De Havilland Mosquito colors??

[Ralph Haus]

Possibly should be posted in the 'painting' forum??

I'm starting a Tamiya De Havilland Mosquito 1/72. Actually two. Kits 60747 and 60765. Both kits have the same basic instructions for detailing (paint colors) for the interior surfaces; cockpits, wheel enclosures in the nacelle (nacelli?), etc. However when I look online, for examples of models built by others, to see how the areas should be defined and color separated, I'm not finding what Tamiya has called out in their instructions. Not really surprised by this scale not having much definition but the colors should be close to accurate.

For instance, the instructions call for Tamiya AS-12 (base-metal silver) to be applied to the nacelle wheel area. But all of the photos that I see (models regardless of manufacturer) show the same colors as are indicated in the cockpit areas (In Tamyia's case a mix of their XF-5 - XF-21 - XF-65), a kind of green I guess? When I first saw this 'base metal' called for I assumed that it could be accurate assuming that these areas may not have been painted in real production? Probably a bad assumption!

Now I'm questioning the accuracy of Tamiya's selections! For all!!

Does anyone have any 'build' photos of their models where I can see what was chosen by others? Camo, kit manufacturer, decals are unimportant. Most of the interiors and the internal finishes should be similar (maybe variations due to shortages, but in general)?

 

[Airframes]

Exterior colours would, of course, depend on the mark being built, but interior colours were RAF Cockpit Grey Green.
Wheel wells and insides of bay doors were normally 'silver', although doors could be silver, with bays in the grey green.
See my PR.IX build in 'Start tio Finish' build threads, and my NF.XII and FB.VI in GB 32,

Edited to correct GB number.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Exterior colours would, of course, depend on the mark being built, but interior colours were RAF Cockpit Grey Green.
Wheel wells and insides of bay doors were normally 'silver', although doors could be silver, with bays in the grey green.
See my PR.IX build in 'Start tio Finish' build threads, and my NF.XII and FB.VI in GB 32,

Edited to correct GB number.

Terry,

This will be a great reference. Much appreciated. Not sure why I could not find anything earlier when I did a search on the forums. Not much turned up? I'm not above admitting 'pilot' error when trying to do searches though!!

Thanks again....

 

[Airframes]

No problem.
If you need further help or info, just shout.

 

[Ralph Haus]

No problem.
If you need further help or info, just shout.

Interesting about the bare-metal vs cockpit green choices.

Just late enough in the day (here) to start popping open a beer or two and do my daily pondering. Been modeling a few hours now and a man has to take a break!

Anyway. The use of paint vs not painting (the actual aircraft); was this a production scheduling issue, lack of material, builders choice (GB vs AUS?)? Just pondering. Ahhhh!

 

[Airframes]

It wasn't bare metal - it was painted with 'Aluminium' paint, the same as the landing gear legs.
Finish could vary, with the front wall of the bays in the grey green, and the bays painted aluminium, or the entire bay grey green, with insides of the doors painted aluminium.
Below is a pic of the wheel bay of the TT35 /B35 at the RAF Museum, Cosford.
The bay walls are painted 'Aluminium', whilst the roof and front bulkhead are cockpit grey green. (camera flash has altered the tone to a more green tinge).
Note that the oil tank, at the top of the picture, was normally a dull red-brown in WW2.

 

[Ralph Haus]

It wasn't bare metal - it was painted with 'Aluminium' paint, the same as the landing gear legs.
Finish could vary, with the front wall of the bays in the grey green, and the bays painted aluminium, or the entire bay grey green, with insides of the doors painted aluminium.
Below is a pic of the wheel bay of the TT35 /B35 at the RAF Museum, Cosford.
The bay walls are painted 'Aluminium', whilst the roof and front bulkhead are cockpit grey green. (camera flash has altered the tone to a more green tinge).
Note that the oil tank, at the top of the picture, was normally a dull red-brown in WW2.

That makes sense. Tamiya does call out for the oil tank to be a reddish color (flat and hull red mix) so I will follow their painting guidance, as is provided, with a bit more confidence. Again, many thanks. Amazing what can be asked and get answered on this site!! As an aside; I do miss my travels (business trips sometimes months long) to GB. Hauled back many a suitcase full of MG Midget parts for my oldest sons car and enjoyed the friendliness (not really London) of the locals and the warmth (in many ways) of the country pubs.

 

[Crimea_River]

Here's my build from a few years back: 1/48 Mosquito B Mk IV - Heavy Hitters II GB
I chose to make my wheel wells the same grey/green colour as the cockpit. Inside of the gear and bomb bay doors as well I think.

I'm also about to start a new build here GB-43 1/48 Mosquito FB.VI - Aces' Aircraft of all Eras and will be posting pics soon.

I question the use of the reddish colour for the oil tank as this, to me, is more representative of the flexible fuel bladders.

 

[Airframes]

It's probable that grey green or 'silver' overall would be acceptable, as would a combination of these colours, and yes, bomb bay interiors were grey green.
As for the oil tank, I'll admit that those preserved Mosquitos I've seen, and most photos of those preserved aircraft I haven't yet seen, appear to have the 'silver' finish to the oil tank. However, I seem to remember seeing, somewhere', the red-brown colour, and this was certainly used on the Lancaster and Lincoln,( the pic below shows the wheel bay and tank of the Lincoln at Cosford, and the other Lancs I've seen had the same colour tank ), so it's very possible that this colour was used on the Mossie.

 

[Ralph Haus]

Here's my build from a few years back: 1/48 Mosquito B Mk IV - Heavy Hitters II GB
I chose to make my wheel wells the same grey/green colour as the cockpit. Inside of the gear and bomb bay doors as well I think.

I'm also about to start a new build here GB-43 1/48 Mosquito FB.VI - Aces' Aircraft of all Eras and will be posting pics soon.

I question the use of the reddish colour for the coolant tank as this, to me, is more representative of the flexible fuel bladders.

Here's my build from a few years back: 1/48 Mosquito B Mk IV - Heavy Hitters II GB
I chose to make my wheel wells the same grey/green colour as the cockpit. Inside of the gear and bomb bay doors as well I think.



I'm also about to start a new build here GB-43 1/48 Mosquito FB.VI - Aces' Aircraft of all Eras and will be posting pics soon.

I question the use of the reddish colour for the coolant tank as this, to me, is more representative of the flexible fuel bladders.

Andy,

While not really trying to create a 'perfect' rendition I am interested in making the model as close to a real scheme as I can. If that makes sense?

If the 'reddish' color (colour on you side of the pond) on the tanks is not really 'technically' incorrect, I personally like that little bit of added color it will give to the completed model. Thanks for the feedback. The cockpit detailing is especially helpful even though my model (scale) does not have the details it helps to see what others are doing.

 

[Crimea_River]

Thanks guys. I mistakenly called that a coolant tank but of course it's the oil tank. Post corrected. I didn't know about the red colour til now so thanks for that Terry.

 

[Neilly105]

I have several different pictures of fitted oil tanks and all of them look like a painted aluminium colour. That's not to say there weren't different colours, I've learnt from past experience there is always a variation on the theme, where the Mosquito is concerned!.

 

[nuuumannn]

Mosquito walkaround images here, including undercarriage bay detail.

http://warbirdswalkaround.wixsite.com/warbirds/tv959

The only way to really get it right is to find out the interior colours of the exact aircraft you are modelling, which might be difficult, so following the images that have been posted here by Terry or myself, or what others have suggested is probably a safe bet in terms of getting it right. I suspect no one would criticise your choices as they wouldn't be able to produce the exact colours of the one you are doing if you can't.