AIR Modeller - Issue 65 (2016-04-05).pdf

MENGAIRMODELLERAPRIL/MAY2016 APRIL/MAY 2016 • £6.50 UK $15.99 www.mengafvmodeller.com 65 FOXHOUND FAB B u i l d i n g A M K ’s N E W 1 : 4 8 M i G - 3 1 F o x h o u n d AIR 65 cover_Layout 1 10/03/2016 16:35 Page 1

AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/03/2016 12:25 Page 222

1 Meng AIR Modeller welcomes contributions from interested parties, but cannot accept any responsibility for unsolicited material. The contents of this publication including all articles, drawings and photographs originated by AFV Modeller ltd become the publishers copyright under copyright law. Reproduction in any form requires the written consent of the publisher. Whilst every care is taken to avoid mistakes AFV Modeller ltd. cannot be liable in any way for errors or ommissions. Meng AIR Modeller is published Bimonthly by AFV Modeller ltd Old Stables East Moor Stannington Northumberland NE61 6ES Tel: 01670 823648 Fax: 01670 820274 email: david@mengafvmodeller.com Editor and Designer: David Parker Deputy Editor: Mark Neville Sales Director: Keith Smith ISSN 2059-5964 We are now on Facebook, ‘Like’ us to follow what we are doing and follow our build projects. 2 Short Stirling Part Two Megas Tsonos continues his multipart 1:48 scratchbuilt project to build the British heavy bomber. 12 Prime-time MiG-31 Julien Hacoun gets to grips with the big MiG from AMK. 20 Mosquito PR.XVI Adrian Davies converts Tamiya’s seventy-second Mossie. 28 Mi-24A Hind Metodi Metodiev goes big on detail with Zvezda’s small-scale Hind. 38 Kittyhawk Paolo Portuesi’s P-40 from Hasegawa in 1:32. 48 Air Born New releases. 58 Me Bf109F2 Emmanuel Pernes shows us why Zvezda’s 1:48 109’s are such a big hit. CONTENTS AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/03/2016 11:39 Page 1

SHORT STIRLING I carefully washed away the remaining foam core using Nitro thinner to disolve the foam, wearing a mask and doing everything outdoors. The fuselage skin is now completed and it took less time to build than anticipated. This shows the large opening in the underside for the bomb bay. P art two of the Short Stirling Scratchbuild and with work on the empennage already complete the project picks up on the construction of the fuselage. This had been formed using fibreglass matting laid over a pre-shaped foamboard core and once the fibreglass had cured the foam core was cut out from inside the fuselage using the bom bay as a convenient entry point. Any remaining foam was disolved using Nitro thinners and taking care to avoid the noxious fumes this generated. 2 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 17:02 Page 2

MEGAS TSONOS SCRATCHBUILDS THE HEAVY BOMBER IN 1:48 part two I chose to model the Tamiya Avro Lancaster rear turret and install it on my Stirling model. Some reshaping of the rear fuselage was called for, as the turret had the same outer cupola; the rear turrets being essentially the same for Stirlings and Lancasters alike. A new rear fuselage was formed from fibreglass, which conformed to the Tamiya Lancaster turret, without altering the shape of the Stirling’s rear fuselage. 3 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 17:02 Page 3

4 Prior to installation of the horizontal surfaces on the rear fuselage, I removed the excess plastic between the elevators. Only the plastic simulating the area between the spars was retained. This was done to allow for the detailing of the rear fuselage just ahead of the rear turret. The vertical stabilizer is then secured to the fuselage. With the aid of White Milliput I made the small fillets that existed between the tail surfaces and the rear fuselage; Right The horizontal stabilizers complete with elevators, were fed through the openings made in the rear fuselage and holes were drilled for the cementing of the vertical stabilizer, together with the rudder. I used small lengths of brass tube to make the pins needed for the attachment of the vertical stabilizer. Above It was also a good chance to install the previously made tail surfaces on the new piece of rear fuselage. The resulting empennage could thus be made accurate enough so as to act as a jig for aligning the rest of the model, facilitating all subsequent checks. AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 17:02 Page 4

