Mosquito PR Mk.IV HB-IMO in memory of popeye

[Basilisk]

As a Swiss, I decided to build some aircraft models in Swiss markings this year and the first model will be the Mosquito PR Mk.IV in the colours of HB-IMO used by Swissair for a short time.

This aircraft has an interesting history, being delivered to No.1 PRU at RAF Benson with serial DK310 where it received code LY-G. More about how it ended up in Switzerland in my next post.

 

I will use the Tamiya 1/72 kit of the Mosquito PR Mk.IV for this build.

 

I like to dedicate this build to Rolf Blattner who is known here as popeye. He past away very suddenly last October which came as a big shock for all who knew him.

 

Rolf was a founding member of the IPMS Swiss branch in the Seventies and the reason I got into building plastic models after meeting him and seeing his already then huge collection of built 1/72 aircraft models. Sadly I missed the opportunity to get in touch with him after my return to scale modelling two years ago.

 

Rolf’s passion were reconnaissance aircraft from the Luftwaffe, but he also built other PR aircraft including DK310 in No.1 PRU markings, which is why I dedicate this build to him.

 

Cheers, Peter

Edited February 12, 2017 by Basilisk

[Col.]

Great to see an unusual slant to a common subject Peter and one with such a personal meaning to you. I'm looking forward to learning more about this one.

Did you mean to link to Enzo's thread? 

[Basilisk]

Thanks Col. for pointing out the wrong link (had too many windows open and managed to copy the wrong one). It is now fixed.

 

Cheers, Peter

[DAG058]

A very fitting tribute Peter. It's amazing how little plastic aircraft can bring people together.

 

Good luck with your build and I look forward to watching it come together.

[stevehnz]

Peter, that is a nice idea for a tribute build to Rolf. I was greatly saddened when I heard of his passing, he was very helpful to me with info on a KG.40 Condor I wished to build, & came across as an all around nice guy. I'll look on to this build with interest.

Steve.

[Col.]

12 hours ago, Basilisk said:

Thanks Col. for pointing out the wrong link (had too many windows open and managed to copy the wrong one). It is now fixed.

 

Cheers, Peter

No problem Peter, glad to help, in return I was rewarded with an enjoyable read through Rolf's thread.

[Basilisk]

As mentioned in my first post, here is the information I could find on this aircraft.

 

HB-IMO was built under Contract #555/C.23 as a Mosquito B Mk.IV Series II at Hatfield as part of the first batch of 50 aircraft between 11 April and 13 August 1942 and after conversion to PR Mk.IV, was delivered to No.1 PRU at RAF Benson where it received code LY-G.

 

According to Paul Lucas excellent Combat Colours #5 (Mosquito PR and Bombers), it was decided that the early production B Mk.IV and PR Mk.IV to be painted in the then newly introduced Day Fighter Scheme of the upper surfaces painted in Dark Green and Ocean Grey with the under surfaces being finished in Medium Sea Grey whereby the PR Mk.IV in PRU Blue on the under surfaces.

 

But things developed different and here is what Paul Lukas wrote: “Despite the agreement to produce PR Mosquitoes with the Day Fighter Scheme on the upper surfaces, this does not appear to have happened as when the first PR IVs began to appear in April 1942, they seem to have done so in a variation on the scheme applied to the PR Is. This scheme is said to have been Sky Grey and Dark Slate Grey on the upper surfaces with PRU Blue on the under surfaces.”

 

The source of this information is a former DH employee who made a model of a Mosquito at the same time as the PR IVs were being built in 1942, using the same paint which was applied to the real aircraft at that time!

 

Paul then explains in detail that DK310 was painted in this scheme. Why this scheme was applied is unknown, but Paul’s theory is that there was some problem with the supply of the correct paint as Ocean Grey was a relatively new colour in April 1942 which might not have yet been available in quantity and Sky Grey and Dark Slate Grey would have been the closest colours which could be obtained in quantity at the time.

