AIR Modeller - Issue 70 (2017 02-03).pdf

MENGAIRMODELLERFEBRUARY/MARCH2017 FEB/MARCH 2017 • £6.50 UK $15.99 www.mengafvmodeller.com 70 Pony X-Press MENG’S NEW 1:48 P-51D MUSTANG AIR 70 cover.qxp_Layout 1 13/01/2017 11:29 Page 1

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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 P-51D Mustang Pony X-Press The Editor builds Meng’s brand new Mustang. 12 Short Sterling Part 7 Megas Tsonos continues to scratchbuild the heavy bomber in 1:48. 20 Mighty Mossi Franck Oudin shows us why everyone loves Tamiya’s 1:32 Mosquito. 28 Tan-tastic Aurelio Reale builds the debut Thunderflash kit from Tanmodel. 36 P-47 D-25 Thunderbolt Part 2 Andrea Vignocchi shares his painting and diorama techniques. 48 Air Borne New releases. 56 Whipping-up a Storm Olivier Soulleys’ big scale Tempest Mk.V. CONTENTS AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 12:03 Page 1

2 Intriguing That is probably the best word to describe the new Meng Models Mustang kit which has all the usual moulding finesse of the rest of the Meng range but this is the first kit to feature what is described as a fast cement-free assembly design. Usually this kind of press together assembly is sneered at by the serious modeller as it means simplification and an almost inevitable loss of detail. When you examine the sprues for this new Mustang there appears to be no shortage of detail in key areas like the cockpit and the exterior surface detail is excellent. By the way the kit has been designed with optional propellers, a choice of exhaust, and separate fuselage spine all point to other possible future Mustang releases? The kit offers a choice of two droptank styles or 100lb bombs for the underwing racks and a choice of open or closed main wheel doors. The tailwheel however is only in the open position so this will need to be adapted for an in- flight configuration. It is a kit that promises much combining fast assembly without apparently compromising on detail but will it persuade me to put my trusty bottle of Mr Cement S aside? P-51DPony X-Press AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 12:03 Page 2

3 MENG MODELS NEW 1:48 NORTH AMERICAN P-51D MUSTANG MODELLED BY DAVID PARKER AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 12:03 Page 3

4 The kit offers a remarkably detailed cockpit for the scale such that there is no need to even consider looking at any aftermarket parts except that there are no seat belts provided. The instrument panel is really well moulded but I was less impressed with the decal that is provided for the dials so I substituted MDC individual instrument dial decals. Almost immediately the benefits of the glueless design are apparent and especially in the cockpit where the parts can easily be broken down for painting before being pushed back together! Its a system that has a lot of advantages but also the occasional disadvantage. In fitting the small parts on the back of the seat headrest I managed the cause a split in the headrest but it was easily fixed with a touch of liquid glue. The whole cockpit assembly plugs into the fuselage with a refreshing certainty leaving you in no doubt that it is correctly located and the huge pins on the fuselage sides promise a similar result when the fuselage parts are brought together. To paint the interior I chose to use MRP Interior Green over a base of Mr Hobby black Mr Surfacer Primer 1500. The MRP paint always sprays superbly and I will be using MRP colours throughout the build. The speed with which this kit comes together is also remarkable as it is possible to assemble the various sub assemblies quickly, the odd touch of glue is required here and there and I was still using Mr Cement S to seal any panel gaps as I would on a conventional kit. The wings feature separate control surfaces which are locked in between the wing halves and the flaps are only provided in the fully dropped position. The radiator assembly is set up with the trailing shutter open as shown here but the optional closed version is provided which I chose to use instead. Simple but well detailed, the undercarriage is designed to be built into the kit so it needs some adaptation if you prefer to add it at the end of your build. AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 12:03 Page 4

Closing the fuselage is a real treat as the fixings are so positive and it was only reall necessary to apply a little glue to the spine of the tail fin to ensure a prefect joint. P-51D Small areas of wear on the cockpit floor and chipped paint on the Pilot’s seat all add to the used look of the cockpit although once the coving and gunsight are fitted much of this detail is in shadow. Looking under the cockpit floor you can see the huge friction pins that secure the parts as well as the snug fit of the cockpit and the big tabs where it locates. The base colours applied to the cockpit and other internal parts over a black primer. I adapted some spare parts from an HGW seatbelt set to make belts for the P-51 Above The fuselage side walls are remarkably well detailed for this scale and simply need to be painted. 5 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 12:03 Page 5

