Pete's 1/32 Revell Mosquito

[yak face]

I didn't thin it at all Tony, and I didn't prime. I thought I'd shaken it enough, but perhaps not - that's the only thing I can think of. Unless I should have thinned it and sprayed more coats. I have a bottle of their thinner.

Yes, I'm sure Tamiya will be OK. Not really worth continuing with the Hataka, although I prefer the colour.
Pete

Ive used them a fair bit pete and theyve always seemed ok , a bit thin but usually covers ok with a couple of light coats. I thin them if required with vallejo airbrush thinners , ive got the Hataka thinners but never used it as it got funny crystalline deposits forming in the bottom of the bottle ! The only thing i can think is that the bare plastic isnt giving enough if a key for the paint to grip , as for the drying issue , not sure - maybe its down to atmospheric conditions.

 

[stillp]

Ive used them a fair bit pete and theyve always seemed ok , a bit thin but usually covers ok with a couple of light coats. I thin them if required with vallejo airbrush thinners , ive got the Hataka thinners but never used it as it got funny crystalline deposits forming in the bottom of the bottle ! The only thing i can think is that the bare plastic isnt giving enough if a key for the paint to grip , as for the drying issue , not sure - maybe its down to atmospheric conditions.

No crystals at the bottom of my Hataka thinners Tony. I'm thinking that I might have put too much paint on too quickly, and the weather has been pretty humid recently.
Anyway, time for an update - I haven't done much, but the gaping trench caused by the wing root has been filled, and I've stuck a few bits of plastic card on the cockpit walls:

The trim wheels are bits I found in my leftover PE drawer, and the wires are some lead wire I bought some years ago. I like working with it, it has no 'spring' at all, so stays where you put it! There's nothing very realistic about this but it make the sidewalls look a bit busier.
I'd painted the wheels - looked OK, but I was using a Milwaukee paint pen for something else, put it down, and left a great blob of yellow on one tyre!

Remasked, and painted it again. There were some sink marks on this wheel, which I'd filled with PPP. They were a pain to sand, so I was seriously disappointed when I removed the masking and the filler came off with the tape. I'm not going to fill them again, just touch them up with Vallejo aluminium.
I've put the engine together and painted it - the kit only has one engine, but it won't be seen unless I leave the crew out and leave the cowling open. Still haven't decided whether to include them or not, if I put them in they'll distract from the rather sparse detail in the cockpit, but that means I'll have to paint them... here they are so far:

along with the repainted wheel and also the distinctive Mossie tailwheel. The figures are identical so I've tried to introduce a few colour differences.
Finally for no, I had to fill some ejector marks on the props:

That's it for now, I'm off to water the garden!
Pete

 

[BarryW]

July already? Better get on with this then: View attachment 456809View attachment 456810View attachment 456811
I hope nobody wants to see all the sprues?
First thought : it's big! Nice of Revell to use a top-opening box for a change.
I bought some Montex canopy masks, and I'll be using an AK paint set that I've had for a while.
View attachment 456816
I suppose I need to start with the cockpit, which means I have to decide whether to include the pilots or not. Figure painting is definitely not my forte, but I think I'll give them a try. There are two identical figures - why do kit manufacturers do this? Each figure is in two parts:
View attachment 456817
I looks as if the navigator has an elasticated seat belt:
View attachment 456818
After the last two kits which have been modern Airfix I'd almost forgotten what flash is - thanks for the reminder Revell!
View attachment 456819
Not too bad I suppose, but disappointing for a 2014 kit.
More later, off to spray a matt coat on my Gladiator.
Pete

It is a 60’s tooling that was rereleased in 2014.

 

[stillp]

It is a 60’s tooling that was rereleased in 2014.

And it's age shows! To be fair the level of detail is pretty typical of the 60s.
Pete

 

[Jim R]

Well Peter considering the issues with the kit and with the paint it's getting there. The figures don't look bad so they certainly could be used.
Jim

 

[BattleshipBob]

Your the man to beat it into shape Pete!!

