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

Yes, nice work. Those resin nacells look sharp.

Not a bad fit Terry.

Something I've been doing recently when I have a large part or assembly that is tricky to align and also needs to be a strong joint is I use tube glue or epoxy on the inner side of the joint and when the alignment is close I dab a few dots of thick CA along the joint, check alignment again, and hit it with accelerator. The thick CA gives you a little time to make a final adjustment and the accelerator freezes it where you want it. I pretty much use CA exclusively as a filler so I just add more to the joint after the tube glue/epoxy has set, hit it with accelerator and file/sand the joint smooth.

Thanks chaps - nearly there with the final tweeks on the nacelles, and then I can move on to the internal work on the fuselage.

Glenn, that's exactly what I did to fit the resin parts.

Andy, yep, already planned things that way, especially as the camouflage colours extend down the cowlings. The design of the Tamiya kit will allow me to paint the inner surfaces of the nacelles etc, and then temporarily "plug" the wings in place in order to match-up the camouflage pattern between wings and fuselage. The exhaust slots will be masked until ready to fit the exhausts, which will be fitted before attaching the wings permanently.
As for the fuselage, I am aware of the "issues" with the tail fin and rudder, but as it's highly unlikely that the recipient of the model, or anyone else for that matter (apart from us pedantic accuracy freaks !) will notice, I'm not going to bother spending the time and effort to correct this, and will leave it as is.
Similarly, as the "blown" canopy will cause some distortion of view into the cockpit, I'll just use the kit instrument panel and decal, rather than fit a "Yahu" or Eduard panel I have "in stock", the details of which would not be seen. Some additional internal detail will be added, such as my home-made "Gee" equipment, and a scratched Mk.XIV bomb sight and computer, but again this will be kept to a minimum, due to the reduced visibility of the interior. But first, I have to find the home-made resin "Gee" and associated "black boxes" - I accidentally caught the edge of the small, open container they are stored in, which "flipped" off the bench and across the room, scattering the small parts under and around a cabinet and table !!

I'll post a further up-date when some more progress has been made, probably tomorrow.
Thanks again for the interest and comments.

A quick up-date.
All the work on the resin to plastic joints has been completed, and a rough, thin coat of matt white enamel brushed on to check the work.
Apart from one tiny pin hole on an inboard joint, everything looks acceptable, and once the paint has fully dried, this will be "rubbed back" and that pin hole attended too, with some light re-engraving done to some panel joint lines.
So, next stage, tomorrow, will involve preparing the fuselage and interior for the added detail, and starting on the "proper" construction.
Pics below show the rough white paint, and the state of play so far.

Fit looks very good Terry. One thing to check: I don't think those small scoops were present on your rig. In fact, a quick look of my reference pics didn't show ANY B.XVIs with these small scoops.

Heck !
You're right Andy !
I hadn't actually noticed until now, but that said, something was bothering me about them - thanks for bringing it to my attention before it's too late.
They will be removed forthwith (or even fifthwith ! ).
I've also realised that I should really adapt , fit and modify the Airfix 100 gal wing tanks as it will be easier to do at this stage,, so that will be done, along with the wing tip, before turning to the fuselage.

Just done some checking, and discovered what was niggling me about those intake scoops.
When researching for the PR.IX model some time back, I'd studied scale drawings and photos of the various two-stage Merlin cowlings, and established that the B.IX / PR.IX had similar scoops, but much further aft, and that the B.35 had those scoops as portrayed on the resin parts, hence my not really noticing the differences. But as Andy quite rightly pointed out, they were not on the B.XVI cowlings, either as depicted on the parts, or further aft as on the B.IX, so thanks again Andy for catching this at this early stage.
Although unlikely, I may be able to remove at least one of the scoops intact, which can then be used for the cabin intake on the port side, just below the windscreen. If not, then it will be scratched from plastic rod or fine tube.
Just about to remove the scoops, and then start on the wing tanks, and might have some pics later.

Good work so far Terry!

Interesting now that I dig into this more Terry. There are pictures of our aircraft (RS700) at Derby and in Spartan service with and without these scoops! Not sure what they are for but it seems Spartan got rid of them at some point.

Andy, somewhere, sometime, I vaguely remember seeing or reading something about this, and from what I can remember, it was something to do with one or more of the various ancillary "bits" fitted, and their positions, and possibly the actual engine fit. The B.35 has them as depicted on the resin parts, the B.IX / PR.IX has similar scoops well to the rear of the side cowl on each side, the B.XVI evidently didn't have them, and so on.

Anyway, they've now been successfully removed from both sides of both resin cowlings, and the areas sanded and cleaned up. The cowling joint lines have also been re-engraved where required, and work is now underway on the wing tanks.
Although strangely not shown in the instructions, the Tamiya kit has the smaller ( 50 Gal ? ) tanks included, but in general, the B.XVI was fitted with the larger, 100 Gal tanks, and PF510 would certainly have had these for this "Op" to Schleizheim / Munich. These larger tanks can also be seen in the photos of the Keil Op., shown earlier in this thread. They were very often left in "aluminium" dope, but many photos of LNSF Mossies, including the Keil pics, show them in the underside colour (Medium Sea Grey ), sometimes, as in the Keil pics again, with the exposed upper surface in the top-side camouflage colours.
I'm using the larger tanks left over from the strange Airfix B/PR.XVI kit and, like the rest of that kit, the tanks are far from perfect !
Fit is fairly poor, with a lot of sanding required to remove the seam lines, but the main thing is, the shape of the "nose" profile is far to pointed and is also "flat" on the top surface.
So far, this has been improved, as far as possible, by filing a more "rounded" profile and, once in place and fully set, I'm hoping that I can make further improvements by "building up" the shape with "Milliput", and sanding this to at least resemble the actual shape of the tanks. I'm not expecting them to be perfect, but at least it should improve the overall appearance.
Pics below show the work to date - not a lot, considering the hours spent.


Pic 1. Those "scoops" removed, and cowling panel lines re-engraved.
Pic 2. The Airfix tank half (top), compared to the Tamiya kit part. The Tamiya part, although smaller than the Airfix example, seems to me to be somewhere between the size of the actual 50 and 100 gallon tanks.
Pic 3. The tank on the left has been filed to a more rounded shape around the nose profile. Compare with the untouched Airfix tank on the right.
Pics 4 and 5. The first ( port ) tank in place. Once fully set, the nose profile will ( hopefully ) be improved by building-up with "Milliput" and sanding to shape, and the tank to wing joints will also be filled and tidied, before adding detais such as the test and drain cocks etc.

With luck, I should get the other tank done, and the work completed on these, some time tomorrow, an then fir the wing tips, before moving on to the fuselage and interior construction..

Terry I have two spare large tanks from my Revell kit. Yours if you want them.

Ah, b*ll*cks !
Wish I'd know that a couple of hours ago - but the first tank is in place, reinforced along the joints and leading edge with CA, so it ain't coming off !
Thanks Andy, but I'll stick with these - they should look acceptable enough when done and painted, and I doubt the recipient will notice anything out of the ordinary, unless it's compared closely with scale drawings and close-up photos.
I had considered getting some more Ultracast tanks., but reckoned these would do, and would allow me to progress without having to wait for the mail from across the Pond.

Got both of the Airfix tanks in place, and "Milliput" has been moulded onto the upper surfaces, to the approximate desired shape. Once fully set, this will be carved and sanded to the final shape, and I hope to have this, and the other work on the wings, completed by tomorrow.

Nice work Dogsbody

Thanks, Wojtek and Karl.
Having a rest from the bench tonight, but back some time tomorrow.

Cool

Thanks Geo.