AIRFIX 2023 MOSQUITO PR.XVII 1/72 scale model kit - what's in the box?

[@randytaylor1258]

I haven't built a 1/72 kit in many years but this one has me tempted. A son of President Roosevelt, Elliott Roosevelt rose to the rank of Brigadier in the U.S.A.A.C., commanding the photorecon wing of the 8th Aor Force in England, and being in charge of all Allied photorecon in the Mediterranean Theatre, during which tour he lobbied the Air Corps to adopt the Mosquito as the best PR platform available to the Allies. That red-tailed example is very striking. Model on!

[@davroshalfbeard8368]

Like the look of the plastic

[@garys_stuff]

This appears to be the more recent formulation they now specify to their manufacturers - it's got a very slightly brownish tint to the grey.

[@brettpeacock9116]

I suspect that the cutouts are changes/additions to the BMk XVI bomber molds, so both variants can still be made from the same base molds with new parts on additional PRU frames while the Bomber specific frames are omitted. So, an economic consideration at work.

[@soppdrake]

3mm is Black and Decker territory. Better get a bucket of water ready before drilling.

[@Reactordrone]

@@soppdrake That's where your round files come in handy.

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

Costs is probably the main reason for the drilling. A more advance kit would probably use extra slides for those bits, but airfix seems to aim itself towards the less experienced markets to some extent, which i don't think is a bad thing.

[@bradleyhatchen]

For drilling hole should not be a problem take your time I've done a few of them get your self a battery power drill with coglets to add different drill size even a small battery drill from Tamiya has one if the drill speed it to hight it might melt plastic from using the drill for holes that might clog the drill bit but it can be done

[@garys_stuff]

Yes, I'm not too worried about the drilling, it's more being curious as the need for it and wondering if there could have been another solution that was more suited to a wider range of model makers. Someone who has made a couple of starter sets and wants to progress to something bigger might be put off by this, hen the bomber version (with no camera ports, of course) didn't need it. Maybe the whole "skill level" thing needs revision?

[@barrywalker8790]

The USAAF one with the red tail is going to be a stand out piece so looking forward to seeing that well done and thanks Gary 👍

[@FinsburyPhil]

Paint mask parts are an excellent idea and I'd welcome the widespread introduction of these.

[@SimbianMinistry]

Masking wheel wells/bomb bays/etc. with kit parts is something I've always done (where possible) - I simply use the standard bay doors (or the closed doors if supplied) - either glue them in with pva, or use blu-tack, so I can pick them back off after painting... The exterior of the doors then gets painted along with the rest of the airframe - Great for matching up any camo pattern or decals that go over the doors.

[@Spitfiresammons]

I’m happy that airfix mosquito PR.xvi is here and can’t wait to build two of them one RAF and one USAAF using the xtradecal. Great review Gary.

[@Wingnutmodels]

the jig is for ID light placement

[@randytaylor1258]

Colours?

[@portland-182]

We always think of a 'standard' human figure a 6 feet tall, or one imperial inch in 1/72 scale. WW2 fighter pilots tended to be on the short side, as the cockpits tended to be designed more for residents of Hobbiton, rather like Formula 1 drivers. (there are always exceptions!) The Air Force used to have somewhat strict height guidelines for fighter pilots. They used to require you to be between 5’4 and 6’6″ tall. That all changed in 2020.

[@garys_stuff]

Eric 'Winkle' Brown, one of the greatest pilots of all time, was not of spectacular physical stature - something which saved his life on more than one occasion!

[@bionicgeekgrrl]

Iirc, when ejection seats became common, to be a fast jet fighter pilot they had strict height/leg length restrictions as if your legs were over a certain length you would lose them below the knee. More modern ejection seats drag the legs inwards and the consoles are not quite the same as well.

[@Reactordrone]

The decals are very clear, you can even read the pilot's name, "Jack Trestle" : P

[@garys_stuff]

He seems to fly a lot of types...

[@julianmhall]

Ref transparent parts / jigs. It has the hallmarks of two different designers having different solutions for the same job (like Sidney Camm and RJ Mitchell designed different fighters to address the same RAF specification). Maybe Paramjit updated someone else's design and left how they had designed one part but used his own method for another?

[@garys_stuff]

I don't think so, I think they tend to stick to their own designs and do the work for future releases at the same time as the core kit. But there will be reasons, I'm sure, I need to look at Workbench...

