Jump to content

M-55 Geophysica from Modelsvit


Recommended Posts

Just arrived - the latest kit from the Ukrainian enterprise of Modelsvit... the Myasischev M-55 'Geophysica' high-altitude observation aircraft.

 

spacer.png

 

With each new release, Modelsvit are raising the bar for moulding quality - the crispness and engraved surface detail is simply stunning.

 

spacer.png

 

Page 3 of the 12-page instruction booklet - note the 22-part K-36 ejection seat construction.

 

spacer.png

 

Page 10 showing the painting and decal-placement guide.

 

spacer.png

 

The superbly printed decal sheet - those sponsors logos are all perfectly readable!

 

spacer.png

 

The parts are crisly moulded in light grey plastic - with stunning engraved surface detail.

 

spacer.png

 

Modelsvit have captured the shape of the double-curvature laminar-flow long-span wing superbly.

 

spacer.png

 

Open or closed canopy options are included - note the parts for the K-36 ejection seat.

 

spacer.png

 

Self-adhesive masks for the canopy and wheel hubs are provided - as is this etched-brass sheet of parts.

 

More photos of the rest of the sprues are here:- http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/model_m-55_modelsvit.html

 

This close-up photo shows off the delicate engraved panel detail perfectly...

 

spacer.png

 

Finally, to whet your appetite, here's the real thing I photographed at MAKS 2012....

 

spacer.png

 

I can't wait to get started on this kit - it will make an interesting companion to Modelsvit's previously released M-17 'Stratosphera'...

 

spacer.png

 

Ken

 

  • Like 21
Link to comment
Share on other sites

49 minutes ago, Flankerman said:

Page 3 of the 12-page instruction booklet - note the 22-part K-36 ejection seat construction.

 

Holy Mother Russia!  That looks more like a seat I'd expect to see in a 1/32 scale kit.  It seems that the 1/72 scale manufacturers really are upping their game! 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, mdauben said:

Holy Mother Russia!  That looks more like a seat I'd expect to see in a 1/32 scale kit.  It seems that the 1/72 scale manufacturers really are upping their game! 

Indeed.

Having it on a separate spruce means they could offer it as an after market if they wanted.

Fascinating aircraft, a blend of U2 and Edgely Optica with a dash of Richard Branson.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The original single-engined M-17 was designed to shoot down recconnaisance balloons that were released in western Europe to drift over the Soviet Union.

 

They were extremely difficult to locate and even more difficult to shoot down - most cannon fire going straight through the envelope, making a hole but not bringing the balloon down.

 

The original M-17 had a dorsal turret with cannons that fired special tracer rounds - but as the release of the balloons ceased, the need for the M-17 interceptor declined and it was converted into the 'Stratosphera' recconnaisance aircraft.

 

You can see the turret (without the cannons) and its fairing on this Anigrand resin kit I built a few years back....

 

spacer.png

 

The Anigrand build is here.. http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/modl_m-17.html

 

The Modelsvit M-17 is here... http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/model_m-17_modelsvit.html

 

Ken

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

A bit of progress....

 

The cockpit tub is made up from a floor, two side consoles plus front and rear bulkheads.
A control column and even the rudder pedals are included.

Decals are provided for the instrument panels - perfectly adequate in this scale - IMHO...

 

spacer.png

 

Cockpit and nosewheel bay (made up from a 'roof', two side and two end parts) sub assemblies fitted inside the starboard front fuselage.
Modelsvit recommend 18 grams of nose weight - my bit of lead flashing weighs 22 grams....

 

spacer.png

 

Cockpit, wheel bay and lead weight...

 

spacer.png

 

Forward fuselage all buttoned up...

 

spacer.png

 

The multi-part K-36 ejection seat will be added at the end of the build...

 

spacer.png

 

Ken

 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The twin jetpipes are each made up from two halves - with an internal nozzle...

 

spacer.png

 

Full length intake trunking is provided - each intake made up from two halves...

 

spacer.png

 

Bulkheads provide the compressor faces (top} and turbines....

 

spacer.png

 

Intakes and jetpipes in place inside the centre-fuselage 'bathtub'.....

 

spacer.png

 

The 'bathtub' is constructed from a lower fuselage section - plus two side panels.....

 

spacer.png

 

Lower fuselage - with side panels and two-part tai;cone attached... Lots of joints!

