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John Healy
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1/48 RAAF Tiger Moth – de Havilland 100 Group Build.

May 31, 2021 · in Aviation · · 28 · 2.2K

This is the new kit built as an Australian bird that was assigned to 8 Squadron, RAAF, in Malaya in 1941-42. 8 Squadron was a Hudson bomber unit so we can surmise that this Moth was a squadron utility hack. I found a photo of it crushed in a hangar collapse on the excellent ADF Serials website.

The kit was a real joy to build. Zero problems. If you choose to build a wartime , make sure to remove the navigation lights from the top wings and rudder. They had none! I didn't realize this until the plane was about 95% complete and had to slice them off and touch up. Airfix provides tabs on the bottom of the windscreens to fit into slots on top of the fuselage. Remove the tabs and fill the slots. It's easier and neater. I added Eduard seat belts, scrap PE throttles and fabricated a fuel line from brass rod. Paint is all Humbrol enamels, the yellow surfaces were primed with Tamiya white spray can primer. Decals are a combination of kit roundels and fin flashes with Xtradecal and Fantasy Print Shop codes. Final coat of Testors semigloss clear to blend it all together. Rigging is EZ Line with brass rod for stiffeners between the wings. It will be interesting to see what Airfix does next with these molds. Lots of possibilities. Thanks for viewing!

Reader reactions:
18  Awesome

15 additional images. Click to enlarge.


28 responses

  1. Looks fantastic John, great job with the yellow and the rigging!
    Great to see another DH100 GB completion too.
    The Airfix kit looks excellent as the wings and other flying surfaces actually look like doped canvas.

  2. George is spot on in writing ; "The Airfix kit look s excellent as the wings and other flying surfaces actually look like doped canvas."

    Sometimes it's not what you do or say about a model rather its how you feel after looking at a kit.
    John you and Airfix have combined efforts to capture the character and spirit of the Tiger Moth.
    It's a good feeling . . . kind of like a disease, infectious and makes you want to buy a kit.

    Two thumbs up John.

    • Thanks, Stephen. I have really enjoyed all of these new Airfix kits over the last 10 years or so. Great subject matter and nice moldings at a reasonable price.

  3. She's a fine looker, John. Great job on the yellow. Never a fun color, for me any ways. You pulled it off great!

  4. Excellent performance, John @j-healy
    The uniformity of the yellow looks fantastic.
    Also the rigging and detailing is great.

  5. This is a truly wonderful result, my friend @j-healy!
    Everything in this build is just great, painting with good old Humbrol enamels included!
    Following your build thread was extremely pleasant.
    Congratulations!

  6. Looking at your cockpit closeup, I think I will make the windscreens on mine from some clear plastic from a salad container.

    Nice work on this and an inspirational result for those of us who have the kit in the stash.

  7. Yellow can be fussy to paint at times. I had to really go over just painting the tail of a P-47 a couple of times to get it to look right. You did an excellent job on the whole air frame. Airfix is really providing some nice choices in this scale. Clean and well presented John, thanks for sharing.

  8. Good to see one of these built up, especially when it's as good as this, definitely liked.

  9. Great work on this John!

  10. Nice job on this build. The rigging and yellow paint came out great. This is really a nice looking kit.

  11. Beautiful job!

  12. Beautiful build, John. Certainly inspirational!

  13. Tiger Moths age like a fine wine! Great result

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