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Tamiya Spitfire and Mosquito


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Hi all

after building 2 trumpeter kits, i decided to try out and treat myself to Tamiya. I bought the spitfire and the mosquito was a birthday gift, and since both pretty much have the same colours i thought of a dual build. also, i would really try to do a camouflage aircraft. never tried it before and i've been building pretty much single colour tone aircrafts so far, except for the harrier with minor camo on the top and bottom. so here goes.......

 

first up..... i could wait to try out the engines. so i skipped Tamiya's instruction and went straight to the engines.

 

unfortunately, i did not have any intentions of doing a WIP so , the build had advanced

i must say, everything came together very nicely on the Tamiya kit. everything fits. that is a welcome surprise to my previous builds

 

engines-surfacer_zpsrzdsowhs.jpg

 

started to put in some details for the pipe works

 

engines-details_zpsox9qahv5.jpg

 

finally, i think the engines are done

 

engines_zpsfuyazl4i.jpg

 

 

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Decided to add some details to the engine gondola's

 

gondola%20details_zpstslwzqey.jpg

 

then went on to apply surfacer and some pre shading and artificial shadows

 

gondola%20preshade_zpstivkyn9n.jpg

 

nacelle%20int%20walls-preshading_zps7xyi

 

shcarge-preshade_zpstaqfjiyw.jpg

 

had the frames painted, i used Tamiya's sky and a mixture of green, but added some cockpit interior wash later on to darken the tone

 

gondola%20paint_zpslm0b74uo.jpg

 

proceeded to paint the metals

 

metals_zpsqt9etdg3.jpg

 

added some salt for weathering affects

 

shcarge-salted_zpseu57q7pn.jpg

 

i used common table salt with a mixture of Mc Donalds fine salt

 

salt_zps9maqa2xg.jpg

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i've hit a snag.

dont seem to be able to get the frames fitting well. ended up with a huge gap.

 

engine-5_zpsosgkox89.jpg

 

after analyzing the problem, i think i've done something wrong and the paint is too thick, so ended up with some minor surgery

 

decided to remove the circular attachment part to the engine

 

supercharger%20mods_zpsnvry0c9b.jpg

 

that still didnt work, so ended up removing some detail for a better fit

 

cowling_zpsnklbn8ri.jpg

 

and finally, it fits

 

engine-done-1_zpsypvlm3rj.jpg

 

engine-done-2_zpsrpxmc7gh.jpg

 

now, off to work on the spitfire's engines. the spit has more details on the engines, so, gonna take some time there.

 

 

 

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10 hours ago, skystreak80 said:

Very nice start as for the engines not fitting there is left and right specific i'm half way through my mossie here http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/285612-tamiya-132-de-havilland-mosquito/&page=1 i will be back on that soon

I look forward to following your build :)

 

Lee

Greetings Lee,

saw your WIP on the mosqito, its great to see that you're doing quite a bit of research. I myself am following these 2 builds, ie:  the Wolf build ( http://forum.largesc...showtopic=58664) and the Peter's build (http://forum.largesc...c=63855&page=20 )  Both are superb examples for a step by step reference.

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  • 4 weeks later...

moving along with the build..... started with the Spitfires cockpit. the parts went on well with fits and all. i've added Eduard's photo etched interiors and they are simply gorgeous!!!

 

CHAIR_zpsuv1gzvry.jpg

 

 

COCKPIT-2_zpshq8sp5lk.jpg

 

 

COCKPIT-1_zpsjnjpelsq.jpg

 

Eduards, instrument panels....... fabulous!!

 

INS_zpsvfocf3yw.jpg

 

 

 

Added in some lead wires and it really complements the details in cramped spaces

 

front%20office%202_zpstagksjn2.jpg

 

front%20office_zps6pvmhb12.jpg

 

 

got to start working on the seat belts and then the 2 halfs can be glued in!!

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now to close up the fuselage.... and on to the mosquitos cockpit!!!

first up is the seatbelts......

 

spitcockpit_zps4ldlsivc.jpg

 

finally got to close up the fuselage

 

spit-fuselage_zpsjw9h5ge5.jpg

 

spit-fuselage3_zpsee7ef3wi.jpg

 

a bit of a scale comparison between the spitfire fuselage vs the mosquito's engine necelle, looks like the mosquito is going to be a huge model?

 

scale%20comparison_zpsw08kzeph.jpg

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  • 1 month later...

Been, working on the Mosquito's cockpit, its a ton of work, compared to the Spitfire. lots and lots of details

c6_zpswoaek5od.jpg

 

c5_zpsbfuu3olf.jpg

 

c3_zpsfltf79ap.jpg

 

c2_zpsjgem5m7p.jpg

 

c-1_zpsovai1aii.jpg

 

i am off for my vacation for the long Chinese New Year Break here in Asia, so wishing all of you a Happy New Year and hope to be back on the saddle soon to finish up the rest of the cockpit area.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 finally got the cockpit done up with the nose guns (by Eduard) and ready to put the 2 half's together, finally can see it take on that iconic shape. the nose guns by Eduard is absolutely amazing, i highly recommend the nose and belly guns for the mosquito FB.

