<-- **** DONE: 1/48 Mosquito NF.XII - Twin Engined Aircraft of WWII

Looks great so far Terry!

Very nice work, particularly on the paint job!

Thanks chaps !
Got the first gloss coat on, and part way through assembling the undercarriage.
Although nicely detailed, the undercart is extremely fiddly, and possibly the weakest feature of this kit. The retraction jack is a less than perfect fit at the top end, and I was concerned that it might foul the locating pins when I come to install the assemblies in the wheel bays.
To prevent this possibility, the extreme end of the ram, with all the bolt detail, was removed - it wouldn't be seen anyway, even with a torch and magnifying glass - and the bare end was then cemented onto the diagonal leg.
Also, the sprue attachment points were mainly on the arms of all the parts - a real pain to remove without damaging the parts. Why they couldn't be on the ends of each part is beyond me.
Actually getting the legs to join together was a right pain in the jet pipe, and I reckon life would have been a lot easier if the wheel axle was maybe another 1 mm or so longer. It took almost an hour to assemble the main part of one gear assembly, minus mud guards and oil tank, which has resulted in some parts needing a re-paint.

PIC 1. A rather poor, grainy shot of the first gloss coat (available light, and the wrong camera setting !), using Humbrol Clear Gloss acrylic varnish, which is similar to the original Johnson's Klear / Future in the way it coats and self-levels. Another coat will be applied after allowing it to harden over night.
PIC 2. The mudguards provided are just a touch 'heavy' in appearance, and had an ejector pin mark in the center, plus that annoying sprue attachment on the rear curve. These were carefully removed, and the 'walls' of the vertical flanges thinned down, as shown on the right.
PIC 3. The guards also lacked the prominent lightening holes, so these were drilled out and the holes cleaned up.
PIC 4. The first undercart assembly, with the mudguard and oil tank yet to be fitted. Note the messed-up paintwork, which will be re-touched when (if !!) the assembly is fully set.
The NF.XII had the dual brake hubs, and thankfully Tamiya provide these, as well as the single brake, spoked hub. Brake lines were fitted on both sides, using lead wire. They run down the inner side of the gear legs, and should terminate at a brake nipple on the disc of the brake itself, immediately aft of the axle, but for simplicity, they've been attached to the rear of the axle housing,
The tyres were hand-painted, using a mix of matt black, with a small amount of white and light earth added, to give a rubber look and, when dry, the block tread was dry-brushed in a dark sand colour.

Given I have the time ( and patience !) tomorrow, I hope to get another gloss coat applied to the model, and complete both sets of undercart, as well as the props and spinners.Next step will involve some improvements to the 'solid' tail wheel.

Thanks again for your continued interest, and I hope to post another up-date some time tomorrow.

Great!

Thanks my friend !

I've finished the undercarriage assemblies, with the legs re-painted, and the mudguards and oil tanks attached. The undersides of the guards have had 'sand' stains added.
The props have also been finished, and work has started on the tail wheel.

PICS 1 and 2. The finished undercarriage assemblies.
PIC 3. The props, with 'paint wear' on the spinners showing the original Medium Sea Grey underneath the 'Smooth Night', and some wear on the blade edges.
PIC 4. The tail wheel is provided in two halves, with the correct, grooved,'anti-shimmy' tyre, but the yoke is solid. Work has been done to try to open this a little, for a more realistic look, and the leg has been painted so far, with the tyre next, when the silver paint has fully dried.

I might get some more done later today, when I get back from shopping etc, although I'm going to a charity event tonight, so might not have much time.

Looking very good Terry. I must say I'm surprised at those chunky details on the landing gear. Despite its faults, the Revell kit does a nice job in this area with thin, nicely scaled parts.

I think it might be the lighting in the pics making the gear look chunky Andy. It's actually quite fine, with the correct detail on the shocker casings, and quite thin arms etc. The retraction jacks certainly make one arm look a bit heavy, but they look OK, and scale out fine, at the correct height for 'sit'.
They're just a pain in the Rs to assemble !!

I was talking about your observation on the mudguards and their brackets. Revell's brackets are separate, thin, and have the lightening holes molded in.

Ah, I see !
Yes, those brackets are a let down, and very thick. Even the Airfix kit, from 1980, has separate brackets, with at least depressions for the holes - and their tail wheel has a proper yoke and separate wheel.
The Tamiya kit is good, but it's not as brilliant as some would have it, and I'm still suspect about the profile of the canopy !

Revell's gear was missing the rod fenders for the landing gear doors so I had to scratch those.

Yep, I remember that. I'll have to add some rods to the fenders when I do the conversion of the PRXVI to a PR.IX, as they had the 'bomber' type fender, with more braces. (Conversion ! Ha ! A few improvements, and a change of canopy, basically !)
I'm not bothering to add further detail to the gear or exterior on the NF.XII, as it wouldn't be noticed, and possibly wouldn't survive !
I will, however, replace the fragile kit parts for the wing-mounted azimuth antenna with brass rod.

Lovely work so far Terry!

Thanks Hugh.

A bit of a pause in the build, whilst waiting for the last coat of gloss clear to dry. I might be able to start on some of the decals later, but meanwhile, I've been doing some prep work on the FB.VI Mossie in my other build.
Back soon ............

Great painting there Terry!

yep sure is...

Thanks John and Wayne.

Just getting ready to make a start on the decals - might have some pics later.