Frog 1/72 DH-60M

During the late 20s bush-flying requirements overseas has given rise for De Havilland Company to introduce a strengthened version of the Gipsy Moth. The type was designated DH60M Moth and was built around a fabric covered, welded steel tube which eliminated the easily damaged wooden structure. The variant had a number of prominent stringers along the fuselage sides, which served as its identifying feature. The metal fuselage imposed a weight penalty of 62 lbs. The fabric cover offered the advantage of ease of inspection and maintenance interior and holes were cheaply repairable with a simple doped patch. The DH60M attracted immediate orders from Air Forces of Australia, South Africa and Iraq. 130 aircraft and spares were introduced. These were delivered in four batches. 30 of these K1198-K1227 were delivered in April-May 1930.

 Moths K1198 and K1199 went to Hal Far Miscellaneous Flight, in Malta just like every station flight in the UK. The RAF miscellaneous Flight/Station Flight was formed on 1^st April 1921. The aircraft used initially included an Avro 504N, Fairey IIIF and an eventually the Avro Tutor joined the Flight. Records show that in 1933 the DH60Ms also formed part of the flight.

The Gipsy Moth kit was received from Latvia packed in a cardboard box decorated in red and pale white with undistinguished Russian title on it. Injection moulded in cream colored plastic the parts had the hall marks of re-run, a long overlooked Frog kit that was originally released as the type flown by Miss Amy Johnson when she flew the Gipsy Moth from England to Australia. This is a simple kit and part of the popularity among modelers is the ease of construction with a minimum number of parts. With good reference material the lack of detail on the kit can be improved and made very attractive and interesting when built with extra care and proper rigging. There was no presence of decals in the kit box and no civil or military scheme is suggested.

The exploded view given on the instruction was adequate. The parts need carefully cleaning up before putting together. There is some surface detail and where possible should be preserved. Assembly should be a reasonably simple job once the excess flush has been removed from every kit part. The sharp corners of the fuselage rear were rounded as best one could to simulate the re-designed steel tube structure of the ‘M’ version. We then could start detailing the two open cockpits. This included adding the forward and aft instrument panels, side fittings, control stick, rudder pedals, and compass, seat straps and paint detail. Tiny holes were drilled at proper places on sides of rear fuselage to take the control lines for the rudder and elevators. Two windshields were also drawn and fashioned from clear acetate to fit at a later stage. Cockpit openings had the corners shaped square to conform to that on K1199 (4) photo that I was working on. A raised fairing was built up and shaped on aft fuselage at the rear of the hind crew seat. Exhaust pipes were also modified to suit. Fuel supply pipe work was added. This was located under the central wing section in front of the cockpit. Small control horns were added to the flying surfaces that were fashioned from plastic stock. In the end a fuel tank filler cup and rudder control cables were added. This and proper rigging were made from thin clear nylon thread.

Reference was made to a clear photo of the DH 60M Moth K11999 (M) that was located on P.144 of ‘Military Aviation in Malta GC  1915-1993.’ by John F.Hamlin that deals with a comprehensive history of local aviation activities over the years. Painting the model should be simple as it was practically overall silver doped. The aircraft appears to have a band taken depicted in red is located at the back of fuselage roundel. The rudder is red, white and blue and the serial K1199 across super imposed. The serial number is also repeated on the aft fuselage. Standard roundels appear on both sides of wings top and bottom. An 8-pointed red Maltese cross is a local decoration on the Miscellaneous Flight aircraft and this is placed on the lower fin on both sides. This was hand painted. Propeller was painted dark brown. The entire aircraft was in the end given a satin coat of clear lacquer.

The DH60M was completed in a local livery (Maltese) that made it one of the most interesting aircraft found in a local collection since it was a very common sight in those early years making frequent flight allover the island. For further analysis of variations in colourschemes applied to RAF Station DH60M Moths one can refer to an article located on the October 1978 Volume 6 No10 issue of Aeroplane Monthly.

Aeroplane Monthly. Volume 6 No 10

Military Aviation in Malta, 1915-1993.

Carmel J. Attard

June 2010