Editor’s note: rather than break up Julian’s images of his very near and completed images of his Mossie I have added them all to the usual finished gallery – see below. That way you’ll see his pics in all their glory – stunning! Geoff
Well here it is assembled painted and weathered! Just a couple more details – the whip ariel needs putting on but I thought that I would do that when I had completed photographing the bottom – of course I noticed some touching up that needs doing when looking through the camera. I have lived with it too long!
It is a great model, far far too large for my spray booth – I had trouble with dust added to that the fear of breaking something every time I moved it. But in the end the character is there.
The underside was finished with the Paragon landing lights. These were far too small for the hole into which they should slot. I made a sleeve out of plastic sheet and they fitted nicely. I went to this trouble because they are extremely good after they have been drilled to suggest the bulb protector/ reflector (?). Just a bit of black in the drilled hole and then silver backing paint or foil as you wish.
The close up of the cockpit shows my feeble attempt to put flies on the screen I need something much finer or maybe wartime flies were bigger! I noticed I had not touched in the .303 compartment so that will happen and I will get some better pics of it.
Gallery
Below are a series of images of the completed model. Click on a thumbnail to see the enlarged image.
Conclusion…
That’s it! How has it been as a build? Well I can say it ranks amongst the best. Technically the kit is excellent and I think had I built it straight from the box the problems would have been limited to some small gaps at the wing root and the very fiddly undercarriage. I never really sorted this out and I don’t know whether the manufacturer’s build recommendation would have made it easier. I ended up fudging it a bit as I kept to various other builders recommendations as to the order of assembly.
On balance I think that the way of the instruction sheet is best it just means you have to be careful while painting the nacelles. In fact I painted the nacelles before mounting them on the wings – I did not need much touch up and of course if you are extensively weathering it this can be “disappeared” easily!
It is difficult to get at whilst painting and there is a constant risk of breaking off key parts, but with care this should be overcome.
It has taken me a long time but that is because I don’t work anything like a full day on models. Some days if there was a key task on it I would have to put it off until I had the right number of hours to handle it. This hasn’t happened to me with smaller scales.
Cost, the price of (if I remember correctly) of £120 + is heavy, but, you get a lot for your money. You must consider also the amount of paint, masking tape, glue, Blu Tac and any other bits you might need and this figure approaches the £200 mark. It is not a pocket money project but it will keep you away from other expenditure if you are diligent!!! Top marks to Airfix
Julian S.
