1/48 Tamiya DeHavilland Mosquito

Gallery Article by Burt Gustafson on Nov 17 2010

 

For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of my Tamiya 1/48 scale DeHavilland Mosquito and Light Utility Car, along with the flight crew and a squadron officer. I arranged all the pieces into a little diorama that depicts the Squadron Intelligence Officer giving the flight crew some new information just before take-off.

History

The De Havilland DH-98 Mosquito was one of the most remarkable planes of WWII. It was known affectionately as the "Mossie" to its crews and was also nicknamed "The Wooden Wonder" or "The Timber Terror" as the bulk of the aircraft was made of laminated plywood. It saw service with the RAF and many other air forces in the European theatre, the Pacific theatre, and the Mediterranean theatre.

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Construction
Like most Tamiya kits, this was a straight forward hassle free kit to build. Parts fit beautifully, requiring very little filling and sanding. It was an out of the box build all the way. The only difficult part of the build was the main landing gears. They were a little tricky to put together, but because the parts fit was so good they went together without a problem. The kit provided several options. You could have an open bomb bay with a couple of bombs inside, or a closed bomb bay. I went with the closed version. You could also have a couple of under wing bombs or rockets. I chose to go with the rockets. Construction of the utility car and figures was also straight forward. Like the aircraft model, the parts fit beautifully.

Painting
Paints used for the aircraft model were airbrushed with Model Masters and Floquil enamel paints. The aircraft model here is painted in the colors of an RAF FB.Mk VI Mosquito of the 143 Squadron: Dark Sea Gray upper surfaces and Ocean Gray for the under side of the aircraft. The landing gears and wheel wells were painted with Floquil Bright Silver.

The Utility car was airbrushed with Tamiya acrylic paints as per painting instructions. The figures were hand painted using both acrylic and enamel paints.

Decals
The decals for this kit were excellent, easily placed on the models and snugged down nicely to the models. The kit offers decals for six aircraft. I chose to go with the decals for the FB. Mk VI 143 Squadron RS625/NED aircraft.

Comments
This kit was a pleasure to build. The parts fit was excellent, for the aircraft, utility car, and the figures. Detail for the aircraft, utility car, and figures is excellent, and the decals were super. The overall quality of this kit is excellent, typical of a Tamiya kit. I was pleased with the finished model.

Burt Gustafson

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Photos and text © by Burt Gustafson