Dehavilland Mosquito by Edwardkenway - Tamiya -1:48

[Edwardkenway]

Hello again! With the F4U-1A finished and waiting for Santa Clause to deliver chapters 4 & 5of my Winchelsea build, I've got a couple of kits to tide me over.

This being the one chosen to do first.

I believe it is a recent (less than ten years old) kit.

I love the sleekness of these aircraft, and they always reminds me of a Sunday afternoon watching "633 Squadron" on the TV as a kid with my dad.

 

The instructions begin with the assembly of the engine nacelle and wings.

I dry fitted the parts, they go together well, so the glue went on 

next was the main landing gear 

That is as far as I got.

I've got a Mig Ammo RAF paint set on order along with some Microsol decal solution, because I struggled getting them settled properly on the F4U-1A. 

Any advice, tips and hints will be welcomed warmly. 

Cheers until next time. 

Edited November 19, 2022 by Edwardkenway

[Canute]

I'm in, Edward.

 

Did you lay the decals on a glossy surface? Were the decals thick? Or old? Our current model paints are great, but matte when dry. A  gloss coating (Future/Pledge/Klear or whatever they call it nowadays) will help prevent silvering (air trapped under the decal) Repeat applications of your decal setting solution should help.

[Egilman]

Oh Brother , another skeeter.... (chuckle)

 

I'm in for this one....

[Dave_E]

I’m in. 🍿🥤

[Edwardkenway]

1 hour ago, Canute said:

Did you lay the decals on a glossy surface? Were the decals thick?

They were quite thick, and no I didn't prepare surface with Pledge etc. I shall do it this time round. Thanks Ken, and welcome everyone to another plastic muddle thru😁

[Old Collingwood]

Im  here also Edward,  as you  know  I built  the  1/48  Revell   kit  both a quite  similar  in  different ways,     looking  forward  to this.

 

OC.

[Edwardkenway]

8 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Im  here also Edward,  as you  know  I built  the  1/48  Revell   kit  both a quite  similar  in  different ways,     looking  forward  to this.

 

OC.

Welcome to the show OC.

Yes I recall your mossie build. I've got a extremely high standard to match yours!!😊. Hopefully I'll do it justice.

[Jack12477]

I'm here also. 

[Edwardkenway]

Welcome Jack,  the show's only just started. 

[Javlin]

I have built this kit and the fit is super Nice carry on.

[Canute]

You might try to find I think it's Solvaset. It was developed for a line of very thick model railroad decals.

[Edwardkenway]

This is the stuff I've got coming with the paint

I'll have a look for that stuff though. 

[Danstream]

As already said by @Canute, the only way to avoid silvering of decals is to prepare the surface with a gloss coat. Unfortunately this means that you have to restore the wanted finish (matt or satin) afterwards. The Tamiya decals are known to be thick and recalcitrant to settling agents Pressing them down with pads soaked with rather hot water might help (probably the heat softens the decals and helps them to conform). If you have a look to my Spitfire in the link below you may see the result that I obtained with them. There I used hot water followed by numerous applications of Micro set/sol. I also sliced the decals around recessed or prominent details in several cases.

Dan

[DocRob]

Great choice of kit, Edward, I have the large one from Tamiya waiting to be build. Most of te Tamiya decals are relatively thick and don't lay down perfectly.
I recommend gloss coating as a base layer, which helps a bit and minimizes the risk of silvering, if the surface is even and glossy. Using Future / Pledge, has it's disadvantages, because it can react with Micro Sol, when you brush it onto the area around the decal. I had cloudy effects in the past, which luckily disappeared after spraying another layer of Future / Pledge after decaling.
The Micro fluids help laying the decal better onto the surface (Set) and soften it a bit for better integration (Sol). The thickness of the decals remains the same and I think the only way to integrate them a bit better, is with some layers of gloss coat. 

 

Cheers Rob

[AJohnson]

I’m following also, not built a Tamiya Mossie, so will be interesting see how it goes. I use MicroSol and MicroSet the only issue I find is that some “soft” water based gloss vanishes can go milky if you leave too much of the MicroSol/Set solutions on them or don’t allow the gloss base coat to properly harden for a few days (maybe it reacts with water based coatings?) But otherwise it works for me. 

[Egilman]

Micro set is nothing but acetic acid (vinegar) mixed with water...

Micro Sol is a combination of alcohols, I do not know which ones nor their percentage of mix...

 

Walther's Solvaset is the same mix as Micro Sol, (but I do not know it's percentages either) and do the same things as Micro Sol...

 

Users preference as to which works better... I've reached the point where I no longer use Micro Set and go straight to Micro Sol over Future over Enamel paint... (I do not use acryls except for Future)

 

I have never had a problem with Micro Sol or Solvaset over Future and I've used both... 

 

One issue just might be the version of Future used, there are several versions in fact... There is the clear acrylic version in the squeeze bottle, the milky looking cloudy version in the pour bottles and from what I remember several other versions available in the marketplace...

 

They are NOT all equal...

 

For example...

Two different products... Take a look at the scan tag on the back of the bottle...

IDENTICAL! they are the same product....

 

It is also the correct product for decaling either one...

 

An example of an incorrect one?

the one in the middle is not the same product as the two on the outside, it comes out of the bottle as milky white, more like an acrylic cover coat for bare wood floors which usually dries in an hour but takes several days to fully cure... Good for that new wood flooring you installed throughout your home not for painted surfaces....

 

You notice on the two outside3 bottles, the say protect and restore, they are a coating/sealer for already finished surfaces... 

 

There is a huge difference between the two....

