"Highball" Sea Mossie

[sequoiaranger]

It's upcoming, but maybe a ways off while some vacations and medical procedures take precedent. But...

The pic shows the elements. I will combine whatever features of the Airfix and Matchbox Mossies I can use. I may extend the fuselage forward a couple feet (maybe not). I am keeping the glass nose of the "standard" Mossie, but will most likely put "halibut" individual canopies (a la American Douglas B-42, but provided by a 1/144 Catalina!) on top of a re-worked fuselage. The "Highballs" might need to go in a bulged bomb-bay (aeroclub aftermarket), but the Highball armament is the essence of the model, so the bomb-bay will be open. The Pegasus Spitefuls will provide the Griffons' nacelles, and old Hawk Spit. 22's will provide the 5-bladed props (though two Hurricanes will provide blades for the other-handed rotation). This will be American Reverse Lend-Lease, serving aboard the massive carrier "USS Lafayette" (a "Furashita's Fleet" re-make of the French liner "Normandie"). Livery will be summer-of-'43 red-outline Stars and Bars, tri-color sea camo American-style. Maybe the moniker "Wooden Malaria" under a mosquito motif. Wings will have a "fold" mark, but I ain't gonna do a "real" folding setup like the complicated-but-successful Jinpu-Kai I did previously. IJN take notice!!

[The Wooksta!]

The Spitefuls are too small and will look too Supermarine.  May I suggest the Airfix Firefly instead or, rather than you cut up a pair of Spitefuls (which I'm looking for and THAT tooling in particular!) I could provide some resin engines?  I'll throw in some wheels, radar noses (three or four types) and cockpit interior too.

And use the Airfix kit all the way.  The Matchbox one is nowhere near as good and the plastic is thinner - the Airfix one withstands heavy sanding much better and will take that Paragon conversion.

Props.  If you've the Aeroteam or Eduard Spitfire F22, it's got a contraprop arrangement.  If you've a pair, that'll give you handed props with some creative use of the blades.  Trust me on this as I've done it for something else. Alternatively, the prop blades in the Spitefuls have no real pitch, so could be set to suit.

Highball used a modified gunsight, not a proper bombsight, and the fighter cockpit, with an armoured nose and bulletproof windscreen would be far better for attacking ships.  The Highball bay was open anyway.  Paragon revised the bay which looks not unlike the bulged bay of the B/PR16.

[The Wooksta!]

PM incoming!

[sequoiaranger]

>The Spitefuls are too small and will look too Supermarine.<

Hey, the Yanks won't be able to tell the difference!  They'll probably nickname my concoction "DeHalibut" anyway!

Thanks for the tips, Wooksta! Yes, the Airfix kit is a newer mold and generally better. But I may mix-and-match components.

re:the gunsight. Yeah, who needs a "Norden" when you just POINT the plane at the ship in question!! I may even have just a ring-and-bead sight ahead of the "halibut" bubble!! I need the "bomber" nose (and bombsight), as this craft will double as a "level bomber" as well as "torpedo bomber" (of sorts). My Mossie will be paired with the twin-engined Grumman "Bobcat" fighter (G-50 of sorts) that I had made decades earlier for the "Lafayette".

As I mentioned in the PM response, I think I will stick with my current crop of donor kits and make do.

[PR19_Kit]

That looks like a great way of thinning down your stash! 

Build one model out of maybe 6-7 kits. 

[sequoiaranger]

>That looks like a great way of thinning down your stash!  Build one model out of maybe 6-7 kits.<

Actually, a TYPICAL "sequoiaranger" whif has AT LEAST 6-7 kits involved (my "Globrey Blordiator" had 18!)!! However, the end result is still only ONE aircraft model, so the "stash" is not really reduced, just decimated!!  

"Wooksta" has done his measuring homework and convinced me that the Spitefuls are NOT the way to go to improve the Mossie engine/nacelle (plus the ulterior motive of relieving me of the rare Pegasus Spiteful kits!). I wanted the "muscular" look of the Griffon Spitfire with its bulged rocker arm/exhaust setup, but the Spit nacelle itself is "dainty", and the Mossie nacelle is much bigger and wouldn't "need" the bulges even if the more powerful Griffon engines were inserted. Hmmm. Maybe Twin Mustang cowls with added bulges for an "American" look, but the shape of the Mustang nacelle is boxy, whereas the Mossie nacelle is more round. I just MAY make my own complete nacelle out of a diced-and-sliced Mustang fuselage. Hmmm.

