Coastal Command Mosquito FB.VI

[11bee]

23 hours ago, ChernayaAkula said:

Nice work so far! Got a 1/72 Tamiya Mossie (also Coastal Command) lined up for my next build, so will be following this closely.

Thanks very much (you too Jamie).  I knew next to nothing about the Mosquito before I started this build, it's been really interesting so see the differences between British aircraft and US ones from the same period. The Brits definitely have a unique style.

 

 

[11bee]

Still plugging away on the cockpit assembly.  Added a couple more bits.  First off is some sort of a "plunger" next to the NAV.  I have no idea what it does but it's yet another device the poor guy has to twist around to actuate.   I also added another cockpit heating lever, on the NAV's right side.    Fun fact - due to the radiators being in close proximity on either side of the cockpit, Mosquito crews often flew in light weight clothing, even in winter.   The cockpit got pretty hot.  

 

I'm sorry for the horrible quality of these pictures, it's the best I can do guys! 

 

I'll touch up the black wires in the back where some of the paint flaked off. 

 

Also, I started adding a bit of detail to the forward cannon bay.  Here is what the real thing looks like, this nice picture is courtesy of the NZ Mosquito restoration FB page I mentioned previously.  

A is an immersion switch that would automatically release the dingy in the event of ditching, B-E are various hydraulic and pneumatic manifolds and F&G are controls for the cannons.

 

Tamiya provides the basic parts but absolutely none of the wires/tubing.   This is going to be a good bit of work.  I don't think I'll replicate ever single line but I need to add enough to busy up this area.   Regarding those manifolds, Tamiya molded them solid to the bulkhead.  I carved them out to make them look like separate parts.  

 

That's it for tonight, thanks for looking guys! 

[cruiz]

I'm amazed by the pace your build is progressing, even more considering all the extra detail you are putting on,

 

By the detail of the gun bay, I'm assuming you are building with the bay's doors open; don't know the 1/32 Tamiya but in the 1/48 kit the ceiling of the bomb bay represented the bottom of the central fuel tanks and, I read somewhere that in the FB variant those tanks were omitted to make room for the 20mm cannons. Sorry, I can't give you precise information about it, but since you are putting such effort into your research, I thought it worth mention it.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Carlos

[11bee]

8 hours ago, cruiz said:

I'm amazed by the pace your build is progressing, even more considering all the extra detail you are putting on,

 

By the detail of the gun bay, I'm assuming you are building with the bay's doors open; don't know the 1/32 Tamiya but in the 1/48 kit the ceiling of the bomb bay represented the bottom of the central fuel tanks and, I read somewhere that in the FB variant those tanks were omitted to make room for the 20mm cannons. Sorry, I can't give you precise information about it, but since you are putting such effort into your research, I thought it worth mention it.

 

Thanks for sharing.

 

Carlos

 

Thanks for the compliment Carlos.  With regard to the cannon bay, yes, I'm going to have my doors open to show off all the detail Tamiya provided.  You are correct on the fuel cells, only the aft ones were kept in the FB.VI, the forward ones were removed to make way for the 20mm ammo boxes. Tamiya represented this correctly in the 32nd scale kit. 

[11bee]

Work continues on the forward cannon bay bulkhead.   Using the picture posted above as my guide, I added various hydraulic and pneumatic lines using stretched sprue and small diameter copper wire.  Retaining brackets were made from scrap PE.    The two engine oil tanks seemed to get pretty beat up in some pictures I've seen of the real thing, so I used the hairspray technique to replicate a very scratched up finish.   Last up was the aluminum hydraulic reservoir.  Only change to this part was that I carved out the solid supports underneath the tank.  Still have a bit of work to do this area but I'm pretty happy with the results so far.  Again, I wasn't trying to replicate every single line and fitting, just to make the area look cluttered like the original.  Hope you guys like it so far.  

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking! 

[11bee]

Here's my latest progress - I've added the trailing wire antenna reel to the floor, right next to the Navigator.  This nautical looking device allowed the deployment of a 50' HF antenna wire behind the aircraft.   This wasn't used on every Mosquito variant but since the external antenna housing is visible on the real thing, I'm going to assume they had the cable reel as well.    Only addition I made was to the handle knob.   The kit part is just a nub of plastic.   I cut that off and replaced it with a very small section of styrene rod capped with a sliver of larger diameter rod for the knob.   

