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

Ad: This forum contains affiliate links to products on Amazon and eBay. More information in Terms and rules

Thanks chaps, and Andy, I went to bed straight after posting that last pic, shortly after midnight.

Into the final phase now, with all of the undercart items assembled and painted, the exhausts painted and fitted, and the props assembled and painted, plus a couple of other biibly bobs done.
For anyone contemplating using the "Brengun" resin conversion set, note that the casting blocks for the exhausts are quite thick, and care must be taken when removing the stacks - I've included some notes on this in the photo captions below.

Pics 1 and 2. Main gear and tail wheel assembled and painted. The tail wheel yoke was drilled out to give a more realistic appearance.
In order to get the "look" of the model as accurate as possible, I checked the weather records for Norfolk for April, 1945. It seems that the month was an unusually dry and warm, sometimes hot period, up to a day or two after the date depicted by the model. Consequently, the tyres have only received a light dry-brushing to represent dust, and the inner faces of the mudguards treated accordingly. Note also the yellow "slip" indicators on the main wheels / tyres.
And I've just noticed i haven't painted the flexible part of the brake lines - this will be corrected tomorrow !
Pic 3. Removing the exhaust stacks from the casting blocks. As mentioned above, the blocks are quite thick, and there isn't much room for error when cutting. Due to the angle the stacks are mounted on the blocks, it wasn't possible to get a razor saw at an accurate angle to cut safely, and my PE saw blades weren't really up to the job.
I found the best way to remove each stack was to first score a "guide" along the "ridge" where the exhaust back plate joins the casting block extension, using a scalpel, and then enhance this slightly with the razor saw, before continually scoring with an engraving tool. This was done, very carefully, on both sides of each casting, and then the final separation completed using the tip of the scalpel blade, each stack taking around 15 minutes to remove. This prevented any slips or errors, and also prevented the stacks from bending, and possibly breaking, as they started to become free from the block. Once separated, each stack received a couple of passes with a jeweler's file, on the joining surface, to remove any burrs or swarf.
Pics 4 to 7. The exhausts were brush-painted in a base colour of matt black with a touch of silver, to give a dark metallic appearance and, once dry, they were carefully coloured to represent staining and heat effects, using various shades of grey and brown. Once the paint had fully dried, they were then attached using CA, They still await clean-up in the pics below, in order to remove tiny bits of dried paint "dust".
Pic 8. Props painted and assembled. The Tamiya kit included the later, licence-built Hamilton Standard "paddle" blade props, not used on the B.IV as in the kit, but generic parts for use in other versions, such as the FB.VI. These are more accurate than the rather wide-chord examples provided in the old Airfix kit, and represent quite well the type of prop used on the B.XVI. They have yet to receive some light weathering and a clear coat in the pic below. The spinners are actually the same colour, with the lighting making one look lighter than the other.
Again, for anyone wishing to use the "Brengun" conversion kit, note that the "poly caps" provided in the Tamiya kit to hold the props in place as a "push fit" ( something I never use anyway ), will not fit over the propellor splines of the resin parts. However, omitting the caps is fine, as the prop back plates fits snugly over the splines, providing a secure fit, and allow the props to rotate if you so wish.

Next step is to fit small items, such as the wing-tip nav lamps, glaze and colour the underside I.D. lamps, and then detail, and slightly alter, the entrance hatch door, as well as fit the undercart and gear doors etc.
I should have the model completed either late tomorrow, or on Sunday, and then turn attention to getting the display base "groundwork" done.
I'll be taking the model down to Sywell on Wednesday, to give to Max, and I believe that the pilot's son will be joining us on the airfield on Thursday, when he'll be presented with the model of his father's Mosquito.

Thanks once again for all the kind comments and continued interest, and i should be back sometime tomorrow.




 
Last edited:
Looking brilliant Terry!!
 
Thanks very much chaps.

I've been "out of the game" for the past 38 hours or - had a sudden and extremely painful "flare-up" of the RA on late Saturday afternoon. I couldn't even raise my arms, and hands, wrists, forearms and elbows were very painful, as well as zero energy !
Went to bed, stayed there and eventually got up this morning, after finally getting a few hours sleep, which has eased things, thankfully !
I'll now have to bash on to get the model completed, and the display base, but unless anything dramatic happens, I should have it ready, and packed for transport, by Wednesday, when Karl and I will be meeting-up with Max at Sywell.

