1/33 De Havilland Mosquito - Maly Modelarz

[ferrarifan]

Originally Posted by smithdr

Extremely well done! On the 633 Squadron note: it was (still is) one of my favorite movies. I was around 7 or 8 when I first saw it, then I lost touch of what the title was and always wondered what movie I had watched.


Fast forward and my wife got me a copy of it from the bargain bin at Target or Walmart for Christmas one year. She got it because it had WWII airplanes on it and I was stunned and recognized the movie immediately as the one I'd been looking for for 30 years.


Imagine my surprise as I watched again that the main love interest was names Hilde from Norway.



One guess as to my wife's ancestry and her name.



Fate, I tells ya!


Sorry to ramble. Again, what a great model!
Dan

Thank you for sharing such a wonderful plot, so interesting, your story can be made into another movie. Unfortunately, I haven't watched the movie called "633 Squadron". I will definitely find a way to find it.

[Siwi]

You might have 'seen' 633 Squadron without actually having seen it. The plot is sending Mozzies into a narrow fjord to precision bomb a Nazi secret rocket factory. Replace the planes with F-18s and you have Top Gun Maverick; replace them with space fighters and a moon-sized battle station and you have the end of Star Wars.

[ferrarifan]

Originally Posted by Siwi

You might have 'seen' 633 Squadron without actually having seen it. The plot is sending Mozzies into a narrow fjord to precision bomb a Nazi secret rocket factory. Replace the planes with F-18s and you have Top Gun Maverick; replace them with space fighters and a moon-sized battle station and you have the end of Star Wars.

Haha, it seems that history always repeats itself, and movies are also repeating themselves.
This suddenly reminds me that the F/A-18E TOPGUN2 painted version has been on the market for some time now. And I found that some players have already completed this model.

[ferrarifan]

I finally found this movie and watched it at home over the weekend. Thank you for your recommendation. It is indeed a movie that mosquito fans must watch. But I feel like the storyline is too simple. Old movie from over 50 years ago can't be compared to movies from today.

[Siwi]

Originally Posted by ferrarifan

I finally found this movie and watched it at home over the weekend. Thank you for your recommendation. It is indeed a movie that mosquito fans must watch. But I feel like the storyline is too simple. Old movie from over 50 years ago can't be compared to movies from today.

Interesting comment, I generally agree but from a different angle than merely the plot. Obviously at this time there were certain practical limitations on how films could be shot, since everything had to be done using practical effects before CGI was a thing. There was no way to film cockpit dialogue without having a fixed camera in a set and back projection, or to film aircraft either without chase planes or using models, all of which gives a certain simplicity since these films have a lot of repeated and reused shots. But also I think audiences were not ready for the subtlety of emotion and character development that we see in films today, and that includes the use of music, which whilst Ron Goodwin provides a good and effective score, tends to be either unmistakably heroic or dramaticly tragic, no real middle ground.
Also, at this time it was still taboo to publically question the morality of RAF bombing and Britain's actions in WW2 in general. Today we would be interested to watch a film that explores the moral problems with area bombing, particularly firebombing Dresden or Hamburg, and portray the private emotional conflicts that aircrew might have as well as combat fatigue. Back then it was 'RAF are all unambigously the heroic good guys and never did anything questionable or were ever afraid, whereas Germans are all evil faceless fascists and it's fine to mow them down and portray them as dispensible drones or if they do speak, have exaggerated mannerisms of invented national stereotypes'
Britain was rather insecure at this time as we were rapidly losing our political and technological prestige to the US and soon to Germany and Japan, and these films can come across as a product of that insecurity by holding on to the somewhat mythologised version of 'our finest hour'. It's something that is also definitely relevant today.
So yeah, whilst they might have faults I feel modern WW2 films like Fury, Midway, Unbroken, and especially Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers do a much better service to the people who actually fought on both sides by showing the subtly and reality of war.

[ferrarifan]

