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Miles M14 Magister I - 1/72 Eastern Express


CedB

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I saw these little cuties at the IPMS Avon show:

18911D76-0EAB-43B5-A1E1-9C15D1481D57_zps

and, along with my entry for the Tiger Moth GB, it's started me on a trainer theme so I picked this up at the show too:

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What's in the box?

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No guidance, really, on the paint schemes but there are some reference shots of R1918 on the 'net so I'll do some more research. I know there's going to be yellow :)

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The transfers in the box seem to be for two aircraft, the RAF one (that I'll build) being R1918. No scheme in the box so had to search the ‘net and found:

  • image of same ‘plane from RS Models
  • an entry about a possible accident in October 1940 here
  • a set of pictures that show various schemes for the Magister, the worry being the fuselage demarcation line (top or bottom?). Interesting site though
  • a thread on the Airfix Tribute forum again showing varying schemes but with R1918 in the 'full body camo'.

Here's the scheme from the Wings Palette site:

9_18.jpg

This site says that R1918 was allocated to No 16 (Polish) Flying Training School (repeet pleaze!), Central Flying School and Empire Central Flying School. No dates unfortunately.

This site shows R1918 with partial camo fuselage, only in Czech. Google translate provides this (slightly edited by me and all copyrights acknowledged):

mag01.jpg

"Magister (R 1918) served with the 312th Czechoslovak Fighter Squadron as a connecting plane. [On] 12.8.1941 during a trip to Duxford F / O Thomas Kruml [made an] emergency landing, which was done without consequences for both the pilot and the plane. Worse was another accident Magister (R 1918) on 16.9.1941 in Scotland, where she was stationed at the base třistadvanáctka Ayr. Squadron pilots were asked to rehearse attacks against gliders because they still persisted fear of invasion from the German airborne forces. F / O Frantisek Perina served in Magister his friends for target practice when he suddenly dropped off the engine. While attempting an emergency landing, injuring the pilot and the machine was heavily damaged and had to be sent for repairs outside the unit to which they have returned.

mag02.jpg

The front seat aircraft Miles Magister R 1918 F / O Ladislav Svetlik and rear F / O Frantisek Perina, fighter ace of the Battle of France in 1940. There, placed second among our fighters in the number of victories achieved under Alois Vašátko. In Britain, he has scored one certainly downed and damaged one enemy. Ladislav Svetlik also was a successful fighter pilot, a war that ended with five victories to his credit."

So, being lazy, I'm going to model with no spats (on the basis they were fitted 'later') and a half camo fuselage so it sits well with the Moth.

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The ex-Frog kit rides again! Lovely choice, but if you had bought a Frog original it would have been moulded in yellow! I love the "half way down" schemes where the yellow of the roundel cuts into the brown and green.

Looking forward to seeing your progress

Regards,

Adrian

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Thanks guys and welcome! :)

Andy that's a nice shot. If you have any of the top camo that would help lot :)

Miggers you're not wrong that 'a good clean up' is required. There's a lot of flash to remove:

36D4F3E3-59E1-4110-AA70-874B4C3F1AB1_zps4BB37219-979A-4CCA-8D38-36889ABE21C3_zps

and I don't think these things are cushions - nothing a session with the dental burrs won't sort out:

CDE4B6CA-C75B-4768-8827-F5731F9C6A6E_zpsCA1CD7DA-6959-443E-B84B-DFBA58A8D2EF_zps

A quick test fit shows a good join on the top, if a little lumpy, but the bottom... oh dear, that'll need some work:

5FB2020D-416E-4E3D-A1CD-BAE759030A73_zps7615A6CA-9A54-4051-85C5-E3D6EB2E99F3_zps

Then on with some IG ready for the internal detailing... oh wait, there isn't any!

F6F77D40-5520-42F6-8964-39F58FA1F25D_zps

(That took ages - PhotoBucket doesn't seem to like resizing 'HDR' pictures from the iPhone, now turned off!)

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Hi Rob! :)

They're great, and free (except for a trip to the dentist!). I posted here after Stuck suggested asking your dentist for old tools and here when I'd sorted them into 'types' - they throw them away when they're 'worn' but they're great for removing plastic... and my dentist was more than happy to 'recycle' them for nothing. I have a Dremel with a flexible drive but anything that turns at a reasonably slow speed will do it - too fast and the plastic melts.