 

I also added the Nav's oxygen hose.   Most of the time, this hose clips neatly to the right sidewall but in some pictures it's laying loosely.   I'm going to assume this aircraft had a broken bracket and the hose was just left on the Nav's seat between missions.  It adds a nice bit of clutter I think.   I sourced the hose from the pilot figures that come in the kit.  Tamiya thoughtfully includes the oxygen masks as separate parts so it was quite easy.  I'll be doing the same thing for the pilot's hose later on in the build. 

 

Aside from that, I've added some wiring behind the Nav's armor plate and rear decking.   These areas will not be extremely visible when the model is complete so my approach is to add enough to make it look realistic from the viewing angle but I didn't see any reason to superdetail this area.  Some modelers still go all out in areas like this, more power to them!

 

Lastly, I carved out some openings on the pilot's rudder pedals.  To be honest, I kind of botched this surgery but given that it will not be completely visible from the viewing angles, it's going to look fine.    

 

Note the cable reel assembly.  

 

 

By the way, that brass "plunger' on the rear deck that I mentioned is the crew's oxygen feed regulator.

 

 

Those "rough" rudder pedals.  I used a sharp No. 2 pencil for replicating worn paint.  I'm finding this to be more realistic than dry brushing with silver.  It leaves a nice realistic sheen.

 

 

That's it for now, thanks for looking! 

[Falconxlvi]

Whoa- this is looking great!  I like all the added plumbing and wiring in the cannon bay!  Like Cruiz mentioned, I am amazed at how quickly you can build with such detail 👍🏻

[11bee]

3 hours ago, Falconxlvi said:

Like Cruiz mentioned, I am amazed at how quickly you can build with such detail 👍🏻

I’m moving at a record pace by my standards.   Has something to do with the fact I’m now “working” from home.  

[11bee]

 I've made a small bit of progress.   I've completed the "GEE" indicator.   GEE was a British navigational device, similar to LORAN, by using radio waves from UK-based transmission stations, the Nav could, with pretty decent accuracy, determine his position.  I believe the GEE system had a range of around 500 miles and this system was very widely used in RAF bombers (and also USAAF ones as well).  

 

Anyway, despite hoping that Barracudacast was going to release a resin GEE set, I've moved on with the Tamiya parts.  They give you a decent representation of the real thing.

 

GEE system, minus a few wires.  Note that the vast majority of operational GEE units were overall black.  The GEE indicator is the unit at the bottom, with the oscilloscope display. Above and to the left is the GEE receiver and mounted on the canopy frame is the IFF control unit.

 

Taking the Tamiya part, I carved off the molded on handle and replaced with a bit a copper wire.  I also added the two 90 degree electrical connectors on the upper right and then added three signal / power cables.   They'll eventually tie into the receiver unit.   I painted the display a custom mixed dark blackish/yellow, topped with Tamiya clear yellow for a nice sheen.

 

 

 

 

And here the unit is press-fitted into place.   The poor Nav must have been claustrophic but on the plus side, being surround by all those electronics probably kept him warm!

 

 

Nothing very impressive but it kept me occupied for a rainy Saturday afternoon.   Thanks for looking! 

[11bee]

Work continues at my usual blistering pace.

 

Next up are some small details for the cockpit.

 

I've added the control column.  The Tamiya part is pretty detailed, it includes a PE "trigger" that operates the pneumatic brakes (considered to be vastly inferior to the hydraulic brakes on American aircraft).  To this assembly, I added a bit of wire and a couple of straps to secure it to the column, made from small strips of Tamiya tape.   After that, I added a folded map to the navigator's storage box.   The map was from the kit decals.  They provided a larger map to go with the navigator's figure.   Since I'm not adding any crew to the cockpit, this decal was unneeded.  I simply cut it in half and glued it into the storage box.   I'll probably fold up the remaining half and place it in the Nav's area.  

 

Lastly, I hit the floor with some ground up pastels to replicate some dirt / grunge. Most pics of Banff during the winter of 45 show the field to be very muddy. I'm sure some of this got tracked into the cockpit.   More weathering to come in this area.  

 

A few pics:

 

 

 

Also did a bit of weathering of the seat cushions and straps.  