SHORT STIRLING 5 More views of the fillets that blend the tail with the fuselage and showing the horzontal surfaces passing through the fuselage. in the process I noticed an error in the position of the emergency exit hatch, revealed after the making of the fillets, so I recalculated the correct hatch position in relation to the starboard upper longeron, and reopened the hatch… The rear end, now complete with the rear turret mounting, was measured and an equal length of the main fuselage was removed. The rear part was pinned to the front with brass pins and cyanoacrylate glue. A minor shape correction was deemed necessary on the port sidewall... ... and following the masking of the tail surfaces, the fuselage was sprayed with Mr. Surfacer 500. I used a piece of copper sheet, to copy the interior shape of the rear fuselage, onto which I cemented a piece of thin plasticard. AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 17:02 Page 5

6 The fuselage formers and stringers were drawn in pencil and simulated using Evergreen plastic strips. Following a spraying with Mr. Surfacer #1200… ...the area was painted and detailed according to drawings and contemporary photos. Only the area visible through the entrance door was actually detailed. AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 17:02 Page 6

7The grid was assembled on a jig which offered right angles, so as to facilitate soldering. The intercostals were installed through the bottom and aligned at notches on the longitudinal beams, equally spaced. Before soldering it in place, I cemented the reinforcing stringers (Evergreen 0.10x0.20 strips). The top decking was dry fit to check the correct alignment. Bomb Bay The construction now went ahead with the model’s “raison d’ etre”, the bomb bay structure. Being the main structural element of my Stirling model and a very complicated structure on the real aeroplane, this was taken really seriously. Three longitudinal beams intersected by no less than twenty-nine lateral intercostals was the least that could be done, for a decent appearance of this compartment. Also, the ceiling of the bomb bay (teh oppoaite side of which forms the cabin floor) was not entirely flat as one might expect, but was angled upwards starting from the wing rear spar frame area towards the front spar frame, and then sloping downwards to meet the cockpit floor which was horizontal. In this way, the 3 degrees of wing incidence was achieved by Short Bros., as the wing structure was a carry-through-fuselage construction. All of this is well described in A.P. 1660A&B, Vol. 1, section 7, chapter 1, figure 1, ‘Fuselage construction’, for the Short Stirling. With the help of Mr. Michael Skoularikos, friend and fellow modeller, and the etched brass specialist behind the Stirling, the bomb bay drawings I made were turned into photo-etched parts ready to be assembled. I deviated a little from the real specifications, and made the bomb bay ceiling flat, as I calculated that the ‘kink’ would not be visible from below after all work was done, being a mere 1/16in. deeper on the model. I retained this information though, to be used when I modelled the cockpit floor. I deviated a little more, as I positioned the intercostals equally along the bay although I knew that small differences in spacing do exist in any aircraft, let alone the Stirling. I finished the bomb bay interior at a later stage in the build; I installed the bomb bay doors after painting and weathering the model. Consequently, the how-to photos will appear after the flaps construction, towards the final installments of these articles. AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 17:02 Page 7

The primary work came to an end with the addition of Evergreen 0.10x0.20 strips to the fuselage sidewalls and beams. These were allowed to slide in the photo-etched grooves provided for this reason, and through notches cut in the intercostals. In this way, precious time was saved to be used elsewhere in the construction. The bomb bay primary structure was sprayed with Mr. Surfacer 1200 and was secured in its place on the fuselage with the use of CA glue. Only the rear half of the bomb bay was cemented to the fuselage as I had already planned to cut off the fuselage front section so as to install the cockpit, and of course to install the single piece wings in place when constructed. I used Milliput to sort out any discrepancies around the line of contact of the fuselage to the bomb bay. Finally, I glued two strips of thin plasticard on the outside of the sidewalls which later helped in the exterior detail scribing as the scribing of brass is unthinkable. 8 The top decking of the bomb bay was soldered in place taking care to work fast enough to avoid any overheating which could perhaps melt and distort the plastic strips glued earlier. AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 17:02 Page 8