 

On 24 August 1942, Lt Wool had to shut down the right engine of DK310 on the return leg of a reconnaissance flight to Venice due to overheating. Realizing he could not make it back to the UK, he decided to land at Bern-Belpmoos where the crew failed to destroy the aircraft before the Swiss military took control.

 

Pictures taken at Bern-Belpmoos show the aircraft with the right side upper engine maintenance panel in a lighter colour than PRU blue. It is widely reported that this panel was painted in Sky Grey as used on the upper camouflage as shown in this profile.

This was the first Mosquito to fall into non-allied hands, creating concern in the UK that the aircraft could end up in the enemy's possession. Naturally, the Swiss where interested to test the aircraft and lengthy negotiation commenced with the British Government to purchase the Mosquito.

 

Permission was granted in August 1943 to test the aircraft in Switzerland which was the task of the Kriegstechnische Abteilung (KTA) which stands for war technology department. KTA assigned the code E-42 (E for England and 42 for 1942), but it was never painted onto the Mosquito. A KTA test pilot flew the aircraft in September 1943 to Dübendorf near Zurich. Prior to this flight, the Mosquito received Swiss crosses painted over the RAF roundels and the RAF code and serial had been removed.

 

Soon after the aircraft was flown to Emmen where the Eidgenössische Flugzeugwerk (F+W) was located which produced the C-36 and was an ideal location for testing the Mosquito. The KTA conducted 23 test flights during 1944 and the aircraft was finally purchased from the British Government in July of the same year.

A whole series of pictures had been taken at Emmen during the testing at F+W in 1944

 

In the meantime, Swissair showed interest in the Mosquito to use it as a fast mail plane. E-42 was flown from Emmen to Dübendorf in October 1944 to adapt the aircraft for this task which included the addition of the red and white stripes. The Mosquito received its HB-IMO registration in January 1945 and crew training flights commenced in March. But the idea of a mail service was dropped due to the development in Europe which made the service redundant.

 

With just under 18 flying hours since its arrival in Switzerland, HB-IMO was returned to the KTA on 7 August 1945 where it received a new identity as B-4. The Mosquito was more often used and with nearly 40 flying hours by the time B-4 was grounded due to several engine defects in August 1946. The aircraft was finally scrapped in 1951 after the engines had been removed to provide spare parts for a second Mosquito with the registration B-5.

This is a still picture from a movie frame, showing the red and white neutrality stripes on the wings.

 

When researching the history of this aircraft, I noticed some anomalies in regards to various re-painting of the Mosquito which I will cover in my next post.

 

Most of the information are from an article published in the Swiss magazine Cockpit and from the terrific book by Georg Hoch on Swiss camouflage and markings from 1914 to 1950.

 

Stay tuned for part two.

Cheers, Peter

 

 

[Basilisk]

Following are some observations and speculations in regards to the camouflage and markings of DK310.

 

Was the right side upper engine maintenance panel painted in Sky Grey? I am not sure about this. I think it is more likely that this is a replacement panel taken from another aircraft – maybe from a B Mk.IV which had been painted in the Day Fighter Scheme with the underside and side panels in Medium Sea Grey.

 

The aircraft received the Swiss crosses in Bern-Belpmoos prior to the flight to Dübendorf. This picture apparently shows the Mosquito on departure from Bern-Belpmoos.

 

And here on Arrival in Dübendorf.

Of note is that the PRU Blue on this picture looks lighter than the Sky Grey and that the upper engine maintenance panel on this side does match the grey tones of the PRU Blue better. It also shows the RAF fin flash, serial and Squadron code over-painted with a darker (green) colour.

 

Then we have the series of pictures taken at Emmen.

The over-painted markings look much neater in this series of pictures. What is interesting here also is that this aircraft had no strengthening strake.

 

But something is not as it should be.

Compare the above picture with the picture below which was taken apparently later than the picture above.

What happened to the camera window on the first picture? Even if it was over-painted there should be still some kind of framework visible. Could the pictures been retouched to make the over-painted marking look neater and in the process the camera window was removed too?

 

Also here it looks like the nose-probe was removed as well. Of interest is that the red square of the Swiss cross wasn't over-painted over the stenciling on the fuselage.

