Andrew's 1/72 Tamiya Mosquito Mk XIII

[adt70hk]

It sounds as if this is turning out to be more work than you imagined. However, Andrew, you've studied and thought about things and found a way forward. All credit to you. I have no doubt you'll end up with a great Mossie to go with your collection.

Thanks Jim and glad to have you on board!

It's going ok so far thankfully and I'm not far off the initial coat of primer for the likes of the cockpit.

It's the thimble nose that's got me worried. According to the Hyperscale build blog I found, a company called "Airframe" did a limited run injection moulded plastic conversion kit containing one. But I can't find it anywhere but then the blog was done in 2000.....

Again, welcome aboard!!

Andrew

[adt70hk]

Great start and quick to get the glue out. Seat near someone who can explain the finer points of wingy things please Andrew.

Welcome aboard Comrade and fellow pyromaniac!!

Will do my best on the seating front.

ATB.

Andrew

[adt70hk]

Hi all

So I'm on holiday this week meaning that primer has now flown on the internals, the wheel wells and the pilots (Halfords rattle can for the latter, Vallejo grey for the rest). I'm just waiting for it to fully cure before the base coats fly later today. I've deliberately kept the two main cockpit sections and some of the internals separate to make it easier to paint the detail.

I did though have to put some very thin plasti-card over the rear of the radio(?) and some other box, as both had holes that would almost certainly have both been visible though the canopy.

The good news is that the pilot and navigator fit perfectly in the seats and so, unlike my two 109 pilots, they won't require any radical surgery of their respective glutei maximi.

ACW as usual.

ATB

Andrew

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A nice fresh set up for the primer and the subsequent paint - I even put a fresh filter in!!






The aforementioned offending holes....:anguished:






Primer curing!!
FYI the spike in the base of the pilot's seat is not a medieval instrument of torture.....it's just the tip of a cocktail stick!! :smiling5: The hole will obviously be covered by the pilot's posterior!!

[adt70hk]

Good evening all

And now we have green paint! As it's a fighter version and all closed up, cockpit excepted, I only did the cockpit area in the fuselage.

Next up cockpit detail and wheel well silver 'silver' paint!

ATB

Andrew

[Jim R]

Coming on nicely Andrew. Always good to get some colour on.

[Ian M]

Nice work so far.

About the under wing tanks. Can you provide more information about this. I have been under the impression that they are multi use ans can be refilled while on the wing mountings.

[adt70hk]

Coming on nicely Andrew. Always good to get some colour on.

Thanks Jim and you're so right!!!

ATB

Andrew

[adt70hk]

Nice work so far.

About the under wing tanks. Can you provide more information about this. I have been under the impression that they are multi use ans can be refilled while on the wing mountings.

Hi Ian

Thanks for stopping by.

To be honest you probably know more than I do on this front. My assumption has largely been that drop tanks in general were one time use only but the Mossie ones definitely look more substantial and semi-permanent as you say. The build thread I've found said they should be fitted but as I said before none of the pics I have of the plane show them fitted.

I'm re-reading the Haynes Mossie manual, so I'll see what that says and come back to you.

Thanks again.

Andrew

[adt70hk]

Morning all

And so I have had a massive stroke of good fortune on this build, I have stumbled across what might best termed the 'semi-official' WW2 history of the 409 Sqn RCAF aka 'The Nighthawks' on the Aircrew Remembered website (link HERE).

I've not heard of this site but they have scanned in every one of the 79 pages and not only that, they have transcribed the words alongside to make it searchable....and in some cases added commentary resulting from their own research.

I estimate that around half the content is photos, normally with a short caption but there are also drawings from some of the Squadron's personnel.

I've not had a chance to read it properly but I have already come across some images I am very familiar with, including a slightly different angle, plus some useful additional information.

Below are a few snippets.

ATB

Andrew

-------------------------------
Source: Aircrew Remembered

https://aircrewremembered.com/Nighthawks/nighthawks00.html

A kill - possibly 07/10/1944 based on other information I have - by the regular crew of Lonesome Polecat, albeit not in Lonesome Polecat itself.

[adt70hk]

Nice work so far.

