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Where’s the excitement over the HK 2-stage Mossie?


Dave Williams

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Another problem of the HK kit is the restricted choice of schemes and the lack of other options. Adding other schemes as well as the option to make a US photo plane would not have asked for a ridiculous cost whereas it would have given a far more attractive image. Add to this the too heavy price and this lack of interest is fully understandable. By the way, the new P-51D is the ninth one in 1/32 scale!

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...Adding other schemes as well as the option to make a... photo plane would [not] have asked for a ridiculous cost whereas it would have given a far more attractive package...

D'accord. Some cameras, mounts, camera windows and the markings for a nice RAF PR blue Mossie and I'd have bitten. I don't do scratch building with kits costing three figures, and the few extra plastic parts would most likely have yielded much more interest and sales.

 

The unfixed problems with the inner wing and nose windows also should not be perpetuated on a £170 model. It's not HpH territory (a kit for only those who can afford to take a ride in Richard Branson's rocket ship), but it's 40-50% more expensive than the Tamiya FB.VI. Ouch!

 

I feel for these small manufacturers but the price has to be more accessible.

 

Tony

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We're not getting ripped off as we're not buying it.

However, having just done a check, the Tamiya Mosquito has gone up in price a lot recently in the UK - maybe the withering Brexiting Pound phenomenon has more to do with it?

 

Tony

 

edited

Edited by Tony T
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I nearly bought a Revell Mosquito the other day from eBay for £22, as I still have some Paragon bits to update it, £170 sounds rather excessive to me especially when my Tamiya Mossie cost £100 which was a stretch for me even at that price.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

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I nearly bought a Revell Mosquito the other day from eBay for £22, as I still have some Paragon bits to update it, £170 sounds rather excessive to me especially when my Tamiya Mossie cost £100 which was a stretch for me even at that price.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

 

Dennis, even that's expensive compared to the price Jadlam are doing it for currently!

 

£18.95 and no delivery charge.

 

http://www.jadlamracingmodels.com/revell-de-havilland-mosquito-1-32-aircraft-model-kit-04758/

 

So, so tempting..

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Personally speaking:

 

1. I - and most people who want a Mossie - already have the Tamiya kit;

 

2. The Mossie is too big a kit to have more than one;

 

3. The issues with HK's first Mossie are well known in the community & put many people off, including me;

 

4. The cost is prohibitive, especially if you already have a Mossie in the stash;

 

5. The same company are doing a 1/32 Lancaster. This is unique and a bigger draw than a 2 stage Mossie;

 

6. For some people, it's just too damned big to display;

 

7. Competition in 1/32 kits is enormous & people are drawn to other, new kits, or the promise of new kits i.e. Hs 129.

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I'd definitely have gone for the HK second issue, but not at full retail, and not with the same unaddressed  issues as the first release.

 

Instead I bought the Revell kit for less than £20, the Tamiya wing sprues for £40, and the Grey Matter 2-stage Merlins at £31

(though the HKM big Merlin's intercooler exits look better, so I'll look out for those sprues/etch too).

 

Add £18 for Radu B's radiator matrices and QK harnesses, plus £7 for a Yahu panel and £5 for the Mastercasters etch cowling fasteners

and it's still well under the going price for what will be a much  better looking and enhanced model.

 

And while both fighter and bomber versions would be nice, my available space dictates one only, and so the glass nose wins.

(Which reminds me - though I can't recall how much the Tasman replacement transparencies were)

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I have the Revell kit with the Paragon goodies for two stage Merlin variant committed with glue and filler. Pretty nice conversion so far. Wheel well reconstruction are swine. Even with the pita of the Revell another Mosquito kit seems unlikely for me especially now that the Tigercat kit has come along. The 'cat is now top of the list.

 

Rick

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Thought about picking one up somewhere down the road.........I have the old Ventura decal stashed away with the American pr birds on it........How bad is it? I have seen a few BIVs built I thought looked the part. honestly I would rather have the conversion for a 24th build of a pr bird.....just saying.

Edited by Rob Colvin
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The profile of inboard leading edge is jacked up for sure, but the nose seems less of a problem for me. That said, it still looks like a Mosquito to me and I don't see it as a horrible train wreck. Tamiya is much better for sure, but it's more expensive in the US, plus they aren't doing a two stage Mosquito. Maybe once Tamiya releases a glass nose Mossie, someone might make a two stage Merlin conversion, but that's just more money on top of the kit.

 

I really wanted to do a two stage Mossie in PRU Blue and the kit has that option. It's actually a B.IX from a Met Flight, but I care more about the scheme than the exact version. To be fair, it's not that hard to convert to a PR. XVI. The top canopy panel with the astrodome bulge is in the kit, and you just need to drill some holes and put in camera ports.

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