 

And there is even a colour picture of E-42.

Not the best picture, but it does show the probe on E-42. Also the upper engine maintenance panel paint doesn't look a different hue anymore...

 

And now to HB-IMO. I found a stunning hi-resolution picture on the web of this aircraft here (below a smaller version)

To me it looks that some effort went into making the Mosquito neat looking - after all it was meant to be used by the national Airline.

Comparing this picture with pictures of E-42, the green camouflage demarcation has been changed under the fin. But why.

 

 

 

 

Maybe to properly over-paint the original RAF markings? Also the letters HB-IMO should be placed closer to the fin and then wouldn't overlap the camera window.

 

Of interest too is that HB-IMO is always shown in illustration with a partial red fin.

The proportion just don't look right and when looking at the hi-res picture of HB-IMO it looks to me that the whole fin was painted red. But the grey tones of the green and red do look kind of the same.

 

Whichever it was, it just looks so much better with a whole red fin.

So I think I will paint my model something like that.

 

I enjoy this kind of research and reasoning how it could have evolved as much as making the model

 

I would love to hear any opinions.

Cheers, Peter

 

[Col.]

From reading through your research results I'm in agreement with your final profile and also curious about what's happening with the camera port. As you say this may be indicative of photo-retouching but are we sure every photo is of the same machine? No nothing about the subject other than what you've posted but could there have been other Mosquito which landed in Swiss territory?

[Basilisk]

Col, all the pictures shown in this thread are definitely of the same aircraft. There was a second Mosquito which was forced to land at Dübendorf on 30 September 1944. But it was an FB Mk.VI from 515 Squadron with serial NS993 which became later B-5 in Switzerland.

 

By the way, Mosquito DK310 was the first of many allied aircraft landing in Switzerland whereby most were USAAF bombers.

 

Cheers, Peter

Edited February 18, 2017 by Basilisk

[Basilisk]

This will be an OOB build, but I will use two resin accessories.

The Armory wheels and Quickboost oil radiators. I also may use some etched seat belts if I can find some in my stash.

 

The armory wheels do look much better than what comes in the kit.

But unfortunately they represent a later version with identical hubs on both side. In addition, the hub look too small as well. I still like to use them as the tire looks much better and I may use the Tamiya hub on this wheels. Also they are a bit larger, but it looks to me that HB-IMO had rather large tires - not sure if early tires had been larger.

 

And yes, I got started on the kit over the weekend, joining the front and rear fuselage and filling and sanding all the ejector marks in the fuselage and undercarriage bay.

And there was no shortage of them.

 

I may add some additional detail to the cockpit before the primer is applied.

Cheers, Peter

[Jure Miljevic]

Hi!

Slightly late, but following your build nevertheless. Your choice of paint scheme is quite colorful and well supported with photos and other information. So, here I am, sipping coffee and taking notes. Cheers

Jure

[Basilisk]

Nice to know that you are following this build Jure. Not really late as I just commenced the build - and as I am a slow builder you may need more than one cup of coffee

 

Even with all these pictures in existence of the aircraft, there are still many unanswered questions. Like did they use a local colour for the partial repainting of the green on HB-IMO or was it mixed to match the existing colour ... I guess we will never know.

 

Cheers, Peter

[Jure Miljevic]

Not a problem, Peter. I am well stocked with both Mosquito kits and with coffee as well and I happen to be fond of both. Also, I am not in a hurry so take your time. Cheers

Jure

[Basilisk]

Got a few things done during the week, adding some wires to the cockpit

Also got some work done on the undercarriage.

Added the holes to the mud guards and thinned the holding brackets.

 

Prepared all the other undercarriage parts for priming.

 

When working the parts making up the undercarriage, I noticed that Tamiya made a booboo. They added the red marked strut in a left-hand and right-hand version.

But the original has the same mounting on both (they got it right on the 1/32 kit). I didn't fix this as it would need some substantial rework on the mounting points in the wing and as this strut is basically not visible on the finished model, I left it as it is.

