!

ATB.

Andrew

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Lonesome Polecat (HK425)
The bottom is in deep shadow making it difficult to see the outline plus the angle it not helpful.





HK428
A much better shot but obviously the angles are approximate....

 

[AlanG]

Judging by that last picture Andrew. I'd say the nose cone looks a lot like the size of the prop spinner

 

[adt70hk]

Judging by that last picture Andrew. I'd say the nose cone looks a lot like the size of the prop spinner

Talking about not seeing the obvious in front of your face!!!! Not quite as symmetrical or pointed but a good starting point.

Thanks Alan!!!

 

[Tim Marlow]

I would also say that both the second clear picture, and the shape and size of the shadow in the second, show the bottom face of the cone actually follows the shape of the bottom of the fuselage. Your bottom red line is quite a bit too steep for it.

 

[adt70hk]

I would also say that both the second clear picture, and the shape and size of the shadow in the second, show the bottom face of the cone actually follows the shape of the bottom of the fuselage. Your bottom red line is quite a bit too steep for it.

Hi Tim

You're right. I did it in bit of rush this morning and just after I posted it, I realised it was a bit out. I'm having another play with finer lines as I type this.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Hi Tim

You're right. I did it in bit of rush this morning and just after I posted it, I realised it was a bit out. I'm having another play with finer lines as I type this.

The more I look, the more the outline of the nose seems to just follow the contours of the fuselage…..I don’t think you’d go far wrong following that and then just rounding off the end…..

 

[Jim R]

Well Andrew you've set yourself quite a task. Not only is it awkward to scratch the nose but difficult to be sure of what you're aiming for from those photos. I reckon you'll have to make a rough, slightly smaller nose from wood or stryrene and then refine the shape with filler. I think I'd go with Tim's idea of styrene discs to build up a kind of stepped cone and work from there.
I know you're up to the challenge and it does make for an interesting thread.

 

[adt70hk]

Well Andrew you've set yourself quite a task. Not only is it awkward to scratch the nose but difficult to be sure of what you're aiming for from those photos. I reckon you'll have to make a rough, slightly smaller nose from wood or stryrene and then refine the shape with filler. I think I'd go with Tim's idea of styrene discs to build up a kind of stepped cone and work from there.
I know you're up to the challenge and it does make for an interesting thread.

Thanks Jim. I think your right, just need to have another play with the angles!

Watch this space!