Mosquito Prototype (book of, plans etc)

[munnst]

Just visited the Mossie aircraft museum in Earls Colney and fancy building a model of the prototype.

Are there any good books specifically on the prototype that include the differences between this and the production aircraft?

[Charlie Hugo]

Sam Modellers datafile no 1 DH Mosquito

There was even a Paragon Designs conversion to ease the process

[cngaero]

I haven't been to the museum myself, but it's always been on my bucket list.

If the aircraft you intend model is the prototype W4050, you will need to determine at what stage of its life you wish your model to represent. As it stands, it represents a later stage of its life with the later stage Merlins, hence the chin intakes. At the time of the first flight, W4050 had the fully faired  early Merlins.

Good luck with your project.

 

Chris.

[munnst]

22 minutes ago, cngaero said:

I haven't been to the museum myself, but it's always been on my bucket list.

If the aircraft you intend model is the prototype W4050, you will need to determine at what stage of its life you wish your model to represent. As it stands, it represents a later stage of its life with the later stage Merlins, hence the chin intakes. At the time of the first flight, W4050 had the fully faired  early Merlins.

Good luck with your project.

 

Chris.

Ahh yes, you are correct. Closer inspection of this model taken today shows the faired intakes and single exhaust.

[modelldoc]

An excellent source is:

"Mosquito The original multi-role combat aircraft" by Graham M. Simons.

Published by Pen & Sword Aviation 2011

ISBN 978 18488 442 61

 

modelldoc

[Troy Smith]

1 hour ago, munnst said:

and fancy building a model of the prototype.

Are there any good books specifically on the prototype that include the differences between this and the production aircraft?

AFAIK, no.   You might want to state what scale.

this book

https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/SearchResults?isbn=0850594324&cm_sp=mbc-_-ISBN-_-all

while old, does have details of a conversion to the prototype, I think based on the 1/32nd Revell kit. Has some drawings.

Mine is not to hand,  it's dated,  came out just before the 1/48th Airfix kit,   copies are not too expensive it seems used.

 

1 hour ago, Charlie Hugo said:

Sam Modellers datafile no 1 DH Mosquito

Long OOP.  Some of the series are good.   Depends on the author.   I suspect this is one of the lesser books.   I'll @The wooksta V2.0

 

1 hour ago, Charlie Hugo said:

There was even a Paragon Designs conversion to ease the process

Again, long OOP.   You might get lucky on ebay,  more likely for the one meant for the 1/48th Airfix kit than the later one for the Tamiya kit.

 

42 minutes ago, munnst said:

Closer inspection of this model taken today shows the faired intakes and single exhaust.

there are other differences IIRC, shorter nacelles at the rear,   shorter tailplanes? 

 

OK,  I then googled this "mosquito prototype conversion britmodeller"

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234933151-prototype-mossie-from-tamiya-172/

"I shall be using the Tamiya 1/72 kit of the B.Mk.IV twinned with the Paragon Designs conversion set with the short engine nacelles, early wingtips and different tail surfaces. !

 

and this

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235099777-wingspan-of-prototype-mosquito/

 

which has links and more info

http://hsfeatures.com/mosquitoprototypesb_1.htm

 

Anyway, this should give you a few pointers

 

HTH

[Rob de Bie]

I started building the prototype in 1/72 scale a looooong time ago. The project is dormant now. Maybe you'll find something of use:

 

https://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/e0234.htm

Rob

[brewerjerry]

21 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

 

HTH

 

Hi

    Thanks for posting it

     it reminded me that i still had to find a mosquito book and a lancaster book, to complete my set

    hopefully they will soon be crossing the pond

    cheers

       jerry 

Edited June 9, 2022 by brewerjerry
typo

[munnst]

Thanks for all the replies. I nabbed a copy of the book oh and I'm building in 1/72.

[Peter Roberts]

Snap! I have just returned form the UK where I had two visits and tours of the De Havilland Museum - it is a MUST see venue. It would also make a great venue for a model meet/competition! And all run by volunteers. They have done and are doing a great job. If you haven't been yet - go! It is well worth the visit, and don't forget to book a tour. Very informative if you want the low down and inside info on Mosquitos. As well as the prototype, there is a B Mk. 35 and a Mk VI FB. The B Mk. 35 is currently being rearranged to show it in flight. It will be a spectacular display when done, allowing close examination of the plane in flight but at at ground level.

 

I was going to post info on the prototype so your post is as good as starting a new thread.

