Airfix 1:72 Mosquito AO3019 series 3

[Hairtrigger]

Has anyone built this model opinions finished pics appreciated.  It seems a very fair price at £12.99 on ama😃on.

[Bonhoff]

Quite an old kit, not much in the way of cockpit detail, thick canopy so not much point super detailing the cockpit, builds well though although I had to rework the undercarriage to get the wheels on - it was simply a case of drilling the undercarriage legs out to accept a new axle to fit the wheels, once the undercarriage was installed in the nacelles. 

 

But it looked like a Mosquito once built.

 

HTH

 

IanJ

[Jure Miljevic]

Built two of them OOTB decades ago, one as a night fighter and another one as a Tse-Tse. As IanJ said, a bit crude kit but once built it looks the part. Few inaccuracies, but one only notices radiators, which do not protrude far enough from wing's leading edge. Correctable with some effort. I believe only Tamiya got this part right. Cheers

Jure

[dogsbody]

1 hour ago, Bonhoff said:

Quite an old kit, not much in the way of cockpit detail, thick canopy so not much point super detailing the cockpit, builds well though although I had to rework the undercarriage to get the wheels on - it was simply a case of drilling the undercarriage legs out to accept a new axle to fit the wheels, once the undercarriage was installed in the nacelles. 

 

But it looked like a Mosquito once built.

 

HTH

 

IanJ

 

Hey, it's way better than the first Airfix Mosquito kit from the 60's. That was my first Mossie kit. I got it just before I saw the movie 633 Squadron.

 

 

Chris

[Hairtrigger]

Ah  633 Squadron cracking film ...

[stevehnz]

4 hours ago, Hairtrigger said:

Ah  633 Squadron cracking film ...

in parts, bloody awful in others, nevertheless, I loved it then & still for what it is. Superb theme music.

Steve.

[Rabbit Leader]

Not sure how much this equates to in British sheckles, however the Tamiya 1/72 Mosquito Mk.VI kit is a much better proposition.

Here is a link to an online store in Japan that I've used before and highly recommend - https://www.plazajapan.com/4950344607471/

The Airfix kit wasn't bad in its day and still builds to look like a good looking Mossie, however I'd go Tamiya if you wanted a good state of the art 1/72 kit.

 

Cheers.. Dave

[Beard]

1 hour ago, Rabbit Leader said:

 

The Airfix kit wasn't bad in its day and still builds to look like a good looking Mossie, however I'd go Tamiya if you wanted a good state of the art 1/72 kit.

The nail has been well and truly hit on the head.

 

I'm currently making a mess of an Airfix Mosquito and everything said so far is correct, especially the undercarriage: it's 'tricky' (to say the least).

[Uncle Pete]

I finished it last week.  Wings fit a bit iffy (had to shave them) and the undercarriage beat me so it's posed in flight sitting on a biro barrel and a peanut butter lid.  I'm told the Tamiya is better and planning on getting one.

[mike romeo]

The Airfix kit is what it is, dating as it does from the early 70s.

 

As per the Tamiya kit, much better detail, falls together but, like the Airfix kit, not without some inaccuracies. 

 

The Tamiya will be more expensive than the Airfix, but only by up to about a fiver.

 

What do you want from the build?

 

[Seahawk]

7 minutes ago, mike romeo said:

 

As per the Tamiya kit, much better detail, falls together but, like the Airfix kit, not without some inaccuracies.

 

Could you expand on the Tamiya kit's inaccuracies please?

[Beard]

9 minutes ago, Seahawk said:

Could you expand on the Tamiya kit's inaccuracies please?

This has a lengthy discussion on the accuracy of 1/72 Mosquitos:

 

[Rabbit Leader]

I believe the tail fin is too long, which is also replicated on their 1/48 scale kit. It’s probably an easy fix, however you will need to ensure that the fabric rudder details are maintained or re-instated - not quite as easy. Personally, I’d just leave it and move on to the next kit. 

 

Cheers.. Dave

[Hairtrigger]

Thanks for all the input folks...  Think will go with the Tamiya version, quick peruse on am😃son and the 1:48 scale is a very good price very tempted.  I really wanted it in 1:72 to fit in with others in my collection.  The 1:72 Tamiya is only a few quid more than the Airfix so Tamiya best option, as I see it.

The 1:48 though for the price may get that as well with the PE.

 

[Graham Boak]

There are a number of detail differences: which one is right seems to be a matter of whether you think Tamiya or Airfix are the Holy Grail of kit producers.  However apart from the fin, the Tamiya has a better canopy and the Airfix a better shaped underside, nose to bomb-bay.  I don't think the Airfix bomb-bay is flat enough at the rear, the Tamiya one too flat at the front.  The radiators are of different length (forward of the extended wing leading edge), but I've yet to see confirmation which is correct.  There's something odd about the Tamiya wing too - I forget exactly what but suspect the overall span.  The Airfix appears to match most of the available plans but these appear to be consistent with some very old representations.  I have heard doubt cast on their veracity, but Tamiya did consult the examples in the Mosquito Museum.  So I suspect Tamiya is the more accurate, but would prefer to have that confirmed with real numbers.  Tamiya does have a superior interior, as you might expect from the respective vintages.

 

Overall however, most (all?) of this is fine-tuning rather than anything dramatic.  If you can get the Tamiya within a few pounds of the Airfix then go for it - you'd have to pay that to replace the too long and too thick Airfix canopy anyway, but there's not a lot in it at the end.  The Airfix is still a nice representation of the subject.

[noelh]

I just bought a 1/72 Tamiya Mossie from Hobby link Japan for £8.50. I'm sorry I didn't get several as I can't decide which scheme. So it's a no brainer to me. Even if you pay a bit more to obtain one locally I'd say its worth it.