 

[stillp]

Well, I think I've gone as far as I can in scratching the cockpit. Just need to add some white markings on the instruments, paint the rudder pedals aluminium and the navigator's panel black, then the nav's seat cushion and the pilot's map case in brown, then a bit more to do on the crew and I can start trying to join the fuselage halves:

Pete

 

[adt70hk]

Coming on nicely Pete!

 

[Tim Marlow]

Lovely work Peter. Really clean and crisp considering the size.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Peter
Much improved cockpit

 

[stillp]

Lovely work Peter. Really clean and crisp considering the size.

Considering the size? It's 1/32, that's nearly life size! Thanks though.
Pete

 

[Tim Marlow]

Considering the size? It's 1/32, that's nearly life size! Thanks though.
Pete

Sorry Pete. For some totally unknown reason I thought this was one of the 1/72 builds…..too many builds going on, or Ive completely lost it LOL.

 

[JR]

Looks good regardless of the size Peter, don't be too hard on Tim it's the weather and fitting curtain poles !

 

[stillp]

Well, an interesting couple of days. Yesterday I cut up some decals for 1/48 Corsair IPs for some instrument dials and added them to the bits of plastic I'd added to the cockpit sides.


I'd also added some punched Plasticard discs to the back of the IP - they don't line up with the dials on the other side, but neither do the ones on the decal supplied in the kit! I drew the line at adding wiring, that's a scratch too far for me. Unfortunately, and rather stupidly, I then decided to add some of this stuff
to the crew. They call it a dipping formula but it's a thick jelly that would obliterate all detail, so I brushed it on with some water added. I was not pleased with the result:

It's turned pink in places, and is too dark in others. It won't wash off, so unless I strip all the paint off, it'll have to do. Annoying, I want to get this cockpit finished so I can start building a Mosquito! When the IP decal has dried (it's on its third dose of MicroSol at the moment) I'll see if the crew can be added after the fuselage is closed up.

An very enjoyable day today though - I went to the De Havilland Museum, which is absolutely excellent; 3 Mossies including the prototype, a couple of Vampires, a Horsa, Hornet Moth, Cierva autogiro (not sure why that's in there) Queen Bee, a Comet 88 replica, a Comet 1A airliner fuselage open to walk through, Tiger Moth, Chipmunk, Sea Venom (partly dismantled), Sea Vixen, Heron, Dove, DH125, BAE146 open to walk through. Many of the cockpits are open and have steps alongside so you can get up close (but not of course sit in!). I'll post pics later as I took my big DSLR and both the batteries are refusing to charge at the moment and my computer has decided it doesn't want to play nicely with my card reader.

One of the things I wanted to sort out is the cylindrical object on the panel that's on the forward side of the IP/pedal assembly, that most modellers assume is a fire extinguisher and paint red. I think that it's a strange location for an extinguisher, and if it is an extinguisher it surely wouldn't be red until well after the war. Poring over the cutaway drawing in the Haynes manual for the Mossie, there's no fire extinguisher but there are several portable oxygen bottles. I asked one of the volunteers at the museum, and he also thought it wouldn't be an extinguisher, as apart from being poorly accessible when the navigator is seated, any enemy fire coming through the nose might set it off, which would make the cockpit rather unpleasant. I suppose bullets hitting an oxygen bottle would also be pretty undesirable, but wouldn't result in a poisonous atmosphere. Then I had a good look at the prototype, and that does have an extinguisher (brass, Pyrene) in that position. Finally spoke to a volunteer who'd been heavily involved of their B35 Mossie - he told me that the wasn't aware of them having any hand-held extinguishers, only the ones in the engine nacelles, and the oxy bottles are on the starboard fuselage side, so the clip is probably there to hold the Nav's Thermos flask.
So, whatever it is, I painted it black.