A LOT of re-thinking here!

But I am off on a week's vacation in a few days, so my mind can rest and recharge. I'll re-visit the issue when I return.

[The Wooksta!]

The MB5 cowling is not too dissimilar to an F82 and the pair of gash ones I'll be sending have plastic thick enough to withstand some serious sanding.  TBH, I think you'd need welding gear...

[sequoiaranger]

An under-utilized American aircraft manufacturer (Fairchild) builds navalized Mossies under license, and adds some unique features for American tastes. Thus the "Flounder".

Well, now I am thinking modified Lancaster nacelles (more "square" for better Twin-Mustang cowling match-up) to replace the Mossie ones. this whif is going to be a doozy!

[The Wooksta!]

I'd just build it up with filler at the front, because the rear of the nacelles were that shape to eliminate the buffeting caused by poor airflow on the early ones.

[sequoiaranger]

>the rear of the nacelles were that shape to eliminate the buffeting caused by poor airflow on the early ones.<

Thanks. I will keep that in mind and try to match the trailing edges to the shape of the original Mossie.

There is going to be a LOT of work and changes to the mid-to-front fuselage (top and bottom), and engine/nacelles. Luckily, the rest of the Mossie will be "stock". Blame "Fairchild", not me! 

I'll be gone for a full week (lounging on a lanai overlooking the beach at Kona, Hawaii). See ya when I get back!

[JayBee]

OK guys.
618 Squadron was equiped with the HIghball mossies and was positioned out to Australia by carrier, for this reason they had the smaller diameter four bladed props of the Sea Mossie.
Here is a photo of them in Oz although they never flew in action.

Jim

[sequoiaranger]

So Fairchild, an underused American aircraft manufacturer, acquires the license to build Mosquitoes, and alters some specs to please the US Navy, who want a modified Mossie as a "torpedo bomber" for the US Navy's present large carrier (USS Lafayette---made from the French liner Normandie) and future ones (the Midways). The alliterative "Flounder" name wasn't what Fairchild had in mind, but it took on a force of its own, and hastened easy recognition, so the descriptive epithet became official.

The fuselage is elongated a few feet (fore and aft of the wing), and the "halibut" individual bubble canopies (a la the Douglas B-42) appear. The nacelles will look a little different on the model (I will alter the drawing to match the model when I'm done), with "Griffon" bulges and pointy, 5-bladed, handed props.

[sequoiaranger]

I wanted to make "handed" 5-bladed props for my Flounder. The Hawk Spitfire 22 prop blade was good for the "typical" Griffon rotation, but I needed one for "normal" rotation. I took the Hawk Spit 22 prop (using two of them for the Flounder), traced it onto some cardstock, made a plastic holder from scrap (the Spit prop had a protruding central post, so I had to make a "stand" for it), snipped off the 5 blades cleanly with a nipper, and measured the individual prop blade length. I searched for the right shape/length of blade to use, and found, after much searching, that the FOUR-bladed props of the Airfix Mossie kit (comes with both paddle-3 and thin-4 blade props) were the best shape match (I was going to use a Williams Brothers Martin B-10 set of props, also the proper shape, but that would "ruin" an otherwise intact, rare kit). I then snipped five blades from the two 4-blade props and affixed them according to the template. I used the snipped 5-blades from the Hawk prop to "rest" the new blades in the right place. Voila!



I wanted to use the Twin Mustang nacelles for the Flounder, and am now affixing and futzing to do that, using the forepart of the Twin Mustang, and Lancaster outer nacelles. The outer nacelles were too short (there was a deliberate rear overhang of the Mossie nacelles for better airflow) and the Lanc's longer inner nacelles were too wide. So I am forced to do a composite to get "my" nacelle. Trial-and-error, work-in-progress!

[kitnut617]

This has got my attention Craig --- 

[Hman]

Oh I am getting far too excited about this!   Calm down take deep breaths! !