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Supermarine 508 - Maintrack 1/72 vacform


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Not my finest effort but put here regardless as it may be of interest as Whirlykits have a modernised version using the original Maintrack master which has addressed some of its shortcomings.

Don't let any of the following put you off if the 508 is on your 'must have' list. The faults are correctable by anybody with some vacform experience. I'm sure I could have done a better job but I'm playing catch-up with my modelling after a rough year personally and ran out of patience.

 

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This was built from an original Maintrack kit. The 508 held a particular fascination for me as I first became aware of it not long after it first flew in 1951 as young lad of 11 and seeing it described as a 'powerful naval fighter powered by two RR Avons' I thought that it must be something special. Alas it was not so and it is interesting to compare it with the similarly powered CF 100 which had flown a year earlier and went on to have a successful career.

The kit was designed by Gordon Stevens and at first appeared to have the makings of a  nice model having lots of surface detail. However it was not to be.

The wings and tails were produced first and went together nicely. The probelms started with the fuselage. The cockpit section consisted of two halves which had to be cemented together. This made a convenient receptacle for the nose weight so it was filled with 'liquid lead'. However when fitted in to nose it didn't quite and much trimming was required to get it to do so. Memo - check it fits before glueing the halves together. I believe the Whirlykits version has a resin cockpit.

On glueing the fuselage halves together it was apparent that there was a major fault in the shape of one half in that one engine exhaust was higher than the other. This still exists in the current kit but It is correctable. See the link below for details. It should be easier now as there is a resin insert for the exhausts.

 

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235009453-maintrack-supermarine-508-help-sorted/

 

The other problem with the fuselage is that it was somewhat floppy due that huge oval section and required internal stiffening. This should not be a problem as the current version has a resin u/c bay and engine intakes.

I added the boundary layer bleeds and filler to make the intakes into tunnels.

 

An ejector seat was supplied but when put in the cockpit it was evident that the floor is too high so it was replaced by a couple of pieces of sheet as nothing can be seen of the inside.

 

The finish was Alclad airframe aluminium over gloss black enamel which looked too shiny so a dusting of aluminium was applied over the top.

 

Decals were the original 'rub-down' type which still went down well although great care had to be taken when positioning them.

 

I hope that this is of interest and has not put anybody off because if you want a 508 it's the only one around.

Any comments, good or bad, and any queries welcome.

John

 

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I have always been interested in Scimitar predecessors so have wondered what this kit was like - sounds like it took a bit of work but you have made it into a very nice replica

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Flawless, just simply flawless.

You've produced a real showstopper from this kit and your finish is faultless.

Maintrack produced some very interesting British experimental prototypes and had quite a range.

Most of them now seem to be covered by Whirlybird Models. 

Thank you for sharing it with us.

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Good looking model and shows vacforms are not impossible. I have recently finished the original Maintrack P1121 and that suffers from thin plastic around the fuselage, i think that the sheet used was a little thin for the depth of draw of the fuselage halves.

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On 5 November 2016 at 4:33 PM, Martin T said:

Good looking model and shows vacforms are not impossible. I have recently finished the original Maintrack P1121 and that suffers from thin plastic around the fuselage, i think that the sheet used was a little thin for the depth of draw of the fuselage halves.

The 508 has the same problem as it has a wide fuselage. Not chronic but you have to be careful.

 

Thanks to the rest of you for the kind words but the finish is not that great when you get close!

John

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