6 The wheel well locates perfectly onto a couple of friction pins and the flaps are seen here clipped into the wing. The radiator assembly then plugs into the fuselage for an impressively good fit. The underside of the nose is test fitted and you can see how it also provides the underside of the wing. The visible gap closes up when the parts are fully pushed together and glue is run along the seams. Above The inner edges of the canopy frame were thinned down to allow the canopy to sit correctly. There are inevitably differences in the panel lines between the moulded and separate sections so I used MRP liquid filler to unify these areas - I brushed the filler on and wiped away the excess quickly. With this done I polished up the airframe using different grades of foam sanding sticks and a soft cloth to get a polished plastic finish in preparation for the natural metal finish. Happily there were absolutely no gaps along the wing root joints as the fit is perfect. Turning over the partly completed wing you can see the big pegs used to join the wing halves. In retrospect I would suggest adapting the flaps so that the can be fitted after painting because they make reaching certain areas of the fuselage more difficult in this position. With big sections of the kit quickly clipping together the assembly comes together very very quickly which is another advantage of this type of kit design. I chose to deviate from the kit instructions by not fitting the propeller, exhausts or undercarriage at this stage. Take care to fit the nose cowling part B31 before the longer upper cowling B30 as they will not locate if you fit B30 first as I discovered. The windscreen moulding is beautifully moulded but I found it was just fractionally too long to sit into the slots each side of the fuselage. I used a scalpel to shave a sliver of plastic from the small rearmost vertical edge of the slots, allowing the windscreen to slide into position. The sliding section of the canopy has a central mould seam which needs to be cleaned up and if opened the thickness of the plastic prevents the canopy from sitting correctly on the fuselage. I was able to improve this considerably by thinning down the inner edge of the canopy frame. AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 12:03 Page 6

All the exterior parts were sprayed using MRP White Aluminium directly onto the polished plastic. The MRP paint requires no thinning and dries extremely quickly for a very pleasing and durable finish. Using MRP Olive Drab I began to apply the camouflage to the fuselage and this is where the MRP paint works so well. Sprayed through my Iwata Custom Micron it will continuously spray ultra fine lines making it ideal to add the freehand camo without the nee for masks. I applied a thin partial coat of the Olive Drab over the wing root area before applying another layer of masking and then the final full density of the Olive Drab. The masking was removed and the effect was quite harsh so I lightly worked over selected areas with more Olive Drab and gently rubbed down with some Micro Mesh to create this effect. Before starting on the wings I used Wilder masking fluid applied with a piece of sponge to prepare for the scuffed wing roots. I repeated the process on a section of the radiator and the cowling strip around the exhausts. I used White Spirits to carefully clean away the True metal from these sections before using AK True Metal Dark Aluminium, with masks to protect the rest of the finish. To enhance the natural metal finish I worked over the White Aluminium with AK True Metal Aluminium paste. This is applied in small areas with a brush and buffed up with a finger tip or cotton bud. 7 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 12:03 Page 7

8 With the camouflage complete I moved on to adding the wing stripes with MRP White and Black for the underside along with the black nose ring. The decals were unified with the rest of the paint finish by spraying a coat of MRP Super Clear Semimatt varnish over the decaled areas. The exhaust stubs were picked out using Mission Models Burnt Iron acrylic with two coats brush painted onto the sprayed metallic finish of the exhaust shrouds. The completed exhausts are simply pushed into position and this is where the push fit design really pays off! The kit offers a choice of two schemes on the decal sheet but I decided to select a scheme of my own, in this case the Kits-World decals for “Happy Jack’s Go Buggy”. The decals whilst well printed appeared to be quick thick and consequently I had problems getting them to conform to the model and if I had more time I would have preferred to paint the bars on the nose. The decals also had a very high gloss finish so I had the problem of varnishing them without killing the natural metal finish. To do this I used the MRP Super Clear Satin which performed brilliantly. It was thin enough to spray through my Iwata Custom Micron so that I could apply varnish just on the decals without having to overspray the entire model. AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 12:03 Page 8

