De Havilland Tiger Moth by Lt. Biggles - Airfix - 1/48 - PLASTIC

[Lt. Biggles]

Hey,

Feels like ages ago since I’ve been able to think about doing any models. But I’ve got things settled and have some time to spare so I’m back. It will probably be a slower build! But slow and steady. 
I’ve been asked to replicate a specific plane. This one… Queenie

 

 

A classic tiger moth. So just waiting for them to send me some references pics of the cockpit so I can really get things going.

Airfix have a 1/48 scale kit.

 

And I’ve got the Eduard aftermarket PE set with a few bits to help make it that much better (hopefully). 
 

It has a few challenges, mainly the Union Jack on the tail which I’ll have to mask and paint, matching the red paint scheme and knowing its ratio for the inevitable touch ups and on the left side nose it has a very specific logo. Which I’ll have to make a custom decal for… new territory! The kit instructions come with detailed drawings on how to rig it. So that should really finish it well! 
Thanks for taking a look
 

 

[ccoyle]

Such an iconic aircraft! And of course the surviving examples around the world wear a wonderful variety of liveries.

[Lt. Biggles]

On 4/7/2025 at 10:33 AM, ccoyle said:

Such an iconic aircraft! And of course the surviving examples around the world wear a wonderful variety of liveries.

They really are! It’s great to see them flying around on the nice weather weekends! 

[Lt. Biggles]

Naturally the first step is to paint the propellor… from the pics I’ve found it’s a wooden laminated prop. 

I painted the propellor buff colour and used a stationary pencil and moved the propellor against it to draw 2 lines to show the layers. It’s 4cm long so was a bit fiddly. From the pics the middle layer is the light colour, so painted the outer layers with a darker brown acrylic.

 

Then once dry covered it with dark brown oils and let it dry for a bit before brushing the oil off to try give a wood grain effect. I’m fairly happy with it and will give it a few days before I seal it in after any touch ups I think it needs with a clear coat. It blends the two shades together well! 

 

 

To me it looks like a wooden prop 

[Canute]

Your prop looks very good. 👍

[Javlin]

3 hours ago, Lt. Biggles said:

Naturally the first step is to paint the propellor… from the pics I’ve found it’s a wooden laminated prop. 

I painted the propellor buff colour and used a stationary pencil and moved the propellor against it to draw 2 lines to show the layers. It’s 4cm long so was a bit fiddly. From the pics the middle layer is the light colour, so painted the outer layers with a darker brown acrylic.

 

Then once dry covered it with dark brown oils and let it dry for a bit before brushing the oil off to try give a wood grain effect. I’m fairly happy with it and will give it a few days before I seal it in after any touch ups I think it needs with a clear coat. It blends the two shades together well! 

 

 

To me it looks like a wooden prop 

Your prop looks very good I have used orange acrylic clear that I made up it will give it a little of an aged look if so desired.

[Landlubber Mike]

Really cool subject!  I just picked up a Silver Wings kit of the Tiger Moth so will be following your build with much interest!  Great start!

[Lt. Biggles]

On 4/9/2025 at 12:20 AM, Canute said:

Your prop looks very good. 👍

Thanks, there are so many tutorials online nowadays it’s great! Some of them I wonder how they came up with the idea in the first place!

[Lt. Biggles]

On 4/9/2025 at 12:58 AM, Javlin said:

Your prop looks very good I have used orange acrylic clear that I made up it will give it a little of an aged look if so desired.

That’s a really good idea to add an orange filter to age it! I’ll not get to try that for this build as the prop is new and well taken care of. But if in the future I build a well used and old looking plane, I’ll be sure to remember this and give it ago! Thanks

[Lt. Biggles]

10 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Really cool subject!  I just picked up a Silver Wings kit of the Tiger Moth so will be following your build with much interest!  Great start!

I just looked it up! Is it the 1:32 scale one? I was surprised there was a tiger moth model on the market… let alone one in 1:32 scale! I think you will enjoy building yours! Simple design but full of character! My build will come together a lot faster than I was expecting once I get the cockpit colours sorted and can close it up. 

[Lt. Biggles]

Thinking ahead to how to rig the wings once it’s put together I came up with an idea to fit some eyes made from fuse wire.

Drilled holes and inserted them with CA glue. Once rigged I can hopefully bend the eyes flat against the wings to hide them and blend them in.

