A while back, Valiant Wings produced their first volume on the DeHavilland Mosquito. Part one covered the initial design of the aircraft and concentrated on the bomber and photo recon variants. This was a logical choice as those first mossies were used in those roles. This volume continues that story by concentrating on the fighter, fighter-bomber and night fighter versions. It also covers the trainers and the Sea Mosquito. It makes for a very large book and I dare say it is the thickest Valiant Wings has yet produced.

We tend to think that the Bf-109 and Spitfire were made in a bewildering number of variants, but those pale by comparison to the full line of Mosquitos. We are given a general look at the different versions and their equipment before the book really gets down to specifics. We start with the night fighters then move on to the fighter-bombers. Once those are covered, we move on to the 'lesser' types; the trainers and the Sea Mosquitos. This section is by mark and includes both some drawings and photos of each.

The book then goes into the various camouflage and markings schemes that was used by the variants in question. Again, there are quite a few of them and they changed as the war progressed as who was flying them as non-British operators are included in this section as well.

It moves on to the modeling portion covering currently available kits with a review of each. Note that this is mostly night fighter and fighter-bomber versions as none of the manufacturers do the other variations. This then flows into the build articles. As usual, one of the two builders uses a lot of aftermarket and scratch building while the other is mostly OOB. Hasegawa and Tamiya kits are the 1/72 offerings, while it is Airfix and Tamiya for 1/48, and Tamiya for 1/32.

A part I really like is the one that starts with the prototype and then denotes the external differences in each and every variant. This is particularly useful if the modeler wants to be totally accurate in their depiction. This is followed as usual by a listing of kits, books, decals and accessories that have been produced of the Mosquito, including limited editions and reboxings. The final page is a huge fold-out of plans in 1/48 of the major variants.

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, that this is the best modeler's resource on the Mosquito I have ever read. Buy it!

July 2017

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