Valiant Wings Airframe Detail Number 6 – Ta.154 Moskito

[Mike]

Airframe Detail Number 6 – Ta.154 Moskito

Valiant Wings Publishing

 

 

Kurt Tank was a gifted engineer and created a number of successful designs for the German war effort during WWII, with the Moskito being one of his less successful due in part to circumstances beyond his control.  The original design was intended to use the least strategic materials as possible, and the fuselage and wings were instead constructed mainly from laminated wood that was bonded by a phenolic resin for strength.  The prototype was flown in competition with two other designs and achieved a very high maximum speed, but it was unarmed and had no military equipment fitted at that stage.  When it finally flew with this in place, it slowed the aircraft appreciably by as much as 75km/h (47mph), which eroded its advantage over the competition, and when the factory making the resin was bombed out of existence, an inferior glue was used.  This led to mid-air breakups due to the failure of the bonding, and it was also found to be corroding the wood, further weakening it.  Ernst Heinkel's hatred of the competitor to his troubled He.219 didn't help, and the project was cancelled with only 50 airframes extant.  There was an attempt to reuse them as piloted flying bombs to disrupt the Allied bomber streams (after the pilot had bailed out), but as far as records go none were actually used in combat.  Another option considered was to remove the front end, replace it with a large explosive charge, and fly it into the bomber stream with an Fw.190 atop on a trestle.  The German name for these types was Mistel, and this too never proceeded.

 

This book, by author Richard A Franks, with profiles and plans by Richard J Caruana, and example model produced by Steve A Evans is perfect-bound as usual and consists of 64 pages within a card jacket, printed on glossy paper stock throughout.  It is number 6 in the Airframe Detail series that concentrates more on the aircraft in question, with just a short section to the rear with an example build of the large scale HpH kit in 1:32.  The book is broken down into sections as follows:

 

Introduction

1 Technical Description

Detailed coverage of construction and equipment

2 Camouflage & Markings

Colour side profiles, notes and photographs

3 Big-Scale Moskito

A build of the 1:32 kit from HpH by Steve A Evans

Appendices

i Ta.154 kits

ii Ta.154 accessory & mask list

iii Bibliography

 

 

 

Inside there are masses of photographs, diagrams and profiles, all of which are contemporary in black and white due to that being the predominant film format of the day.   The profiles are distributed through the 2nd section of the book, and show eleven airframes, backed up with photos of the real thing nearby.  The sheer level of detail given within the pages is perfect for the modeller, and will be of use to anyone from novice to super-detailer, with some of the photos showing the interior, sub-assembly layout, the catapult seat that was the forerunner of the ejection seat, but wouldn't have been a very nice experience for the poor pilot, although preferable to hitting the ground at hundreds of miles per hour with your stricken aircraft.

 

 

Steve Evans' build of the huge HpH kit shows what can be done to the model, and results in a lovely example that anyone would be pleased to have in their collection.  From a modelling standpoint there is plenty of scope for building and painting one of the other smaller scale kits such as the 1:72 Hasegawa or Revell kit, the 1:48 Revell offering that shares heritage with the Dragon/Trimaster kit, which may explain the fit issues some people have when building it.

 

Conclusion

Another Excellent volume from Valiant, and an interesting one personally (maybe why I have such an inconveniently large stash?) as I have a fondness for those "might-have-been" German WWII projects, as well as a 1:48 Revell kit in the stash somewhere.

 

Very highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of