Tamiya 1/72 DeHavilland Mosquito Mk.XX, Guy Gibson / Jim Warwick, AZ-E KB267
After my completion of the Dam Buster Lancaster with the aircraft codes of Commanding Officer Guy Gibson, I read that after his Dam Buster adventure he flew the De Havilland Mosquito in which he unfortunately crashed near Steenbergen, the Netherlands, on September 19th 1944. After visiting this crash location and his grave in Steenbergen, he is buried there together with his navigator Jim Warwick, I decided to built their Mosquito as a follow up of the Lancaster build.
In my search for a nice Mosquito kit, I was able to purchase one from Harm (@hptiggelaar). It is the Tamiya 1/72 kit 60753. Thanks a lot for allowing me to buy this kit from you, Harm.
The aircraft flown by Guy Gibson was a Mk.XX, but is a Canadian built of the Mk.IV so the Tamiya kit could be used for this subject. The aircraft codes, AZ-E with registration number KB267, were not present and the ones created by ADS decals were not available anymore during my search online. Therefore I decided to create those myself, although I never used this technique before, it turned out to be a quite simple process. I might use this approach more often to create some unique schemes.
Like in most cases with Tamiya, also this build was almost trouble free. The only issue I had, likely caused by myself, were the fuselage windows near the front on the nose. For some reason I was not able to get them in nicely. The interior is nicely detailed, especially for a 1/72 scale.
Paints used are Ocean Grey (Vallejo 71.273) and Dark Green (Vallejo 71.324) for the upper surface and Medium Sea Grey (Vallejo 71.307) for the lower surface.
Thanks a lot for all who followed the building process in the following thread,
https://imodeler.com/groups/work-in-progress-aircraft/forum/topic/tamiya-1-72-de-haviland-mosquito-guy-gibson-and-jim-warwick/
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- 1. The crash site in Steenbergen
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- 1. Streets nearby the crash site are named after Guy Gibson, Jim Warwick. There is also a street named Mosquitostraat.
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- 1. Self printed aircraft codes, eventually I went for the darker ones.
What a great accomplishment this build is @Johnb. I enjoyed following the progress in the group. The final result is wonderfull. So nice to build this historical Mosquito. I’m curious about your next project!
@hptiggelaar, thanks a lot, Harm. I've always liked the looks of the Mosquito and this time I had a good reason to build one.
@johnb
Building a model that has an historical background as powerful as this one must be a very satisfying experience. I think you made a splendid model and homage combined
@holzhamer, thank you very much, Pedro. Knowing more about Gibson and Warwick and visiting their graves made it very special indeed.
Dear John @johnb, she looks fantastic! Absolutely beautiful paintjob, love the subtle changes in hues and the weathered look! The history is both interesting and moving. All these men that died so young.
@fxrob, thank you, Felix. It is good to see that those brave men are still remembered. We do owe them a lot.
Very nice Mosquito, John. Your paintwork made me think thus was a larger model.
@j-healy, thanks a lot, John. Not my usual kind of scale but for twin engine aircraft it is a nice scale.
It was fun to follow along on this model, John (@johnb). The decals you created look perfect. Camo looks really nice.
@gblair, thank you, George. The quality of the decals turned out better than I expected from self printed ones. They are very thin and the colors are quite nicely presented. It was a pleasure to have you following the thread.
Beautiful paintwork on this one John (@johnb). The Mosquito is such an attractive aircraft. I have one on my short list of upcoming build projects. Hopefully I can get to it next year. Being able to print your own decals or create masks to paint them is a great technique to learn which opens up many possibilities. Learning all this is one of the best parts of model building. Thanks for sharing your build.
@clipper, thanks a lot, Carl. The Mosquito is indeed an elegant aircraft. I agree, the learning aspect of modelling is a pleasure itself, it opens up lots of possibilities like you said. Looking forward to your build.
Excellent result, John! Your Mosquito looks wonderful and I enjoyed following your build thread! Your decals really rock!
Congratulations!
@fiveten, thank you, Spiros. It was a pleasure to have you following this build. Took longer than expected, mainly caused by real life interruptions, but I'm happy with how she turned out.
Very impressive work on this Mosquito, John @johnb ! It looks very nice.
@ssgt, thank you, Jay. This is an enjoyable kit. Tamiya did some nice engineering.
Wow, great article and model, John @johnb! 🤩 What a wonderful result! 👏
@garybrantley, thank you, Gary. Glad you like it.
Good looking Mosquito, John @johnb.
@eb801, thanks a lot, Eric.
What a beautiful Mosquito and respectful tribute to those men who gave their lives for our freedom.
Like the custom made decals. How does this work actually?
@alfred, thank you, Alfred. Printing those decals is as easy as regular printing. You can buy blank A4 size printing paper, watch out because inkjet and laser printers use different kind of paper. There is paper with a white background and with a transparant background, I used the last variant. Basically the entire A4 is one big decal, so you will have to cut out your printed part as nice as possible. For the rest it works exactly as a regular decal, put it in water and when it comes loose, slide it onto the model.
Thanks, John. @johnb
Sounds easy enough. One last question though; if you print only a few decals on an A4 sheet, does this mean that the rest of the sheet becomes useless or can it be reused in a next print session after the printed decals have been cut out?
I did a reprint on an already used A4 and it still worked fine. Not sure how often that can be done.
Great. Thanks John. @johnb
I've never met a Mosquito I didn't like John. A great build and back round story with photos of Gibson's final resting placing and memorial. The model serves as a good reminder of Gibson's contributions to the war. His mosquito history is often over looked.
@stephen-w-towle, thanks a lot, Stephen. It always gives a model something special if you have done some background research about the men behind it.
Really nice work on this John @johnb.
@tcinla, thank you, Tom. Well appreciate your compliment.
Excellent result - your self-made decals turned out well.
@chasbunch, thanks a lot, Chas. Creating decals yourself turns out to be easier than expected.
Beautiful Mossie - especially for 1/72! As much as I love the Mosquito I have yet to build one, but think I may have this same kit in my stash, and it looks like it builds up beautifully, so I should pull it out and get cranking!
@gkittinger, thank you, Greg. This Tamiya kit in 1/72 gets together quite nicely. Looking forward to yours.
Nice plane, nicely finished model, and very nice presentation.
I like it a lot
Regards Djordje
@djordjestarcevic, thanks a lot, Djordje.
Great job, John. Nice tribute.
@gwskat, thank you, Gary.
Beautiful model John, cockpit details and landing gear legs look very good indeed in this scale.
@milantesar, thanks a lot, Milan. Glad you like it.