The fuselage was given a thorough washing with warm water and soap, and is seen hanging in the bath for drying! A little before this photo was taken, I sprayed the area affected by the installation of the bomb bay with Mr. Surfacer 500, sanded smooth and I proceeded to drilling out the windows. The window openings were made smaller at first, in order to fit properly between the frames which, in turn, corresponded exactly to the bomb bay intercostals in the case of the Stirling. When the scribing of the fuselage was done, the openings were finished to their correct size and location on the fuselage. Below Following the washing, the fuselage and tail surfaces were masked and I proceeded in spraying three coats of Mr White Surfacer 1000, in preparation for the exterior surface scribing and riveting. I marked the vertical frames in pencil on the white surface, starting from the bomb bay towards the ends. Then the horizontal panel lines were marked in the same manner. The benefits of the white finish are obvious when marking out the details. 9 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 17:02 Page 9

the fuselage I used an Olfa scriber and Dymo self-adheshive plastic tape that works miracles when scribing long straight lines. Following the scribing of the main frames and horizontal lines, I went on with the riveting that simulated the stringers, each and every one of them to be reproduced twice as the stringers that were used in the Stirling’s construction were of the “U” type. There was NO compromise here, as my models’ very own exterior appearance that would later be revealed when the Stirling was weathered, depended a lot on the accuracy of these twin rivet lines. 10 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 17:02 Page 10

The area where the wings joined the fuselage i.e. the root airfoil, was precisely located and marked with a pencil. A vertical line of cut was marked and a careful cut was made where the airfoil was thickest… …and the front section was separated as was the area of the wings just behind the cutting. Finally, the riveting of the fuselage was followed by scribing the vertical panel lines which reproduced the “brick wall” effect which characterized more than anything else the Stirling’s fuselage. In the process (as a keen eye will notice looking through the photos), the rear windows were found to be out of position, and blanked off with plasticard, to be repositioned later on. Needless to say, the whole procedure took more than twenty days to be completed. But the end justified the time that was spent on the task. the last section to be thus treated was the nose section. The exterior detailing was applied from the rear to the front. Every finished section was sprayed over with a final coat of Mr. Surfacer 1200. The project continues in the next issue 11 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 17:02 Page 11

T he Foxhound, as the MiG-31 is known in NATO terminology, has long been neglected by the mainstream model manufacturers, probably due to the lack of available information. The rare attempts to produce a kit of this impressive machine mostly resulted in less than passable models. Enter AMK; once this young and dynamic company started its communication about a new kit in 1:48 scale, the modelling community eagerly awaited it. Timely released pictures and videos of the parts and fabrication process created a buzz on the ‘net and when the kit reached the first lucky modellers – myself included – the first in-box reviews confirmed what the manufacturer promised on its Facebook page. I have to admit that the Foxhound has never been very high on my “gosh, we really need a decent kit of this aircraft” list, but like many, seeing the pictures of test shots and parts and hearing the “very easy to build” promise, I remembered my teen years and the impression the real deal made on me at Le Bourget when the Soviet Air Force brought one in 1991. When AMK offered to send me an early sample it was a done deal and I started to build it immediately. 12 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 15:56 Page 12

MiG-31BM/BSM 13 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 15:56 Page 13

