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TAMYIA 1:48 DE HAVILLAND MOSQUITO FB MK.BI/NF MK.II |
Reviewer:
Geoff Goldfen (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted:
16 January 2003
Kit Details:
Tamiya 1/48 Scale Aircraft Series No.62 - De Havilland Mosquito FB Mk.VI/NF Mk.II
Aircraft History:
TBA
The Kit:
Molded in superbly engineered light grey and totalling about 130, the injection molded parts feature excellent surface detail, with no flash on the sprues, and crisp plastic. The clear sprue containing nine parts, including wingtip and landing lights is packaged in a separate bag to ensure they do not become scratched. Overall the usual high expectations with Tamiya kits is met here, and I couldn’t wait to start gluing parts together as with many other Tamiya Quarter Scale kits I have reviewed on SMAKR!
Instructions:
These follow the usual Tamiya format being a fold out sheet with a series of clear assembly steps, sprue diagram, brief history overview and clear decal placement diagrams at the back for the versions offered in the kit. Painting information is taken from the Tamiya range and covers both external and internal areas, although not as comprehensive as it could be throughout the actual assembly process.
Construction:
This commenced in the cockpit which I must say, for injection molded plastic, is superbly catered for, and being Tamiya the parts are engineered to fit well. The kit provides a rear shelf section onto which is attached a stepped upper deck and lower floor at the front and rear bulkhead. In the cockpit section the floor contains a forward pilot seat and control column and a slightly aft navigator’s seat. The control column is provided in two parts and a radio set can also be squeezed in while the sidewall also has excellent detail with throttle and distribution panel all included, with the cockpit section completed by a separate nose section separating the fighter and bomber variants. All the parts fit well and can be installed into the fuselage half without any real hassles. Also included are two horizontal bars which act as spars for the wings to be mounted on later, protruding through holes in the fuselage halves.
The fuselage halves can then be placed together and the separate nose is placed onto this, which is done in such a way that the join line is almost invisible while the upper access panels are also separate allowing one to display these sections open. Into the nose section are various machine guns and ammo holds which can really be brought out with some careful detailing. The bomb bay is also decked out in spite of this being the fighter variant of the Mosquito and you can really depict this in a great way with some careful painting and detailing of your own. Included in the kit detail is a pair of fuel tanks recessed into the ceiling of the bomb bay as well as a couple of bomb racks, and a pair of 250-lb bombs with the shortened fins as specially designed for carriage in the mosquito. So, overall the internal detail for this kit is truly excellent and rivals those who produce aftermarket resin and etched sets for level of detail alone.
Now we move onto the wings and engine assemblies, and these really are just a straight forward process by following the instructions and I found no hassles putting these together. The only area of concern though was with the wing tips as these were provided separately, with options for single or double tipped lights. The earlier version had two lights, one on both the trailing and leading edges while the later versions only had the single leading edge light. The reason why this area is a concern is that the fit was not all that good, and other ways such as providing two sets of lights and getting one to simply cut and sand the trailing edge one would have been better. It took considerable effort and test fitting before a flush fit could be achieved. One must also remember to open the holes for the bomb racks, if one chooses to depict these before the wing halves are affixed together.
There is not much to report with regard to the engine assembly as it was really quite straight forward. Both the shrouded and separate style exhaust stacks are included, depending on which version you are going to finish the model with and the propeller assembly is made up of spinner, poly cap, backing plate, pin and propeller itself, creating a very snug little unit.
The wings are mounted onto the fuselage sides with the spars going through the roots and small rounded locating holes in the middle, into which goes a pin-like plug device through the lower wing to secure them in place. The problem encountered here is that once the pins are in they won’t want to come out, so you really need to take your time and position them correctly, lest you have some filling and sanding to do afterward to blend in the wing. The tailplanes secured into place almost perfectly.
The main undercarriage is installed into the engine cowlings and again following the instructions these provided no hassles whatsoever in assembling. The main struts and wheels with square-treaded tyres are well detailed and even mud guards are provided, including one for the tailwheel. The kit provides two options for the wheels, one being spoked and the other plain while neither is actually weighted. The tailwheel is however not as detailed with the strut and wheel molded together.
I already mentioned that the bomb bay includes a couple of GP bombs but two additional bombs can be mounted under the outer wing sections as well as rocket projectiles, and as mentioned also, the locating holes in the wing need to be opened to affix these.
Final details in the kit included a crew access door and boarding ladder and the canopy which fitted very nicely. The distinctive bow and arrow antennae is not included in the kit, so it is up to you to depict the model without them, or with them via aftermarket source or through scratchbuilding your own.
Colour Schemes:
Three choices of schemes can be made with the first two FB Mk VI variants and the third an NF Mk II. The schemes offered are as follows:
· RNZAF 487 Sqn FB Mk VI wearing MM417 as the serial number reputedly, according to the many propaganda shots taken during and after the war, part of the flight which performed the famous raid on the Amiens Prison in mid February 1944. The machine is wearing Dark Green and Ocean Grey disruptive camouflage over Medium Sea Grey undersides.
· RAF 143 Sqn, Banff Strike Wing, FB MK VI wearing RS625 serial in Extra Dark Sea Grey over Sky undersides. I found a sideview profile of this actual aircraft in a reference book and an accompanying black and white photo, both showing a two-tone upper camouflage scheme, which the sideview interpreted as two greys, Dark Sea or Slate Grey and Ocean Grey, disruptive camouflage over a sky blue underside. Further reference checking is recommended if you choose this option.
· RAF 157 Sqn NF Mk II wearing W4087 serial in overall matt black for night fighting missions, plus the radar antenna, not included in the kit, on the nose.
Decals:
Offered on the typical Tamiya fairly extensive decal sheet are stencils, roundels, codes and even white backing parts to help keep the colour density of the insignia etc enough to ensure the fuselage camouflage cannot be seen through. They are well printed with excellent colour register and go onto the model without any problems at all. As usual, if you have to have a gripe it is because the decals are a touch on the thick side.
Accuracy:
While I don’t possess any scale plans of this aircraft personally, I do have a good sense to the overall profile and look of the mosquito as it is one of my favourite late war aircraft, through a number of books, photos and internet articles. As most of you who have read my reviews will also know, I am not a real rivet counter when it comes to modelling, however, I still like the overall finished product to be as convincing as possible. Tamiya have done pretty well here, the model scales spot on to quoted dimensions and it looks and feels every bit the Mosquito it is trying to replicate. I could find no real flaws in the kit to harp on.
Overall Recommendation:
This is yet another superbly engineered offering from Tamiya which has plenty of detail to keep just about every type of modeller happy. The engineering of the kit almost allows one to fall out completed if the box is shaken too hard, and could really be tackled by anyone with basic modelling skills in the quarter scale market. This kit comes with my highest recommendations!
Note: the following related reviews links have not been updated since early 2000's - more kit reviews of this aircraft may now be on SMAKR, not reflected below. Refer to the Index for other kits of this type.
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