Frog/Novo Miles Magister

[AdrianMF]

Hello All,

 

I'm in! I have a ton of work stuff to do between now and the end of the build, and a couple of boxes full of training goodness (this, Pegasus Master I, Frog/Novo Master III, Frog/Novo Oxford, Frog/Novo Proctor) that are candidates. So I'm starting with something simple and hopefully quick. I think I built this from balsa when I was about nine or ten, it being the simplest shape from Aircraft of the Fighting Powers Vol 1. There are newer and better kits out there I believe, so I will try to improve it a little as we go along. I'm intending to do an all-yellow version, serial L8338, as pictured in the book. Here's the real thing, courtesy of Wikipedia commons:

 

So, what have we got?

 

Fuselages have a moulded-on blind flying hood, which I have removed to replace later. The ding in the wing root is not me, it's a moulding flaw, honest!

 

Insides got a scrape down to remove the moulded in part number and a big ejection pin mark:

 

Wings and tailplane went together nicely, with the elevators slightly drooped (so I didn't have to prop them up while drying...):

 

Starboard side doors and hatch were scribed using the raised kit lines as a guide:

 

The back of the cowling was scribed to represent the gap:

 

The vague inlets moulded on both sides of the cowling were removed. I'll get that sink mark later!

 

The anti-spin strakes were also removed and will get replaced with card later on:

 

Cockpit time! Some freshly-stretched sprue for the internal structure:

 

(It was only after that I remembered this is a wooden aeroplane and so it doesn't have a tubular internal structure)

 

Floor and wing root blanking plate over the top of the two floorlets provided by the kit:

 

Bulkheads courtesy of trial and error fitting:

 

Control panels same:

 

Seats. I have seen pictures of nice leather seats, and I quite liked the kit ones, so I scribed up some leatherwork:

 

Some card and stretched sprue details:

 

Compasses are slices of an overspill pip off the end of the old Airfix Seaking door runner. It's good to have a spares box!

 

New inlets and a hinge from stretched sprue bits, hollowed out with a file or scraped down to a half round:

 

Wine bottle foil belts and a splash of Hubrol's finest acrylic:

 

And ready to close up:

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

 

 

[Heather Kay]

Coming along very nicely. 

 

I’ve recently acquired an original Frog boxing of this kit, which I am saving for another GB. I shall keep this thread bookmarked for some handy hints and tips! 

[AdrianMF]

Flying bits on:

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

[Max Headroom]

Some good old fashioned modelling going on!

 

Trevor

[spaddad]

Got one of these myself & I'm going to copy off you so you'd better do a good job. Love these Frog trainers, just wish I had more than one, good job up to now.

[AdrianMF]

3 hours ago, spaddad said:

you'd better do a good job.

No pressure then, gulp!

 

They are proper old school kits and fun to just build in a weekend-y sort of way.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[AdrianMF]

Trouble is, I gotta have spats:

 

Three laminations of 40 thou sanded down.

 

Seems to match my reference:

 

And on, together with the anti-spin strakes. Time for some filler and supper!

 

I’ve cut out a slot for the exhaust too. Yes it would have been easier to do it before sticking everything together!

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

[AdrianMF]

Well, that wasn’t meant to happen:

 

I was using PPP and smoothing it off with a wet earbud. It was all touch dry so I thought a first coat of yellow was in order. On the couch now trying to catch up with Endeavour (when the WiFi starts working)

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

[stevehnz]

You're not much for hanging around, are you? That is impressive progress & great looking modelling going on, the cockpit is a honey.

Steve.

[AdrianMF]

Thanks Steve! I’m away for two and a bit weeks on Wednesday, so I’m trying to get this one done by then.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Hamden]

 

Just found this one. You are turning this into a masterpiece looking forward to seeing how this ends up

 

       Roger

[AdrianMF]

3 hours ago, Hamden said:

how this ends up

At the moment it seems to be  a race between applying layers of yellow too thickly and sanding them back smooth!

 

Regards,

Adrianm

[Col.]

Very nice work Adrian!

[AdrianMF]

Well the yellow has had a few more coats and a lot more sanding. I realise that I don’t have any roundels small enough for it so I will have to print some (and the serials) when I get back at Easter.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[John Masters]

On 3/31/2019 at 11:50 PM, AdrianMF said:

catch up with Endeavour 

I thought it was a good series even though it was a bit short.  Well done all around.  You too.  Loving the M1.

[AdrianMF]

Home at last. We talked about software and video encoding for a week and a half in Las Vegas, and we gave away about 2000 of these:

Back at home I had to mend the loo and turn the small meadow at the back of the house into something resembling a lawn. The joy of homecoming, eh?

 

I think I have enough yellow on now, and I took a leaf from Stuart @Courageous‘s Sea Fox build to make a front cylinder behind the cooling aperture:

 

The cylinder is made from the peg that serves as a seat in the Airfix Thunderbolt, wrapped in a strand of electrical flex wire.

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

[AdrianMF]

And I’ve got to here today:

 

Just the canopy frames to paint, make and apply some decals and lightly weather it.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Heather Kay]

Very smart. I like. 

[Max Headroom]

A Proper Job.

 

Cant wait for the next instalment.

 

Trevor

[Beard]

That's very smart.

[AdrianMF]

Thanks all!

 

I was looking for serial number decals when I found these:

 

which meant I could do this:

 

I had checked my 1939 onwards A type roundels but I’d forgotten the inter-war ones.

 

On to serials. I may try out the Lazertran inkjet transparent-with-oil-varnish paper today rather than waiting for a laser printer on Tuesday  because suddenly I’m feeling lucky!

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian 

[AdrianMF]

Well the Lazertran inkjet decal carrier dries to a fairly opaque white. The instructions say that if you coat the decals with water-based varnish the carrier will stay white, but if you cover them with oil-based varnish the carrier will go clear. I’ve never had much luck with oil-based varnish, so I thought I would give this a go:

 

it works!

 

Props to Mr William de Coster over on the Hyperscale forums for attacking his decals with this.

 

but if it goes a bit wrong you had better clean it up before it eats through the paint and plastic:

 

Yes, you may ask me how I know! I should have let it harden until tomorrow, then sanded, painted and waited etc. Nah. Let it dry during dinner, sand-paint-decal-extrathinagain:

 

Front window shield painted, rear shield adorned with some aluminium tape. 

 

So tomorrow there will be a bit of weathering, more for the control surface and body hatch emphasis than for dirtying up, because I undersand that the training units kept their kit in good condition. Gallery after that!

 

Thanks for looking,

Adrian

[stevej60]

Nearly there with this one Adrian great work it's looking good!

[stevehnz]

I'm liking, quite a lot in facr. I've just got this urge to go find me a Frog Magister, who knows where that came from.

Steve.

[AdrianMF]

1 hour ago, stevej60 said:

Nearly there

If I’d remembered I had inter war decals before I went away I might have finished by now. But I would have laser printed the serials and wouldn’t have discovered the Tamiya Thin trick, so it’s swings and roundabouts..

9 minutes ago, stevehnz said:

go find me a Frog Magister

Recommended! The Novo ones are just as nice, mould-wise, and the Miles Master And Percival Proctor are also cracking weekend kits. The Frog Oxford looks a bit strange around the canopy, but I have a Cunning Plan (if I get the time...)

 

Regards,

Adrian