 

That's it for now, thanks for the great feedback and for looking!

[11bee]

Thanks very much for all the feedback guys!   Next up is the instrument panel.  Here a great picture of a restored Mossie cockpit.  As far as I can see, this is pretty much 100% vintage, with no modern avionics (more on this later), radios, etc. 

 

A few comments.   Note the various colors used for the engine gauges.  These colors varied quite a bit from aircraft to aircraft, I went for some different colors on mine.   Also note that the instrument panel is made from multiple separate sections. Tamiya replicated this quite nicely.  Also note on the lower right side, the weapons jettison switches are covered by a hinged, clear plastic safety cover. Tamiya caught this as well.

 

One drawback Tamiya had on previous kits was that they used a plastic IP, with a clear part behind this, a decal went on the back of the clear part.  Due to the thickness of the plastic IP, the instrument decals were pretty deep and quite hard to see unless  you were looking at the IP straight on.   With the Mossie, they correct this issue.  The parts of the panel with instrument gauges are very nice PE sections, with shallow clear parts to replicate the glass gauge faces.   Behind this goes the instrument decals.   The overall effect is outstanding.  The rest of the panel is from standard plastic, with very nice details.  For the few instruments on those parts, Tamiya provides individual decals of each gauge and all you have to do is add a drop of Future to replicate the glass.  Also, in the picture above, note the radio homing instrument (on the right of the panel with the L R on the gauge).   The Mosquito that Tamiya used as their reference for the model was a restored warbird.  This aircraft had a modern VOR/DME gauge in place of the one shown above.  In their obsession with getting every last detail right, Tamiya replicated the VOR / DME gauge including the red warning flags that were showing!   Gotta give them points for meticulousness.  I am using the Barracuda cockpit decal set and they thoughtfully provide the correct gauge as a decal.  

 

So here is my IP.  Overall, I'm pretty content with this.   I added some wires behind it, including enough wires on the back of the panel to be visible through the open door.   No need to replicate every single wire on the back of the panel since you will only be able to see it from a restricted viewing angle.  I had a great deal of fun putting this together, everything fit perfectly in typical Tamiya fashion and the Barracuda decals really add a nice touch.  I painted everything per the example above and added some scratches to replicate a heavily used cockpit.

 

 

 

 

And the back of the IP.  Sorry it's a bit out of focus but you get the general idea!  It's not my finest work but from the restricted viewing angle, it's going to look acceptable. 

 

So that's it for now.  Normally I'd be a bit hesitant to invest all this work in an aircraft with a fixed canopy but note that the Tamiya canopy is the thinnest, clearest example I've ever seen.  It really does allow the cockpit to be fully viewed.  Also, my plan, if it works as I hope is to remove the upper escape hatch from the kit's canopy, which will allow more of the cockpit to be viewed.   Wish me luck on that process, it's going to be interesting.    

 

Thanks for looking!

[Slartibartfast]

Well done, sir.

[11bee]

Thanks very much, appreciate it!d

 

Just to see how it would look, I dry fitted the IP and the forward armored bulkhead.  I'm pretty happy with things so far, looks like a tight, cluttered cockpit, just like the real thing.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for looking!

[Jamie Cheslo]

I am thoroughly enjoying your build! That cockpit looks entirely convincing! Just outstanding stuff! Cannot wait to see your next installment. 😎

[11bee]

Thanks very much Jamie!

 

I'm now moving on the right side of the cockpit.  The main feature of this area is the Nav's auxiliary control panel (no idea if that's the correct terminology) and behind it, a large electrical junction box.  

 

Here are a couple of pictures of the real thing, note the detail differences between these.

 

From right to left on the top are three fuel gauges for drop tanks, outboard tanks and inner tanks.  Followed by an electrical voltmeter and controls for the multicolored ID lights. Below from right to left is a fuel flow gauge, air pressure gauge and various lighting controls.  

 

And here is a shot of the junction box behind the Navigator's seat.  This is a flyable warbird and I'm not sure if all those colors are accurate or not.  More research to do in this area.  The other color issue I'm not sure about are the three thick electrical cables that run from the junction box to the control panel.  Tamiya shows them as yellow, the pics of restored aircraft have them black.  I went with semi-gloss black but honestly, now I'm thinking that I might repaint them yellow.  Any info on these would be much appreciated.   