I intended from the start to build this kit straight out of the box to show what the modeller gets for their money. I focused on the paint job and decided to go wild as we’ll see later. For the construction sequence I followed the instructions and found them well thought-out overall. An ageing modeller can’t help but take shortcuts or do it his own way (which I did!) Quick checks showed a very high degree of precision in engineering and moulding which enabled building this big kit in subassemblies. To begin with, I sprayed the parts for the gear bays and intakes with Tamiya ‘Silver Leaf’ from a spray can. A quick and easy job thanks to the way parts are grouped on the sprues. While this was drying I assembled the wings to the upper fuselage to better appreciate the size of the model: it’s a big one indeed! I used clamps to do this just to make sure the parts wouldn’t move as I put the subassembly aside to dry. Strictly speaking clamps are not necessary at all to force the parts together: I just used them as a precaution. While working on the airframe, I added the gun fairing to the side of the lower body. The main body work covers building, painting and weathering of several highly detailed internal modules, namely the landing gear bays, intake ducts and engines. The level of detail and precision of assembly of the gear bays and intake ducts is simply outstanding. AMK clearly got first hand data and was able to put it to good use. Even though these modules are made of a significant number of parts, they fit perfectly and slide right into position within the lower fuselage half. As a precaution, I would advise checking twice their perfect alignment so as to avoid any fit problem down the road while mating the intakes to the fuselage. I left aside a number of their smaller details for final assembly so as to avoid breaking them during the painting process. out of the box The parts are cleverly organized on the sprues and can be painted quickly. Here the main parts composing the gear bays and air intakes are sprayed with Tamiya Silver Leaf all together. The completed gear bays and intake trunks. In spite of a significant number of parts, fit is perfect and the details are at the highest level the ‘advanced’ modeller could expect. The main colour here is natural metal/aluminum but large areas are treated with Lemon Yellow Primer from MR Paint range : it's a perfect mach for the protective coating used on russian aircraft. All the details are enhanced with a dark wash. The nose gear well is painted on the sprue basically with aluminum and details in yellow primer or salmon pink to replicate the corrosion control touch ups. Other details are picked up in bright green and gun metal. A dark wash is a must to enhance all the details moulded on these parts. 14 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 15:56 Page 14

Two full engines are included with simple but nicely moulded details that lend themselves very well to careful painting. Unfortunately, unless you plan to leave one of the vertical tails unassembled, cut out a large access panel from the fuselage or simply display them on a scratchbuilt dolly, they will remain mostly invisible in the end – save for the exhaust pipes. I understand that AMK has planned a more elaborate version of their kit to display inner details such as these. Crammed with all these items, the fuselage could then be closed. As I wanted to make an aircraft with extensive metal surfaces this implied a perfect surface finish and here again the excellent fit of the parts (most of them are broken down following real panel lines) required virtually no filling and very little sanding. Moving on with subassemblies, the tail and ventral fins were assembled, partly painted and kept aside to be mated to the fuselage at a later stage. The intakes were also built and painted as individual items. Likewise, the flaps, stabilators, rudders, wing upper fences and all the landing gear doors were painted and safely stored until final assembly. The strategy here was to build and paint as many items as possible and bring them together at the end of the construction sequence just before painting the rest of the airframe. The nose section is designed as another independent module. The cockpit is a very good compromise of a limited number of parts with a high level of accuracy. The only things I would have wished for are instrument faces as decals and seatbelts in PE. This would have made the cockpit even better and saved the modeller from sourcing them elsewhere. These are minor complaints though. To paint the ‘office’ I used the excellent MR Paint Russia Turquoise Cockpit color (MRP-1) which is spot-on. Advertised by the manufacturer as an “acrylic lacquer paint” it sprays beautifully and has an excellent coverage. More on that later. The cockpit details were brush painted with Vallejo acrylics after scribing the instrument dials according to various pictures available on the net. Several washes from MIG range were used to outline them and add depth to the finish. To hide the rather naked seat pads I added red and white warning placards related to the maintenance work to be done. Once finished, the whole cockpit tub could be inserted into the one-piece nose. The clever engineering here allows the modeller to paint and weather the whole nose section even before installing the cockpit and mating the whole assembly to the fuselage: definitely modeller friendly! so far, so good The cockpit is well engineered and a very good representation of the real thing. It only lacks instrument faces and seat harnesses. For this model the instruments were engraved with a pin and enhanced with a very light wash. A steady hand and good lighting is the weapon of choice to paint and do justice to the delicate details moulded throughout. The seatbelt issue was bypassed by adding red and white warning signs. The MiG-31 cockpits appear to be well maintained and show rather little wear. A simple dark brown wash was applied to outline the details. The belly is packed with all the engine, intake and gear bay modules. Unfortunately, the engine won't be visible on this model in the end. 15 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 15:56 Page 15

