Jump to content

Magna Models question


Geoff King

Recommended Posts

I have been eyeing a couple of Magna Models kits on eBay and was hoping someone could offer some insight into these kits.

They are the Miles M.20 and the Martin Baker MB.2 in 1/48 scale. I have a DeHavilland Dove kit of theirs and know that will take a good bit of work to build, are these kits similar? I like the subject matter but I'm not sure if I need to add to my stash a couple of kits that will gather dust.

Thanks for any help!

Cheers,

Geoff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't stand them, I think they are blobs of overpriced resin, not very well cast considering other companies that do resin, there metal casting is in my opinion rubbish, if you want a Dove/devon, look for a Rareplanes vacform although these are rare, there is another company Omega models that produce the Devon as well in 1/72 and there resin is allot finer

Edited by kev67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks kev67, that's where I was leaning. It's been a while since I've looked at the Dove but I remember thinking it would be a daunting task to finish that one.

And Mick, I'm afraid that I am as guilty as any of the ever growing pile and "stash fondling" once in a while! :yikes:

Thanks gents!

Geoff

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I acquired recently the Percival Petrel and at first sight I cried for my money. But after some cleaning I changed my opinion, as the parts fits perfectly. Some work will be needed, and I will avoid some other by replacing some parts with plastic card or from spares, but you can get a very good model from the parts.

P1040731.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Magna's stuff is variable in quality but with some clean up and an application of modelling skills you can turn them into quite decent models. There's a lot in the Magna range that no-one has the bottle to release - an Ashton or some of the pre-war RAF prototypes? Yes, the white metal could be better and the canopies definitely need to improve but there are far worse resin casting companies out there.

Overpriced blobs of resin? Try Unicraft for REAL horror. Sub Merlin quality excrement at CMR prices. Makes Magna look like CMR by comparison.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't stand them, I think they are blobs of overpriced resin, not very well cast considering other companies that do resin, there metal casting is in my opinion rubbish, if you want a Dove/devon, look for a Rareplanes vacform although these are rare, there is another company Omega models that produce the Devon as well in 1/72 and there resin is allot finer

Have you built one or just looked in the box and shuddered?

I can't say about the kits mentioned in the original post but I have built their conversions for Beaufighter II and fabric wing Hurricane in 1/72 and have their Henley finished to the point of masking the canopy. I agree the metal bits can sometimes be a bit iffy, but not always and the resin was ok in the above although I have bought Aeroclub replacements for the engine cowlings in my F37/39 as that looked easier than cleaning up the kit ones. Generally I would say you need to consider Magna as requiring similar work to vacforms - and there are good and bad of those! I actually sold a Formaplane vacform Henley, even though it looked a nice kit, as I found the Magna one quite easy.

Ross

Links to builds http://www.hrmtech.com/SIG/articles/Magna_BeauII_72_build.asp and picture http://www.hrmtech.com/SIG/articles/Images/Magna_hurricanei.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Have you built one or just looked in the box and shuddered?

I can't say about the kits mentioned in the original post but I have built their conversions for Beaufighter II and fabric wing Hurricane in 1/72 and have their Henley finished to the point of masking the canopy. I agree the metal bits can sometimes be a bit iffy, but not always and the resin was ok in the above although I have bought Aeroclub replacements for the engine cowlings in my F37/39 as that looked easier than cleaning up the kit ones. Generally I would say you need to consider Magna as requiring similar work to vacforms - and there are good and bad of those! I actually sold a Formaplane vacform Henley, even though it looked a nice kit, as I found the Magna one quite easy.

Ross

Links to builds http://www.hrmtech.com/SIG/articles/Magna_BeauII_72_build.asp and picture http://www.hrmtech.com/SIG/articles/Images/Magna_hurricanei.jpg

Yes I have there Argosy, which is just a copy of the old Airways vacform kit which this company seems to do in some other of its kits VC10 seems to be the same as I have been told, the resin looks very greasy and very thick, compared to other companies, and they are in my opinion over priced.

But saying all that horses for courses if you like there kits and don't mind shelling out huge amounts of money and having to do more work with them, then its up to modeller, but this is my opinion on these kits, and I certanly won't be buying any more

Edited by kev67
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The prices seem to be quite competitive and having moulded and cast my own stuff, I've some appreciation of the real costs. A rubber mould may last up to 50 castings before being replaced, sometimes much less.

The thick casts may be down to the fact that it's all hand poured and you need to get it into the mould before it starts to cure. Any short shots degrade the mould without bringing in a return and thus pus the costs up.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The resin is crap and is like dealing with soft soapstone. Fit is not bad, and the metal parts need work. With a little effort a finished model will emerge. I did the Firebrand, don't regret it. But then again, I have a thing for unbuildable limited run kits.

367f5dd6.jpg

Edited by Steven Eisenman
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Compared to the stuff they started out with back in 1993, the resin he uses now is superb - it was hard, brittle and like china. I've a feeling it was a polyester resin, similar to that from Halfords but tinted because it looks like normal polyurethane resin. I've got a few of the Magna kits from that period somewhere in the secondary stash, one of them being the Firebrand. The resin is very like the garbage that Unicraft uses now.

I'm sure Magna currently use a resin called Smoothcast, which is quite soft which makes it easy to cut and easy to clean up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've built the Skyraider AEW which went together nicely and also had a Sturgeon but one of the engine cowling's was so oversized to be beyond my abilities at that time to correct, so eBayed it!

Still have the finished Skyraider and would possibly consider other Magna kits, if it were of a subject I desperately wanted and was unavailable elsewhere.

Want the kit?

Then be prepared to learn or even invent new swearwords! :wicked:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have built the Buckmaster, Venom, MB2 and Gloster F5/34 and posted the Venom on this site a while ago. Yes they are crude compared to CMR and not cheap, but I think that is an issues with all resin kits, the time and material make them expensive. I did not consider them unbuildable by any means and I have built worse injection moulded kits. It depends on what you want to build and how confident you feel about tackling one. I think some of the issues with Magna kits are that they varied the resin used and certainly the more recent kits use a better quality resin. The white metal could be much better in terms of the amount of flash on it. The parts are quite chunky, but on the kits have built they cleaned up quite well and the fit is not too bad. I think the main problem with Magna is it is stuck in a bit of a time warp in terms of technology, The most recent kit I bought still looked as if the instructions etc were bashed on on an old Remington or Imperial. Nowhere as bad as a Merlin Kit and at least they try to tackle subjects no one else will look at.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...