About the under wing tanks. Can you provide more information about this. I have been under the impression that they are multi use ans can be refilled while on the wing mountings.

Hi Ian

The Haynes Mosquito manual says very little on the drop tank usage.

A post on a certain well known British modelling website states that they were "...droppable and interchangeable..."......another post on the same thread states that the "...108 gallon paper-based tanks did not have a liner: they lasted long enough and no longer..." implication being that of these two sizes only the 50 gallon tanks were made of wood.

Another post in the same thread states that "According to Sharp & Bowyer's Mosquito the 200 gal tanks were designed for the PR .34 which did not see operational service in Europe, but arrived in time for the end of the war in the Far East..."

It turns out that the V&A restored a wooden one in 2017 for the de Havilland Museum for inclusion in a V&A exhibition on wood (link HERE).

Sorry I can't be of more help.

All the best.

Andrew

[Ian M]

adt70hk
Some good info there. I bet there are a LOAD of others that did not know that the underwing tanks where also made of wood!
Cheers

[adt70hk]

adt70hk
Some good info there. I bet there are a LOAD of others that did not know that the underwing tanks where also made of wood!
Cheers

You're welcome Ian.

I knew from the Haynes manual that at least some were made of wood. There's a photo in it of staff from a coach-makers or similar business with a whole row of them lined up behind them.

When I stop and think about it, it is amazing what they were able to achieve with a substance most people would have regarded as belonging to a bygone era when it came so something as high tech as what turned out to be world class aeroplane.

ATB

Andrew

[adt70hk]

Afternoon all

So the cockpit parts are all painted and ready for the final assembly.

I've managed to find out quite a bit more as part of my research, mostly from an amateur radio community website called QSL.NET.

However, first a big thanks to Mark1 , Mickc1440 , Ian M and Jim R for their helping get me going in the right direction by sharing their builds as part of this GB - not that they're probably aware - it's just one of the great things about a GB!!

Mark (LINK), Ian (LINK) and Mick (LINK) have helped point me in the right direction with things like colours for the radio transmitter and receiver, as we well some basic detail I intend to add. Jim's (LINK) was particularly helpful in terms of the overall 'look' I should aim for, as it's 1/72 like mine unlike the others, which are 1/48 - and he did it brilliantly.

Ok, so what have I discovered (or think I have)?:

• The Mk VIII air interception radar fitted to Lonesome Polecat (LP) apparently came with either a type 50 or 184 receiver. The kit one has a type 184 supplied, so I have to use that. I have no idea which one was fitted but there isn't a lot of difference between the two (plus it will be impossible to see once buttoned up );
• The Mk VIII radar also came with a type 73, indicator/display unit, also as supplied with the kit;
• Tamiya's colour callouts for these are wrong. They would have you paint the faces black but I could see from old B&W photos that they looked like they were probably a light grey colour - about which I was proved correct!! :smiling3:

Although the kit supplied radar internals are for the NF Mk II Tamiya would have you make, they fit perfectly for LP and so I got vey lucky there

I wonder if Tamiya actually booboed because the Mk. II used the MK IV or V radar (??) and from what I've found I think their units were very different....but Mk XII Mossies were based on Mk IIs fitted with the Mk. VIII radar.....so did Tamiya copy that????.....if you follow????.....I think I have a headache after all the research!!

ACW as usual and up next the pilot and navigator.

ATB

Andrew

PS - if anyone has found a flaw with any of my research please DON'T tell me....

PPS - Mick, Ian, Mark and Jim, thanks again for the assistance!!


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The cockpit with radar equipment - definitely not black!
According to the Haynes manual it's from a Mk. XIII but according to an online source this might be from a Mk. XII but either way they both had the Mk VIII radar fitted and so it gives a good view of how it went in.
Sources: Various but most state © IWM (CH 16607) or © RAF Air Historical Branch.






The type 184 receiver and type 73 indicator/display unit
Sources: https://www.qsl.net/pe1ngz/signalscollection.html and https://www.qsl.net/pe1ngz/stories/story-ekco-3.html

Receiver:





Indicator/display unit:
There were apparently two different manufacturers; could this account for the slightly different switch and connector layout?