With a mostly completed airframe it was time to turn to the “different” paint scheme I had in mind. Since this kit depicts a modernized variant of the Foxhound, I used this as a pretext to replicate a partly primed metal finish as can be seen on aircraft undergoing heavy maintenance / modernization work. This implies a lot of masking but this is a worthwhile and very rewarding exercise in the end. factory finish First, a coat of Tamiya Silver leaf was sprayed on the whole surface to act as a primer, or more precisely, a base coat for the scheme. This paint is extremely strong and stands masking very well. I wouldn’t do this with most other brands of metal paints as they are usually more fragile. Next, many panels were protected with Tamiya tape: the deep and sharp panel lines make the task of cutting the tape much easier than one would expect. Nothing difficult here, it just requires planning, care, and a fresh scalpel blade. The partly masked airframe was then sprayed with various colours from the MR Paint range. This relatively new brand has a good and growing range of excellent paints which includes colours not commonly produced by other manufacturers. Beyond the cockpit Turquoise green, the most interesting colour for this model was the Lemon Grey primer color (MRP-90) which is a very good imitation of the real primer used by RSK MiG on its aircraft. Some panels were painted with a brownish colour and others with various shades of grey (US greys, I confess…). After unmasking, several areas such as rivet lines were sprayed freehand with the primer colours while others got a mist of light grey or clear flat to break up the sheen of the metal basecoat. A pin wash of Mig Deep grey Paneliner is diffused into the panel lines and riveting and immediately wiped off where necessary once dry. These ready to use products are easy and convienient to use. Dealing with the composite paintjob requires mostly method and a good stock of masking tape. On the plus side it doesn't require advanced airbrushing skills. First a base coat of Silver Leaf or whatever metal coat finish is sprayed on. MR Paint Yellow Lemon Primer is then sprayed and the masking tape removed where necessary. Tamiya metal paints in spray cans are a must for this kind of job : they have a very fine pigment and extra strong finish which stands masking very well. After several hours of drying time selected panels are masked with Tamiya tape cut along the panel lines with a fresh scalpel blade. One minor modification made to the intakes was thinnning the rear lips for a more in-scale look. The keel painted, satin coated and weathered. The small Lemon primer areas add interest to these parts. The stabilators were used as testbeds for the paint scheme. A base coat of Tamiya Silver Leaf (spray can) followed by a light coat of satin varnish and then various applications of MR Paint Lemon Grey Primer and Tamiya yellow zinchromat oversprayed with a mist of yellow primer. 16 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 15:56 Page 16

exhausts The only markings are the individual numbers ‘81’ (my kit sample was numbered 81) which I sourced from the spare decal stock: the only infraction to the OOTB rule I followed. Next came several applications of Mig washes (how appropriate!...) to outline the panel lines and raised details. Deep and medium brown washes were in order to avoid the stark contrast a pure black wash would have. Very light streaks were also applied, mostly under the belly and down the sides of the airframe to add a little more volume. Since the aircraft is supposed to be being worked on, they were kept very faint. When I painted the model, no picture of a MiG-31 in this condition could be found on the web, so I used pictures of other MiG aircraft to make a plausible combination of colours on the model (and yes, primed MiGs often have a bort number). Naturally, less than three weeks after finishing, a couple of pictures of a stripped MiG-31 surfaced on Facebook showing a very similar configuration but also a number of differences with mine: close but no cigar. Oh well, I’ll live with it anyway... The exhausts are painted Testor Metallizer Titanium on the inner face and dark exhaust on the outside. Painting is easier with russian missiles than with their western couter parts. The base colors is satin white, with bare-metal details on some models. The big AA-9 Amos were partially masked to spray a coat of Mig Gun Metal and was then treated with a medium grey wash as were the other two missiles. A flat coat is not necessary as these items are rather shiny in reality. Since these missiles are supposed to be dummies for loading test purpose, no stencils were applied. The pylons and rails are painted and weathered just like the rest of the airframe. They are then irregularly oversprayed with a highly thinned brownish black mix. Scratches are then simulated with gun metal and applied with a sponge Finally a light coat of clear flat is applied to break up the shine of these parts. 17 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 15:56 Page 17