9 You cannot weather the True Metal finish with anything solvent based so I used an acrylic alternative mixing Lifecolor paint with Lifecolor Tenscrom transparent colours to paint in panel lines and to add the dirt and oil stains. Exhaust stains were airbrushed on using Lifecolor Liquid Pigments Soot. This can be selectively removed using a damp brush just like the stains can be wiped off the fuselage by ground crew rubbing against them. Final details like undercarriage, drop tanks and antenna are fitted to complete the model. The drop tanks are just plugged in place without the risk of glue marring the paint finish. The same technique was used on the underside too. After completing the weathering of the model it only remained to add the smaller details that had been painted and finished separately and with most of them pushing into place it was not hard to see the attraction of the press fit design. Did I manage a glue free build? No I have to admit that I would apply a little glue to even the most securely fitted parts on the model out of a sense of the ingrained innate wrongness of not doing so! The press fit design has considerable merit and the assembly was remarkable fast which I liked. The slight downside is that separating parts should you need to make any adjustments to fit is not as easy as with a conventional kit but nor is it that difficult either. The proof of course is how the finished model looks and we think it looks very impressive. It will be intriguing to see how Meng choose to develop this press fit design in the future. AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 12:03 Page 9

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SHORT STIRLING I started the inner nacelles in much the same way as the outer ones... ...but instead of them being left solid, they were made hollow so as to accept the interior detailing that was to follow. Part seven sees the completion of the complicated shapes of the nacelles and the equally complexed shapes of the flaps. With the major assemby of the bomb bay and doors complete I could then revisit some of the finer details and feel the end of this monumental project was in sight... x 12 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 13:03 Page 12

MEGAS TSONOS SCRATCHBUILDS THE HEAVY BOMBER IN 1:48 part seven I glued the inner nacelles in place, and along with the outer ones I used the Archer Fine Transfers fasteners to detail the already scribed areas. Thin plasticard was used for the nacelles interior structure. The interior was painted in scale black. I drybrushed white artist’s oil to bring out the details... ... and modelled the components located in the area; oil tanks, fuel filters, Graviner fire extinguishers and the hot air supply hoses to the Gallay radiators (located in the bomb cells). The next step was to make the rest of the inner nacelles. I modelled the two longitudinal beams on either side of the main undercarriage units (Indicated by the arrows)... To get a result as close as possible to the nacelle interior, I consulted the invaluable J.H. Clark cutaway plus contemporary photos. 13 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 13:03 Page 13

...and finally the tail fairing (circled) which came from the Sanger kit. I painted the tail fairing inner sides in Alclad ALC-101 Aluminum as it was not painted in the production line. The metallic greyish-looking exhaust ring intake lip was a glow shield which prevented the red-hot exhaust from being seen in the distance during night operations; it was bolted onto the ring itself. A feature of mostly an early Stirling, it could also be seen on only one or only two engines on a given aircraft. The exhaust ring and outlet were painted in different Alclad metallic shades such as ALC113 Jet exhaust and ALC121 Burnt iron. I proceeded with a subtle wash with black artist’s oil; then I used the Tamiya Weathering Master Set ‘D’, and applied bluish and oil stain tints. One has to patient with this as the results are not immediate. I found myself repeating the procedure as I was not getting what I had in mind or had seen in the period colour photos. Additionally, a vertical panel was put behind the outer nacelle to act as a guide. Seen from below, the grid lines helped in obtaining the correct positioning of the model in relation to the vertical axis as well as to the horizontal (when seen from directly above). Pictured at a later stage in the construction, the finished starboard outer engine (minus propeller) reveals the frontal area additions in the shape of the exhausts, propeller governor and the exhaust ring support rods. The intake lip ice guards already fitted were found to be wrongly shaped and were soon replaced by the correct parallelogram ones. The model was levelled in preparation for the installation of the four complete engine assemblies. Again the work commenced with the outer engines, and finished with the inner ones. Judging from the photo of N6004, I jumped to conclusion that the carburettor intake lips and their corresponding ice guards could be oval. A more focused look at the sources revealed I was wrong and that the vast majority of the items in question were parallelogram (the norm for the Stirling Mk.I). As I already had installed the oval ice guards, I replaced them with parallelogram ones. In both instances however, custom made photo-etched parts were used. Sometimes advancing backwards is inevitable... The oil cooler intakes, as well as the smaller one between them, which ducted cold air to the Gallay heaters and to the cockpit, were scooped out in the modelling board that formed the leading edges. The intake lips, which stood proud of the leading edge, were formed with Milliput over a length of thin soldering wire glued around the duct edges. 14 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 13:03 Page 14

