Hasegawa De Havilland Mosquito B Mk . IV

Here is my contribution to the De Havilland group build. My inspiration for building this kit started when I was a youngster with a fever and was kept home and set in front of the TV to watch Mosquito Squadron 633. I don't know if I cared for the acting or the plot but, the planes were cool. Monogram happened to make a kit in 1/48 of the Mossie which had to be done. The kit had several build options for the solid nose fighter version and then bomber version which lead to more kits being built. Fast forward to either 1989 or 90 when Kermit Weeks bought one of the stars of the movie and had it flown over the pond and it ended up at a local airshow at Holman Air Field. Weeks flew around the pattern and taxi the Mosquito and would park it for viewing and photo's. Fortunately for this poor sod we yanks didn't know the treasure before our eyes and no one but, yours truly had the opportunity to bask in the glow of this rare aircraft. At the end of the day being sun burned with a stiff neck, sore back I left with a smile. I got to spend an afternoon with a movie star.

My kit represents a Mosquito B Mk. IV flown by 109 Squadron. Hasegawa's 1/72nd kit gets looked over by some when compared to Tamiya version because, the lack of detail. However, if your a "Fan Boy" the tail or the vertical stab is accurate. Tamiya has made the tail too tall and this over site can be seen on their 1/48 version. To most modelers this is no big deal an NBD. The box top is another plus, anything with Koike Shigeo painting lends itself to being looked at. Paints used; Model Master RAF enamels which are no longer being made. Ocean gray, RAF Green, RAF interior Green and Flat black. The wheels where paint flat black, colored with gray colored pencil and washed with Tamiya black and a little brown. A Eduard Mask was used for the canopy.

12 additional images. Click to enlarge.