PeteF

Finished the engine compartment.

More fiddle bits on the glacis and a first coat of paint on the hull.

Working on the motor. Test fit then grimed and weathered.

A lot of fiddle little parts and decals later and the interior is done.

Tackled the tiny handles and some other fiddly bits. Took me about 10 of those handles to get the feel of it. Very cleverly etched so they’d fold nicely but trying to hold them and glue them got a bit messy. Added headlight wiring and the wire for the smoke grenade launcher. Wing mirrors were also cleverly set up. A tiny drill was a must have for this kit.

Yes, it's already pretty weathered so the model can be too We found out the code numbers on it are not the correct ones (the correct ones are 07 CC 31). It was a combat veteran from Borneo.

I was getting annoyed with assembly so decided to put together the wheels and paint them. I have been extremely careful to clean the parts using an electronic toothbrush and soapy water.

The rear suspension is build the same as the front...so it's "steerable" which means carefully figuring out the angle to make it NOT steerable (rear wheels on Ferrets are not steerable). Kit includes brass wire to make hooks and stuff.

This kit has relatively simple sub components with a ton of fiddly little bits. For some reason the front steering is held together with tiny photo-etched nuts. I gave up after about three of them because I realized there was nothing connecting the two front wheels so no matter what, the steering was going to be fixed. I am finding building with epoxy and/or CA to not be much fun. My ability to bend and make exactly even hooks plays to my primary weakness as a modeler. I don't have the patience to get tiny fiddly bits perfect.

A couple of years ago I built a 1/24 Mosquito that I documented on the forum. A lot has happened in those two years but one of the things was purchasing a 1959 Daimler Ferret AFV. It's currently getting a mechanical service in Texas and I thought I'd build a model for the shop that I purchased it from and whose doing all the work. I've never done a resin kit before but read up on it and this seems to be a very nice kit.

Fantastic! I haven't checked in on the forum for a long time but this is excellent work!

That's awesome...I'm pretty sure the same plane was used in "Von RIchtofen and Brown" and was the plane in the opening credits. Roger Corman got most (if not all) of his planes from the Blue Max movie.

That looks great. For sure when displayed on a mirror the inner gear doors are visible. Nice firewall and other detail too. Hopefully they get to the ammo chutes too.

Oh by the way, I did a post-build video for those who are considering this kit. https://youtu.be/TW--uJVMenk

Having read many more threads on it on different forums, I see the rationale but it is a race to the bottom then. It seems that basic construction is essentially everything. Finish, details, weathering and scale accuracy are minimally important and level of difficulty not at all. I’m sure the IPMS contests i entered (and won) in the 80’s were not that way. In ScaleMasters RC, not only did the plane have to be 100% scale but the burden was on the contestant to prove it was with documentation. Then mechanical systems had to work accurately (where they were judgeaboe...such as flaps and landing gear) and then you had to fly the whole thing as accurately and “scale” as possible. To go back and find IPMS is all about seams and wheel alignment really destroys any desire I would ever have to participate. I contend that building and trying to align the (40 piece) landing gear on that Mosquito was more difficult than the entire construction of that Spit. If the reward is only for “play it as safe and conservative as possible because a crooked wheel is the ultimate main deciding factor” then what on earth is the point? +4 for difficulty, -2 for alignment. That Spit is badly inaccurate in several ways (details of the paint, ridiculously inaccurate weathering, wheel angles, silly finish on the clear position light covers etc.). My Mosquito is a vastly better model because it has high levels of technical and historical accuracy. But as I’ve read, IPMS basically gave up on historical accuracy so that means they are JUST “model” KITS that are judged on how they are assembled and not actually models. Model: synonyms: Replica, copy, representation, imitation, duplication, duplicate, reproduction, fascimile

As an update, this is the model that won the contest. Though you can't see it in the photo, the wheels are in line with the landing gear so they have huge negative camber like an Me109. Completely out of scale. The top 3 of this class were so artless and simple that it makes it clear that the priorities of IPMS have nothing to do with a creative process to build a scale replica of an actual plane but simply judge how well the most simple model can be glued together.

Coming along nicely...that kit is so superior to the Mosquito kit...but check out the Hellcat they just announced...that looks like a great kit! Would be a nice follow-on project.

Yeah, they made several good bits. Hopefully the Edouard bits include these.

I sent them an email. It's a waste of time and money to add details where none are needed and to not add details where they are most visible: Good morning, I just completed an Airfix 1/24 scale Mosquito and was informed on the LSM forum that you are coming out with some aftermarket accessories. I looked at the list and the listed items are not addressing the large and visible defects in that model. There is little to no value adding cockpit detail to this model as it is mostly not visible when completed. The photo etched radiators are already available from RB The seatbelts are already available from RB Paint masks are already available for this model. The really bad visible defects in this kit are: 1. Most important are the terrible ammo chutes on the prominent .303 machine guns on the nose of the model. This is the worst and most visible feature on this model. 2. Lack of the throttle/mixture control rods that are prominent at the back of the engine bay 3. No detail on any gear doors or bomb bay doors. 4. Extensive missing engine detail 5. Terrible intake scoop screens/heaters 6. Poorly detailed bombs 7. Wrong radios for every version Airfix modeled (prominent on the rear cockpit deck) including the common GEE radios 8. Poor wheels and tires (though there are good aftermarket resin ones available)

That’s disappointing...none of those seem to cover the actual visible defects of the model. Like I said in the video, it’s a waste of time to detail the invisible cockipt items when so much of the large exterior details are missing.

I understand that Paragon made a number of parts to fix the defects in the Airfix kits but then went out of business. Though I couldn't find any, there was a guy in the thread selling some and they might come up on ebay so it would be worth keeping an eye out: Also, these guys are making a Gee set and it might be ready when you start the build (they said January) https://www.aviaeology.com/etchsentials-photo-etched.html Conversions - Alley Cat, various night fighter noses Paragon - main wheel doors S.A.C. - Metal landing gear RB - Radiator screens, intake grills and Sutton harnesses Master Crafters - Intake grills and fasteners Master Models - 20mm and .303 barrels Montex - canopy mask Montex - Markings mask Brassin - Resin wheels Airscale - Cockpit and radio decals

I made a rather lengthy review/help video for things to look out for on this kit. Hopefully it will help anyone looking to build one of these.

Look at these beauties.

Yep. I did a lot of large scale models of Spitfires and now with the internet, a lot of archival photos are available and some of those plane have literally nearly no paint on them. Any war plane that was painted and survived any amount of time looks like absolute beautiful junk. I’ve always been heavily biased towards well worn and weathered subjects.

That’s a great subject for some really good weathering!