D.H. 98 Mosquito B.IV***FINISHED***

[PeterB]

Over the years I have built quite a few Mosquitos - two of the original Airfix FB. VI first released in 1957, one Frog B.IV from 1968, all three versions of the second Airfix moulding released in 1972 - NF. II, FB. VI and FB. XVIII, and at least one of the 1976 Matchbox NF. 30/ B. IX, but I thought I would build a couple more in this GB starting with this one.

I bought this 2000 reboxing of the Tamiya 1999 moulding to replace the old Frog version which had several minor inaccuracies and one major one - the wing was mounted too high on the fuselage (at least according to reviews I have read)!  I have fancied the Tamiya Mossies ever since they first came out but they were a bit expensive, so when I saw this on offer for £9.99 10 or so years back I snapped it up. I am tempted by the PR version but I will build it as the B.IV and throw the old Frog kit out. Being a Tamiya kit it should make a nice change from the various short run kits I have just built in the "Not my Comfort Zone" GB!

 

Pete

Edited July 1, 2023 by PeterB

[Marklo]

Welcome to the GB Peter. I have the exact same kit waiting to be built.

[vppelt68]

I can't speak but kindly of these Tamiya 1:72 scale Mosquitos, they deserve every praise there is for how easy they are to build. I have only three of them so far; a bomber, a fighter and soon a photo recce plane. These aren't even that expensive anymore 😀

[Marklo]

26 minutes ago, vppelt68 said:

These aren't even that expensive anymore 😀

I have to admit I picked the Tamiya over an Airfix as it was €2 cheaper  

[vppelt68]

42 minutes ago, Marklo said:

I have to admit I picked the Tamiya over an Airfix as it was €2 cheaper  

In my FLHS it's 17€ for Tamiya, whopping 30€ for Airfix!

[CliffB]

An excellent choice Pete.  We all deserve an 'easy build' once in a while!

[PeterB]

Yes,

 

Airfix new generation kits are good but they are getting rather expensive - inevitable I suppose. I may splash out on the new Airfix moulding someday I guess. Currently they are £24 compared with £19 for the Tamiya ones at Hannants.

 

Pete

Edited July 4, 2023 by PeterB

[Marklo]

55 minutes ago, PeterB said:

Airfix new generation kits are good but they are getting rather expensive

I’m actually pretty torn on them, I’ve built quite a few over the last few years and with the exception of the Vampire I haven’t really enjoyed building them I think some times the designers are trying to be too clever. I do agree on the expense which I’m not struck on either.

[PeterB]

2 hours ago, Marklo said:

I’m actually pretty torn on them, I’ve built quite a few over the last few years and with the exception of the Vampire I haven’t really enjoyed building them I think some times the designers are trying to be too clever. I do agree on the expense which I’m not struck on either.

I know what you mean - I had build "niggles" with the Whitley, Phantom and Beaufort and they did seem to be a bit "over-engineered" but that could just have me being my usual slightly clumsy self. I shall be building the Buccaneer shortly and maybe the B-25 sometime this year so I may get more of a "feel" for them.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

I forgot to take a sprue shot before I started but there are a few others already posted in this GB. I painted up the cockpit interior and added the nose together with its glazing.

Kits like this where they are designed to allow several variants to be issued can be a problem with tricky joints - the old Fujimi Aichi D3A1/2 "Val" was perhaps the worst I have ever come across as a complete cockpit insert was needed for the different boxings and it was a real pain to get a smooth transition. In this case Tamiya have cunningly engineered the nose joint and the fit is almost perfect - it may need just a little filler but we will see - the rectangular locating lug will be inside the wing and not visible.

 

I also assembled and painted the cockpit interior and put on its decs. Being a bomber version there is a gap at the right of the IP for access to the bomb sight.

 

So now I am ready to close up the fuselage and make a start on the wings.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

Fuselage joined up - not a bad fit as expected but it will need just a little filler.

It could be my imagination but it seems to have a better shape that the Airfix one I am also building. The front windows are surprisingly standing just a little proud in spite of my best efforts.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

I have glued the wings, wingtips and engine cowlings on - they were a much better fit than on the Airfix one I am also building but there was still a bit of filler needed.

The first few Mosquitos had short engine cowlings but then they were extended in the "Series 2" machines resulting in a triangular "fillet" at the rear which can be problematic. The Tamiya approach to this is probably better than the Airfix one but not quite perfect. Next up will be the undercarriage and then, as with the Airfix kit, I will need to decide on the colour scheme. Tamiya provide markings for 2 aircraft - one day bomber and one night one with black undersurfaces. I will go for the day one I think.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

As expected the u/c was a bit easier to assemble than the Airfix version although it did take a bit of wriggling about to get the lugs to go into the sockets in the wing. Once that was dry I primed it.

 

 

 

Then I painted on some Tamiya Ocean Grey.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

A bit more progress.

A fair bit of touching up still to do but getting there. If you compare it with the pic of my XIX you will see that it has the same camo "pattern" but the colours are reversed - one source describes the fighter version as  "Scheme C" whilst this presumably is "Scheme A".

 

Pete

Edited July 31, 2023 by PeterB

[PeterB]

I had a bit of fun getting the side inserts into the cockpit but managed eventually.

