History

The de Havilland DH.82 Tiger Moth is a 1930s biplane designed by Geoffrey de Havilland and was operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and others as a primary trainer. The Tiger Moth remained in service with the RAF until replaced by the de Havilland Chipmunk in 1952, when many of the surplus aircraft entered civil operation. Many other nations used the Tiger Moth in both military and civil applications, and it remains in widespread use as a recreational aircraft in many countries. It is still occasionally used as a primary training aircraft, particularly for those pilots wanting to gain experience before moving on to other tailwheel aircraft, although most Tiger Moths have a skid. Many are now employed by various companies offering trial lesson experiences. Those in private hands generally fly far fewer hours and tend to be kept in concours condition. The de Havilland Moth club founded 1975 is now a highly organized owners' association offering technical support and focus for Moth enthusiasts.

In the box

Packed in a blister pack, the set contains, ten resin parts, a large instruction sheet and two sheets of decals.
The resin parts cover two types of main wheels, two rudder pedals, two air inlets a folded blind-flying hood and a forward fire wall.
All the parts are well cast with no air bubbles or casting defects present. The parts are connected to a small casting block, and having used Pavla's sets before a little care will be needed removing them, but they are only very small connection points.
Two types of main wheels are supplied, one with spokes and one with a plain hub. The spoked hubs look very nice with some very fine casting. The wheels are slightly bigger than the Airfix kit offerings, and don't have such a pronounced tyre bulge.
You will have to check which wheel type you will need as each decal option sports either the spoked or plain hubs.
The forward firewall has some nice raised detail on the inside face and blocks off the engine compartment. This part does not replace the kit part as Airfix don't supply a firewall.
The air inlets and rudder pedals replace the kits rather bulkier parts.
No blind-flying hood is supplied in the kit so this is a nice addition and will add interest to the pilot's cockpit.

Instructions and decals

The instructions are printed on 3 slightly smaller the A4 size sheets folded in half to make 12 pages. The front page has the part and decal tree with the following page having the build sequence over three steps. The rest of the booklet covers the five decal options.
Each decal option is supplied as a black and white drawing, but Pavla do supply each aircraft in four profiles.
The five marking options are -
1 - Liaison D.H.82A Tiger Moth Mk.II, T-8254 was operated by 312 Czechoslovak fighter squadron in the autumn 1944. It retained the FY code from the previous user, 611 Squadron RAF.
2 - Tiger Moth Mk.I, A17-625 was one of 62 Australian built Tiger Moths which were exported to the Netherlands East Indies in 1940/42. Of these only six escaped the advancing Japanese and were evacuated to Australia to fly in RAAF colours.
3 - de Havilland D.H.82A of Escadrille 2/595 Armee de I' Air French Indochina, Tong, 1941.
4 - First D.H.82A of Hatfield Air School, later No.1 ERTS, in spring 1933.
5 - D.H.82A Tiger Moth of No.4 Flying Training School, Heany airport, South Rhodesia in 1949.
External colours are given for Humbrols range of paints and a Czech producers range called Agama Authentic Colour.
The decals are printed out of house. They look to have good colour registration, a little carrier film and are quite glossy.

U-72-165 Tiger Moth upgrade set

Pavla have produced a set of resin parts for the Airfix kit minus the decals and the blind flying hood.
The price of this set from Hannants is £4.50.
Please remember, when contacting retailers or manufacturers, to mention that you saw their products highlighted here - on AEROSCALE.