THE FLAPS The Gouge flaps, named after their designer, Mr. A. Gouge of Short Bros., covered a good 48% of the Stirling’s wing chord length. They were electrically operated and slid outwards (when lowered) leaving a well-respected gap between them and the fuselage. As they operated on rails, their only point of contact with the wings was through five rollers and their actuating jackscrew eye-ends. Their combined span including the fuselage width was only 1’ 6’’ less than the wingspan of the Mosquito! In model terms, the intricate part following the decision to put the flaps in the lowered position was that they should be made entirely suspended under the wings WITHOUT touching the fuselage. To eliminate the possibility of a flap fracture, it became evident that the wings should be made strong enough at their most vulnerable edge, the trailing edge. Metal was the obvious solution; the brass sheet which was cut at the shape of the wings uppersurfaces, was extended rearwards to meet the flap topsides. By cementing the finished flaps directly on the brass surface, and using the flap tracks as an additional means of producing an even stronger contact, the flaps were secured against all kinds of damage. A piece of .080” plasticard was cut at the preliminary shape of the flaps. The undersurfaces are flat as are the rest of the wing undersurfaces. I thinned down the plasticard at the leading and trailing edges, in preparation for the cementing of the upper surface plasicard. At the point where the flaps were at their maximum thickness (that is at 50% of flap chord) I cemented a ‘spar’ and I curved a piece of plasticard over, so as to make the flap uppersurfaces. I used Milliput to shape the leading and refine the trailing edges. The flaps were scribed; the flap track grooves (green arrows) as well as the flap actuator grooves (red circle) were now modelled in relation to the wing surface detailing in the area. I sprayed a coat of Mr. Surfacer #1200, to give the flaps a uniform appearance with the rest of the model in preparation for painting. Using tweezers and a suitable piece of resin block I held the flaps whilst spraying them with the finishing coats of Mr. Hobby Mr. Surfacer #500, and successively #1000. The flaps are now ready for installing on the wings. I cleaned the contact surfaces from any putty, and exposed the brass surface of the wings and the bare styrene of the flaps. I glued the flaps on the wings with 5 minute epoxy glue. I ensured there were no issues of symmetry between the two flaps by checking from the front of the model, and from directly above it; I measured the flap-to-fuselage gap to be the same. I also checked for correct extension i.e. the flap outer (aileron side) ends, to be equally extended, as well as the inner sides (fuselage side). A fellow modeller with a keen eye for accuracy has helped a lot in this as I was fine-trimming the flaps within the confines of the epoxy setting time. It needed two pairs of eyes to set the flaps correctly and the result justified the effort. I went ahead with the filling of the gaps (Milliput) between the flaps upper surface and the wing trailing edges. I left NO gap at all, as the Gouge flaps were actually sliding outwards immediately under the trailing edge. I must point out that the Gouge flaps were NOT ‘Fowler’ or ‘Fowler-type’ as is often incorrectly quoted in some sources of information. They were designed within a totally different aerodynamic principle than the Fowler flaps and this is reflected in their mode of operation. 15 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 13:03 Page 15

The finished parts were painted, weathered and then glued on their respective places in the bomb bay. The 21 bomb beams were equipped with a set of crutches which secured the Type A 500lb. bomb carriers or other loads. Eight nickel- silver photo-etched parts were used to model each bomb beam. 16 The gap formed between the extended flaps and the fuselage is seen to advantage in this photo. The nacelle tailpiece (which is part of the flaps) is moved off the nacelle centre line, when the flaps are extended. I went on with the interior detailing of the bomb bay. Remember, we left the bomb bay to get on with the principal tasks, as any possible failure to any one of them would probably halt the construction. So there was no meaning to employ such a lot of work in the bays without been absolutely sure that the Stirling model was bound for painting. In the bomb bay there were 21 bomb beams on which the bomb carriers were secured. I fixed small styrene tabs over the stringers to create a base on which these components would be glued. I painted the interior in a black-grey colour, and did some preliminary weathering. I kept a low profile in doing so, as the overall black painting of the undersides had yet to be applied, so the balance between the black shades was pending. The linkage which operated the bomb doors was modelled at this point; .030” dia. styrene rod was used. The rather complicated mechanism is clearly described in A.P.1660 A&B, Vol. 1, Section 7, Chapter 1, Fig. 2 ‘Fuselage Bomb Cell Doors’. AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 13:03 Page 16

