1:48 D.H.MOSQUITO B MKXVI

A wooden bomber that flew above its opponent

The de Havilland Mosquito in the Mk.XVI bomber version relied on altitude and speed instead of defensive armament. A pressurized cabin moved its working level high above ordinary traffic and the bulged bomb bay under the fuselage took a 4000 lb bomb. Machines in this form often flew first and marked the target for the formations that came behind them.

An outer mask and what follows from it

The glazing here is covered from the outside only. For a build with the canopy closed that is an honest choice, because nobody will see the inner frames anyway. Anyone planning to open the cockpit and wanting the frames presentable from both sides has to reckon with filling in from the inside with a hand-cut strip, or reach for the double-sided variant.

What matters more than the canopy mask

More important here than the cockpit mask are the two sets of national insignia. The roundels above the wing, under the wing and on the sides of the fuselage are applied in paint, so no step is left on the finished surface from the edge of a decal. On British insignia, which are large and multicolored, the difference shows even in a photograph taken from a distance.

Difficulty and preparation

Outer masking is rewarding even for a first attempt. Before spraying it pays to degrease the surface and to apply the insignia only over dry paint, so that nothing creeps under the film. Only one aid is recommended: blunt toothpicks for pressing the edges down. Take them off before the paint has fully cured, while the edge is still soft; a dry film then does not peel away with the mask and the frame stays clean.