 

As Chris has pointed out above, it depends on what stage you are modelling it. It does now have the later Merlin engines, and has also had the nacelles extended as per the main production version. As Troy pointed out above, the first iteration of the prototype had the early shorter nacelles. I was informed that these have been altered to the longer, 'standard' version by simply riveting on metal panels. The original nacelles have been simply covered over. There were other differences too but my memory has dimmed - they will be in the references mentioned above (tail planes and wingtips?). Don't forget those wing leading edge slats, shown in your photo, and only recently discovered, if you are doing the plane as it appears today, or as it was when first built. Otherwise, don't portray them. They were closed and covered in doped fabric so not really visible.

 

There is also a large repair patch on the port side applied after the plane broke its back.  The area behind the cockpit has a slightly flat profile; this has come about following restoration of the area after the turret that was trialed was removed. The other noticable feature of the prototype is that the vertical strengthening strip behind the cockpit is not very prevalent - I am not sure if that has always been a feature.

 

One other interesting little tid bit from my visit - Mosquitos were given two coats of red dope over their fabric surfaces, then two coats of silver paint, then the final camouflage coat. So if you are portraying worn surfaces on fabric areas on a Mosquito model, silver showing through is quite legit. Now watch as people tell you that you have it wrong!

 

I'll post some of my pics here too when I can get to them - currently trawling through 6,000+ photos from the trip

Edited June 11, 2022 by Peter Roberts

[Rob de Bie]

I found something funny about E0234. The photo below shows that the painter made a mistake with the Type B roundel on the right wing - the colours are reversed!

 

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/uk/raf/mosquito/prototype-mosquito-e0234-hatfield/

 

Rob

[gunzo]

the colours are reversed!

 

Good example of the pitfalls in interpreting colour from photos (let alone computer screens)

[Rob de Bie]

Talking about the roundel colours, is there any way of telling whether the 'Bright' or 'Dull' versions of 'Identification Red ' and 'Identification Blue' were used on this aircraft?

Rob

[Troy Smith]

1 hour ago, Rob de Bie said:

Talking about the roundel colours, is there any way of telling whether the 'Bright' or 'Dull' versions of 'Identification Red ' and 'Identification Blue' were used on this aircraft?

Rob

No.  Not without something to compare.  But, since the prototype still exists, and they did find the original serial in restoration they may know.

 

But, AFAIK, from available evidence,  the dull wartime colours came in from the introduction of camouflage,   The few period colour images confirm this. 

for example

Spitfire patrol          Spring 1940. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

Spitfire Mk.I by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

Hurricane by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

Gloster Gladiator  1938. by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

Fairy Battle Mk.1 by Etienne du Plessis, on Flickr

 

 

[Dave Swindell]

On 11/06/2022 at 10:48, Rob de Bie said:

I found something funny about E0234. The photo below shows that the painter made a mistake with the Type B roundel on the right wing - the colours are reversed!

 

https://www.worldwarphotos.info/gallery/uk/raf/mosquito/prototype-mosquito-e0234-hatfield/

 

Rob

There's definitely something different with the wing roundels (high contrast between red and blue) compared to the fuselage roundel/fin flash (red slightly darker than the blue). The Stbd wing roundel does appear to be reversed compared to the port one in that photo, but in this similar shot it isn't, however the difference between wing and fuselage roundel/fin flash is still evident

 

 

So, have different paints been used for the wing roundels? Dull red/blue vs pre war bright red/blue on fuselage & fin?

Has the stbd roundel been repainted, or is it a paint and lighting combination that's giving the appearance of colour reversal?

 

[Rob de Bie]

On 6/13/2022 at 8:54 PM, Troy Smith said:

No.  Not without something to compare.  But, since the prototype still exists, and they did find the original serial in restoration they may know.

 

But, AFAIK, from available evidence,  the dull wartime colours came in from the introduction of camouflage,   The few period colour images confirm this. 

for example

 

Troy, thanks for your comments and examples. I will most likely use the 'Bright' roundel colours on my model. That seems more logical to me, for a high-viz aircraft.

 

I made new photos for the report of my model under construction, to replace the horrible 20 year old photos. Here's one.

 

 

Rob

 

 

Edited June 15, 2022 by Rob de Bie

[Peter Roberts]

Photos of the Mosquito prototype, as promised. Unfortunately, despite TWO visits to the De Havilland Museum, I managed to successfully avoid taking any photos of the repair applied to the port side of the fuselage, at the rear of the wing root. Hopefully others here have been able to capture that. I did however manage to capture the following:

 

 

The nacelles have been modified by the addition of metal panels to their rear, mimicking the later production version. These were applied directly over the existing nacelle.

 

 

There is an intake on the starboard side of the fuselage - it was hollow - and a small access panel behind it.

 

There are other photos but Hobby Photo Host isn't playing ball - keeps telling me my photos are too large and I can't get them small enough. Sorry. Don't know why it spat the dummy, the first two were okay - !!??