HTH :)

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Thanks, er, Nomore :) Found your WiP here and the RFI here. Nice build :)

I read about issues with the transfers so I've just given mine a coat of Decal film just in case. I may try an exhaust too, although that may stretch me a bit!

Thanks for the tips :)

303 thanks for the scheme - looks good to me. Mine doesn't have the spats and the reference shot shows the camouflage half way down the fuselage... I guess these trainers got a bit of a bashing and were repaired regularly? I think I'll see how the filler and spraying goes :)

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Closing up. The top seam looks fine with some clamping and Tamiya Extra Thin, although sanding will be required!

That bottom gap gave me a chance to use the CA Gel I'd bought just for this sort of thing:

0A262444-610C-4E12-B798-CCE3D7FA8AE1_zps5A8AB867-DC38-47A5-A0CB-B9026D7CCF6C_zps

Easy to apply and filled the seam well - although sanding will be required!

If I'm sanding I decided I should fit the nose - the prop will go on later and won't, of course, spin but I'll have a hole to poke a stick in while spraying. Not too good a fit (dry fit on the left) but some trimming and hot glue, plus an elastic band, sorted it (I hope):

AAFEC9A1-10C6-4423-864A-D2386D5EF764_zpsB9D24B08-0C8C-445F-831B-97000BA6B4D8_zps

You can see one of the pilots on the production line in the background - almost finished.

I'll leave that to dry overnight and then out with the sanding sticks / belts tomorrow.

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No, the camo goes down the complete fuselage. That big rectangular patch is Dark Earth painted around the serial number leaving it on the original yellow. Same on the rudder. Originally it would probably have looked like this.

IMG_0001_zpsxdfend9f.jpg

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I have some left over decals both for R1918 and this one which might suit you.

IMG_0003_zpsdkqb4ygi.jpg

The decals worked fine for me so they should not cause you any problems. If you would like them send me a SAE and they are yours. I will send you my address in a PM.

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That's very kind 303 - PM replied to :)

Just before bed I thought I'd assemble the wings and tailplanes just in case they needed sanding. No need, the fit is good, even if they need a little help:

487F3DE5-C98B-43EF-95B3-9135C1ED860F_zps

Strange, three-part tailplanes and I hope I've fitted the elevators the right way around! They look OK?

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Thanks Colin - we've yet to see how the transfers work out - watch this space :)

Thanks Simon :) I know how you feel... when I saw that display at Thornbury I got a hankering too. Nothing like a good hanker I always say (fnaar fnaar).

My least favourite bit today - sanding. Especially with all that CA Gel filling the bottom gap. Out with the Flex-i-files and my favourite sanding stick. I've also started using IPA on a paper towel to wipe away the dust and clean any residue from the model - saves having to wash it first and gives a nice finish for the paint.

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So a bit of coarse, then medium, then fine. Then again on the bottom, just more so. Ended up with nice seams top and bottom that pass the fingernail test, although the CA gel is see through. I also had to trim around the cockpit openings:

91FB348C-C8CF-4DC6-83DE-3B2DAD0D912B_zps703EB714-E7A1-4998-A914-9AB6E2F2F448_zps

I need to re-scribe the front cowling a bit. I also used my Micromesh belt sander too. Should I be using the Micromesh wet? Can you wash it off and reuse, or is it use once and discard? Good stuff and, at the moment, I'm keeping it 'for special'.

Next job is to sand the wings but I'm sanded out today. I might leave this until they're assembled in case I need to fill the roots, but there's already a filling job to do on one of the tips (on the left in the photo below) where, presumably, the plastic didn't reach the end of the mold:

6D607316-2FF5-4332-9821-BD77E7594978_zps

Tricky.

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The ex-Frog kit rides again! Lovely choice, but if you had bought a Frog original it would have been moulded in yellow! I love the "half way down" schemes where the yellow of the roundel cuts into the brown and green.

Looking forward to seeing your progress

Regards,

Adrian

I seem to remember building the Frog Magister when I was a kid. I really can't remember if Frog moulded it in yellow plastic though.....................

Nice choice of build Ced, my apologies for missing the kick-off............

Edited by Gremlin56
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