Here's the IP, decal not dry yet:

Revell haven't provided a back cushion for the navigator; I was counting on that being hidden by the crew figures, but after the wash disaster I'm considering leaving them out.
Another thing that seems to be lacking in all the kits I've seen is some indication of the crew entry hatch inside the cockpit, and all 3 of the Mossies at the museum have a clear circular 'window' let into both the external hatch and the corresponding hinged panel in the cockpit floor. Revell have moulded a circular outline in the right place, but don't provide a clear piece to go into it, and they've also moulded a similar outline at the front of each bomb bay door - what's that about?

I'm thoroughly confused, maybe I should just stop over-thinking this build and just start gluing parts together.
Pete

 

[Jim R]

Good progress Pete. Your work on the cockpit looks good regardless of whether it is totally accurate or not. Painting the "extinguisher" black is probably sensible as not sure what it is.
The museum sounds great. Definitely one to put on the list of places to see.
Jim

 

[Mark1]

Coming along Pete, I use a bit of humbrol decal fix diluted with water and a cotton bud to clean up them vallejo acrylic washes seems to work OK for me.

 

[Tim Marlow]

Cockpit is looking excellent Pete. Sounds like you had a good visit to the museum as well. Looking forward to the pictures

Bad luck on the Vallejo sepia colour wash dip though. I didn’t know they made that, and certainly won’t be looking out for it. Even hard to find on their website unless you have the number. It sounds like the Army painter range of varnish dips rather than the vallejo washes I’m familiar with.

It might be possible to remove it from the highlights using airbrush thinners but you would run the risk of removing the rest of the paint job if you are heavy handed. You could also sparingly repaint the original colours to create highlights, but that might be a stage too far if you want to get on with the plane.

 

[stillp]

Good progress Pete. Your work on the cockpit looks good regardless of whether it is totally accurate or not. Painting the "extinguisher" black is probably sensible as not sure what it is.
The museum sounds great. Definitely one to put on the list of places to see.
Jim

I'm coming to the conclusion that it's impossible to make a totally accurate model Mosquito - there are so many marks, many of them were modified in service, there were differences between planes of the same mark from different factories, and all the ones that exist today have been rebuilt several times.
Yes, that museum is well worth a visit.

Coming along Pete, I use a bit of humbrol decal fix diluted with water and a cotton bud to clean up them vallejo acrylic washes seems to work OK for me.

Great tip Mark, thanks. The decalfix seems to be working. I don't know if this jar of Vallejo wash has 'gone off', it's labelled "Dipping Formula" but it's more of a thick jelly than a liquid.

Cockpit is looking excellent Pete. Sounds like you had a good visit to the museum as well. Looking forward to the pictures

Bad luck on the Vallejo sepia colour wash dip though. I didn’t know they made that, and certainly won’t be looking out for it. Even hard to find on their website unless you have the number. It sounds like the Army painter range of varnish dips rather than the vallejo washes I’m familiar with.

It might be possible to remove it from the highlights using airbrush thinners but you would run the risk of removing the rest of the paint job if you are heavy handed. You could also sparingly repaint the original colours to create highlights, but that might be a stage too far if you want to get on with the plane.

Thanks Tim.
Pete

 

[Mark1]

Sounds like it's gone off,should be pretty watery, try thinning it right down with water,could be worth a try before binning it.

 

[Tim Marlow]

I don't know if this jar of Vallejo wash has 'gone off', it's labelled "Dipping Formula" but it's more of a thick jelly than a liquid.

It’s not gone off Pete, that is how it’s supposed to be. It is a shade and varnish coat for gaming figures, designed to make them quicker to paint. The idea is that you block paint the various areas on the figure, then dip the whole figure in the pot, shake off the excess, stand it up, and let it dry…….you should end up with shading (like a pin wash) and a finishing varnish in one go. That’s the theory anyway. It started with gamers using coloured varnishes to get the effect, then the hobby paint companies started doing their own. To be honest, Vallejo are very late to the market with this one. Companies like Army Painter and Citadel have been making them for years. Personally I dislike the effect so have never used it.