 

Make sure your using the correct one....

 

PS: yes I've used straight, undiluted white vinegar to set decals in the past when I was out of Micro Sol, it does work very fast, but destroys more decals than it sets....

 

The cloudy future issue with setting solutions is not letting the acryl paints or future clear coats cure long enough before applying the future... This allows the Microsol alcohol based product to react with the future, 99% of the time a recoat of future will remove the cloudyness...

 

Decals silvering is the decal not adhered to the surface allowing air to get under the decal, impossible to fix once a clear coat is applied and has nothing to do with the setting solutions...

 

Sorry brothers, I have to say it...

 

Decal silvering is caused by incorrect or careless application, period...

 

EG

 

 

 

 

 

[Jack12477]

6 hours ago, Edwardkenway said:

This is the stuff I've got coming with the paint

I'll have a look for that stuff though. 

They also make a Gloss and Flat finish in same size bottles, which I use for smaller areas. And I also use Pledge Revive It (bottle on right in Egilman's post above).  

[Edwardkenway]

4 hours ago, Egilman said:

Decal silvering is caused by incorrect or careless application, period...

Careless application! That sounds like just what I was doing😔. I'll consider myself reprimanded🥺🤭😊😉

Thanks for all the information gentlemen .

[Egilman]

38 minutes ago, Edwardkenway said:

I'll consider myself reprimanded

Oh Brother, it was nothing of the sort.... 

 

Sometimes you have to put several coats of future down before there is sufficient smoothness for decals... the look has to be at least semi-gloss with complete coverage of where the decal is going to sit... The water soluble glue they use to affix the decal to the paper should be removed completely and with the surface smoothness the only way it adheres is tightness to the surface... Then the Micro Sol reduces the film making the inked decal seem painted on.... Micro Set aids in adhering the film to the surface supposedly by softening the painted surface but in reality it is a surfactant, it evaporates leaving no air between the film and surface.... As it dries it sucks the decal down tight against the smooth surface....

 

They are doing the same thing when they put window tint on car windows or UV film on commercial windows... The surfactant dries and sucks the film to the smooth surface...

 

A lot of people like to blame the setting solutions but for every complaint there are thousands and thousands of successful applications... Those reviews and logs where you see such complaints are generally from those that do not completely understand the process and what happens during each step.... Without that understanding, the blame for the outcome comes to the easiest thing to blame, not where it really belongs...

 

No blame was cast here brother, just trying to educate, my apologies if it came across as something else...

 

 

[Edwardkenway]

36 minutes ago, Egilman said:

No blame was cast here brother, just trying to educate, my apologies if it came across as something else...

No apologies required brother, I WAS careless and have learned from my mistake! Ain't that the way we all learn.

These logs wouldn't be half as interesting without the admission of errors, the conversations on what and how it went wrong and how it's put right, with the advice received and diligently (although not always😊) used.

In hindsight, text didn't convey my humorous aside very well🤷‍♂️.

[Edwardkenway]

I've been working on the cockpit and bomb bay

with the aircraft option I've chosen the bomb bay doors will be open

the nose cannon

and the control panel

there is a decal supplied for the cp dials but it is slightly too large, so I binned it and drybrushed white over the raised details. the radio room!!

Thanks for all the comments, advice and general interest. Also for hitting the like button. 

Cheers 

[Old Collingwood]

Excellent work  with the internals.

 

OC.

[yvesvidal]

17 hours ago, Edwardkenway said:

Fantastic job. I would try to drill a little bit, these canons for realism.....It is difficult to say, from the picture.

 

Yves

[Edwardkenway]

2 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

Fantastic job. I would try to drill a little bit, these canons for realism.....It is difficult to say, from the picture.

 

Yves

I'll give it a go, thanks for the tip!

[Edwardkenway]

A couple hours last night, and experimenting with darkening the panel lines, not having as specifically made paint for it, I've tried a Games Workshop/Citadel  armour wash on the rear wings 

It looked OK, so did it on starboard main wing,

Not so good, I'll try citadel black ink.

Also I dry fitted everything in the fuselage, the fit of the parts is really good, no gaps to fill.

The seat belts are decals, not sure if I  like them that much.bomb bay minus the doors, they'll go on after painting is done.

I had a go drilling as @yvesvidal suggested, three barrels wents ok, one barrel the drill bit went awry, my fault for not being careful. 

Thanks for the likes and comments,  all is appreciated. 

Cheers

[AJohnson]

Looking good Edward, I know what you mean about the decal seatbelts, but I think once under the canopy and the view is broken and partially shaded by the canopy framing they won’t be half as prominent.

I’m watching your panel line wash experiments with interest 👍

[Edwardkenway]

Not a lot happening on this, I'm waiting for a canopy mask to arrive, but with the postman strikes, it's anybodies guess as to when that will turn up.

Thank you for all the likes and comments. 

Cheers 

[AJohnson]

Know how you feel Edward my SHAR has been been sadly neglected this last week or so, don’t know where time goes!

Edited December 9, 2022 by AJohnson

[Javlin]

On 11/23/2022 at 7:00 AM, Edwardkenway said:

one barrel the drill bit went awry,

I always start with a good #11 blade in the center for your pilot hole and go from there everything is looking good Edward

[Edwardkenway]

With the Winchelsea parts arrived, this is taking a back seat for a while.

It gives me chance to purchase the Mig RAF colours and try and find some Pledge over here.

I wondered if this would be suitable 

or does it need to be a polish type stuff?

Thanks for any help and recommendations.

Cheers 

Edited January 10, 2023 by Edwardkenway