AdrianMF

Hello All, I might as well get my cards on the table and declare an interest in building the Novo repop of the Frog Miles Master Mk III. Here’s a picture of the contents and the box: I have done some work to taper the rear fuselage a bit and to thin down the fin. Although the kit has some issues, I have to say that it fits together well nigh perfectly. This is a dry fit with no glue anywhere, and I wouldn’t even need the tape if I hadn’t sanded the fuselage halves a bit thinner: Thanks for looking, Adrian

Looks like a dragonfly! Very nice finish indeed. ...or Dumbo (cartoon version obvs) Regards, Adrian

Smashing pair! The Swedish scheme looks very nice indeed too. Regards, Adrian

The new undercarriage looks super. If I were in your shoes, I'd be leaving the canopy firmly on! It looks very clear. Save all that swearing for the turret Regards, Adrian Oi! There's one on my bench! Regards, Adrian

Three hours have gone quickly! I have started the cockpit for the Master Mk I using the kit seats and some plastic: It is removable at this stage because I still have to make the cockpit cover mould, and it’s easier to paint that way: And the Mk III has been tapered in profile at the back: I managed to sand down some of the width at the back too. Thanks for looking, Adrian

If it’s any consolation the landing gear on the Frog Oxford is pants too... Regards, Adrian

Well I have made some progress: On the left is the Master MkI. I have glued the fuselage together, added the fin, made some pins and holes for tailplane mounting and cut away the larger trainer cockpit opening (with a bit added back where my cut went astray). I have sorted out the wing alignment with some fairly brutal bending and trimming. The Pegasus kit has some more “issues” too. I started the tailplane pin hole in the middle of the port stub but it wouldn’t come out to the middle of the stub marked on the far side of the fuselage - it is a mm or so lower on the starboard side. So I started measuring some more. The port wing fairing joins the wing 1-2mm lower than on he other side. The fine engraved lines along the fuselage sides are not on the same slope either, so I will be filling one or both - I’m not sure I need to re-scribe them. The sides do align well and there wasn’t much of a seam. The rounded plastic card is the start of the instrument panel - I’m going to build the interior separately to slide into the cockpit from below. On the right is a sneaky debut from the Frog/Novo Master MkIII, for which I haven’t yet started a topic. It’s a lovely little kit in terms of fit but sadly has some shape issues all of its own. It is far too wide, which I won’t be fixing. The differing widths mean that I can’t clone my MkI cockpit as I had hoped. It also doesn’t taper enough down to the fin. I will be fixing that, and I’ve cut out the rear upper fuselage as a prelude to re-shaping. The Novo plastic is extremely brittle. The fuselage is 1mm or so too tall by the canopy too but I want to have some fun in the build! Thanks for looking, Adrian

Sorry to hear that this has been a troublesome build. Your build and paint job look very nice to me, and the closeups show nice rough cast texture and detail from the kit. It does sound like a terribly complex kit, although I’m currently struggling with a short run kit at the other end of the spectrum with fewer parts than one of your tracks! I’ve never even heard of a cast hull Lee before now, because my sole exposure to the type was building the Airfix kit many years ago. I’m intrigued by that angled big hatch behind the main gun turret - it looks like it’s just been thrown into the design. Regards, Adrian

The painting looks great. One up for black basing. Regards, Adrian

Rob, Sorry for any confusion. The Pegasus kit has decals for N7765 with an "18" on a red band. I have no idea how they chose a serial number. But I'm pretty sure the Pegasus kit is meant to be the fighter version because of the following: Here's a picture of N7408: It has the early canopy with the curved windscreen, straight bottom sill and no noticeable step in the roof line. The canopy was composed of two side-opening segments. For reference I have included the Frog Master III canopy, the Pegasus canopy and the Pegasus fuselage. The Pegasus kit has the first segment plus a bit more glass, but not as much as the full trainer canopy. Her's a picture of, er, N7***, where * could be 0,5,6,8 or 9 (so it could indeed be N7805, N7808 or N7809 from your range of fighter serials) which was converted to a fighter.: This shows the shorter canopy, with the Pegasus parts for reference/comparison. So I'm going to get as close to N7408 as I can, using photographs for reference. It would make sense that it was the first production example because it was quite heavily photographed. There are also pictures out there that show the Kestrel-engined Master with the later, sliding canopy/faceted windscreen cockpit canopy more like the Master III. I'm guessing this is a change during production - maybe the "1A"? I won't be doing that because I like the earlier colour scheme with the earlier canopy. Regards, Adrian