 

If I wait till the plane is complete and then think about how to do it I have a feeling it would be very difficult to do well and would have questionable anchor points which isn’t ideal. So preparing for that now and hoping it works out well.

[NavyShooter]

Wait a sec...looking at that box art...the flight deck on that carrier is angled.  That wasn't a thing until after WW2!  

 

Were they still using Tiger Moth aircraft for carrier deck landing practice in the 50's?

 

 

[realworkingsailor]

1 hour ago, NavyShooter said:

Wait a sec...looking at that box art...the flight deck on that carrier is angled.  That wasn't a thing until after WW2!  

 

Were they still using Tiger Moth aircraft for carrier deck landing practice in the 50's?

 

 

Apparently! Looking at the Airfix instructions (via Scalemates), the last landing of a biplane on a British aircraft carrier occurred July 1st 1965, on HMS Eagle.

 

Andy

[ccoyle]

33 minutes ago, realworkingsailor said:

the last landing of a biplane on a British aircraft carrier occurred July 1st 1965, on HMS Eagle

 

Great! Now I can say my life has overlapped the era of biplane carrier operations. 😂

[ccoyle]

According to this website, the last Tiger Moth landing on a carrier was in 1967, and Tiger Moths were in service until the early 70s.

 

Of course, that same website claims the Tiger Moth had a 12,000 ft/min climb rate -- whoa!! 😮

 

[Landlubber Mike]

13 hours ago, Lt. Biggles said:

I just looked it up! Is it the 1:32 scale one? I was surprised there was a tiger moth model on the market… let alone one in 1:32 scale! I think you will enjoy building yours! Simple design but full of character! My build will come together a lot faster than I was expecting once I get the cockpit colours sorted and can close it up. 

Yep, it's 1/32.  Has some pretty interesting marking options - maybe I'll start mine shortly while inspired by your build:

 

http://www.silverwings.pl/de-havilland-dh82a-tiger-moth.html

 

I got mine at a pretty steep discount on one of the FB auction sites.  Not only did the auction have the kit, but it also had a ton of aftermarket detail pieces from CMK and Eduard for the 1/32 ICM kit.  Not sure I'll need them, but nice to have.

Edited Thursday at 06:17 PM by Landlubber Mike

[Lt. Biggles]

21 hours ago, NavyShooter said:

Wait a sec...looking at that box art...the flight deck on that carrier is angled.  That wasn't a thing until after WW2!  

 

Were they still using Tiger Moth aircraft for carrier deck landing practice in the 50's?

 

 

 

19 hours ago, realworkingsailor said:

Apparently! Looking at the Airfix instructions (via Scalemates), the last landing of a biplane on a British aircraft carrier occurred July 1st 1965, on HMS Eagle.

 

Andy

 

19 hours ago, ccoyle said:

 

Great! Now I can say my life has overlapped the era of biplane carrier operations. 😂

Well you learn something everyday!

Landing on a carrier must be a pretty unique experience! In the right conditions it must have been more like a hover landing!

[Lt. Biggles]

16 hours ago, Landlubber Mike said:

Yep, it's 1/32.  Has some pretty interesting marking options - maybe I'll start mine shortly while inspired by your build:

 

http://www.silverwings.pl/de-havilland-dh82a-tiger-moth.html

 

I got mine at a pretty steep discount on one of the FB auction sites.  Not only did the auction have the kit, but it also had a ton of aftermarket detail pieces from CMK and Eduard for the 1/32 ICM kit.  Not sure I'll need them, but nice to have.

I’m intrigued to try a 1:32 scale model at some stage! I’ve never tried one!

You always do amazing work with your builds and the aftermarket parts! I look forward to seeing your one take space when you get around to it!

[Lt. Biggles]

Cockpit reference pics arrived so was able to make a start! 
 

A nice simple and uncluttered aircraft! In some ways it makes it a challenge I. Its own way. Trying not to busy it up and over weather for the sake of a lot of room to fill.

 

The Edward instrument panels always give it that extra boost! 
 

I'll have to make some seat cushions to match the pics but it’s coming together well.

As I’ve completed more models I’ve been able to just get on with them and not fuss about on things that aren’t visible. Get the effect I want and cut down on a lot of time that I’ve wasted while doing previous projects.

[Landlubber Mike]

Really nice start!