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John Healy
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1/48 Dehavilland Mosquito Pr.IV.

June 10, 2022 · in Aviation · · 28 · 1.2K

This is the well known kit which I acquired at a swap meet for $15 USC a few years back. Another long term stash dweller who's day on the bench finally came. There's not much to say about this kit that hasn't been heard by guys like us who frequent this site. It's simply a great model. That said, I managed to create difficulties for myself with the clear parts. I Futured all of the transparencies with the idea that this would enable more of the nice interior to be seen underneath that heavily framed canopy. What I achieved by doing this was to screw up the fit of said parts. They were all really tight, on top of being a challenge to mask properly. An Eduard mask set helped with the later problem but I still needed to lightly sand the edges of the clear windows to get a decent fit. It's not a contest winner, but it's done. I also realized that this is only the second that I've built in 53 years of modeling. I guess I'm more of a Beaufighter guy…..

I built it pretty much out of the box with the exception of the addition of some Eduard seat belts. The PRU blue is Xtracolor and everything else is painted with Humbrol enamels. Decals are from the kit and went on well using fairly hot water.

Reader reactions:
17  Awesome

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.


28 responses

  1. A wonderful Mosquito, John!
    Indeed, Future is great stuff but can a times cause more trouble than help. Everything looked great at the end, though. Love the PRU shade.

  2. Very nice John,liked a lot.

  3. Nice result. Hard to go wrong with a Tamiya Mosquito.

  4. Great looking Mosquito, I really like the PRU Blue scheme. Great job on the whole build.

  5. Nice and clean looking John. Tamiya’s Mosquito is a terrific kit. You nailed it.

  6. Great Mosquito, John @j-healy
    A pity about the future but in the end all looks nice.
    Really like the way you present it with the opened bay and pilot entry doors.

  7. Another great build John. I have always admired your skill in cleanly and precisely installing the fine detail parts on aircraft. Something I struggle with and which can turn an otherwise nice model into something less than that. The problems you described with the clear parts doesn't look obvious to me in your photos. On the contrary, I think they look great! Well done my "right learned friend" ?

  8. very good looking Mosquito! Nice color! What brand of paint did you use to paint Mosquito in PRU Blue?

  9. Looks great, John. The PR blue-gray makes the Mosquito look sleek and dolphin-like. Tamiya kits have a reputation for ease of build but, like you, I had challenges with the canopy fit and framing. I solved this by using strips of decal, airbrushed in bigger pieces and cut to fit. They adhered well to the original painted frames and straightened up all the edges. Working with acrylics, I often find that the paint on the frames can flake off at the edges when masks are removed. Your framing looks good, given the challenges, so it doesn't need improvement. I include a pic for others who face challenges with the kit.

  10. Nice job, John.

  11. I think it looks great, John (@j-healy). Mosquitos always look awesome, especially in PRU Blue.

  12. Very nice Mossie. Wonderful kit too.

  13. John,
    You have done a wonderful job with her ! Your Mossie looks incredibly sleek. Two thumbs up and I was sure to check the "like" button. 🙂

  14. Lovely build - well done!

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