**** DONE: GB-49 1/48 Mosquito B.XVI - Favourite A/C of WWII

[Airframes]

Thanks very much chaps.

Those code letter decals seem to have settled down, and I now have all of the stencils etc in place, after a few small problems with some of the finer items, as I sort of expected ( breaking up, folding and disintegrating ), but I managed to retrieve the situation, and hope that they settle without "silvering".
I'm letting the model stand for a few hours, to let the decals fully settle, then it'll be cleaned to remove any decal residue, the decals sealed with a gloss coat, and allowed to harden for at least 8 hours, before spraying the matt clear coat.
I might have some pics later tonight, once the model is cleaned and the decals sealed, but if not, then it'll be sometime tomorrow.

 

[MaxCamps]

Thanks Hugh.

The main decals are on, with the upper-wing roundels and the fin flashes from the kit decal sheet, the fuselage roundels from "Xtradecal", code letters from "Fantasy Print Shop", and the serial numbers made up from individual characters from "Tally Ho Decals".
I only had one slight mishap, when a figure "1" in the port side serial number folded and creased when being applied, which was easily replaced with a spare.
I'll let these settle for a few hours, before tackling the 40 or so stencils that need to be added. The pics below show the progress to date, with the decals still settling, and I've noticed that the number "6", and possibly the "T" on the starboard side may need a dose of decal solution, as there is slight silvering showing, mainly on the lower, left side of the "6", but this may well bed down with time.
Back sometime later tonight ( Wednesday ), when I hope to have completed the decals, and possibly got the matt clear coat on.


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Its shaping up nicely Terry - just beautiful!!!

 

[Crimea_River]

This is a nice stage of modeling, when all the fit issues have been solved and the model comes to life with paint and decals. Looks very good Terry.

 

[fubar57]

Agreed

 

[Airframes]

Thanks once again chaps, it's appreciated.

I got the model cleaned late last night - one small stencil broke up as soon as it was touched, although I managed to save and re-position most of it, and another stencil on the upper wing roundel, disappeared completely !
No major loss, as the tiny black lettering against the dark blue background, couldn't really be seen anyway.
After cleaning, the decals were sealed with a thin, clear gloss coat and, so far, they seem to be OK, with no lifting or wrinkling, although I think there will be some slight silvering on a couple of the very small stencils, which may disappear once the matt clear coat is applied.
I'm aiming to get the matt coat sprayed tonight, given the gloss has hardened sufficiently ( which it should have, by then ), and I'll post some pics once it's done.

 

[Airframes]

Just preparing to spray the matt clear coat, a little later than intended.
The pics below show some of the stencil decals, after the model was cleaned and all the decals sealed with a gloss coat.

Pics 1 to 3. The kit provides the large, earlier style warning panels for the radiator covers, with all that clear carrier film just waiting to show huge areas of silvering. Fortunately, later variants mainly had just the red outline and the "Keep Off" stencils, some just the text alone, and I opted for the outline with the "Keep Off" stencils, the latter cut from the kit decals, with the outline being made up from red decal stripes.
Pics 4 to 6. General views of some of the stencils. The trestle location point lines and text stencils were particularly troublesome, breaking up into a number of pieces, and one of the text stencils folding back on itself. The lines were eventually coaxed into place, and the damaged stencil replaced with one cut from the set printed in red, for use on the "Night" colour scheme in the Tamiya kit. The colour difference can't really be noticed, and although the lines are not perfectly straight, they should pass..
Pic 7. A "bomb log" has been added to the nose, using decals from the spares collection. I was unable to verify exactly how many "Ops" this aircraft had completed at this stage in it's operational life, and using a little "artistic licence" I'm only assuming that it would display such a log, as others in the Squadron ( and Group ) evidently did. The aircraft also served with another Squadron, although I can't find the info I had, showing which Squadron used it first ( I think it was the subject Sqn, 608 ). As it was a relatively new aircraft, I opted for a "small" display, which at least adds a little colour, even if not totally accurate.

I should be back sometime tomorrow with a further update, and thanks again for the continued interest.

 

[Crimea_River]

Looks great Terry and there's no evidence of your decal issues that I can see. The data I have suggests this aircraft served with 128 Sqn before 608.

 

[rochie]

Looks good to me Terry

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Andy, and that's right, it was 128 Sqn.
I've now found the sheet with the aircraft info, showing it moved from 128 Sqn to 608 Sqn, which could mean that if it displayed a bomb log, then there very well could be more "Ops" showing , but I'll leave things as they are.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Airframes]

Matt clear coat done, and all masks removed.

The clear parts have yet to be cleaned, to remove adhesive residue from around the edges of the framework, and the front frame on the cockpit "blown" side window on the port side, needs to have a little more PVA in the joint, to seal it ( white arrow ), and then have the frame re-touched,
I'd expected this, as the actual joint line was difficult to define until painted, due to the shape of the bulge in the side panel, so I didn't fully fill it before masking and painting.
Once all the above is done, the "missing" internal frames will be painted, above the windscreen frame and, when dry, these, and the rear internal frame areas will receive a coat of clear gloss, to give the impression that the "frames" are actually inside the canopy.
Although not perfect, the fit, and final appearance of the the Airfix bulged side windows on the canopy turned out better than expected, and they should look acceptable once cleaned up, and the filling / re-touching done.
I should be able to get this work done later today, after all the domestic chores are out of the way, and then I'll have a break until tomorrow, as I've been working on this part of the build, off and on, for the past 48 hours, with quite long stints at the bench - average six hours.

Thanks again to all for the interest, likes and comments, and I should be back sometime tomorrow ................

 

[Wurger]

 

[rochie]

Taking shape very nicely

 

[Airframes]

thanks, Wojtek and Karl.

I forgot to mention, in case anyone spotted it, but I dislodged one of the radiator shutters on the underside of the wing. These Tamiya parts have very minimal contact / cementing surfaces, and "only just" stay attached, so it'll be fixed near the end of the build.

 

[Wurger]

 

[Crimea_River]

Liking how that's turning out.

 

[Airframes]

Thanks Andy.
I'll admit, I'm quite pleased with it so far, given all the alterations and "extras". The cockpit side windows could be better, but not too bad, considering they're from a different kit and needed trimming, and I think they'll look much better once I've got them sorted.

 

[fubar57]

You've done a very nice job on this one Terry

 

[Airframes]

Thanks very much Geo.

 

[Gnomey]

Lovely work so far Terry!