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Rando
Gonna shift gears with a more straightforward Tamiya build. I wanted to make the all-black night fighter option, but thought the color scheme was too simple and I also wanted to try some camo painting. So I got decals for a night intruder option, which is the best of both worlds, and the camo with black underneath just looks really cool.

J35J
Mossie! I'm in👍🏻

Markus Antonius
There is nothing more complicated, to replicate a all-black aircraft not making it look too dull, in my opinion

Ludvík Kružík
Interesting choice. Both when choosing a machine and when choosing a kit manufacturer. Compared to the Crusader, we go back in time by choosing the aircraft, but it's a big step forward in kit quality.
I wish you a lot of fun and as little trouble as possible building this kit. And of course I will be happy to follow it 👀

Jennifer Franklin
Following 👀, 'm excited to see how this turns out.

Rando
Welcome friends! Yes Ludvik this is a "palate cleanser," I wanted to see how a nice Tamiya goes together, it's also the second kit I got so it's been sitting in my stash awhile. I'm already messing with ejector pin marks, we'll see how much trouble I create for myself 🙂 and Markus--yeah I figured the topside camo would add a lot more visual interest.

Desert Marlin
And so it begins!!! You have earned the right for a break from raised panel lines!!!

Rando
🤣 I guess I have! The Monogram Voodoo lurks around the corner. The Mosquito's fit sure is mostly nice so far

Rando
Wings and nacelles are glued together and been painting the many cockpit components. Drilled out the gun barrels on the .303 Brownings too, I like the look

Markus Antonius
Is that Tom Servo in you profile picture, btw? 😄

Rando
Oh yeah! Been an MST nerd since forever

Rando
Did some detail painting, and been pounding the instrument panel decal with micro sol. It's slowly conforming to the raised dials, but I have solvaset and mark softer on order since Tamiya decals are apparently known for this…

Gerald
👍

Rando
I improved the cartoony decal seatbelts by applying them to foil, cutting them out, and painting the black edges a similar color. Idea thanks to an old IPMS Stockholm article.

Desert Marlin
I have the FB and NF versions… I need to finish my P-8 and get started on a Mossy…

Desert Marlin
The belts look great!!!

Rando
Thanks Marlin! Definitely my favorite part of the build so far. Actually just threw the whole thing together today, now that the cockpit has been all worked out. It's not exactly intentional, but because this NF version I chose doesn't have the radar features, I've been breezing through construction since it also doesn't use the FB rockets/bombs/bomb bay. Next I need to get the canopy on ASAP since I keep breaking off gunsight 🤬 the only construction left is the landing gear, props, and the crew hatch and boarding ladder. Looking forward to painting

Guy Rump
Looking good, following. 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Excellent work on the model. Looks great. 👍

I'm sure you're not the only one who breaks off small parts of the model. I have the same problem. All it takes is one very brief moment of inattention and one careless move and that's it. Although I try to handle the model as carefully as possible, for example, I have broken off the antenna on the bottom of the Gripen four times. 😭

Aman S.
Following...looks great

Rando
Thank you all, and glad to have you here Guy and Aman! No more breaking off the gunsight for me now Ludvik, the green strip decals are on the inside of the canopy and masks are on. Just gotta mask off the guns and then it's time for surfacer

Desert Marlin
Nice! I just finished the cockpit on the P-8 so, I really appreciate this step you have accomplished!!! Cheers!

Rando
Guess I'm onto the painting phase! I already painted the propeller caps ocean grey, then decided to hit the bottom side with matte black. Also getting the undercarriage painted and assembled too.

Desert Marlin
Love this stage! Looks great!!!

Rando
Thanks Marlin! I got it ready to paint the dark green. IDK what others do for camo like this, but to make a "hard edge" camo I used Tamiya curved tape to make the lines, and then used regular masking tape and paper towels to mask off the rest. Excited to see the finished paint job

Neil
It's looking good Rando! 👍

Rando
Thank you Neil! At first I was thinking the ocean grey looked too dark, but with the dark green I find it contrasts well. Just got to fix some overspray and touch up some areas and it's on to decals

Desert Marlin
Excellent work! The scheme is coming along nicely!!!