Now it is ready for the decs - the lighter green patches on the inboard port wing seems to be something to do with my camera as they are touch-ups which are not really visible to the naked eye. I have been reading a book called "Mosquito Thunder" which is the story of 105 Squadron who were the first to introduce the Mosquito bomber version and have found out quite a bit about their operations.  It is generally said that the high speed of the Mosquito made it difficult to intercept, which may account for the often mentioned fact that it had by far the lowest loss rate per sortie of any allied bomber, and to some extent that is true, but inevitably it is a bit more complicated in reality. A lot of it depended on the engines as the R-R Merlin came in several different varieties, some of which were designed to give maximum performance at high altitude, some at low, and some in between. When flying at the “rated” altitude the Mossie was usually as fast if not faster than most of the enemy fighters, though if the enemy had an height advantage they could use that to “bounce” them initially. If flying at the “wrong” altitude for their engines they were not as fast and had to rely on their good manoeuvrability, and of course it helped a lot that, unlike some other twin engined planes, the Mossie could usually get home quite happily on one good engine providing nothing else was seriously damaged. When they did return with damage the wooden construction often made them easier to repair as the damaged parts could usually just be cut out and a “patch” glued and screwed in place.

 

Initially they carried out low level daylight raids, and if they took the defences by surprise their main problem was usually flak rather than fighters - they kept a book in the mess they shared with 139 Squadron for recording the more notable instances of "line shooting" and after one raid a pilot said that "the flak was so heavy that they could not see the plane in front" and not to outdone his navigator added that "they could not even see over the wingtips". Another pilot returning from a weather flight said "he had been flying so low they could easily have been torpedoed"! On a more serious note, discussing the proposed introduction of dual control trainer Mosquitos one old hand said that "when they were previously flying Blenheims they did not need trainers - providing the pilot could manage to take off it did not really matter if they could make a landing" - they had taken a lot of losses.

 

Pete

Edited August 3, 2023 by PeterB

[Graham Boak]

I believe Mosquito Thunder has the comment that the unit suffered heavier losses on Mosquitos than it had on Blenheims.  Of course, with deeper penetrations.  This is why the Mosquito was withdrawn from daylight bomber missions.  It was later to return in 2TAF with the Mk.VI but generally operating under fighter escort.

[PeterB]

4 hours ago, Graham Boak said:

I believe Mosquito Thunder has the comment that the unit suffered heavier losses on Mosquitos than it had on Blenheims.  

Hi Graham,

 

I remember that when I first read the book I was surprised at how many planes they lost early on given the Mosquito's reputation but of course not all were due to enemy action - flying at very low level had its own risks such as birds, buildings, trees and power cables getting in the way - I seem to remember one came back with a chimney pot embedded in the fuselage and several were damaged by the blast from either their own bombs or somebody else's! The book does indeed say that at the end of 1942 after the first six or so months of action they had lost more planes as a percentage of sorties than they had when flying Blenheims, though it was a bit safer at night and at altitude..

 

Pete

Edited August 3, 2023 by PeterB

[Max Headroom]

That’s coming together nicely. Looking on with interest.

 

Trevor

[PeterB]

Decs on and all the remaining bits added and painted.

This is DZ367 after it joined 105 Squadron as GB*J which seems to have been on November 16th 1942, presumably as a new aircraft. 105 had been the first Bomber squadron to use the Mosquito, with deliveries starting at the end of 1941. After about 6 months working up this new type, they started making small daylight raids at low level, but after 139 became operational with the plane late in 1942 the tempo was stepped up. My book first mentions DZ367 as taking part in the 2 Group massed raid on the Phillips radio and valve plants in Eindhoven on December 6th. 8 Mossies from 105 and a couple from 139 were involved as were 36 Bostons and 47 Venturas, and being the fastest planes the Mossies took off last. Not long after they crossed the Dutch coast and were about to catch up with the main formation the second group of 4 Mossies was jumped by Fw 190's and the leader, S/L George Parry took himself and DZ367 flown by F/L Bill Blessing away to try and draw off the fighters. Parry managed to return to the formation after a few minutes, but Blessing was chased for 50 miles, and once he lost the 190 he returned to base.

 

The next time DZ367 is mentioned is at the end of January 1943. Wiki describes the event as follows-

'On 30 January 1943, two daylight missions were carried out to bomb Berlin using low-level daylight tactics. These attacks were timed to disrupt speeches by Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, head of the air force, and Joseph Goebbels, the Third Reich's Propaganda Minister. The first, in the morning, comprised a flight of three Mosquito B Mk. IVs from 105 Squadron, which attacked the main Berlin broadcasting station at 11:00, when Göring was due to address a parade commemorating the 10th anniversary of the Nazis” being voted into power. The mission gave the lie to Göring's claim that such a mission was impossible, and kept Göring off the air for more than an hour. A second flight of Mosquitos from139 Squadron followed in the afternoon of the same day to attempt to interrupt a speech by Goebbels at the Sports Palace. Once again, they bombed at the exact planned time. However, Berlin's anti-aircraft defences were on the alert and a Mosquito flown by Squadron Leader D.F.W. Darling DFC was shot down, killing both Darling and his navigator Göring was enraged; six weeks later he harangued aircraft manufacturers that he could "go berserk" when faced with the Mosquito, which made him "green and yellow with envy".

 

139 and 105 Squadrons shared a base and sometimes also shared planes/crews so the plane flown by S/L Darling as mentioned above was actually DZ367 from 105 but with a crew from 139! I have to question the wisdom of the second raid - it may have seemed a good propaganda coup but as events showed it was highly risky. Anyway, so ended the short career of DZ367!

 

Now all my model needs is a finishing coat of varnish.

 

Pete

[PeterB]

Well, that's done and I will get it in the gallery before too long.

 

A nice kit as you would expect from Tamiya, but not perfect.

 

Pete

[CliffB]

Congratulations Pete.  That's another nice one!

[81-er]

Nicely done, Pete

 

James

[Jose Miguel]

Beautiful!!!!!