 

Also closed off the tail wheel opening with some plasticard.

Hope to get some work done on the Venom build over the weekend.

 

Cheers, Peter

[Jure Miljevic]

Thanks for that, Peter. I checked my Mosquito NF Mk.XIII/XVII Tamiya kit in 1/48 and its instructions, just as those of its 1/72 sibling, show only one pair of struts. This particular kit changed hands many times before ending in my stash. One of its previous owners must have been aware of Tamiya's omission and helped himself or herself with two struts provided as my kit has none at all. Cheers

Jure

[Dave Swindell]

9 hours ago, Jure Miljevic said:

I checked my Mosquito NF Mk.XIII/XVII Tamiya kit in 1/48 and its instructions, just as those of its 1/72 sibling, show only one pair of struts.

Hi Jure

I think you are misreading Peter's comments.

As far as I'm aware, Mosquito's only ever had one retraction jack per undercarriage leg.

The kit provides these. It is the positioning of them that is incorrect, Tamiya has a mirror image assembly for the undercarriage legs with the retraction jacks on the inboard sides of the leg.

In reality the undercarriage legs were identical port & starboard, with the jack attached to the starboard side of the leg. I.E. the port leg is correct, the starboad leg has the retraction jack on the wrong side.

Personally, I don't think it would be too hard to change, but as Peter says, it's hardly noticable when built.

[Jure Miljevic]

Thank you for that correction, Dave. Unfortunately I am still short of few parts, although now there are only two struts missing in my kit. Cheers

Jure

[Basilisk]

Thanks Dave for explaining what I meant in regards to the retraction jack. If it is the same issue in the 1/48 kit, I would change it as I like to have correct detail in this scale. But the 1/72 kits I build are mainly for showing the colour schemes and I can accept some discrepancy, specially if they are hard to see.

 

Jure, I think these parts can be scratch build with some brass tubing, so not all is lost \, depending I guess on what other parts are missing.

 

Oh, and when looking at more pictures of HB-IMO, I realized that the fuselage stencils are in white, but all the decals I have seen of them are in black or red Does someone know if they are available in white on a sheet?

 

Cheers, Peter

[Jure Miljevic]

Hi, Peter

Agreed, it should not be too difficult to scratch build these two struts. I checked the rest of the kit and fortunately it does not seem that any other part is missing. Cheers

Jure

[Basilisk]

After applying a black primer, I painted the cockpit interior green followed by some detailing with a small brush and a wash.

The IP is the Tamiya decal with a bit of paint to give it some colour which looks fine in the small scale.

 

Next step is to add some weathering and harnesses, But the weekend is booked to do more work on the Venom.

 

Cheers, Peter

[CliffB]

I'm just catching up with this Peter.  It's a fascinating subject and you are certainly doing it justice so far.

 

Cliff

[Jure Miljevic]

Neat cockpit details for 1/72, well above the level of what is going to be seen upon completition. Any luck with white stencils yet? Cheers

Jure

[Basilisk]

On 05/03/2017 at 2:05 AM, CliffB said:

I'm just catching up with this Peter.  It's a fascinating subject and you are certainly doing it justice so far.

 

Cliff

Thanks Cliff. It is indeed an interesting aircraft which is surprisingly well documented through all its stages of existence in Switzerland. But even though, the longer I look at the pictures the more questions I come across I can't find answers for ...

 

2 hours ago, Jure Miljevic said:

Neat cockpit details for 1/72, well above the level of what is going to be seen upon completition. Any luck with white stencils yet? Cheers

Jure

You are right Jure that most of the detail won't be seen when the cockpit is finished - but it is nice to know it is there (and it is a good practice for doing this kind of stuff in larger scales).

 

Unfortunately no luck with white stencils for the fuselage - looks like all the offerings available are in black or red, but no white. Fortunately it shouldn't be too difficult to cobble something together. And the stencilling on the upper surface are in red anyway as can be seen on one of the pictures.

 

Cheers, Peter

[Jure Miljevic]

I understand your zeal for details completely, Peter. Keep up the good work! Cheers

Jure