Rando
Decals are on with a gloss coat over them…maybe some weathering today?!

Desert Marlin
Oh yes!!! Great Saturdays provide the opportunity to focus on all those little details seen in the mind's eye!

Rando
Hell yes Marlin especially a rainy one like this! Working on the landing gear while giving the gloss time to cure

Jos Jansen
Iam in Rando.

Rando
Hell yeah bro! Finish line is near!

Desert Marlin
The MLG look great! Where are you that it is raining?

Ludvík Kružík
Marlin, it looks like Rando was visiting the Czech Republic today. It's been raining here all afternoon 😄

Rando, that chassis looks fantastic. Didn't you put pictures of the real chassis here by any chance 🙂

Desert Marlin
😆👍

Rando
If only Ludvik, I'd love to come out that way. Would have come by to say hello and see your workbench! Been a pretty nasty day here in eastern Massachusetts too. Was also a good day to bring the kids to a model train show, fun look at an adjacent hobby.

Here's hoping the chassis fit into the nacelles without too many swear words 😉

Desert Marlin
I spent the day painting here in Nevada.

Ludvík Kružík
Rando, I believe it would be a pleasant meeting. I'm sure we'd have a lot to talk about. And of course I would love to show you my desk 🙂

Rando
Indeed Ludvik we sure would, I'd be thrilled to meet you Marlin and all my modeling friends on here someday.

Mosquito is like 99% done! Landing gear went in surprisingly easy and now just some wingtip lights to install, finish painting the crew hatch, and attempt to rig the antenna mast. Pics soon!

Definitely looking forward to seeing painted the P-8 Marlin!

Desert Marlin
I'm starting gloss for markings…

Rando
So I have to say I'm disappointed with how the canopy looks. I used Eduard masks and they were a struggle to get on as they didn't fit great. In hindsight I should probably de-tacked them too, like I do with Tamiya tape, since it seems like they left adhesive residue. They left some rough paint edges. Not sure how to improve it, I've done some careful scraping with toothpicks and Leveling Thinner, which improved it some, but considering popping the whole thing off and repainting it.

Desert Marlin
Using a 000 brush, put a couple of coats of thinned out black along the bottom of the canopy glass then a similar thinned coat of color over the black. That would firm up the window frames. The rest of the frames look pretty good to me!

Rando
Thanks Marlin, so would that help with that weird splotchy white color, especially noticeable on the frames in back?

Desert Marlin
Those should be dressed with a thinner brushed on in very small quantities until the streaks relent. I had thought those were aluminum chipping which would also be valid!

Desert Marlin
The Mr. Color Leveling thinner with a stiff hobby swab would help clean the edges. The Mr. Color thinner doesn't seem to harm clear plastic…

Rando
LOL, amazing that my mistake looked like something good! Shoulda just rolled with it. I do have a stiff kind of swab, I'll give it a try

Rando
I actually got Leveling Thinner after you recommended it on my Crusader build and it's all I've been using lately. Good stuff, I like that it can leave a smoother finish

Ludvík Kružík
I can confirm. I have the same experience, Mr. Color Leveling thinner will not damage clear plastic.

Rando
I think I've improved the framing a good deal already, both with paint and the thinner. Now just gotta glue on some nylon thread for the mast rigging, which I've never done before. So far I managed to attach it to the mast with some gel super glue.

John
Get some EZ Line, you won't regret it. Nice Mossie too! 👍

Rando
Hey cool, how do you attach it John? And thanks getting close to final pics!

John
You use super glue, it just stretches nicely without putting a lot of pressure (i.e. bending) on antenna masts. So you can anchor one point and then stretch it easily so there is no sag when you attach the other end.

Rando
Got it! I'll order some. I've already had trouble with the mast popping off once.

