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

Oh boy.....

Well, it was late - just as it is again now, b*gger !!

Airframes said:

'Cos the drawing was upside down ................... I've got me coat !

Click to expand...

I had no trouble reading it....what's the problem.....

Great work so far Terry!

Looks fantastic Terry

Thanks Glenn.
I'm hoping to make a start on the engine nacelles later, or tomorrow at latest.
A bit awkward, as they're supposed to be joined around the undercart, but I'll see if there's a way to fit that later.

After tacking the nacelles together, I found it was easier to work on them as separate halves, so they were taken apart, and work has begun on the corrections and re-shaping.

PIC 1. Shows that the fit is far from perfect, something that needs to be addressed when the nacelles are joined properly.
PIC 2. The red arrows indicate the areas which are far to angular, and too 'square' to the nacelle.
PIC 3. The areas that need attention, with 1 requiring re-shaping to give a more 'pinched' appearance, 2 the gills and front fairing need improving and accentuating, 3 & 4 needs to be rounded-off along the entire length, and 5 needs to be removed entirely, as these louvres were not present on the PR.IX (or the PR.XVI).
The blue 'X' marks the approximate position of where a small scoop for the oil cooler duct needs to be added.
PIC 4. Work to date, with the part on the right having had the initial re-shaping done to the intercooler intake, and the lower, carb intake trunking; compare this to the un-modified part at left. Still a lot to do here.

I hope to get a lot more done tomorrow, and also check the fit of the nacelles to the wings, and the 'old parts' lower wing sections to the 'new parts' upper wing sections - should be fun !

Good attention Terry. Definitely too square on that inlet.

A nice challenge Terry...but sorted in no time..!

Thanks very much chaps.

Haven't got any more done yet - had a day of endless interruptions - but hope to get some more done tonight.
I think those carb intakes will need building-up once the nacelles are joined, as they're far too shallow and 'flat' on the bottom face, and looking at the conversion I did around 27 years ago, when I made the intakes using 'Milliput', I reckon I'll be doing the same again.
The Intercooler vents are the tricky ones (shown as 2 in the previous post's pics) - I can either make a 'master' and cast a set of four in resin, or again use 'Milliput' to bulk them out, and then carve them to final shape.
I think it'll probably be the latter course of action, as these very small parts don't seem to warrant mixing the mould RTV and the resins - a lot of messing, to have to cast four times.
Anyway, I'll be back soon with another up-date.

Nice detail work Terry!

Thanks John.

Just spent around four hours working on one nacelle (after being interrupted again !), and nearly there, but still work to do when the halves are joined together. Might have a pic later.

Slowly getting there on the port nacelle, with the basic shape of the intercooler intake almost done (the larger intake), and the carb intake at least rounded off, the louvres removed, and the intake itself drilled out a bit. This will be built-up with 'Milliput' and re-profiled.
The two halves were then joined, and I have to say the fit is terrible (these parts were moulded in India). Thankfully, there's so much more sanding and putty work to do, that the joints will be vastly improved by that stage !
The magneto cooling ducts have been drilled-out, using a 0.55 mm drill bit in a pin vice, and then carefully opened out with the tip of a scalpel blade, the fuel pump cooling intake has been added to the port side of the nacelle, made from shaped plastic rod, again drilled-out and finished with the scalpel, and the primer access hatch has been engraved on the starboard side - the fire access hatch has yet to be engraved.
PIC 1. Not a very good shot, but it shows the basic shape of the intercooler intake beginning to form.
PIC 2. The red arrow indicates the magneto cooling duct, drilled and reamed, and the blue arrow is the fuel pump cooling intake, added from shaped plastic rod. The joints were treated to a dose of Tamiya Extra Thin cement on the outside, in order to create a ridge to fill the uneven joint lines, and this was also used to 'weld' the inner faces of the intercooler intake, which was then smoothed off when the plastic had softened, and a rough approximation of the grill faces was engraved into the softened plastic, which should pass muster once painted,
The rough joints will be trimmed and sanded once the parts have fully set. The carb intake trunking has yet to be 'built-up' with 'Milliput' and then re-profiled, and I'm not too concerned about the rather rough internal finish of the intake itself, where it was drilled - out and trimmed, as this will be screened by a PE ice guard.

A lot of time was spent, before commencing the re-shaping work, on working out if the undercart could be fitted after the nacelles are fitted to the wings (instructions call for the undercart to be fitted as the nacelles are joined), and, after assembling one set of gear, and messing about for an hour or so, I found that the easiest way is to fit the forward bulkhead that holds the main legs, join the nacelles, and worry about the rest later !
It'll take some fiddling, and the one assembled undercart will have to be used on the FB.VI, but it will make life a lot easier when it comes to the painting stage.
So, after around six hours work in total, there's still a long way to go, just on the port nacelle, but, bearing in mind the 'learning curve' on this one, the starboard side should be a little easier - I hope !

Thanks again for your continued interest, and I'll be back as soon as I have something positive to show.

Thanks my friend.
Just about got the intakes done, and ready to build-up the carb intake and sand to shape. Next step is to try out a few things to see what's the best way to improve the intercooler vents on the sides of the cowling panels.
I'll keep plodding on ...............

This one's keeping you busy Terry.

Sort of Andy. Having a heavy cold for the past week or so has slowed things down quite a bit though, but thankfully it seems to be easing off now.
The actual work is turning out to be less complex than I originally anticipated, and would probably have been easier and quicker without the thick head and runny nose. Got to be careful not to remove too much plastic around the rim of the intakes though, as it's quite soft in some places.
Hoping to get the starboard nacelle to the same stage tonight, then mess about with those exit vents - might have some pics over the weekend.

Nice work Terry