 

And here is my preliminary work:

Still more work to do this this area and some cleanup to be done.  Have more cables and fittings to add, etc but this is my starting point.  As with the IP, I added Barracuda's decals and a drop of clear gloss for each gauge.  I then added a bit of chipping around the edge with a sharpened silver artist's pencil.

 

Thats it for now, thanks for looking! 

[Jamie Cheslo]

I am getting quite the education on Mossie cockpits by following this build.  Great work!

[11bee]

Not much progress today, just added some details to the cockpit sidewall.

 

Aside from adding more wires and brackets (will be adding additional wiring as well, the area above and forward of the crew access door has a lot of wires present), I also added the Nav's cold air control and his map board light.   Nothing fancy about these, just various diameters of styrene rod and stretched sprue.  I believe the navigator also had an intercom panel adjacent to his right elbow but I've yet to see a single picture of it.   I'll have to do a bit more research.

 

Anyway, here's how things are looking so far, compare to the picture above which is just the stock kit assembly.  Note the wiring forward of the panel doesn't go anywhere, it won't be seen further than it is right now, once the fuselage is assembled. 

 

I'll be doing some touchup on the brass conduit connectors. 

 

And a picture of the cockpit dry fitted into the fuselage:

 

That's my progress for today, thanks for looking!

[Jamie Cheslo]

Sidewall detail looks amazing! One can imagine hearing those Rolls Royce Merlins starting up, and all those instrument gauges popping into action! I am thinking I seriously need to purchase this kit!  Thanks for your inspirational work! Soooo enjoying your build! 

[11bee]

Have a brief update.  Here is the starboard cockpit wall, I added a few more wires and some color to the fuseblocks (see above).  Still need to add additional wiring (some of this will need to go in after the cockpit is fully assembled) and do some touch-up painting.   Also still trying to find a picture of the Nav's intercom panel so I can scratch build that.  Aside from those items, this assembly is pretty close to complete.

 

 See below:

Edited May 3, 2020 by 11bee

[11bee]

Now moving onto the port sidewall.   Here's the real thing, as with the opposite side, there are a lot of wires and small fittings present.

 

 

And here is the stock Tamiya assembly.  Only thing I've added are some placards from the Barracuda set and I did a small bit of work on the throttle quadrant.  

Tamiya really went easy on this assembly.  As you can see, I've got a lot of work to do.  The picture also highlights some flaws to my painting so I'll be correcting those as well.   

 

BTW, if I didn't mention it previously, those raised circles on the sidewalls aren't ejector pin marks, they are accurate representations of the wood reinforced mounting points on the side walls that could be used to screw in various fittings and fixtures. Otherwise, the wooden sidewalls were too thin for the screws.

 

Anyway, that's it for now, thanks again for looking!

Edited May 4, 2020 by 11bee

[11bee]

Continuing with the cockpit sidewalls:   I added a bit of color to the fuseblocks on the port side.  Also added a few more wires.  

 

Onto the starboard side.  As noted, the Tamiya assembly looks pretty barren compared to the real thing.  I've started to clutter it up a bit.  First off, I added the control linkages for the engine throttles and supercharger controllers.  Note that they look pretty sloppy at their ends, aft of the pilot's seat.  It's ok because they will be quite invisible.  I also added a linkage of somesort that mounts next to the left rudder pedal.  No idea what it's for.  Next up, I wasn't happy with the look of the compass.   I replaced the Tamiya decal with the one from Barracuda, looks much more realistic IMO.  I repainted the compass in a darker, glossier shade of grey and added that brass cylinder below it.  Next, I scratch built the compass light and it's dimmer switch from various diameters of styrene rod.   I then added a few more wires on the sidewall.  Lastly, I did some touch-up painting, including changing the colors of the supercharger control knobs to a more orange-yellow, per the real thing above.  

 

 

 

That's it for now folks, as always, thanks for looking

[Geoff M]

Fabulous detail!  Keep it up

 

Geoff M

[Slartibartfast]

Getting 'er done!

[phantom]

Wow......that is goooooooood!

[Jamie Cheslo]

Outstanding sidewall details. I love the compass and its associated light. Looks the real deal!