 

c2_zps1bjajk2r.jpg

 

guns_zpsn1h1d9ak.jpg

 

guns2_zpsttwmgh3z.jpg

 

c1_zpscrxk13qd.jpg

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Shan,

  Just had a chance to read through your double build. It's hard to believe that you're doing both the 1/32 scale Tamiya Spitfire and the Mossie at the same time.  The Mossie is an adventure in Modeling unlike anything you've ever experienced. While I haven't built one myself as yet, I've lived through my brother Peter's build ( the Peter's build that you're following ) that took 7 months to complete, so you know the level that he maintained throughout the build. Tamiya's part fit is so exact, that you have to make sure that absolutely no paint is on any gluing surface as it will effect that sub assembly fitting correctly in a later stage. Pete use to email me that a few times every week. Bundie's built is super detailed while Pete's is OOB meant for a few contests down the road.

 

  All three of your engines really look the part. Very nicely done.

 

  The Spits cockpit really looks quite nice, as does the stage you've reached with the Mossie's pit. And those Machine gun barrels from Eduard are indeed a big step up from the kit ones.

 

  Looking forward to your next update.

 

Joel

Edited by Joel_W
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Thanks Joel and Phantom for checking out my build, and yes, i am begining to feel that i bit off more than i can chew with the 2 builds. But it makes a lot of sense to start off with the 2 builds at the time as they are similar in many ways - interior colours, exterior camo, similar engines, props, etc, etc. i have also noticed the sequence of Tamiya's build guide, its really quite similar. so i've decided to give it a go at it. I initailly started off with the spitfire, but my buddy got me the mosquito for my birthday, soi that was an excellent surprise and right on time too. I also do struggle to find time for the hobby, so its quite rewarding to see quite a lot of stuff getting done with 2 builds at a time. Hope to be posting some pics soon, just finished the mosquito's wings and am now working on the spits wings.

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Shan,

   Not many of us would ever get such an expensive model as a gift, you're really quite lucky. My wife has never bought me anything model or hobby related over the last 35+ years, so there isn't much chance of her changing her pattern at this stage of the game.

 

Joel

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11 hours ago, Joel_W said:

Shan,

   Not many of us would ever get such an expensive model as a gift, you're really quite lucky. My wife has never bought me anything model or hobby related over the last 35+ years, so there isn't much chance of her changing her pattern at this stage of the game.

 

Joel

ha ha, Joel , we're both on the same boat. The wife doesnt really support the modelling hobby over at my  end too. and yes, i am truly lucky to have my buddy who is also a modeller who has been building models for 30 years too. i should post some of his 200+ models that he's built someday. Just checked out your completed Mosquito, it's looking real good. hope mine will turn out as good as yours did.

Whats your next project?

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7 hours ago, shan said:

ha ha, Joel , we're both on the same boat. The wife doesnt really support the modelling hobby over at my  end too. and yes, i am truly lucky to have my buddy who is also a modeller who has been building models for 30 years too. i should post some of his 200+ models that he's built someday. Just checked out your completed Mosquito, it's looking real good. hope mine will turn out as good as yours did.

Whats your next project?

Shan,

    Glad you liked my efforts with the Tamiya 1/48 scale Mosquito. For a kit that was conceived in 1996, it's still equal to the best kits out there.

    My current build is the Trumpeter 1/32 F4F-3, and I've been posting updates every few days as I started this build before I came back to ARC. It's still got a long way to go. It's located at:

Joel

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  • 2 months later...

Finally got the wings and engines on. Bungled up a little on the Mosquito's nose, the guns seem to be off centered. got to end up with some minor surgery/ correction. Cant wait to get to the painting, but still got lots of little bits to go.

 

OVERALL_zpsggqkrrto.jpg

 

OVERALL_zpsxzodvvqk.jpg

 

Belly guns from Eduard

 

BELLY%20GUNS2_zpsmmieznsd.jpg

 

BELLY%20GUNS_zpsls4mkqdk.jpg

 

close up on the engines

 

ENGINE%20CLOSEUP_zpsexxaq0ww.jpg

 

ENGINE%20CLOSEUP3_zpsby8l6oyp.jpg

 

UNDERSIDE_zpsd2acimyb.jpg

 

Surgery underway to correct the nose

 

UNDERSIDE3_zpsr4htaati.jpg

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moving onward, i thought of experimenting on glass coating. so its the all loved and trusted Klear, vs, Gauzy -

 

glass%20coat%20agents_zpsctyiasrt.jpg

 

The Gauzy glass coat proved to be much more difficult to work with compared to Klear. its not as fluid as Klear and its milky in colour.. the technique is the same - ie: Drip Dry, but Klear glids across the clear plastic and Gauzy is more like condensed milk coating the clear parts.

 

The Gauzy coat had some clouding affects as the viscosity of coating starts to pool at the edges

 

I used Gauzy on the spitfire canopy and Klear on the Mosquito's canopy. my first run with Gauzy was a disaster. so i decided to give it a Windex bath and striped out the coating and tried again and this was the result

 

gauzy-clouding_zps1kk6gfji.jpg

 

now to compare the Klear vs Gauzy

 

first up - Gauzy coating

 

spit%20cockpit2_zpsxlbnctfa.jpg

 

spit%20cockpit_zpsizhjcgev.jpg

 

i find there is a slight clouding- hopefully it will improve after drying for 1 day, if not, its another Windex bath time again

 

Next up is the Klear coating

 

mosq-cockpit_zps2mknhgqm.jpg

 

the mosquito cockpit framing - without the canopy

 

mosq-cockpit4_zpswcb5qod8.jpg

 

mosq-cockpit5_zpssxsd71lj.jpg

 

after working with the 2 glass coating agents, i still feel that Klear is the better choice as its easier to work with and i think the transparency is slightly better than Gauzy? Any thoughts or experiences with your builds anyone? please share. thanks

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