Mosquito model musing

I have a rather battered 1973 paperback edition of Frederick E. Smiths ‘633 Squadron’.

Now, without a doubt, although it’s a long time since I’ve read it, I do remember the novel being far better than the film adaption, despite the film’s excellent flying and taxing sequences. This, and the images on film of those Mosquito TT35s pretending to be FBVI types, led me to always want to have a go at making a 633 Squadron ‘special’.

With the availability of both the FBVI and BXVI in 1-48th scale, I thought it might be interesting to gather a plan for possible ‘by the book’ and ‘by the film’ what if builds.

So, just for the sake of it, because it’s a fun way of passing the time, (with my apologies to the Mosquito purists out there), I’ll don my anorak, pour a drink from my flask, make sure my woolly hat is adjusted and put forward my take on the what ifs of a 633 Squadron ‘special’.

Please feel free to join in with technical advice, opinions & comment as you feel the need.

So what are we looking at?

Well, taking the ‘by the book’ aircraft first.

Chapter 12 of Frederick E. Smith’s novel describes the special versions of the Mosquito as being fighter-bomber versions that had the cannons removed, (as the breeches, ammo feed and ammo boxes took up the forward half of the bay), the bomb bay converted to take the maximum 4000lb load and the gun armament changed to two ‘short barrelled’ 20mm cannons, projecting forward of the nose with two machine guns.

‘Maximum 4000lb load’ to me means a bay fitted with bulged doors and capable of carrying a 4000lb HC ‘cookie’ bomb, as on some B.IVs, later B.IXs and the B.XVIs.

‘Short barrelled cannons’ to me, mean Hispano Mk.Vs, as fitted to, amongst others, Tempests and late mark Spitfires.

‘Machine guns’ to me, in this instance, means .303 Brownings, as the Mosquito was never fitted with anything else.

My copy of the book also features a cracking cover painting of the Mosquitos of 633 thundering down the Swartfjord at near zero feet – the artist has done well, as the aircraft really do look like modified FBVIs, with a bulged bomb bay, no under fuselage cannons and two short barrelled cannons with two Brownings in the nose.

http://bearalley.blogspot.co.uk/2012_05_01_archive.html

Does anyone know who painted this picture?

Interestingly, the aircraft seem to have two stage Merlins, with the longer nacelles & small, under prop intercooler intake, although I don’t recall the book mentioning anything about a change of engines. The mountains of Norway are high I suppose, but I don’t think that two stage engines would make much difference to low level performance or climbing speed, would they?

I like the painting, but I can’t say that I’m convinced about the gun armament fit – not completely anyway.

The cannons are the one part of the aircraft that doesn’t work for me in the picture – they’re too short.

Look at the standard Mosquito nose armament, there isn’t space to move a belt fed 20mm forward from the original mountings, under the fuselage, even with a shorter barrel, as there is nowhere to fit the ammo boxes and feeds, etc, so the cannons HAVE to go in the nose.

The only way I can see a fit being possible would be to remove the two outer Brownings, with all the associated mountings, boxes and feeds, and substitute short barrel Mk.V Hispanos, fed by 60 round drum magazines, on a new mount. It looks to me that the cannon MIGHT fit in the space on an angle, but I’m not sure if Mk.Vs had a magazine feed option. Can anyone advise please?

Assuming that the cannons would fit, with the two inner Brownings still in situ, would the existing upper nose access panels still fit/close? Could the nose cap, (with the 4 holes in for the Browning barrels) fit the modified armament?

My personal opinion is that the nose cap for the Brownings would have to be replaced with something a little longer, to enable it to cover a sufficiently rigid mount for the Hispanos.

Suspending fiction for a moment and trying to think ‘what would I do back then’ to solve the problem, I think that time would have been of the essence, so a new nose cover based on something that already existed would be the obvious solution. What about a suitably modified, (holes added for the guns), thimble radome? Don’t forget, this is a cover, so no great structural strength is really necessary.

The result would mean that the Brownings were almost buried in the new nose cover, but even short Hispano cannon barrels would be clearly visible.

Anyone agree with my logic? Do you have a better option, keeping ‘by the book’?

Is there an aftermarket thimble nose available in 1-48th scale?

This is, of course, assuming that the Hispano Mk.V was in service during the autumn 1943 – spring 1944 period setting of the story…

Returning to the painting, the Mosquitos are clearly in medium sea grey & dark green Mosquito ‘fighter’ camouflage, with what looks like dull red squadron/aircraft codes.

Would anyone like to put forward an opinion on what the code letters are in the painting? My vote goes to LL, with the aircraft in the foreground being LL-G. What do you think?

A final question would be propeller type. Would the FB.VIs built during the period, or indeed any Mossies with 2 stage Merlins, (to fall in with the painting), during the same period, be fitted with standard or paddle blade props?

Moving on to the ‘by the film’ aircraft, the obvious choice as a basis, to me, is the 1-48th scale Airfix B.XVI.

Can anyone kindly advise on the obvious differences of the B.XVI and the B.35/TT.35 please? I know that the engine cowlings had minor difference due to the different Merlin engines fitted and that the radio antennas changed on the B.35, which used whip aerials on the fuselage & dipole aerials above the wingtips. Correct?

Was the latter down to different radios and nav/bombing aids?

Were there differences in the B.XVI & B.35 /TT.35 wheels?

The TT.35s also seem to have the cockpit escape hatch fitted with a blister and later bulged cockpit side glazing. Very obvious also is the very heavy winshield framing in some of the film images. Could this be due to the aircraft originally being built to be pressurised in the B.35/PR.35 guise?

Film camouflage is obviously Ocean grey & dark green uppers with medium sea grey undersides and light colour codes, (possibly light grey or off white rather than medium sea grey, to make them more visible on film?), with the codes HT being used. Didn’t 154 Squadron actually use HT on Spitfires in the real world?

Fake Browning machine guns have been mounted on painted over nose glazing to represent solid nosed, armed, aircraft. Does anyone know how that was done? Were holes drilled in the Perspex, or were the fake barrels mounted on the outside somehow? Were the Browning barrels indeed fake, or real?

As far as I can tell, the choice of codes and serials for the the film aircraft were:

HT-D/HT-G ‘HR113’
HT-F ‘RF580’
HT-G ‘HJ898/HJ662’
HT-B ‘HJ682’
HT-G ‘HJ898’

Does anyone know what that ‘bomb’ looked like? The book doesn’t really say – I always assumed something similar to a cookie and in the film I remember a train of light grey bombs, obviously cookie related, but similar to the rear section of an 8000 lb HC. I could be wrong though…. It’s been a while…

Finally, it seem that there were eventually some nine subsequent 633 Squadron novels written by Frederick E. Smith – does anyone have a synopsis of the stories or opinions on them? Do they run in any particular order? Has anyone read them?

Thanks for the make believe chaps…. I’ll get my coat.

Oldgit