I used the flat doors as a gauge to the spacing of the stiffeners. During the process I checked with the brass rod the alignment of the stiffeners, by ensuring it was sliding effortlessly between them. Due to their length, careful cementing had to be performed; especially the outer doors which should be fixed at the same opening angle. Moreover they should be parallel to the inner doors and should allow for the same gap to exist between them and the extended flaps. The outer (curved) doors were reinforced with a thin styrene outer ‘skin’, glued with CA, which was sanded smooth; now all doors were given a coat of Mr. Surfacer 1000, and installed on the already painted model. Thus, I painted them without having to touch them at all. Additionally, some more detail can be seen in the form of wiring along the longitudinal beams upper starboard side. This was made from lengths of stretched sprue twisted to look like electrical wire bundles. The four inner (flat) doors were designed for simplicity as well as strength in such a way as to be folded in pairs and make one set of two adjacent doors under each longitudinal beam. The result is shown here, as each one assembly is actually two doors folded along their hinge lines. The outer doors were formed around their own stiffeners as any attempt to roll brass would lead to failure. A soft metal foil was used which was first rolled around a cylindrical pencil. Then it was positioned against a heavy backing and the first stiffeners were glued in place; a brass rod inserted through their respective holes held them in a straight line. The flat inner doors and 548 stiffeners (!) are included in the fret shown, ready to be used to advantage; a really tedious task as you can tell by looking at it. 17 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 13:03 Page 17

As is the norm with large models, or models of large aeroplanes such as the four engine bombers, some small details can be easily overlooked when compiling an article. In this chapter I tried to include most of these elusive facets of the construction. Being dispersed within a large amount of photos taken, and in some instances not photographed at all, the small details are nevertheless an integral part to a complete account of any scratchbuilt subject. The 29 fuselage windows are located immediately below the fuselage longerons. First I located the position of the longerons and then I marked the approximate position of the window openings. Next I marked the fuselage formers and opened the rows of the oval windows between them. All oval windows were equally spaced, with the sole exception of the first window in front of each row which was spaced nearer the second one. The front windows are located like the rest, but the fuselage frames were not equally spaced and moreover they corresponded exactly to the canopy vertical frames. So the position of the frames was meticulously calculated, and then the dimensions of the windows were figured out, not only in relation to the aforementioned frames but the fuselage stringers as well. I used a brass jig to finalize the shape of the windows. The oval shape format of the window in the jig was also used in a laser cutting/engraving machine to cut the oval windows in 1/32” sheet plexiglass, thereby ensuring that the oval windows would be identical. I did the same for the rectangular windows of the front section, which are also laser-cut. Having identical windows at hand made things easier as the fuselage window openings could be brought to the exact window shape, instead of trying to bring the windows to match their openings. The brass jig helped, not only in the correct opening and shaping of the windows, but their symmetrical appearance on both sides of the fuselage. All windows were equipped with blackout curtains which I installed prior to the transparencies. These were made of thin lead foil, were painted in ivory and washed with artist’s oils. All windows were masked for the painting of the model with masking fluid. The masks were gently peeled off with an airbrush needle well after the weathering of the model. 18 THE SMALLER DETAILS AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 13:03 Page 18

Several dry fits were carried out before the painting of the sidewall, which is pictured in position. Note the bulkhead which was reworked with Milliput to conform to the fuselage at the point of the hatch sill. It was locally repainted; the rivets were reapplied to meet the exterior scribing for a more authentic look. THE PROJECT CONTINUES IN THE NEXT ISSUE It is ‘riveted’ with the Archer Fine Transfers rivet decals and is painted in Alclad ALC-101 Aluminium. Its outer edge was trimmed to fit the irregularities of the fibreglass interior. When installed, none of these would be visible as everything was filled with Milliput, and sanded to conform to the emergency exit hatch opening. The port sidewall which was visible was modelled next. Thin styrene here as well; the inevitable Evergreen stringers, and the rivets and ALC-101 aluminium, the well-known procedure being thankfully repeated for the last time in the Stirling model. 19 I modelled the extreme tail section just ahead of the tail turret shortly before painting. The bulkhead seen here is thin styrene sheet and includes the draught door and the floor which is the passageway over the horizontal stabilizer structure. AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 13:03 Page 19

