1/48 Tamiya Mosquito MK. VI FB (Work in Progress)

[Handiabled]

Beautiful camo job on this one

[lawdog114]

Thanks for the kind words...

Joe

[lawdog114]

I'm calling her done. To recap, its in the markings of "Hairless Joe", operated by Russ Bannock and Robert Bruce of the 418 RCAF Squadron. These two destroyed 9 in the air, another 4 damaged, and then another 19 V-1 rockets. This was also my first Canadian subject....Eh?

The kit was typical Tamiya in fit, I didn't care for the black plastic on this version, which was sort of grainy and soft with a tendency to tear. Most hiccups were my own doing. This kit was haunted by ghost seams for some reason, so I had to keep going back to "exorcise" them with addtional sanding. I'm guessing it was due to the aforementioned plastic issues. I also had trouble getting the greenhouse canopy to fit right. I think I glued the fuselage halves were microscopically staggered which affected the "sit" of the canopy. I pressed it into place and Tenaxed it. I had a small gap on the starboard side which I filled with white glue. I hate attaching canopies....truly I do. Aftermarket goodies were Ultracast wheels and seats. I decided to drill out the kit 303's and 20 mm cannons. I did have Quickboost 303s on hand but I just didn't like them. They looked like little black needles sticking out of the nose. These went into my Tamiya Lancaster box for later.

This kit came with an officer, standing pilots and an RAF airfield vehicle (one of the reasons I bought it). I decided to use the two pilots to make it look as though Bannock and Bruce were getting ready to board and take on the Luftwaffe once again on a Fall evening in 1944. Nice additions but the detail on the torsos were weak, nowhere near as nice as their Navy Pilot examples. I made due and painted them per the instructions. Nothing fancy as figures are not my forte. Bannock's figure received masking tape strips as chute straps because, as said before, these were hard to pick out with a brush due to the soft detail. These a secured with CA and I tend to use this trick often. The "intelligence sheet" Bannock is reading was fashioned out of a square of masking tape then wrinkled a bit.

Thanks for following the thread and comments are welcomed,,,

Joe

[Paul]

Splendid build Joe. Real sweet.

[CallSignOWL]

very nice

[Fermis]

Beautiful job, and an excellent presentation!!!

[Thomas_M]

Joe, I simply had to post this one on our Facebook site!

[lawdog114]

Thanks folks. Thomas, I'm once again honored....

Joe