As usual, the final and somewhat time- consuming stage focused on all the details. The wheels and landing gear were prepped and added at this point. Here too the level of details is remarkable and replicate very accurately the real gear. I chose to assemble them with no extra details to show what one gets straight out of the box: very convincing items on their own and a labour of love to clean, paint and weather. Gunze H65 was used for the base colour of the gear legs while a Dark brown wash spiced up the details. The wheels were quick and easy to build and paint in comparison. The green hub was painted with Aeromaster Russian/USSR Green as it looks the most accurate to my eyes. Working on the canopy parts was rather involved with this kit, because they are made of many parts to replicate all the inner and outer details, including the retractable periscope for the backseater which can be posed either folded or open. This means careful painting and weathering of many delicate parts. Thankfully they are perfectly moulded and the clear parts lend themselves well to masking with Tamiya tape. They were painted according to pictures of the real ones. The glazing had a homemade coat of clear gloss and clear yellow since on many aircraft they have a distinct yellow hue. Hand painting the pink filler window frames with a brush to make them look as irregular and sloppy as the real ones was somewhat disturbing, much like trying to paint rough D-Day stripes on a Typhoon without expecting nasty comments such as “too bad it’s so poorly painted”… But that’s how they look on many MiG-31s. The inner framing was painted Turquoise green with bright green fabric padding. The only little complaint one could express here is the excessive thickness of this “inner shell” but this is a spoilt modeller talking here. Finally, the control surfaces were added along with the pitot and refueling probes while a number of surface details such as navigation lights, static dischargers and antennas were picked out with the appropriate colour by brush. One last word about the missiles: I chose to put three of them for demonstration purpose. They have one-piece bodies with only a few added parts for the fins depending on the model. They have a very high level of detail but will require careful cleaning of the faint mould lines to do them perfect justice. Although AMK provides a host of stencils, I didn’t use them because Russian captive carry/demo missiles are usually plain white. The landing gears require a fair amount of work since they are very complicated pieces of machinery. AMK has managed to make them with a limited number of parts which nevertheless require some cleaning along the mold seam lines and careful painting. In the end they are very impressive items that will have to be treated with care and respect given the weight of the finished model. A metal core may have been a good thing here, for once. 18 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 15:56 Page 18

After barely two and a half months of after- hours work, there it was: a BIG and colorful Foxhound for my collection. What should be said that hasn’t ben said already? I had never built an AMK kit before so I must say I am really impressed with this one. AMK has demonstrated a very high level of engineering and tooling on par with the best manufacturers on the market. They managed to produce a very accurate (the definitive?) model of a long overdue aircraft in 1:48 scale and the good news is they are on a roll. Earlier and “high grade” variants of this big MiG are planned and a whole family of new tool F-14 Tomcats are in the works. If the quality of this MiG is their standard, the Tomcat should be a killer. Bring it on! My MiG is complete 19 MiG-31BM/BSM AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 09/03/2016 15:56 Page 19

Mosquito PR.XVI 680 Squadron, Foggia, Italy, 1944. Adrian Davies converts Tamiya’s 1:72 kit 20 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/03/2016 10:40 Page 20