[@stevesstuff1450]

@@garys_stuff : Agreed, and to @Julian Hall: Paramjit was the original designer for the original FB model a couple of years ago, so maybe someone else was involved with the newer editions? Maybe it was Paramjit just finding the easiest and cheapest way to adapt his recent tooling to fit the new version. Whichever, I'm sure it won't be an issue during the build; the original FB kit was excellent, and this is basically the same thing, so I'm sure that drilling a couple of holes won't be an issue... 😉

[@lesgl]

I think the 3.2mm part shows a icon for a drill bit then a icon for a craft knife..so drill a 3mm hole in the middle of the flashed over area then ream out to 3.2mm with a craft knife???..bit odd

[@garys_stuff]

Maybe its for clearing the tab at the side for alignment, but that seems odd too?

[@thewildsimon1418]

At first when I saw this I wasn’t very interested but the more I look at it the tempting it look especially the American markings

[@garys_stuff]

That's the one I'm doing - I love the red tail!

[@julianmhall]

Is this the same model mentioned on the Airfix Sprue Talk recently?

[@geoffharris9275]

Thanks Gary, very informative. I really enjoyed building the bomber version so will get this one too. Great colour schemes, it will be difficult to decide which one to go for. What a pity Airfix don’t sell Overtrees like Eduard do, I’m sure they would sell loads. Anyway thanks again for the review, Geoff.

[@BobMuir100]

Gary all the user cutting and drilling is about cost saving. They seek to make a mold fit all the variants rather than a fresh mold for each. As you say , better ways and they could if they wanted too! Also who has a 3.2 mm drill? I don’t . Good video, please bear in mind there are folk who weren’t around 18 moths ago so don’t know what you did last time? Bob England

[@wkelly3053]

There are special bits commonly available which can drill a hole of any size. You just need to stop when the hole is big enough. Cheers.

[@garys_stuff]

Indeed so, Bob, apologies. I barely remember what I did 18 months ago sometimes! The Mossie B.XVI was my second kit build for my channel, the first was the 1/48 Chipmunk.

[@BobMuir100]

@@wkelly3053 This sounds like a good reply however \i cant follow your point!!!

[@wkelly3053]

@@BobMuir100 You mentioned you may not have a particular size bit to drill a hole, so I was just suggesting a universal bit that (I think) is tapered so you don't have to worry about a specific size in the future. I've seen them, but haven't use one, so you would have to check your tool supplier. Or a conical abrasive bit. I've used those.

[@Reactordrone]

1/8" drill bits are pretty common, even in today's metric world.

[@ianallan8005]

Have they fixed the tail wheel? Should be the anti shimmy type with two rims, not to bog standard (wrong) dunlop of the first boxing. Also the main wheels are very skinny, not the chunky shape that I’m used to

[@randytaylor1258]

Tires could be changed to suit the current airfield surface, from gravel/dirt to grass to tarmac.

[@renlelong9]

I forgot to say in my previous comment how enjoyable and informative your video presentations are. So a big thank you and please continue with your present format which is both appealing and constructive. Thanks for all your hard work Gary.

[@garys_stuff]

My pleasure!

[@julianmhall]

Re the unit numbers.. I think they just picked the next number available so for example 324 might mean there were 324 units in total rather than the 324th unit of that type.

[@randytaylor1258]

It's just an administrative identification number -- there weren't 1077 MASHes, either.

[@julianmhall]

@@randytaylor1258 True, so different from say the RAF where 617 was the next available squadron number.

[@marksinthehouse1968]

Be good if you could make a model of the test aircraft used for the dambuster trials to go with the lanc,mutt summers flew well going by the film they used a mozzie 😊

[@garys_stuff]

Early tests were flown in the Wellington (Summers and Wallis worked for Vickers), the Mossie was testing Higball.

[@marksinthehouse1968]

@@garys_stuff I saw that but in the film of the full size test in Kent they used a mosquito or is that once again box office fiction mate

[@garys_stuff]

@@marksinthehouse1968 I'd have to go over the footage again - you can see it at the Imperial War Museum web site, just search their collections for "Upkeep" or "Chastise". From what I can see, the Wellington was used first, then the Lancaster as the bomb got closer to completion and they lowered the height of the release point. The Mossie was so much smaller I think they used it for Highball which was 1000lb as against the Upkeep 8000lb+. There's a very cool clip of a Mossie dropping two Highballs and them skipping across a lake and hitting a battleship hulk target (possibly HMS Malaya). Remember also in the film, they had to black out the bomb itself because the designs were still top secret in 1955!

[@soppdrake]

No navigator? Did the pilots go alone on photo ops?

