De Havilland Mosquito PR XVI by realworkingsailor - Airfix - 1/72 - PLASTIC

[realworkingsailor]

Um..... so yeah.... This showed up the other day....

 

 

So in all honesty, a Mosquito wasn't initially on my "build radar", I was looking at a few other kits in my stash trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. My inspiration for this project stems from my GF. She's a Canadian Forces veteran, who worked at 400 Tactical Helicopter Squadron for a time. I did a little historic research and found some of the squadron's history from World War II. 400 Squadron was formed as an army co-operation squadron, and when it arrived in England in 1940, they were equipped with Lysanders. They were re-equipped and reassigned as a Fighter/Reconnaissance squadron in 1941 with Tomahawk Mk IIs, and in 1942 with Mustang Mk Is. Starting in December 1943 they were redesigned a Photo Reconnaissance squadron and were again re-equipped, this time with Spitfire PR XIs and half a dozen Mosquito PR XVIs. The Mosquitos only lasted until the end of May 1944, with 400 Squadron flying the Spits until the end of the war.

 

The Mosquitos seems to me to be the most interesting of the aircraft flown by 400 Squadron in the PR role, and one in particular. As PR airplanes, they were never assigned squadron codes, being identified only by their serial numbers. The aircraft I'm looking at was serial number MM307. While its time with 400 squadron was rather uneventful, what happened after was much more intriguing. After a short time with 140 squadron, MM307 was sent to 544 squadron in the late summer, early fall of 1944. 

 

After the Quebec conference in September 1944, Winston Churchill decided to travel to Moscow to meet with Soviet premier Josef Stalin in early October. In order to keep Churchill up to date with the events of the war, a special courier operation was set up using the PR Mosquitos of 544 Squadron. Operation Frugal saw 16 round trip flights between RAF Benson and Moscow. MM307 made one of those trips. Unfortunately, on the return leg, the airplane suffered a failure of the constant speed unit on one of its engines as it began its return crossing of the North sea. The airplane did make it back to base on one engine, but did not participate in any further "Frugal" sorties. A full description of Operation Frugal and be found here

 

The Airfix kit is pretty straightforward as far as Airfix kits go.

 

Six sprues of the newer dark grey plastic are included, one of the smaller sets has the details specific to the PR XVI:

 

 

From what I've read and seen online, there should be no need for any major corrective surgery as was the case with the previously released B XVI (or was it TT??)

 

The instructions are the typical fare from Airfix as well as the expected Cartograph decals:

 

 

Although, I don't intend to use many of the decals beyond the airframe stencils and fuselage roundels. I will be dipping in to my stash to source the correct type "B" roundels for the upper wing, and I'll be printing off my own serial numbers.

 

Finally, the assortment of clear parts appears cleanly moulded, and a small addition of some Yahu seatbelts:

 

 

I will probably source out a masking set for this build, and maybe some resin wheels but otherwise I will build this straight out of the box.

 

Overall this looks like it should be a fun build, and I'm not anticipating too many problems with the kit, if the online reviews are anything to go by. (Famous last words!)

 

Andy

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Danstream]

Great Andy! I will be following your Mosquito build. I am sure your build will be faster than mine.

Best regards,

Dan

[king derelict]

Looking forward to the build 

alan

[AJohnson]

Will also following along, will enjoy seeing your RCAF version. 

Edited March 29 by AJohnson

[Canute]

I'm in too, Andy. A photo bird will be cool.

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks everyone! 

Unfortunately, this build will be delayed getting under way for a while. Living in an older house has its quirks. And this house has one particularly interesting one, at that. 
 

Every spring, the cellar turns into a bit of a river, due to the melting snow. The cellar also happens to be the location of my spray painting area, (there being no other space in the house that is currently usable).

 

This is the normal state of affairs in this house at this time of year. The foundation is an over 100 year old, two to three foot thick blend of mortar and small stones. Waterproofing is next to impossible, or really really expensive (honestly, the best, and cheapest, tool to repair all of the problems with this house is a bulldozer😂).

There is a sump and a sump pump, so the critical systems, like the furnace are safe:

 

 

But given the volume of snow this past winter (the first old fashioned winter we’ve had in a long time), it’s going to take a while for the… um…. tide… to go out! Of course the rain we had last weekend has not helped the situation any either…

Apologies to anyone who was anticipating a quick build. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the water flow will abate enough that my painting area becomes somewhat useable again soon, at least accessible without resorting to hip-waders 🤪. I’m eager to get building again as soon as possible!