I began with Tamiya’s commendable 1:72nd B Mk.IV/PR Mk.IV, a solid foundation for any glass-nosed Mosquito project. The principal modification to convert this kit into a PR.XVI replica is to replace the single- stage Merlins with the beefed-up and more aggressive looking two-stage Merlins. I had a set of Paragon Models’ resin replacements but it boggles the mind that no one has released an injection moulded two-stage engine to today’s standards. From the start, I decided to attach the resin engine parts to their respective nacelle rears before attaching the whole assembly to the underside of the wing. As the saying goes, I measured twice and cut once. I constantly checked the relationship between the top of the resin cowling and the top of the wing, conscious of the fact that one of the features of the two-stage cowling is that it is perfectly flat across the top when viewed in side elevation. This construction order allowed me to clean up the seam between the parts and re-scribe any lost detail with minimum difficulty. It also helped me gain easier access to the undercarriage bays to add detail. Thanks to the quality of the Paragon parts, and a little care, this was a stress-free exercise. The completed nacelles were then attached to their respective wings. With that done, it was time to move onto the fuselage and in particular the cockpit. Here I added quite a bit of detail. I wanted to get across the cramped workspace of the Mosquito’s crew, so with styrene and a few pieces from an Eduard set designed for the Hasegawa Mosquito, I set to work. I added the prominent flares, flasks, fire-axe, wires and electrical boxes to the sides. I detailed the transmitter and receiver, and scratch-built a Gee receiver/Indicator and the crew entry door, all the time performing dry fits just to be sure that everything fitted. I painted the interior grey green and then, after a wash and dry-brush, I painted details using Vallejo acrylics. A lone Mosquito skimming the top of the Troposphere, photographing the war below, speed and altitude its only defence. For a long time I’ve wanted to model a PRU Mosquito, and with hope do it justice. “ “ 21 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/03/2016 10:40 Page 21

Moving along with the airframe assembly, I enjoyed Tamiya’s reputed fit and ease of construction. I filled any gaps (a fault of the modeller not the kit,) and primed it with a coat of Tamiya’s rattle can fine primer. A once-over with some fine wet and dry sandpaper and it was ready for a little more detailing. Another modification was the addition of two camera ports to the three already in the kit. I drilled these, referring to the excellent drawings provided in the Aero Detail volume on the Mosquito. The backs of the bays were boxed in to prevent see- through and painted black. I considered scratch building the cameras, but at this scale thought it would be a wasted effort. I’m pretty forgiving of most model companies and the errors in the kits they produce, and so I didn’t worry about the well-documented undersized tail. The law of diminishing returns would be applicable here. One omission, small as it was, did bother me - no indication of the rear spar. This is best shown as a slightly raised detail. Curiously, the kit’s designers show the front spar, but not the rear. How would I show this subtle detail? The solution came from my friend Barry Numerick, who demonstrated how to use thick decal film to show just such a detail, by using strips of decal from a sheet of Fantasy Printshop’s light grey trim film. The colour is not important, but I don’t think it would work with regular clear decal film, as this would be too thin to create the required relief. Using this technique, I also added the latches to the bomb bay doors and details around the oblique camera bay. References for these all came from Carmine Di Napoli’s drawings in Vol. 23 of the Aero Detail series. Another detail shown in these drawings is the lines of rivets. I am aware that the Mosquito was called the Wooden Wonder, and the reason why. But despite its moniker aluminium was also used, especially around the engines and radiators. These were detailed with rivets applied to the primer using an RB Productions riveting wheel, with just enough pressure to add a little texture to the primer, without them looking like rows of potholes. I also added the fuel cooler intake to the starboard fuselage, the rain guards to the vertical camera ports and replaced the cockpit de-icing nozzle. 22 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/03/2016 10:40 Page 22

A major part of the detailing was spent on the under carriage, an effort that I feel was warranted given how the filigree of the piping and door guards would contrast with the smooth lines of the aircraft. After removing a good portion of the kit's detail, I set about replacing it with my own work, hoping that it would be finer and more in scale. The brake lines are from fine solder, the secondary structure of the under-carriage is from fine copper wire and a little styrene. The prominent mud guards are taken from the aforementioned Eduard etched metal set. For the door guards, I constructed a small jig that would allow me to form four identical pieces of bent copper wire. These four pieces were then rolled around the handle of an Xacto to induce a slight curve, then applied to the kit legs. I added some secondary struts using 10 thou styrene rod. I did simplify the door guards, if only for sanity's sake, but I am pleased with the result. From there I moved onto the painting and finishing of the model. Although it is a single colour paint scheme, a large part of this stage was taken up with masking and painting the stripes on the tail and fuselage Photos of the real aircraft and profiles show that the fuselage identification stripes were not parallel 23 AIR 65 April-May 2016_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 11/03/2016 10:40 Page 23