John
The antenna on my Buffalo build is EZ Line, it's also handy for those annoying multi-wire antennas.

Rando
I see did you use thick or fine?

John
Definitely get the fine size. 👍

Rando
Basically done! Aside from the rigging wire, which I will attach when it gets in. After that I'll upload the beauty shots. Now to clean up my very messy workbench and get the next project going!

Desert Marlin
Bravo! 👏

Rando
So I decided to finally upload the glamor shots for this Mosquito. These were taken months ago but I was dissatisfied with how the photos looked at the time since it was difficult getting the plane to fit in the frame without ugly background. Looking closer though, I thought they actually turned out fine, and pretty nice actually with some cropping and brightening adjustments. So belatedly, here she is completed, the Mosquito night intruder. Great kit, most difficulties I had were my own doing. Eduard masks are not their best. Eagle Strike decals are great. If you have this one in your stash, pick out a cool scheme and build it!

J35J
Your Mossie turned out great! Congrats!👍🏻

John
Hey Rando, I can only repeat previous comment, nice Mossie! I think the canopy looks fine. I'd probably do a masking like this myself for the reasons you ran into. I don't like the "put the tape on the canopy then carefully trim the frames" technique because a mistake can be disastrous, but in this case since most of the frames are straight and well defined, I think I'll do that for this one instead of my usual cutting and taping dozens of little pieces of Tamiya tape to the canopy, which also works, but is time consuming. I did get this kit after seeing your build and I plan to do the NE D bird, I just like the scheme. Looks like the EZ line worked out really well for your antennas. 👍

Rando
Thanks John and Draken! Yeah I kind of gravitate towards cutting directly on the canopy for some reason, even though it's soooo risky. One thing that might be a good alternative to the Tamiya tape is scotch tape (suggested by Marlin), since I found you can more clearly see the actual place you're cutting into. I did that for some windows on my P-51 build and it worked out pretty nice. And also yes--the EZ line was a breeze, thanks for that! For some reason it fought me hard on the aforementioned P-51.

Shameless plug for my F-8 double build, putting the decals on tonight. So excited!

John
Wow, you really like your Crusaders! (I mean, who wouldn't?)

Rando
yeah it's ridiculous LOL. I'll be building other planes, I promise! At least after I try CAT4's new early nose conversion.

Desert Marlin
That looks perfect Rando!!!

Ludvík Kružík
Mosquito turned out very well. You did a really good job. 👍 👍 👍

Rando
Thank you Marlin and Ludvik! Who doesn't love a Mosquito? I sure do like the look of it on my desk at work.

Doubtingmango
Pretty skeeter

Marcin Terlikowski
Great cocpit

Guillaume Blanchet
Love the paint job.

nikfrost
Looking really good mate!

Maverick212
How did you do the texture on the seats? It looks amazing!

Tony G
Maverick212 They are just sweet wrappers just cut to size ...

Lei Guo
good idea

Alex Rakhimgulov
Outstanding! Leather texture just lovely!

Maverick212
That's awesome!

Doubtingmango
Following. Great trick with the wrapper on the seats

Ludwig Micallef
Lovely! Great job! 👌

Hanno Kleinecke
Beautiful ! Metal and yellow always rule, paintjob looks very realistic. I like the open cowling 👍

Alex Rodionov
Fantastic realisation 👍

Villiers de Vos
Indeed fantastic.

Neuling
A masterpiece!

Lenny Hoffmann
outstanding work mate!

Michael Kohl
very beautiful build and beautifully photographed.

James C
Fantastic! 👍

John Colasante
Thanks guys!

Clifford Keesler
Amazing.

Jan Peters
I agree with all above, beautifull work.

Pierre-Christian Baudru
Great job !

Gary Victory
Really nice work John.

Rui S
Excellent 👍

Jakub Fiala
Great work! Congratulations for earning medal position in group build!

Mark
Superb build John

Scott S
A remarkable level of detail and modelling skill.

Lochsa River
What an inspiring piece of work....just fun to look at.