Originally Posted by Siwi

Interesting comment, I generally agree but from a different angle than merely the plot. Obviously at this time there were certain practical limitations on how films could be shot, since everything had to be done using practical effects before CGI was a thing. There was no way to film cockpit dialogue without having a fixed camera in a set and back projection, or to film aircraft either without chase planes or using models, all of which gives a certain simplicity since these films have a lot of repeated and reused shots. But also I think audiences were not ready for the subtlety of emotion and character development that we see in films today, and that includes the use of music, which whilst Ron Goodwin provides a good and effective score, tends to be either unmistakably heroic or dramaticly tragic, no real middle ground.
Also, at this time it was still taboo to publically question the morality of RAF bombing and Britain's actions in WW2 in general. Today we would be interested to watch a film that explores the moral problems with area bombing, particularly firebombing Dresden or Hamburg, and portray the private emotional conflicts that aircrew might have as well as combat fatigue. Back then it was 'RAF are all unambigously the heroic good guys and never did anything questionable or were ever afraid, whereas Germans are all evil faceless fascists and it's fine to mow them down and portray them as dispensible drones or if they do speak, have exaggerated mannerisms of invented national stereotypes'
Britain was rather insecure at this time as we were rapidly losing our political and technological prestige to the US and soon to Germany and Japan, and these films can come across as a product of that insecurity by holding on to the somewhat mythologised version of 'our finest hour'. It's something that is also definitely relevant today.
So yeah, whilst they might have faults I feel modern WW2 films like Fury, Midway, Unbroken, and especially Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers do a much better service to the people who actually fought on both sides by showing the subtly and reality of war.

I completely agree with your point of view that movies, as an art form, represent the style of that era very much. I have watched all the new war movies you mentioned, including TOPGUN, one specifically featuring the F-14, which is also my favorite, although you did not mention it. With the advancement of technology, the audience's perception is getting better and better, not only in terms of visual experience, but also in terms of ethical and historical perspectives that are more fair, objective, and thought-provoking. Of course, as a feature movie about mosquito planes, the 633 is still great, and I hope that in the future, there will be a producer who can make a new version of the 633. I believe you are just like me, for the simplest reason, because Mosquito is indeed very beautiful. This also reminds me of another airplane. Do you think Beaufighter is really beautiful? A group of friends I know generally think it's ugly.

[Mike1158]

It's like comparing Hurricane with Spitfire, one is a fine looking aircraft and the other is a comparitive super model to the girl next door.


The Beaufighter is a purposeful looking beast but no worse for that.

[dhanners]

Excellent build! The Mosquito was always my second-favorite airplane, behind the X-15. You’ve done a masterful job.

I first saw “633 Squadron” when it came out in ‘64 (at the drive-in!) and loved it as a 9-year-old. When Monogram issued its 1/48th-scale Mosquito a year later, I was on that kit like white on rice.

The movie was filmed at Bovingdon near Hemel Hempstead. That’s where my late father served in the USAAF during WWII, and that’s where he met the woman who would become my mother; she was from Piccotts End, near Hemel Hempstead.

Watched it again a few months ago when it was on TV. And yeah, it is cheesy when you compare it to what’s produced today, but when that theme starts playing, you sit back and forget about the cheese.

Speaking of realism, I remember watching “Piece of Cake,” the 1988 LWT adaptation of Derek Robinson’s novel about the fictional Hornet Squadron during the Battle of Britain. Although Hornet Squadron flew Hurricanes in the book, they used Spitfires in the series. I recall reading at the time that some people objected to the depiction of some of the pilots. Most were portrayed as men in their early 20s (the average age of RAF pilots in the BoB was 20) who behaved as immature guys often do, with a bit of English class-centric attitude thrown in. But I liked it.

[ferrarifan]

Originally Posted by dhanners

Excellent build! The Mosquito was always my second-favorite airplane, behind the X-15. You’ve done a masterful job.

I first saw “633 Squadron” when it came out in ‘64 (at the drive-in!) and loved it as a 9-year-old. When Monogram issued its 1/48th-scale Mosquito a year later, I was on that kit like white on rice.

The movie was filmed at Bovingdon near Hemel Hempstead. That’s where my late father served in the USAAF during WWII, and that’s where he met the woman who would become my mother; she was from Piccotts End, near Hemel Hempstead.

Watched it again a few months ago when it was on TV. And yeah, it is cheesy when you compare it to what’s produced today, but when that theme starts playing, you sit back and forget about the cheese.

Speaking of realism, I remember watching “Piece of Cake,” the 1988 LWT adaptation of Derek Robinson’s novel about the fictional Hornet Squadron during the Battle of Britain. Although Hornet Squadron flew Hurricanes in the book, they used Spitfires in the series. I recall reading at the time that some people objected to the depiction of some of the pilots. Most were portrayed as men in their early 20s (the average age of RAF pilots in the BoB was 20) who behaved as immature guys often do, with a bit of English class-centric attitude thrown in. But I liked it.

Thank you for your praise of my model building. At the same time, I think your parents' legendary story can also be made into a movie.
Speaking of Hurricane, I remember watching a movie a few years ago that depicted Polish pilots joining the RAF to fight against Nazi. Due to the use of modern technology, the filming of air combat was very satisfying for the audience.

[rbakerj]

Beautiful job, particularly joining fuselage and engine nacelles panels. How did you manage to cut out so they butted up together with no gaps between them?