De Havilland "Sand Fly" - Finished!

pyro-manic · February 25, 2009, 05:16:42 PM

Thanks STS - they do change the Mossie quite a bit, don't they?

Thanks to Wooksta, I now have suitable artillery, as well as some new wheels.

I'm currently building some tropical filters, and then we'll see about adding the firepower...

pyro-manic · April 17, 2009, 01:05:14 AM

Guns!

More later.

GTX · April 17, 2009, 12:25:40 PM

What are the guns? 20mm cannon ?

Regards,

Greg

pyro-manic · April 17, 2009, 12:35:36 PM

Double it.

Vickers S guns, as carried by the Hurricane IID.

GTX · April 17, 2009, 01:50:53 PM

Ouch! And the nose?

Regards,

Greg

Mossie · April 17, 2009, 01:51:30 PM

Quite a can opener you've got!

ChernayaAkula · April 17, 2009, 02:04:17 PM

Talk about a hail of lead!

pyro-manic · April 17, 2009, 03:25:13 PM

Oh yes.

She's also carrying a 19-round SNEB rocket pod and two napalm canisters under the wings. The cannons still need puttying to blend the various bits of the fairings together. I've added tropical filters to the Merlins as well, using milliput. They're not particularly accurate, but they'll do.

GTX - the nose guns are supposed to be .50s, replacing the .303s. I think they're rather unconvincing though, so I might get some proper barrels from Quickboost or similar instead.

Green Dragon · April 19, 2009, 08:35:23 AM

Looking great Pyro, love the props and anti tank guns!

Paul Harrison

BlackOps · April 20, 2009, 08:31:58 AM

This is looking great!

pyro-manic · January 26, 2010, 11:26:21 AM

Update time!

Done some painting on this beastie, and she's starting to look the part! Just a taster pic, as it's not finished yet. You get the idea though - I've gone for the MEAF scheme, with the white cockpit.

EDIT: Thanks to whoever moved the topic for me.

Taiidantomcat · January 31, 2010, 12:36:36 PM

Looking good! Like the white near the cockpit.

thedarkmaster · January 31, 2010, 01:47:08 PM

QuoteI've gone for the MEAF scheme, with the white cockpit.

can you ever have enough MEAF ?

pyro-manic · February 01, 2010, 08:09:58 AM

Indeed not.

Got a Bristol SuperFreighter that will get the same, and a couple of helicopters as well. But I'm gonna finish this one first.

pyro-manic · February 27, 2010, 11:24:04 AM

OK, she's pretty much done. Need to do a spot more weathering, and find a suitable serial number etc, but that can wait.

This Mosquito, along with three others, was a key asset during the initial stages of the Arabian war during the early 1960s. After the Soviet-backed People's Republic of Yemen army attacked British assets and installations at Aden, Radfan and other places, Operation Polecat was conceived by Middle East Command as an emergency response to the situation. The loss of HMS Hermes in Aden harbour caused uproar at home, and immediate retribution was demanded by the government and the public. However, British forces were already heavily committed to ongoing operations in Malaya, Suez and central America, and it would take time to build a Royal Navy task force and an RAF detachment to send to the Gulf. In the meantime, the Middle East Air Force was asked to take all possible action to stem the attacks on British and loyal Yemeni personnel and civilians.

RAF Khormaskar was a large base at that time, being home to several RAF squadrons tasked with transporting and supporting Army troops throughout the southern Arabian peninsula. What was less well known was that it was also the site of a not inconsiderable boneyard - many squadrons had been disbanded, re-equipped or relocated while at Khormaskar, and their old aircraft were usually just abandoned in the desert. There were Hurricanes, Tempests, a handful of recce Spitfires, and even some old Lancasters, Wellingtons and Blenheims, all left to die in the dust. It was decided to make use of anything that could be found, and so a group of Mosquito fighter-bombers were inspected, the best four being repaired and overhauled in record time using parts from the rest. They were also modified for their intended role, with additional fuel tanks filling the bomb bays, modern electronics, new propellors, engine sand filters, Browning .50 calibre machine guns in place of the old .303s, and wing pylons able to carry current weapons. They were also painted in the typical MEAF camouflage scheme with the distinctive white cockpit area. One was more radically altered, after a Hawker Hurricane with two 40mm Vickers "S" guns was discovered, along with several crates of ammunition. These powerful guns were incorporated into one machine, replacing the 20mm Hispano cannons the other aircraft carried. This aircraft was quickly dubbed the Sand Fly, and was used to great effect on long-range patrols, the heavy guns being easily able to deal with the heavy armoured cars the PRYA deployed to defend their columns through the deserts and mountains. The aircraft served with distinction for nearly a year, being used even after modern attack aircraft arrived in-theatre, until it was written off in a landing accident in April 1961. A somewhat inglorious end to a most important aircraft, she is depicted here as she might have been seen in autumn 1960, carrying a typical load of one 19-round rocket pod and one 100-gallon firebomb in addition to her fearsome nose armament of two 40mm "S" guns and four .50 calibre machine guns.