De Havilland Horsefly

[robunos]

Okay, I first mentioned this Build in passing, on OW's 'Airvell Mancaster' thread. I decided to wait until the model was finished before posting here. If you're interested, the Build Thread is here :-


https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/mainly_military/de-havilland-horsefly-t13259.html


De Havilland Horsefly.


"Following the successful introduction into service of the De Havilland Mosquito, it was inevitable that a larger, longer ranged version would be required. De Havilland quickly responded with was to become the Horsefly. Larger than the 'Mossie', with a four man crew, and more powerful engines, the Horsefly could carry the same bombload  as a Mosquito for twice the range, or alternatively, the same load as a Mosquito for twice the range, at the same speeds and altitudes.
Entering service in the winter of 1942, design and development taking a remarkable eleven and half months from Instruction to Proceed to Service Entry, the Horsefly soon replaced the Mosquito in the high altitude bomber, pathfinder, and stategic reconnaissance roles.
Originally intended to be powered by the Bristol Centaurus radial engine, delays to this powerplant meant that the first version into service had to make do with Hercules engines, at the cost of some loss of performance. It wasn't until autumn 1943 that sufficient Centaurus engines  became available to allow production to switch to  the definitive Mk.2 version."
The model depicts De Havilland Horsefly Mk 2, aircraft 'F' of 21 Sqn, early 1945.
































cheers,
Robin.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Shiny! 

Your body and fender work is impeccable!  Filling in that void in the aft fuselage was very impressive. 

[Frank3k]

Looks great! It reminds me of a British version of the Ki-49. Not as flammable, of course.

[apophenia]

Very nice Robin! Your Horsefly has me wondering what the LeO 451 would look like with the twin fins/rudders of the DH.91 Albatross ...

Edit: I just been to your Build Thread and realized that you had originally considered twin fins. Curious to know what your final, single fin came off of.

BTW: Your technique for filling in the dorsal gun position is very cool 

[GTX_Admin]

 

[finsrin]

Such a kit-bash and quite a background story.   
 Hits a sweet spot to accept British or Japanese or maybe a Russian paint scheme.

[robunos]

Thanks gents . . . there are a few rough bits hers and there, and the paint job's a bit iffy, but overall I'm happy.
@Frank,te original idea was to take the late type LeO 45 fins and turn them upside down, but the version of the kit I bought, was the ONLY boxing that didn't have the late type fins . . .   
The fin on the model is made from the wings from one of the Spitfire kits that provided the propellers. I took both upper halves, to get a symmetrical section, re-shaped to a 'Mossie' type shape, then I scribed in a rudder.
I've used the plastic card filling technique on a smaller scale before, most notably here :-

https://i.postimg.cc/tXyPqxnn/z-Aero-A-100-proto-z.jpg


but this is the largest I've done so far (there is a larger one in the works, but it's not complete, yet). I use this methos because I can't really get on with filler, and I've tried enough times !!
@finsrin. I used to RAF scheme to go with the theme for the GB I joined, but yeah, Japanese, Soviet, or even USA, there's a bit of B-26 Marauder in there too, I feel. Or even the original French, as a later LeO 45 development . . .




cheers,
Robin.

[Buzzbomb]

Fits right into the time period. Strikes me as one of those type of aircraft that existed but no one really knows about. Like the Blackburn Botha and aircraft like that.

Great wok

[Old Wombat]

It looks neither Mosquito-ish nor Loire-ish, to me. It looks like its own thing & that is a good thing!

[raafif]

It looks like a Fairey design to me 

[KiwiZac]

That's fantastic. I'm at a loss for words, I love it! Design, execution, it's all there.

Fits right into the time period. Strikes me as one of those type of aircraft that existed but no one really knows about. Like the Blackburn Botha and aircraft like that.

Hear hear, one of those types you could encounter after years of interest in the topic. Brilliant work.

[Camthalion]

very cool.  Nice work

[The Rat]

A beauty! A BEAUTY I TELLS YA!