 

Andy

[king derelict]

Good luck with the water removal and dry out 

alan

[realworkingsailor]

35 minutes ago, king derelict said:

Good luck with the water removal and dry out 

alan

Thanks Alan!
 

Really it’s just a matter of waiting it out. It’s an annual occurrence, but hopefully soon the weather will begin to warm up, and the water table can recede a bit. The topography and soil has a lot to do with it too. Sand over clay. The melt water from last winter’s snow permeates down through the sand until it hits the clay, then flows along the top of the clay until it hits the low ground (aka my pond), or it emerges through the porous walls of my cellar. 
 

Andy

[Canute]

I grew up in a similar house; an underground spring making a high water table. We did the same fix with a sump and pump. In the days before air-conditioning, it was the coolest part of the house in the summer time. Mom had our old stove and frig down there for making dinner. And it was handy for the holidays. Extra stove/oven.

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks for all the support guys!

 

So I’ve decided I am not going to wait for the water to recede. We had more rain last night, and given the ground saturation, the water had only one place to go. Time for me to take action!
 

The only other useable space in the house was the attic, unfortunately it really lacked in the electrical department; one meagre light and no outlets.
 

After a trip to the hardware store, I had secured all the fittings and wire that I would need to improve the situation. I then spent a good part of yesterday afternoon adding two ceiling light fixtures as well as a power outlet. 
 

Things began to look up! 
 

As of this morning, all my equipment and supplies have been rescued from their watery purgatory and are now ready for use in my new space! Hooray!

 

 

There’s a nice window for light, and ventilation (and a place to run the exhaust pipe from the spray booth extraction fan).

 

 

The wooden cabinet has been repurposed to hold paints, supplies and other sundries. 
 

If needed I have a space heater for colder days (the attic isn’t heated, but it doesn’t typically freeze up there), now that I have power, that should make for a comfortable place to work.

 

My Mosquito build should be commencing shortly! 😀

 

Andy

 

[Old Collingwood]

Sounds like a plan - a good one.

 

OC.

[NavyShooter]

Solving the infrastructure problem before going to the details - good plan. 

 

Looks like a cozy old house - what part of the world are you in?  Guessing Borden-ish if your partner is with 400 Tac Hel.  I may be visiting out thataways in September-ish. 

 

Good luck with the Mossie!

[Canute]

Be interested to see how you handle your vent for the airbrush station. I have similar casement windows and a not very good seal.

[realworkingsailor]

1 hour ago, NavyShooter said:

Solving the infrastructure problem before going to the details - good plan. 

 

Looks like a cozy old house - what part of the world are you in?  Guessing Borden-ish if your partner is with 400 Tac Hel.  I may be visiting out thataways in September-ish. 

 

Good luck with the Mossie!

Thanks Brad!

 

We’re about fifteen minutes to the southwest of CFB Borden. By my estimation, the main part of the house is over 100 years old. It occasionally makes making even small improvements challenging (Building code? What building code?).

 

1 hour ago, Canute said:

Be interested to see how you handle your vent for the airbrush station. I have similar casement windows and a not very good seal.

I’m not planning on permanently mounting the exhaust outlet in the window, I’ll have to see how things go. I had a slider in the cellar that was almost perfectly sized for the vent outlet. I suppose I could use the pedestal fan to create an extra exhaust flow along the outside of the vent, hopefully preventing any fumes from getting back in. For the most part I am using acrylics, and although the risk isn’t entirely zero, I think should be able to keep things under some form of control. I hope! 🤞 

 

Andy

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks everyone, for all your patience!

 

Finally, some progress worth reporting!

 

Construction, of course, begins in the cockpit. Assembly was pretty straight forward, for the most part this build will be OOB, with one or two little enhancements here or there.

 

 

I used AK Real Colour RAF cockpit grey green for the interior colour, and Vallejo USAF dark green for the "leather" seats. I dry brushed some Floquil Aged Silver to simulate a little wear and tear, and returned to the AK cockpit green to add some scuff marks to the seats.

 

 

I think Airfix is on the right track by moulding the gauges and switches into the instrument panels supplying the instruments as a clear decal, rather than the old, and very cartoonish black and white decals from before. I'd seen this before on the Spitfire Mk Vc kit and it looks fairly well (considering how little is actually seen in the end). The seatbelts came from the Yahu models PE seatbelt set, about the only aftermarket so far. I may get some resin wheels for this bird. 