Sorry to hear the decals are giving you such grief. If it's any consolation it does look terrific, dodgy decals or not. Regards, Adrian

Ok, so when is this all going to get interesting? How about now? I managed to wrestle the centre section together for a whole wing dry fit. From the front the angles look a little off, too much anhedral on the centre section: From above it’s clear that filler will be harmed in this build: And I can’t even show you the front or side views in case persons of sensitive disposition are watching! Now, where did I put that file...? Thanks for looking, Adrian

Nice rib shading and the colour looks on the scale between green and brown. Looks great to me! Regards, Adrian

Just to show that this thread isn’t all about comparing lumpy plastic to dodgy references, here’s some sticking together. Under the forest of clamps are the outer wing halves, and the fuselage halves are stuck together: The centre section fit looks like it will be rougher than a hedgehog’s bottom. The cockpit will be inserted from below, and hopefully that can get replicated for the Master III. Regards, Adrian

I found some problems with whitening transparent plastics when I last had a go. If you heat the plastic up slowly, I find that it's more likely to whiten. So instead of warming it gently, I blasted the next piece of plastic from the same packaging from about 5mm away with a paint stripper gun on full and it was fine. I wouldn't be surprised if ambient starting temperature and humidity comes into play somewhere, but empirically for me, slow heating = more chance of whitening. Also some plastics seem to be more prone to whitening than others. Ikea packaging whitens almost instantly, otherwise I would be set for life! Regards, Adrian PS: nice Vickers K PPS: is there really a TV show called "Schitt's Creek"? My inner 8 yr old is very happy...

The Heyford wings-without-fuselage are looking increasingly surreal! I love the weathering on both of them, and I will be trying out the grey dry-brush on exhausts too. Looking forward to the next episode. Regards, Adrian

They are looking good and, in one case, very shiny! What silver did you use? Sorry to hear about the decals too. Regards, Adrian

Thanks Steve! Brilliant reference. Regards, Adrian

Strange, the fuselages were a very good match, you could almost swap the wings. Here’s a top shot: The fuselage+rudder+spinner measure out at around 5 3/32”, which is 30’6.75”, compared to the quoted length of 30’5”. So that’s good. Plus this: I know it’s not scientific and lalalala but it looks like a Master to me! So I think the only difference with the Frog one is the lack of taper down to the rear and, of course, the front end. [disclaimer] this is all based on references from “Aircraft of the Fighting Powers” era, which are responsible for a lot of errors in Airfix and Frog kits. Although in all fairness every aeroplane they drew was either top secret or arrived on the back of a scrap metal van! Regards, Adrian

I’m a very happy man. The Pegasus kit shows the Mk I as converted to a single-seat six gun fighter. So it needs a new cockpit canopy with a bulged windscreen and a back end like the Mk III to get it back to trainer-land. There is a photo on Wikipedia Commons here that shows the upper surfaces with yellow tips and an A1 roundel cutting into the camouflage, and the photos in the Book of Miles Aircraft show the side/lower view showing another A1 roundel cutting up on the side and an A roundel and serial number under the wing. So that’s what I’m doing: N7408. Now, where’s that scalpel? [edit] Now I’m wondering if it has yellow elevators and what colour the lighter window frames might be... Regards, Adrian

Next up is this: I did a wee comparison with the Frog/Novo Mk III and they seem to agree, broadly speaking: Frog rear fuselage doesn’t taper enough, which I have confirmed from photos, and the tailplanes and rudder seem a bit anaemic. One of the bottom outer wing panels took industrial quantities of sanding to get down to thickness, but once there the detailing is nice and restrained (with sink marks, unsurprisingly given the thickness): And a comparison to the plans in the Harborough Book of Miles Aircraft: Pretty much bang on, except that the undercarriage is three or four mm further out on the plan (no fix planned) and the plan shows the later cockpit (I’ll go with photos on that one). I hear the garden task list calling but I hope to get going on some more research and the cockpit soon. Thanks for looking, Adrian

In the gallery. Sample picture: I’m not sure it suits a concrete runway but that’s the base I made! Regards, Adrian

Adrian’s Frog/Novo Magister with scratched extra details, Extradecal and home-printed decals, brush painted with Humbrol and Revell acrylics. Build thread here. Thanks for looking, Adrian

Wow, the yellow really stands out! It looks very smart. Regards, Adrian

It may have given you grief but it looks very nice. Halfords aluminium rattle can is great stuff. Weird looking aeroplane though - far too much canopy! Regards, Adrian