[Max Headroom]

14 hours ago, Beard said:

everything said so far is correct, especially the undercarriage: it's 'tricky' (to say the least).

Three times I’ve built this kit. Once in the seventies on initial release and twice in this millennium and every time I’ve failed to get the undercarriage down.

 

Minimal cockpit detail (par for when released) and the wheels and canopy need replacing with aftermarket items.

 

Avoid. Sorry if I sound biased but this mould needs replacing ASAP. For Europe at least Airfix could corner the market for any version.

 

Trevor

[Hairtrigger]

Right deffo Tamiya it is.   

[Graham Boak]

Agreed about the wheels, I'd forgotten that point.  However I've also made it three times (so far, a couple more to go) but managed to get the undercarriage in place each time.  Fiddly definitely yes, impossible no.  If you really want to be picky, the rivets on the engine cowlings are oversize.  Otherwise, there are a lot of Airfix kits more in need of replacing than this one.  However, how many of them would outsell a new Mossie is quite another matter!

[noelh]

Definitely a new Airfix Mosquito would be popular to say the least. Get the Lidar out! 

But even Airfix at its best would struggle to compete with the refinement of a Tamiya kit.

[Graham Boak]

I'd be happier with the Tamiya kit if I could be sure it was the "odd one out" of Mosquito kits because it was the most accurate.  

[Gazontipede]

The old Airfix kit does come with the BFG option if you want to build a Molins armed 'Tsetse'. Unfortunately the Tamiya FB.VI/NF.II does not have a similar option*.

I'm currently building a 1/72 Tamiya PR.IV and (never having built a Tamiya Mossie before) can wholeheartedly agree that it goes together beautifully. Some very clever planning and engineering went into that kit. Nice.

 

*A bit surprising as, looking at the parts breakdown and assembly steps, (I'll be building a Tamiya FB.VI shortly) I think it would have been relatively easy for Tamiya to include the bulges, lumps and barrel for a 'Tsetse'. Go figure. Perhaps Hasegawa scared them off? Or something. Are there any aftermarket sets still available for this conversion? I know that once upon a time there were, but after a bit of searching when I got my FB.VI recently, I couldn't find anything.

Edited March 11, 2018 by Gazontipede

[Max Headroom]

9 hours ago, noelh said:

Definitely a new Airfix Mosquito would be popular to say the least. Get the Lidar out! 

But even Airfix at its best would struggle to compete with the refinement of a Tamiya kit.

I agree but it would be a decent and accurate model and in the U.K. and Europe I would guess that it would be more readily available and cheaper. Given Italeri’s tie-up with Tamiya I wonder why they never reboxed it?

 

Trevor

[Work In Progress]

I like the current (second tooling) Airfix Mosquito at a bargain price, especially if you have a bunch of Falcon canopies stashed away or don't care too much about the viewability of fine detail in 1/72 interiors. But you don't have to pay anything like the current new price for for them. KingKit and other dealers usually have a bunch for sale at about £7-£8. The decals in the older releases are often fairly underwhelmng, but surely you won't be using kit  decals anyway.  It's perfect for a wheels-up on-stand model, if you like that sort of thing.

 

Reflecting Graham's caution, the inaccuracy of the Tamiya fin/rudder has been verified by Jennings Heilig by independent measurement of a surviving airframe. See illlustration with dimensions here (sorry for the verbosity of the link, but that's Google searching Google Books for you...)

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=dKPvCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT26&lpg=PT26&dq=heilig+tamiya+mosquito+fin&source=bl&ots=UBiALYf1KN&sig=97VawgUKfXXlqni6njGP6XEUHbo&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwix46baoebZAhVJJ5oKHUxvBOEQ6AEIRjAG#v=onepage&q=heilig tamiya mosquito fin&f=false

 

It doesn't bother most people and if you're one of them then no fix is needed.

 

Personally, on the 1/72 Airfix, in addition to the points Graham notes, I am in favour of adjusting the dihedral slightly at the outboard of the nacelles, as it always looks as if it needs just a touch more. Only a touch, maybe a millimeter under each wingtip.

 

I doubt it is high on the list for replacement as it is basically accurate, the surface detailing is mostly fine, the moulds seem to be OK still, it clearly still sells, and is therefore solidly in the profit-making phase of its life. There are far higher priorities for Airfix in terms of new tools, from the point of view of modellers and the company alike.

[Hhhalifaxxx]

Just my tuppence worth on the Airfix Mosquito:

 

If you follow the instructions you'll have to install the undercarriage before joining the nacelle halves, and then these to the wings, and therefore prior to attaching the wings to the fuselage, which makes the whole assembly prone to damage. Also, each undercarriage group (starboard and port) has two leg elements, right and left, both with inward-turned strut halves that are to meet at the midline. This also applies to the axle holding the wheel halves.

 

Now, this is awkward engineering: it is hard to have all those half-struts meet precisely and still give some rigidity to the undercarriage groups. So I opted for the following: (1) measure the distance between each leg to its counterpart and cut fine plastic tubing (or thick stretched sprue) accordingly; (2) shave off all half-struts and drill small holes where they came out on each leg, to accept the plastic tubes. (3) do the same for the half-axles, and place a tube through the assembled wheel and tyre, with each end glued to the corresponding place in the inner side of each leg.

 

In addition, shaving off the attachment point of the assembled undercarriage group inside the nacelle halves allows one to install them after the wings are joined to the fuselage and the nacelles to the former, making things much easier to assemble and paint.

 

(Sorry for my clumsy writing: I hope I can make myself understood.)