<-- 1/48 Mosquito PR.IX -Twin Engined Aircraft WWII

Keep on keeping on Terry. Hoping the kit and health troubles settle out

This model is turning into an epic battle Terry, keep at it!

Thanks chaps.
Still feel a bit rough, but not as bad as yesterday, so I'll start on the other decals later today.

Did I happen to mention that I'm p*ssed off ?
Even more so now !
I tried to apply the warning panel decals over the radiator covers, this time using the decals from the Aviaeology Mosquito stencils set, and where the kit decals failed miserably, these were a disaster !
There's nothing wrong with the Aviaeology decals as such, but these large, clear decals, with just the red outlines, were a tad thin for their size, and deformed easily when touched, carefully, with a soft, wet paint brush. They were extremely difficult to position accurately, and stuck like sh*t to a blanket, deforming even more when attempts were made to slide them into their final position.

PIC 1. The port side decal went on, sort of, but deformed and could not be finally positioned.
PIC 2. The starboard side creased, folded and tore, ending up like this.

Both decals have been removed, and I'll eventually use the ones from the Tamiya FB.VI kit, but for now, this model is being put aside until I'm in a better frame of mind to deal with it.
With this darned cold, I probably shouldn't have attempted to do any modelling work, and no doubt this contributed to the decal problem. But, given that it clears up soon, I'll get back to the FB/VI build, and try to get that, and the NF.XII finished, so that I can move on to the Stirling and Meteor models for 46 Squadron.

Its a sad outcome terry. you have my sympathies ....

Jesus....................

Nightmare

Yowch! That truly sucks! Hope you feel better soon! Best to put it aside or it might go for a very short maiden flight across your work room!

Thanks chaps, much appreciated.
I've decided to mask and paint the red borders and crossed lines, and use the separate 'Keep Off' stencils included on the Aviaeology sheet. If I can find the motivation, I might get this done tomorrow, but now, I'm off to bed and try to sleep-off this bl**dy cold.

Oh man... the frustration must've been overwhelming. There are times when I just have to put those mishaps down and walk away. Good thing I work in the garage and my family cannot hear what comes out of my mouth at those times.

I was going to suggest your solution Terry. The other thing that you could do is, if you have some decals with large red areas, just cut some strips form those and apply them.

When the expletives fly after something like this the Cruise Director usually says "Is there something wrong with your model dear?"

Usually the best idea is just to walk away and leave it for a while...

Yep walk away...otherwise it will become a flying model...

Look after yourself first Terry....take care man...

Thanks very much again chaps.
I will indeed be walking away from this one for awhile, otherwise it will be the only flying PR.IX in the World !

Andy, just after posting, I had the same idea of using decal strips. I need to get some red strip decals anyway, to make the 46 Squadron 'flashes' for the two Meteor models, so I'll use those to make the warning panels. It'll be easier overall, and also avoids the possibility of ridges forming on the painted lines.
I might still get this finished in time, but meanwhile, I'll be concentrating on the FB.VI and NF.XII.

The stars must not be aligned properly for decal placement this week Terry

Oh boy...

I finally got back to the bench, and the Mosquito PR.IX.
I hadn't realised that it had been so long since I put this aside in order to concentrate on the models for the 46 Sqn anniversary, but I notice that the last time I touched it was back in mid February, and that disaster with the warning panel decals.
These have now been replaced, made up using thin red stripe decals from 'Xtradecal', and the 'Keep Off' stencils from the 'Aviaeology' sheet. The remaining stencils decals have also been applied, again using the excellent 'Aviaeology' items, and the serial numbers are individual characters from an 'Xtradecal' sheet.
The decals are still settling in the pics (photos 1 to 4), and apologies for the odd colour cast, making the PRU Blue look grey, due to mixed lighting.

Whilst the decals were setting, attention was focused on getting the propellers right for this particular aircraft.
The Airfix kit provides the later Hamilton Standard 'paddle' blade prop blades, which were retrofitted to the PR.IX, and some B.IXs, but I wanted to represent the more common, narrower chord 'needle' tip blades,
The Tamiya Mosquito kits include these, along with their version of the 'paddle' blades and, although I have the Tamiya FB.VI and the B.IV in the 'stash', both will be fitted with the earlier prop blades. However, it was a fairly simple task to re-profile the spare Tamiya 'paddle' blades, left over from the NF.XII build, and adapt the Airfix spinner back-plates to allow these to fit. The pics below show the process involved.

PICS 1 to 4. The decals in place, not yet fully settled or sealed.
PIC 5. One of the modfied Tamiya blades at left, with the unmodified example at right, with an Airfix blade for comparison, and a complete Airfix prop at top.
The blades were first trimmed to the approximate shape, and then filed and sanded to the required profile, with the trailing edges thinned down, before polishing.
PIC 6. One of the Airfix kit back plates, showing the method of mounting the individual blades, The raised central hub prevents the Tamiya blade from fitting, so this had to be reduced in height.
PIC 7. The hub was filed down, with repeated test-fitting, until the prop and back plate fitted snugly.
PIC 8. One of the completed props, just dry-fitted for this photo.

Given that I can complete the tidying up and clear away all the mess and piled-up stuff tomorrow, following the work to fit a new central heating system, I hope to clear enough space to get the matt clear coat sprayed, and then continue with the final stages of construction and detail painting etc.
Back soon with another up-date .....

Thanks my friend !

Welcome back to your (very nice) work Terry