David Januska
Nice result 👍.

Rui
It's somewhat hard to believe that this is 1:48 because the level of detail that Eduard offers in the kit coupled with John's craftsmanship would lead one to believe this is 1:32. Simple amazing result 👍

Spanjaard
missed this one before. what a beautiful Mustang.

Sy Bar
Nice v nice 👍👍

LUCA POLITI
Absolutely gorgeous!

Guillaume Blanchet
Superb!

bughunter
Beautiful work with fantastic details 👍

David Orr
Very impressive. I was just thinking yesterday that I need to get a Mustang, and I was looking at that particular Eduard kit. You've convinced my that I definitely need it.

Doubtingmango
Stunning detail

bughunter
Nice 👍 Let's see how the livery will look like.
That is a nice kit and I should build another D.VII too.

Melgg Lütschg
Great start! Will follow! Curious about the progress, it will be a reference for sure 🙂

Villiers de Vos
Lots of little details. Nice progress.

Thomas Bischoff
Thanks for looking!
Don't expect too much - this is part of a small group build among friends 🙂
The kit is very nice with finer details than the Roden offer. The Roden kit has however the option to show the engine.

Neil
Lovely work Thomas 👏 following 👍

Nathan Dempsey
Great start. Following.

Thomas Bischoff
Thanks for joining and supporting me ... was a long way but now I am close to starting with the primer 🙂

Rui S
Looking Great 👍

Thomas T
Great detail work and paint job as usual. Looks fantastic so far!

Doubtingmango
The wood looks amazing

bughunter
I really like your picture 7 - I can see gwenview and Inkscape 👍

Thomas Bischoff
Correct! The power of open source 👍
Due to various reasons I am again progressing only slowly. In the meantime I have tested the masks and have done the re-sizing to match the Swiss specification 🙂
.. and the Fokker has also received the first coat of the final green

Thomas Bischoff
Thanks to all for the support and the thumps up!

Guy Rump
Following. 👍

Michael Kohl
Me too

Thomas Bischoff
Welcome to the show Guy and Michael!
I finally managed to get new pictures uploaded

Neil
It's coming along fabulously Thomas! 👍

Christian
Vielen Dank für dieses Infos. You are giving me some good ideas for when the time comes to build my DVII.

bughunter
Made with Swiss precision 👍

Thomas Bischoff
You are welcome, Christian! .. and thanks to Neil and bughunter for the "thumps up"
Progress is slow - paint job is finished (except propeller) and the upper wing is being added now.
Struggle a bit though with the double wiring to the upper wing.

Erik Leijdens
That is looking fantastic Thomas!! Also nice to see a different Fokker!

Alec K
Ah, another Fokker! Very nice progress, taking a belated seat.

CaptGPF
Looking good! Love the tonal variations and the highlighting on the wing spars.

Landlubber Mike
Looks great! Can I ask where you got that stand? I bought an MDF one but it's a bit warped and I think something like the one you are using would be much better.

Thomas Bischoff
Many thanks! I am behind with posting pictures - she is basically finished, only the prop is yet to be done ...
@Landlubber: this is a jig from Vertigo: EVO BI 7248 (Vertigo Miniatures VMP006, No)
.. I would never have finished it without this jig

Landlubber Mike
Thank you Thomas!

Thomas Bischoff
managed to do some new fotos - and also to break the landing gear.
I guess I will re-do the prop, not happy with it.

Guy Rump
Great job Thomas 👍

Zbynek Honzik
Very nice result! 👏👏👏

Alec K
It's shaping up very nicely 👍

Villiers de Vos
A beautiful gem.

Thomas Bischoff
Guy, Zbynek, Alec: Many thanks for your kind comments and many thanks for all who liked this!
Declaring this finished now although I am still not really happy with the 4th try on the propeller but it's time to to give up and move on to the next project.

Nathan Dempsey
Fine work sir!

Michael Kohl
Solid, very clean build.

Doubtingmango
Wonderful finish!