Warbird Information Exchange

Hello all,

I posted this on Flypast, but thought I would post it here as well.

I recently purchased a 1/48 scale model, by Tamiya, of a Mosquito. I intend to finish it as a PR Mk IV. My first model in many years and I am really looking forward to it.

I am looking for some photos, particularly of the PR Mk. IV. I have found one of the the web, of DZ383, for which the Tamiya kit includes markings. I have a book by Osprey publishing in PR Mosquitos, but even that has few photos of the PR Mk IV. There are plenty of other pictures on the web, particularly of the BAE Mosquito prior to its crash, as well as various museum examples, but there seems to be a very limited supply of pictures or details regarding the MKIV. Perhaps that's because there were so few of them.

By the way, I did discover during this search an excellent collection of almost 200 pictures on the Canada Aviation Museum website, including many showing interior details, as well as a lot showing construction of the Mosquito, presumably here in Canada (the captions are pretty uninformative I'm afraid, and many appear to be wrong). This collection may be of interest to others interested in the Mossie. To find it, following the URL below, and use the search function: http://www.aviation.technomuses.ca/...imagebank.shtml

One thing that interests me is the left side (sorry, I always get port and starboard mixed up!!) aft of the wing. In the photo I have there appears to be a port for an oblique camera between the trailing edge of the wing and the roundel. If found that picture here (sorry, I haven't mastered the art of posting pictures): http://www.vflintham.demon.co.uk/ai...os/mosquito.htm

I have found one reference indicating that the MkIV did have an oblique camera installed. Could that be what I am seeing in this picture? Can anyone confirm that the MkIV had a camera installed in that location? Any photos or line drawings out there showing it?

Your help is appreciated. I'd like to get it right, since I plan this as the first of a collection of WWII RAF/RCAF PR aircraft. Spitfire Mk XI is next, I hope!! And in my dream this is all a prelude to an RC Spitfire XI or XIX with functioning digital cameras (well I'm allowed to dream, aren't I!!)

Thanks,

Charles (aka dumaresqc, just not set up to use my account from home)