There's not that much to do on the model itself, with the final, small bits to attach, and, all being well, the display base shouldn't take too long to get done.
I'll post some pics when there's something worth showing, meanwhile, it's nose to the bench ad get cracking !!!
 
Thanks for the kind words chaps, it's appreciated.
Working on the final bits now, and it's nearly done - just having a break to give my hands a rest, as they're still a bit stiff and tender.
I'm hoping to have the model itself finished later tonight, and then start work on the base. The final small bits are taking longer than usual, as I'm finding it a touch difficult, due to lack of articulation and some discomfort, but I'll get there., and I hope to have some pics later tonight.
 
Thanks Glenn.

Got the final small bits done, and the undercart and main doors fitted. Just got to attach the props, pitot tube, "Gee" antenna and the entrance hatch door and ladder, plus a little joint filling and re-touching around the nav lamps, and it's done.
Pics below show the final detail bits, and I'll post a pic of the model itself a little later - going to have a break for awhile, to rest my hands.

Pic 1. I.D. lamps painted with transparent paint, and then glazed with PVA.
Pics 2 and 3. Nav lamps have had the colours of the bulbs added, using transparent paint, and attached to the wings. Lighting makes the starboard ( blue ) lamp look completely blue, but only the bulb area is painted. The joints will be filled with PVA and re-touched as require ( and the fibres removed too ! ).
Pic 4. Main undercart and doors attached. The tail wheel has also been fitted, not shown here.
Pic 5. The entrance hatch door as provided in the kit, with the recess for the window used for the drift sight.
I "discovered" a couple of things about the Mk.XVI during research for this build, with the difference in camouflage pattern on Percival-built aircraft, a different location for the "Gee" whip antenna ( to be shown later ), and the differences in the hatch door. I'd remembered seeing the well-known wartime colour footage of Pathfinder / LNSF Mossies, and I was fairly sure that the window in the door was not visible. Further checking of the footage, and numerous photos, showed that the window was painted over (on both sides), with some being plated over and painted, and there's also evidence to suggest that some aircraft had a totally "blank" door, with no signs of a window ever being fitted. I also noted that some Mk.IV's also had painted over door windows, all of which seemed to be from Pathfinder / LNSF aircraft. I may be wrong, but I'm presuming this was due to the drift sight possibly being redundant, with the use of "Gee" ( and "Oboe" on some aircraft ), and possibly to prevent glare in the cockpit, through the window.
Consequently, I decided to depict the door as having the window painted over.
Pics 6 to 9. First, an ejector pin mark was removed, along with the moulded representation of the door locking latch and handle. The small jettison pedal, at the top of the door, was retained. The window was fitted, and a scratch-built latch and handle fitted, made from stretched sprue. The interior colour was then painted, gloss coated when dry, and the decal added, finally matt clear coating when all had set. (note that the door handle is plain wood, not black and yellow stripes, and there is no horizontal bar across the door frame, both of these being post-war additions, as seen in many "walk around" photos of preserved aircraft ).
The decal reads "Beware of Airscrews", with airscrews being the original name for what we now call propellors.
RAF legend has it that the name "airscrew" was changed, during WW2, following some confusion, when a particular RAF Station urgently requested replacement air crew - and were sent replacement airscrews !!
The name was changed to the American term "propellor", although the original name continued long after, particularly with longer-serving personnel.

Going to have a short break, as mentioned, then start the initial work on the display base. If I can get my hands to behave, and fit the final small parts, I'll post a pic of the model later, and the finished pics will be posted sometime tomorrow.


 
Good stuff Terry and thanks for explaining the discoveries. One thing I learned was that sometimes the Gee antenna was not visible at all. There was a design mod that allowed the antenna to be mounted internally across one of the rear bulkheads. This of course was possible with a wooden fuselage.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 1 (members: 0, guests: 1)

Similar threads

**** FINISHED: GB-49 1/48 Mosquito B.XVI - Favourite A/C of WWII
2 3
Replies
40
Views
3K
Airframes
**** DONE: GB-49 1:48 Mustang IV - Favourite A/C of WWII
3 4 5
Replies
97
Views
7K
A4K
**** FINISHED: GB-49 1/48 Bf109K-4 - Favourite A/C of WWII
2
Replies
22
Views
2K
Crimea_River
**** FINISHED: GB-49 1/32 Fw190D-9 - Favourite A/C of WWII
Replies
19
Views
2K
T Bolt
**** FINISHED: GB-49 - 1/72 Bf109G-6 - Favourite A/C of WWII
Replies
11
Views
1K
meatloaf109
Menu
Log in
Register