Manufacturer:Tamiya, distributed by Tamiya America, 2 Orion, Alison Viejo, CA 92656-4200, 800-826-4922.
Kit: No. 60747
Scale: 1/72
Price: $23
Comments: Injection molded, 135 parts, decals.
Pros: Fine detail inside and out, good fit, lots of optional parts.
Cons: Color recommendations questionable, decals printed slightly out of register.
After years of dealing with sub-par 1/72 scale Mosquitos, we get two decent kits within a few months! Tamiya's latest release follows traditional parts breakdown and possesses fine exterior and interior detail. Optional parts include alternate wingtips, propellers, nose and wingtip radar antennas, exhausts, main wheel hubs, cockpit components, and underwing stores appropriate for each of the two variants.
A nice cockpit interior is given, including sidewall detail, decal seat belts, and a choice of highlighting the raised instrument panel details (as I did) or using a decal. Construction is straightforward and most parts are a precise fit. Here are a couple of tips: when assembling the fuselage in step 12, don't glue the wing spars to the fuselage sides - wait until step 14, as this will allow accurate alignment of the wings. In step 13, fit the ventral gun bay and bomb bay in place before gluing the forward fuselage belly seam - this results in a small, easily-filled seam between the two, but achieves a much better fit than trying to sand down these two components to fit an already-glued-up fuselage. The only other place I needed to use filler was on top of the aft wing/engine nacelle trailing edge joints.
Small touches abound on this kit and convince me that a modeler was involved in its development. The two-piece tail wheel gives the correct dual-contact tire configuration; the landing gear assemblies seem "spidery" with all their components, but when assembled they fit like a glove and the aircraft sits true. Decal strips are provided for the aft interior framing of the canopy, and although they're a little tedious to install they look great when finished. Remember to apply these strips color-side out so the correct interior green color shows through the canopy.
Decals and painting instructions are given for a Mosquito FB Mk. VI from 487 Squadron, a NF Mk.II from 157 Squadron, and the "Thinking Man's Mosquito," FB Mk. VI, coded NE+D from 143 (Banff) Squadron; I chose the last one. I wasn't crazy about Tamiya's color instructions for this machine, and settled for Gunze Sangyo Dark Sea Gray over Sky.
Included in the kit but given no mention in the instructions are a pair of underwing slipper tanks. My reference shows a black and white photo of my Mossie with two rocket rails and one tank per wing, so I equipped the model that way.
Decals fit nicely and snuggle down great; the only setting solution I used was on the right side roundel and code letters where they fit around the external fuselage stiffener. The red "keep off" warning markings for the top of the radiator areas are printed out-of-register over a white base. I discarded these and used strips of Fantasy Printshop's dull red decal material for the "X in the box" marking but cut the "keep off" stencils from the Tamiya sheet.
This is a NICE kit. It comes pretty close to that mythical "shake the box and it assembles itself" status. OK, so I shook it, and 15 hours later I have a fine-looking Mosquito.