As usual, I am late coming to the dance, but I am ready to catch up.

My, do you know how to make an entrance my friend! What a great idea - one of the things I have searched for is those movie planes, like the ToraToraTora T6 and whatnots, and lately I have been thinking of the movieship from BoB. . .

You have really rolled out the big guns on this one - I'm strapped in, and to follow up, I think the movie may be shown on my screen tomorrow! I'll be checking for accuracy, so you better be sharp 😉

Update:
Today was supposed to be the day I started working on the cockpit, but I realized I didn't know enough about Mosquitos to begin. This build presents an interesting problem: The plane in the movie is supposed to be a Mosquito FB Mk VI, but using a Mosquito TT Mk 35 as a stand-in. Cosmetic changes were made to the TT 35 to make it look like a Mk VI. I know that the film crew basically painted over the nose glass, added dummy nose machine guns, and then painted the planes to represent the FB Mk VI. The problem is that I didn't know enough about the Mosquito to make a replica of a Mk 35 that had been dressed up to stand in for a Mk VI. I really like the Mosquito, and I am embarrassed to say that my knowledge about the types of Mosquito was limited to the idea that one had a glass nose, one had a bunch of guns in the nose, and one version had cameras.

Aside from the internet, my library had two books that proved very useful. The first was Mosquito: The Original Multi-Role Aircraft by Graham Simmons and the second was The De Havilland Mosquito: A Comprehensive Guide for the Modeller by Richard Franks. The first reference helped me realize that there were a huge number of variants of the Mosquito. The second reference was very useful because of its diagrams of each version, along with a description of the key features of each version.

Then I looked at the characteristics of the Mk 35:
-Bulged bomb-bay
-V-shaped front canopy
-2 whip antennas instead of wire and mast
-Dual stage Merlin engines
-Wide 3 blade paddle props
-Cockpit entrance through hatch on bottom of fuselage
-Glass nose, with access to nose compartment under the instrument panel

All of this is important because I know that the movie company made only cosmetic changes to their TT Mk 35s, so many of the characteristics of the Mk 35 would be seen on the movie planes. I went online and found photos to confirm that the movie planes contained all of the characteristics of the Mk 35, along with painted nose glass and fake guns.

I had planned to use the extremely detailed resin cockpit I had, which was designed to fit an Airfix Mk VI, but I quickly discovered it wouldn't work for a TT Mk 35. As it turns out, the TT Mk 35 had an entrance hatch through the bottom of the flight deck, but the resin had a solid floor and a side entrance hatch. In addition, the Mk VI resin had an instrument panel that completely closed off the nose, while the TT Mk 35 had an instrument panel that allowed access to the nose. I think my plan will be to use the kit parts that will build a Mk 35 floor and save the resin for another kit. I don't know if I will be able to use the Eduard photoetch I have, since it is for a Mk VI, or whether I will ask my shaky hands to detail the Airfix cockpit.

Well, the value of research rears its ugly head again. I now feel much better armed to tackle all of the various nuances of this kit. On to the cockpit (again) tomorrow.

8 additional images. Click to enlarge.

Hi George @gblair!

What an entrance, my friend! Your chosen subject is absolutely cool, in that it mystically connects the modified planes used in aviation movies with the actual variants they were supposed to represent.

No more purist thoughts of using other variants modified to look like the desired variants. Now, these modified variants have their own great posture, and I hope I my view is understood, which is a bit difficult if someone reads my above chaotic comment (lol).

I am really amazed by your motivation and projected implementation.

What a great choice!

Please, count me in!

I will definitely be tightly strapped on here!

Thanks, Erik (@airbum) and Spiros (@fiveten). I have been considering the various options for the cockpit. First, I can use the kit cockpit, which is correct for the build, and add the missing details. Second, I can use the kit cockpit, but add the Eduard set for the Mk VI, which isn't correct but probably close enough. And last, I can use the resin set, which would require a hole cut in the resin floor for the entrance hatch, but is incredibly detailed. In addition, I have discovered that the resin set, which is for the FB Mk VI, has a stick instead of a yoke. This would require the use of some kit parts to get a yoke into the cockpit. The sidewalls for the resin are also designed for a plane with the side entrance hatch, which would also have to be modified since the Mk 35 has the bottom entrance hatch. My decision changes each hour, so I am not sure which way I will go.

You have the right Mosquito kit to do this. You might check my build of this kit as a PR XVI (here and at Modeling Madness) for any glitch solutions I had (I forget, it was two years ago and that's a millenial eternity nowadays).

They solved the problem of Cliff being American by making him a former Eagle Squadron pilot. I was always impressed that they did their detail research sufficiently to have the correct shoulder patch fo the Eagles on his uniform. Not widely-known information.

Nice progress, George @gblair!
Love those resin extras!

The sidewall looks great!