Oggy trashes the Revell 1/48 Mosquito IV

[HAWKERHUNTER]

Great thread Roger and good luck with the undercarriage. I had a lot of problems with a recent plane that I built but when you eventually get the thing built with all problems overcome you can sit back and be really be proud of your model,

[Guest]

Hmmm i hate the carpet monster tiny bits of pe dissapear only to show up somewhere miles away.

Keep the faith

Martin

[Guest]

OK folks – a quick post to let you know I am still alive (though broken and bloodied).



The one thing people all seem to mention about this kit is the undercarriage and my experience agrees.



To my utter amazement, the Mossie is standing on her wheels despite the u/c assembly being a right Horlicks. I will post in detail on that soon.



One quick point as mentioned by someone earlier – there is an error on the distructions.





This is the correct orientation of the mudguards with the curved end at the back. The instructions show them the other way around with the curved end forward. I believe that people have brought this to Revell’s attention. I shall do so as well.







Onward! :beer:

[Guest]

The undercarriage (gulp).



The destrusctions suggest fitting one half of the nacelle to the wing then assembling the undercarriage onto the wing and finally the other half of the nacelle. This looked awkward so I tried dry fitting the two halves and it was.



I thought about assembling the undercarriage then trying to get it the assembled nacelle, but the u/c flares outwards inside the nacelle and the engine oil tank (the satchel like part) mounts across the two mainstays inside so this was not possible.



I then thought I’d try assembling the u/c to the wing and then ease the nacelle over it and that didn’t work either.



At that point I have to confess I spat my dummy out, ripped the u/c off the wing, hurled it and resolved to model the gear retracted. This was a short term decision as I really wanted the model standing on it’s wheels. When I retrieved the u/c I found that one of the main legs was well stuck to the large cross member. I tried sticking just these two parts to the model first and that went OK. I then eased the other main leg into place ant tried with partial success to get the two glued together. Getting the oil tank on was little more than a fumble with tweezers. I also assembled the mud guard (quite fiddly too) but did not fit it.



Next session I tried to get the “X” and “V” shaped cross braces off the sprue as shown in my post before last and failed. They are nowhere near as strong as even the narrowest part of the sprue. The retract jack (the thin straight component in the same photo). Also broke up as I fumbled with it. It has no real location points on it and the instructions are a bit vague as to where they go. I did manage to get the mud guard on.



Result –





Having learnt a few lessons from the first leg I started on the second one. This time I assembled and fitted the nacelle first. Next I put the two main legs in.







I then tried to get the main cross brace in as best I could.





I could not get it quite straight.



Next the oil tank –



This time when it came to getting the X and V braces off the sprue I tried a hot knife and it worked. I did not dare to try to trim them though.



The locating pins on these braces are tiny and virtually ineffective. The X brace goes on the trailing edge of the gear leg –





And the V brace goes from the leading edge of the gear leg to the centre of the X brace. Sorry but it is not easy to photograph. Best attempt –





As I say – she now stands on her wheels which I consider a miracle. This is very simply beyond my current skill level, but has served as a learning exercise and the gear doors will hide many sins.



On the brighter side, the lumps of grey plastics have taken the gorgeous shape of the Mossie. They don’t make them that pretty any more.







Onward! :beer:

[Guest]

Blimey. I won't be rushing to buy this kit, unless I wanted to build it wheels up. I admire your perseverence.

Tony

[colin m]

Good work Roger,

I built this exact kit a few months ago, yes it can be a bit of a pain, but the end result is well worth the effort. I don't know if this will be of any interest to you, but eduard do a mask set for all the glazing, including the curved bomb aimers window.

The landing gear was an absolute pain, I broke and repaired a few of the tiny bits many times over. Looking at my old pics, it seems I built the gear then fitted one half of the nacelle in place, then the other half which left me with huge gaps above, were I had to use stretche sprue to fill !

Colin M.

[Guest]

Blimey. I won't be rushing to buy this kit, unless I wanted to build it wheels up. I admire your perseverence.Tony

Hi Tony

Please don't be put off by my inexperience. I suspect a more able builder will not have half the trouble I have had and the kit represents an awful lot of detail for less than twenty notes.

[papa 695]

Your doing a grand job on it Roger keep up the great work

[Dave W]

Good job on the undercarriage.You wont see much of it when the models finished and sat on its wheels so it will look fine.

[Guest]

Dave is right I was most disappointed to find after building the undercarriage which is complicated & looks good that you would not be able to see it when complete.

I decided to leave an outer undercarriage door on the ground as if the undercart was being maintained. Did the same with an engine.

Also had an number of horror scenes when the undercart broke. In the end stuck temporarily up in the nacelle a piece of sprue to ward off the enemy mainly me.

Nice work this is a handsome Aircraft from a great innovative aircraft company. Such a pity that the Comet put paid to them as that was another incredible pedigree. Just they were a fraction ahead of technology. A real shame.

Laurie

[Guest]

No comment.

[Guest]

AAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHH I feel your pain brother,.

Deep breaths walk away have a jam sandwhich

Hope it comes good and you are ok

Martin

[HAWKERHUNTER]

:emo2:

[Guest]

Once I had the undercarriage on, I thought it was going to be easier. Wrong.



The canopy was not a good fit. With the rear part aligned with the fuselage, the front edge was displaced to starboard in relation to the centre line. The side windows are separate (another option, large, small or no blisters). They are quite fiddly to get to fit right. I used Pacer 560 glue which is what I used to use on my RC models. This has the advantage of being a white PVA glue so if it contacts the transparencies you can simply wash or wipe it off – it does not attack the transparency. It does however take about 16 hours to dry.



At this point the poor Mossie suffered another setback. It fell of one shelf onto the one below (about 9 inches) which fractures the undercarriage legs. These re-glued OK, but all the tiny cross braces shattered and fell off.



I had the Eduard masking kit for the canopy which went on fairly well. Then I painted the top surfaces Dark Green with Xtracrylix paint. This seemed to go OK so I masked the surfaces with Blutack and painted the grey stripe. This was the first clue of the impending disaster. As I took the Blutack off, a couple of chips of the green came with it.





On the brighter side, at least it has been easy to get most of the paint off. It has barely stuck to the plastic at all and a judicious thumbnail removes it. Where the paint has landed on glue or filler, it is stuck solid.



Should I have primed this before I painted it and if so, what is the recommended primer?



I also found that particularly the Night Black was prone to blocking the airbrush (Iwata CR 0.5mm with Iwata Sprint Jet compressor) both undiluted and thinned with Xtracrylix own thinner. I believe others have had similar problems. Any thoughts?



Any tips (and possibly a contact number for the Samaritans) gratefully received.





Onward! :beer:

[Guest]

Oooo you have my sympathies that sounds like a complete nightmare - dropping a model is up there in my top nightmare scenarios!

As for priming, I always prime, unless its a tiny part and I can't be arsed! I use Tamiya fine grey primer, but others have a lot of success with plain old Halfords Grey plastic primer. I think I might have a go with this when the current Tamiya rattle can runs out. I've also got the Tamiya white primer - I used that on the "sodding" missiles for the Aliens Dropship. Its pretty effective too.