Dehavilland Mosquito

I finally got around to snapping a few pics of my finished Mosquito. I’m a little on the fence about my satisfaction with the results. It just looks plain to me.
However, I am very satisfied with the build itself. Hasegawa did a great job with this kit. Great fitting parts equals a happy modeler. The wings looked like they would cause a bit of trouble but ended up being minor. I did have a few bombs to stick in the belly but somehow I misplaced them. That was about the worst of the build. I’ll take that any day. The paint was super simple as well. I used Model Masters Sky for the bottom and Dark Sea Gray for the top. I wish I would have used a camouflage scheme, but too late. For the few decals needed, I used a set of Eagle strike decals. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be happy with this build. Overall it was smooth, I just think it is lacking somewhere. I guess it’s just motivation for the future.

Call Sign Zorro

Here is my AT-28 Trojan in all it’s glory. I must admit that I wasn’t entirely positive that this one would make it. Although it gave me quite a scare, I was surprised to have an easy build the rest of the way. I learned a huge lesson from this kit. Unfortunately, I learned it the hard way.
Heller didn’t put to much detail into this kit. I chose to keep the canopy closed for this build. Lack of detail was part of the reason, along with my crude fix of the instrument cowling. This T-28 kit has raised panel lines which I’m sure any model builder would be disappointed in. What it lacks in detail, it makes up for in ease of assembly. This wasn’t a difficult build by any means. The fit was more than fair which equals little filling and sanding. I’m happy with that any day of the week!
I chose to build this one as an AT-28 in honor of the Zorros from the Vietnam War. The United States Air Force used the Trojan to patrol the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos in the early stages of the war. I was more than happy to apply the Southeast Aisian camouflage scheme. It is without a doubt the coolest version of the Trojan. I couldn’t find any decal sheets out there so I had to raid my spares. I also had to “steal” a few as well from unbuilt kits. All in all, I’m happy with the end result. I was able to hide the crack in the camouflage and ended up having plenty of weight in the nose to keep it off it’s tail. I’d say I avoided disaster on this one.

At the Finish Line

The past three day have seen some high caliber time spent on both my Trojan and Mosquito builds. I have been working on both until there is nothing left to do but let paint or filler dry. It’s been a building marathon with prime results.
The T-28 has overcome its crash and is currently in the painting process. I put the last coat of Testor’s flat white on the underside last night. I’ll shoot the topside today with Model Masters dark tan and add the camouflage tomorrow. I’m all out of medium green which requires a trip to the hobby shop. I spent some time adding and modifying weapons racks and also adding a resin engine from Quickboost. Given the early turmoil, this one should be shelf worthy soon.
The Mosquito has been a pleasurable build. Aside from some warping in the tail, this is a great kit. Once I started in on the guts of the build, it went together fairly well. The gaps at the wing roots were not easy to swallow, but they surprised me will little filling and sanding. The nose guns are rudimentary so I will look for some resin ones to make it look a little more authentic. I picked up a set of True Details wheels and some after market decals to finish it up. As it sits, the Mosquito is ready for paint. All I have to do is decide which paint scheme.

The Afflictions of Model Building

My T-28 Trojan build was a little worse off than I had originally evaluated. The instrument panel cowling broke off which required a small scratch build. Also, the fuselage came apart during the wreck and needed some re-glueing and filling. While I addressed these matters, I started Hasegawa’s 1/72 scale Mosquito. So far so good. Typical Hasegawa molding and fit. I’m in a fight to decide the paint scheme. I can’t decide if I want a traditional scheme or go with the night scheme. I have plenty of time to decide on that, though. Hopefully I can get past my Trojan issues unscathed and make some progress. The Mosquito has been a much needed relief during those trials.

Oops

I have started my Heller T-28 Trojan build and all was going well until I noticed I couldn’t insert the wing because of the nose weights. Talk about your all time backfires. I am always reminding myself to remember the nose weights. I’ll write notes on instructions and kit boxes. I remembered and wham! Unfortunately they were too low and had to be removed. I grabbed my needle nose pliers to try and wiggle them out and all I heard was the crack. Next thing I saw was the broken fuselage piece laying on the floor. Not a smart move on my part. Luckily I can see the bright side to this. I was able to get the nose weights adjusted properly and all in all it wasn’t a bad tear. I was able to attach the broken piece with no issues. Because of the raised panel lines on the kit, I can’t do too much sanding. I think I’ll be able to hide the seam in the way that I will paint the airplane. This was a very scary situation that could have gone way worse for me. I should have investigated my instructions a little better to avoid this. Lesson learned.