Ta-154 Moskito 1/48 Pro-Modeler

[Guest]

Wow thanks so much for all the very kind words everyone,the resin details make it a little easier to pull off so I ca'nt take all the credit.! I'm really trying hard to set the bar a little higher for myself with the details on this build.I've made some progress on the Moskito,first I had to resize the cannon ports the holes were way out of scale. Next to go were the molded cannon barrels,Ill scratch some new ones to add in the finishing stages .

Next up I had to cut the port nacelle up for the resin mill

Test fit of the wings after removing the warps in both,so far the only big glitch I've run into

Then on to the resin flaps which needed to be trimmed to fit the curves along the bottom nacelle

The gear bays will be detailed next,cheers Trey

[Guest]

Hi Trey, fabulous cockpit, you certainly know how to suck every last bit of detail from a kit. Cheers Derek

[flyjoe180]

Looking good Trey. Does anyone else reckon the Ta154 is reflected in the later Douglas A26 Invader? Very similar airframe shapes.

[stona]

Looking good Trey. Does anyone else reckon the Ta154 is reflected in the later Douglas A26 Invader? Very similar airframe shapes.

Despite the superficial similarity the A-26 actually predates the Ta 154. Their first flights were almost exactly a year apart. 10 July 1942 for the A-26 and 1 July 1943for the Ta 154.

The Ta 154 was not based on the De Havilland Mosquito either,despite the name. The arrival of the Mosquito in the skies over Germany did have a bearing on the choice to develop and produce the Ta 154 over some of its rivals. The Germans were also attracted to a largely wooden design due to looming shortages of light metals.

In March 1944 the first 22 Ta 154 A-0 pre-production night fighters were delivered. Tank persuaded Adoph Galland (General der Jagdflieger) and Werner Streib (Inspekteur der Nachtjagd) to fly one. Both expressed disappointment at the performance of the aircraft and Streib specifically doubted the ability of the Ta 154 to match the British Mosquito.

There followed the well documented series of failiures and crashes leading Tank to stop production of the aircraft. Goering was not happy and even accused Tank of sabotaging his own product!

The entire project was now on the verge of cancellation when,on 17th July 1944,having received the RLM's instruction to look at Mistel combinations,Herr Schoffel from the Focke-Wulf Entwurfsburo visited Junkers at Dessau to see how they went about such projects.

He produced a feasibility study for a Ta 154 A/Fw 190 A8 combination. The RLM backed this project and Focke-Wulf saw it as a sort of salvation for the Ta 154. According to Schoffel Herr Emmert of the RLM stressed the urgent need for this Mistel combination saying "...the RLM expects the first conversion by the end of August 1944."

It seems that the further problems with the Ta 154 and the loss of seven "Moskitos" during a USAAF bombing raid on Hannover-Langenhagen airfield may have diminished interest in the project though some sources maintain that six Mistels were completed for use against allied bomber formations. These aircraft were supposedly test flown at Eschwege but no more details are known.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Derek,Joe thanks and great info Steve,I'de no idea that both Galland and Strieb had flown these,Thanks for taking the time and effort to post ,very decent of you !

Basic fuse is done

and after finish sanding the seams and rescibing panel lines

The engine is about ready to mount

Fixed the gap on the rudder with some card stock

[mossiepilot]

Good looking so far Trey.

Keep up the good work.

Tony.

[Vaughan]

Great progress Trey looking forward to the finished result.

Vaughan

[stona]

That's looking fantastic.....as usual!

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Thanks Fellas!I've made a little more headway. I decided to reposition the nose wheel in concert with the rudder. I hope it remains strong enough to support the 50+grams of weight I had to add to keep it off its tail.

The canopy fit looks real good, The radar operaror top window shoulders into the wing roots and needed just a tiny bit of ca and some fine filing to get right.

[papa 695]

Looking very good Trey i'm loving watching this come together

[Guest]

Thanks Ian!I got the gear sorted and its sitting proper! The flaps are now in place as well. The canopy masking is next and then some painting.

[Vaughan]

This is looking superb Trey the engines look fantastic great detail.

Vaughan

[Guest]

Vaughan thanks!Masked and ready for some paint!

[flyjoe180]

Wow, this is coming along really well.

[Guest]

Thanks Joe!Cammo is fini,I used a ref pic for the rt side and went with a mix of the instruction and some geuss work for the top and port surface. Its not 100% accurate I'm sure, but it will do for my level of building.