My 'homage' ready for assembly





And that is a penny and nota 2p piece.....

[The Smythe Meister]

Afternoon all

So the cockpit parts are all painted and ready for the final assembly.

I've managed to find out quite a bit more as part of my research, mostly from an amateur radio community website called QSL.NET.

However, first a big thanks to Mark1 , Mickc1440 , Ian M and Jim R for their helping get me going in the right direction by sharing their builds as part of this GB - not that they're probably aware - it's just one of the great things about a GB!!

Mark (LINK), Ian (LINK) and Mick (LINK) have helped point me in the right direction with things like colours for the radio transmitter and receiver, as we well some basic detail I intend to add. Jim's (LINK) was particularly helpful in terms of the overall 'look' I should aim for, as it's 1/72 like mine unlike the others, which are 1/48 - and he did it brilliantly.

Ok, so what have I discovered (or think I have)?:

• The Mk VIII air interception radar fitted to Lonesome Polecat (LP) apparently came with either a type 50 or 184 receiver. The kit one has a type 184 supplied, so I have to use that. I have no idea which one was fitted but there isn't a lot of difference between the two (plus it will be impossible to see once buttoned up );
• The Mk VIII radar also came with a type 73, indicator/display unit, also as supplied with the kit;
• Tamiya's colour callouts for these are wrong. They would have you paint the faces black but I could see from old B&W photos that they looked like they were probably a light grey colour - about which I was proved correct!! :smiling3:

Although the kit supplied radar internals are for the NF Mk II Tamiya would have you make, they fit perfectly for LP and so I got vey lucky there

I wonder if Tamiya actually booboed because the Mk. II used the MK IV or V radar (??) and from what I've found I think their units were very different....but Mk XII Mossies were based on Mk IIs fitted with the Mk. VIII radar.....so did Tamiya copy that????.....if you follow????.....I think I have a headache after all the research!!

ACW as usual and up next the pilot and navigator.

ATB

Andrew

PS - if anyone has found a flaw with any of my research please DON'T tell me....

PPS - Mick, Ian, Mark and Jim, thanks again for the assistance!!


------------------------------------------------------------------------------


The cockpit with radar equipment - definitely not black!
According to the Haynes manual it's from a Mk. XIII but according to an online source this might be from a Mk. XII but either way they both had the Mk VIII radar fitted and so it gives a good view of how it went in.
Sources: Various but most state © IWM (CH 16607) or © RAF Air Historical Branch.






The type 184 receiver and type 73 indicator/display unit
Sources: https://www.qsl.net/pe1ngz/signalscollection.html and https://www.qsl.net/pe1ngz/stories/story-ekco-3.html

Receiver:





Indicator/display unit:
There were apparently two different manufacturers; could this account for the slightly different switch and connector layout?








My 'homage' ready for assembly





And that is a penny and not a 2p piece.....

Glad you posted this up Andrew..
(Excellent stuff so far by the way )
I've been confused over that Radar assembly! It's included in my Mk VI kit, but can't find ANY references with it fitted to one at all.... So I've left it off!
Not sure if that was the right thing to do at all really.... But too late now!!

[Tim Marlow]

Excellent info Andrew. I’m part way through painting my FB, so some of this is very useful. I’ve also had a good look around, so will add my ramblings related to the FB version if I may….after all, they might be of some use…..

The FB didn’t have the Radar kit in the few references I’ve found, and Tamiya give it as an option for the NF version, but not the FB version, so I’ve left mine off. After all, why would a day fighter bomber need expensive and probably relatively rare night fighting radar…..
Something I’ve noticed is that everyone has done the seat in green, but the 360 I posted on the chat thread at the start of the GB has it in black, so I’ve gone with black. Pity Tamiya didn’t include the seat cushion, but I forgot to make one so it’s going without
Lastly, there are a few photos around of a bare bomb bay, showing what I assume are fuel tanks, but I have found virtually none showing the bomb racks in place, so I’ve more or less gone with the Tamiya scheme. At least I only have to worry about half of it, the front half will stay buttoned up and full of canon.

Yours is looking super, by the way Andrew. Very tidy indeed.