T A M I Y A ’ S B E A U T I F U L B I G S C A L E D E H A V I L L A N D 20 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 14:26 Page 20

m o d e l l e d a n d d e s c r i b e d b y F R A N C K O U D I N The Mosquito was a formidable aircraft, nearly entirely made of wood it was very light and being powered by two Rolls-Royce Merlin engines it was also consequently very fast! It was used for many roles by the RAF including Fighter-Bomber, Bomber and Night Fighter creating havoc upon it’s targets This is the latest 1:32 release from Tamiya and is really impressive, so well engineered and so well detailed for an out of the box build. The kit contains 678 parts, so be ready to spend most of your hobby time for a while savouring this kit, all the parts fit so well just follow the instructions carefully as there is a lot of small operations to do, like choosing the flaps on the up or down positions, drilling holes here and there... things can get complicated so have a close look at your building guide before gluing anything together! Let me show you how I worked through my build of this ‘Wonder-kit’. 21 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 14:26 Page 21

As with most kits we start with the interior, all the details are included in the kit, even the photoetched harness, but I decided to use the HGW set which looked better to me. The complete interior is painted Gunze H-312 which is a good match for the British interior green, the seats are painted in black-green, the battery and radio are assembled and painted black. To be honest, just follow the instructions and they will guide you through without problems. A light wash is applied ito give some depth to the finished assembly. The front gun bay is next, when I told you to be careful and study the instructions this is an example; I managed to glue the guns in the wrong position and I had to remove them by drilling the underside, so again, stay alert!! The gun barrels have been replaced with brass barrels from Master of Poland, they look just superb, but as they protrude from the nose be careful when your working around the model. All the cockpit details are then brush painted with Vallejo. The rear end the bomb bay is built at this stage, so is the tail wheel support and cockpit inserted inside the fuselage which is now ready to close-up and attach the ailerons, again you can fix them in up or downward positions… the choice is yours. The front and top cover of the gun bay is temporarily put in place and held on the model with masking tape. The tail wheel will be put in place at the final stage of the build. The rudder can be built and fixed in position at this stage also. T A M I Y A A T T H E I R B E S T 22 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 14:26 Page 22

Both engines are include in the kit and very well reproduced, they just need to be wired and smaller details added if you wish. Knowing I’d be closing the cowlings my Merlins were built straight from the box but still painted them fully, Obviously you can leave the cowling open and show the engines off…again your choice! Both engine nacelles are painted aluminium inside, to avoid confusion Tamiya recommend to mark the right engine covers in case you mix the parts. The oil radiators are painted and weathered at this stage, once the engines are complete they are put aside until the next stage. Work now started on the main spar; the fuel bay is painted white and the engine bay in interior green, details are masked and painted in black. Both radiators are painted silver and fixed in place as are two small magnets to allow removal of the panels later. A light wash is applied again to give depth to the whole assembly. Top and bottom wings can now be glued and screwed together, screws and screwdriver are supplied in the kit. With the wing tips, I decided to put the navigation light in just before the external painting to avoid any mishaps. The fuel tanks are installed next after being fully painted and completed with decals The wheels are just such a clever idea. Tamiya have moulded them in forteen different parts to avoid any seams. The landing gears are also very well detailed, be careful to choose the right ones for the version you are building. I added them at the final stages of assembly as most of us tend to do. Both engine nacelles are now fixed in place, make sure they sit all the way down into the small lock in the wings, then glue them and let them set for a while. The radio components are installed and again, with a clever system, the wings are screwed to the fuselage. The fit is just perfect and with a tiny amount of liquid glue the joint can be perfect…. now you have what looks like a Mosquito on your workbench! 23 AIR 70 Feb-Mar 2017.qxp_AFV/26 Jan/Feb 06 13/01/2017 14:26 Page 23