 

 

Airfix used the same fuselage mould for this kit as on the previously released bomber version, however a few holes had to be drilled in place to accommodate lights and the opening for the oblique camera. The position lights on the starboard fuselage half are drilled out using a jig, so no problem there. I did run into a slight difficulty with the camera opening as the angle of the hole isn't defined until you try to fit the clear lens piece. I'd filed the hole slightly too horizontal. I've been slowly filling up the slight gap with thin layers of canopy glue so as not to craze or mar the clear part. Hopefully things won't be too visible when it's all said and done. Once everything has had a chance to cure, I will give the interior a shot of Dullcote to seal everything, and then I may add a bit of a dark wash to enhance some of the finer details in the cockpit.

 

Andy

Edited April 12 by realworkingsailor

[Aceman]

Andy

 

I'm just catching up on your thread. 

 

Great job setting up the attic. I do agree, a slider window is much easier to accommodate an exhaust. But I'm sure you'll figure something out. I have built a plate that sandwiches in my window. 

 

Last summer we moved further inland closer to your neck of the woods and this past winter we sure got dumped on, not use to it, lol.  Hopefully things will dry up for ya soon.

 

I attended CWHM plastic model show last month and I was very intrigued with the smaller scales. Looking forward to your build.

 

Jerry

Edited April 13 by Aceman

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks to everyone for all the "likes" and kind comments!

 

I've been making some progress over the last week or so. I've had the odd interruption here and there. 

 

Starting off with finishing off the cockpit, after dry brushing some silver to add some wear to the moulded details, I then added a black acrylic wash of my own to bring out the details.

 

 

It worked really well on the cabling and other small recessed areas, I'm very happy with the overall effect.

 

 

When the wash was finally dry, it was time to get assembling! 

 

 

Overall the fit was excellent! A far cry from the effort I needed to get that Bolingbroke/Blenheim to co-operate!

 

One thing I've found is that things happen in a slightly different order with this kit, than I'm used to. After assembling the fuselage, it was on to the tail fittings and rudder. 

 

 

No issues here. Next, on to the landing gear! (?)

 

I guess in order to get everything assembled correctly, the landing gear has to be assembled now, using the underside of the wings as a jig to keep everything in alignment. Must be that when the engine nacelle is assembled that leaves too small of an area to work in. 

 

Anyway, after assembly, I painted the landing gear legs in black, followed by a coat of aluminium.

 

 

Once finally assembled, I'll give them a coating of the black wash to grime things up a bit.

 

That brings everything up to date for the time being, wings, I think, are next. I should have this airplane looking like a proper Mosquito soon!

 

Thanks again, everyone,

 

Andy

 

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks for the "likes" everyone!

 

The next phase when rather quickly. Wing assembly was reasonably straight forward, as was the assembly of the engine nacelles. I usually leave the exhaust pipes off until after painting, but Airfix has to make things more complicated, don't they!

 

 

Following the wings, the external fuel tanks are added, as well as the bomb, er, camera bay cover.

 

 

I've held off adding the lease for the aftermost camera (if i'm not mistaken it was for the second lens of a stereoscopic camera setup).

 

After this it was time to tackle the glasswork. Airfix includes two different canopy options, one with a flat panel above the observer's seat, the other with a rather wart like looking bubble. I managed to track down a prototype photo of MM307 to figure out which option I should be using. Unfortunately the photo isn't clear enough to determine which canopy to use. Looking at photos of other Mosquitos (and lots of pictures of mosquito repellant systems, thanks google), it's still 50/50 whether or not MM307 had a bubble top. What clinched it for me was on inspecting the Airfix casting, there were noticeable, I want to say, stress fractures (?) in the casting. Probably due to uneven heating or cooling of the plastic or the mould. They looked like fine little scratches in the interior of the plastic. The flat canopy was fine, so I opted to use that one. Easier to mask without the bubble anyway.

 

 

The side window inserts were "fun" to do! Finally the last thing I did was to drill out the carburetor intakes on the lower engine nacelles. I think this gives a much better look from the front.

 

 

It better matches with the open intercooler intakes just below where the prop spinners will be. I will be ordering a masking set for the Mosquito soon, so it will be a bit before I get on to painting and finishing. But I think it's overall a testament to the quality of the kit that it does assemble as easily as it does. Not perfect by any means, but nothing felt like it had to be forced or excessively sanded in order to be fitted to the model.

 

Andy