[@garys_stuff]

The bomber version has the pilot solo as well. Obviously said something to upset the nav.

[@soppdrake]

Hehe, maybe he wanted a pull on the 4 ft joystick and was firmly refused by his diminutive superior

[@davegrossmith1942]

Great video Gary and very informative as per usual. One question though, do these kits have a slot to cut out in the fuselage for a stand if one wants to build a "wheels up" version? If I remember correctly some of the old airfix/revell kits from the 70's used to have them and I would try to make 1/3 to 1/2 of the kits I built on a stand in the flying position.

[@garys_stuff]

Yes they do. They all have a pair of hole locations for the current means of attaching to the stands Airfix sell these days - from memory 2mm holes - but the slots for the older style stand have disappeared. I have asked Airfix if they would consider designing some more modern looking stands as well, more along the lines of the ones in Gift sets but in clear plastic, the response was positive but non-committal of course!

[@crazylocha2515]

The 3.2mm drill bit is American 1/16th inch. Probably scale conversion reasoning. And the 1.5mm would be a 1/32nd drill bit. Again extremely common in American drill bit sets. To expound further, those drill bits in metric are more common than you think, because they fit certain gauges of wire commonly used for electronics especially for cars. Those angles of curvature may be why they need to be drilled out. The plastic may have ejection and/or shrink issues to allow the fit of the clear parts otherwise. You'll notice rarely do phones have round holes on non seam curves also.

[@garys_stuff]

Paramjit did talk about this in an edition of Workbench on the Airfix web site but I've not had a moment to go back over it. He is a modeller himself and I think he would do things to make life easier more than more difficult (he came up with the click-in canopy for starter sets - genius!). Thinking about it, the three holes for which you have the jig would cause a mould issue because it would create an undercut. It's just something that a relatively new modeller might find annoying. I hear what you say about the drill conversions, I'd also like to think that they have to be a certain size for scale accuracy. And engineers here should be thinking in metric, especially the younger ones. My granddaughters don't understand imperial measures at all. Well, the older one understands what a pint of something is but she's a student...

[@glencwilson]

Grabbed a coffee and watched another really useful and objective review. I would suspect that if there was an easier way to produce those holes they would given how they design with the model maker in mind now. Most of the small drill sets I have have got that drill size in them. The compromise of using a jig though should reduce errors when drilling.

[@robi3081]

No actually 3.2mm is 1/8". 1.5mm is 1/16" and 0.8mm is 1/32". And it's not American, its imperial or English, only the Americans and I think 1 other country officially use it now.

[@randytaylor1258]

Speaking of the camera windows, in this small scale with nothing behind, would it present better if: • painted silver from behind, • painted black from behind, or • left untouched to show the empty bay?

[@renlelong9]

Drilling a few wholes for camera ports or navigation lights....we are all modellers so I can't see a problem with that . Surely this must be the easiest and most basic task to perform that should add fun to the build. The real problem is sink marks and I must agree with a previous comment on this : Airfix, it is totally unacceptable for a modern kit of that price...

[@garys_stuff]

The problem is only for new model makers who maybe don't have a set of drills yet.

[@Exgasman9072]

1/72 is too small for me, I prefer 1/32 or 1/48 but each to their own. Keep up the videos.

[@wkelly3053]

I'm pretty sure I noticed prominent sink marks in the mold of the upper wing, on the flaps and along the wing root at least. To me, this is just not acceptable in the modern arena for a major brand; I mean, it's not a short run kit made in someone's garage. When a kit is put on the market with this type of defect, the amount of labor to fix it is not trivial, and, personally, I can't let it go. As the presentation went on, these flaws made me more frustrated because the basic design is not bad. So, blame the production process, I guess. I really try to like Airfix, but when they do something like this, it's almost a slap in the face because it is so basic. I think Airfix needs to wake up and realize that other manufacturers are not going to come down in their standards. They need to take quality control on the line more seriously. It isn't 1975. Sorry. Really do love your videos.

[@garys_stuff]

Thanks. I'll see how it goes with the marks and what impact they have on the build. Cheers!

[@randytaylor1258]

They're just ejection pin marks. Why can't they be made on the attaching sprue instead of the front of the part itself?

[@wkelly3053]

@@randytaylor1258 Hi Randy. Ejection pin marks are typically an interior problem, so different. Sink marks generally appear on the exterior as a result of cooling irregularities with the mold. Sources say they are more likely to occur where the part is thicker, so maybe the design does play a role.