De Havilland Mosquito PR XVI by realworkingsailor - Airfix - 1/72

[realworkingsailor]

Um..... so yeah.... This showed up the other day....

 

 

So in all honesty, a Mosquito wasn't initially on my "build radar", I was looking at a few other kits in my stash trying to figure out what I wanted to do next. My inspiration for this project stems from my GF. She's a Canadian Forces veteran, who worked at 400 Tactical Helicopter Squadron for a time. I did a little historic research and found some of the squadron's history from World War II. 400 Squadron was formed as an army co-operation squadron, and when it arrived in England in 1940, they were equipped with Lysanders. They were re-equipped and reassigned as a Fighter/Reconnaissance squadron in 1941 with Tomahawk Mk IIs, and in 1942 with Mustang Mk Is. Starting in December 1943 they were redesigned a Photo Reconnaissance squadron and were again re-equipped, this time with Spitfire PR XIs and half a dozen Mosquito PR XVIs. The Mosquitos only lasted until the end of May 1944, with 400 Squadron flying the Spits until the end of the war.

 

The Mosquitos seems to me to be the most interesting of the aircraft flown by 400 Squadron in the PR role, and one in particular. As PR airplanes, they were never assigned squadron codes, being identified only by their serial numbers. The aircraft I'm looking at was serial number MM307. While its time with 400 squadron was rather uneventful, what happened after was much more intriguing. After a short time with 140 squadron, MM307 was sent to 544 squadron in the late summer, early fall of 1944. 

 

After the Quebec conference in September 1944, Winston Churchill decided to travel to Moscow to meet with Soviet premier Josef Stalin in early October. In order to keep Churchill up to date with the events of the war, a special courier operation was set up using the PR Mosquitos of 544 Squadron. Operation Frugal saw 16 round trip flights between RAF Benson and Moscow. MM307 made one of those trips. Unfortunately, on the return leg, the airplane suffered a failure of the constant speed unit on one of its engines as it began its return crossing of the North sea. The airplane did make it back to base on one engine, but did not participate in any further "Frugal" sorties. A full description of Operation Frugal and be found here

 

The Airfix kit is pretty straightforward as far as Airfix kits go.

 

Six sprues of the newer dark grey plastic are included, one of the smaller sets has the details specific to the PR XVI:

 

 

From what I've read and seen online, there should be no need for any major corrective surgery as was the case with the previously released B XVI (or was it TT??)

 

The instructions are the typical fare from Airfix as well as the expected Cartograph decals:

 

 

Although, I don't intend to use many of the decals beyond the airframe stencils and fuselage roundels. I will be dipping in to my stash to source the correct type "B" roundels for the upper wing, and I'll be printing off my own serial numbers.

 

Finally, the assortment of clear parts appears cleanly moulded, and a small addition of some Yahu seatbelts:

 

 

I will probably source out a masking set for this build, and maybe some resin wheels but otherwise I will build this straight out of the box.

 

Overall this looks like it should be a fun build, and I'm not anticipating too many problems with the kit, if the online reviews are anything to go by. (Famous last words!)

 

Andy

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Danstream]

Great Andy! I will be following your Mosquito build. I am sure your build will be faster than mine.

Best regards,

Dan

[king derelict]

Looking forward to the build 

alan

[AJohnson]

Will also following along, will enjoy seeing your RCAF version. 

Edited Saturday at 10:06 PM by AJohnson

[Canute]

I'm in too, Andy. A photo bird will be cool.

[realworkingsailor]

Thanks everyone! 

Unfortunately, this build will be delayed getting under way for a while. Living in an older house has its quirks. And this house has one particularly interesting one, at that. 
 

Every spring, the cellar turns into a bit of a river, due to the melting snow. The cellar also happens to be the location of my spray painting area, (there being no other space in the house that is currently usable).

 

This is the normal state of affairs in this house at this time of year. The foundation is an over 100 year old, two to three foot thick blend of mortar and small stones. Waterproofing is next to impossible, or really really expensive (honestly, the best, and cheapest, tool to repair all of the problems with this house is a bulldozer😂).

There is a sump and a sump pump, so the critical systems, like the furnace are safe:

 

 

But given the volume of snow this past winter (the first old fashioned winter we’ve had in a long time), it’s going to take a while for the… um…. tide… to go out! Of course the rain we had last weekend has not helped the situation any either…

Apologies to anyone who was anticipating a quick build. Hopefully the weather will cooperate and the water flow will abate enough that my painting area becomes somewhat useable again soon, at least accessible without resorting to hip-waders 🤪. I’m eager to get building again as soon as possible!

 

Andy

[king derelict]

Good luck with the water removal and dry out 

alan

[realworkingsailor]

35 minutes ago, king derelict said:

Good luck with the water removal and dry out 

alan

Thanks Alan!
 

Really it’s just a matter of waiting it out. It’s an annual occurrence, but hopefully soon the weather will begin to warm up, and the water table can recede a bit. The topography and soil has a lot to do with it too. Sand over clay. The melt water from last winter’s snow permeates down through the sand until it hits the clay, then flows along the top of the clay until it hits the low ground (aka my pond), or it emerges through the porous walls of my cellar. 
 

Andy