Pete's 1/32 Revell Mosquito

[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.

[Guest]

Looks good regardless of the size Peter, don't be too hard on Tim it's the weather and fitting curtain poles ! :smiling3:

[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.

[stillp]

Cleaning up the crew is an ongoing task, as the underlying paint is starting to soften, so I spent some time giving them a way to enter and exit the cockpit:

Looks a lot less ragged in real life. The 1:1 hatch is plywood into a plywood floor, so wouldn't look that much better (that's my excuse anyway).
I'll need to give the whole cockpit a wash - not Vallejo - probably Flory Dark Dirt.
Pete

[stillp]

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.

Tim, it's too thick for that, you can't shake off the excess.
Pete

[Tim Marlow]

Tim, it's too thick for that, you can't shake off the excess.
Pete

May be it’s thickened up on the shelf then Pete. I wouldn’t think it’s a very good seller

[stillp]

I was quite pleased with my additions to the cockpit sides.. but I wanted to leave the navigator out until I'd joined the fuselage sides, so I could manipulate the battery,radio shelf behind the cockpit into place. I suppose I should have foreseen that the nav wouldn't fit in afterwards. So, popped off the instruments I'd added on the RH side, and just managed to squeeze the nav in, with a good splodge of glue under his bum. When that's dried I'll try to reinstate my additions.

It's a bit cramped in there.
Same on my bench - running out of space!

Both wings are now glued up.
I'm not sure what Revell were trying to represent with this double line along the fuselage seam:

As far as I could see at the museum, there's nothing more than a strip of tape over the join between the L and R fuselage halves, so that double ridge is going to be sanded off. The join will need a bit of filling and sanding anyway.
Props and wheels are painted:

Pete

[The Smythe Meister]

Loving the aircrew in there Pete
A great touch... And they add to it tremendously
Cracking stuff mate.... Loving it!!
Andy