 

spacer.png

 

Top view of the centre-fuselage sub-assembly.

 

spacer.png

 

Ken

  • Like 13
Link to comment
Share on other sites

More progress (if anyone is interested??)......

 

The forward fuselage fits into the rear fuselage between the engine intakes - but there isn't much of a mating surface, resulting in a potentially weak joint......

 

spacer.png

 

So to try to improve the joint, I added small blocks of plasticard to give the forward fuselage something to butt up against....

 

spacer.png

 

The front fuselage (which is quite heavy due to the lead weights) now has a 'ledge' to attach to....

 

spacer.png

 

Closer view of the plastic card additions....

 

spacer.png

 

It would have been easier to make the 'ledge' before fitting the intakes in place... but I hadn't discovered the problem until too late.

 

spacer.png

 

The M-55 has a box-like structure at the rear - between the exhaust nozzles - this is provided by Modelsvit with two halves into which are inserted two etched-brass vanes.... which must be bent to shape - all very fiddly...

 

spacer.png

 

It took a lot of head-scratching to try and work out how the box fitted between the jetpipes....

 

spacer.png

 

....but I got there in the end......

 

spacer.png

 

....... aided by this photo that I took at MAKS 2013....

 

spacer.png

 

Ken

 

 

  • Like 10
Link to comment
Share on other sites

More....

 

A bit of fettling sees the upper wing centre-section added - with joints to fill around the intakes...

 

spacer.png

 

.... and at the rear end....

 

spacer.png

 

Underside view.....

 

spacer.png

 

The ultra long-span wings are made up from a full-length lower section and a shorter upper section.......

 

spacer.png

 

Ken

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

A little more progress....

 

The lower wing root is quite flexible - so I've added supports made from square-section plastic.....

 

spacer.png

 

Whilst waiting for the wings to set, I constructed the two underwing sampling pods - each made up from six parts...

 

spacer.png

 

Each pod has two tiny hinge-like antenna at the rear - provided as teeny-weeny etched brass parts - almost at the limit of my eyesight.... :analintruder:

 

The starboard pod also has a flate-plate structure - again included on the etched-brass fret - here it is on the real thing...

 

spacer.png

 

More later...

 

Ken

  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 hours ago, Moa said:

A question, though: is this a real civil plane, or one of those grey area machines that hides its real military surveillance purposes doing "research"?

Cheers

The design started life as a high-flying, single-engined balloon interceptor - to try to intercept recconnaisance balloons launched from western Europe to drift across the Soviet Union taking photos.

 

They were extremely difficult to intercept, much harder to shoot down - the original M-17 had a remotely controlled gun turret firing tracer rounds - mounted on top of the fuselage.... you can see the turret at the wing root/fuselage junction here on my Anigrand M-17 (minus the cannon barrrels)...

 

spacer.png

 

When the balloon overflights ceased (due to improved satellites), the M-17 was evolved into an Earth-resources platform for studying the upper atmosphere.

 

The bigger M-55 is purely civilian - and was flown from Brazil during upper-atmosphere Ozone studies a few years back.

 

Read the Wiki entry for both the M-17 and its bigger brother the twin-engined M-55 :- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myasishchev_M-55

 

My Anigrand build is here :- http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/modl_m-17.html

 

The Modelsvit M-17 build is here :- http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/model_m-17_modelsvit.html

 

The ongoing Modelsvit M-55 build is here :- http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/model_m-55_modelsvit.html

 

19 hours ago, Chemguy3000 said:

Will you be using brass rod or tubing to support those long wings?

I thought about - then completly forgot in my haste to get the wings on... :doh:

 

I thing they are rigid enough though :pray: - the overlapping design helps in that regard.

 

Ken

 

 

 

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

More.....

 

The main wheel bays form the front end of the tail booms - and are assembled from an outer 'canoe' and an inner bay.

 

The bay is made up from a flat part that you have to fold up to form the roof and sides - a neat idea that saves having to line up separate parts

 

A separate part is inserted for rear bulkhead...

 

spacer.png

 

The tailbooms/fins are each made up from two halves (bottom) ....

 

spacer.png

 

The completed starboard boom is at the top.

 

Ken

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd never heard of this kit maker until yesterday and then.... BOOM .....a WIP. Looking good. They seem to be quite Yak heavy in my chosen 1:48 milieu

Edited by fubar57
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's starting to come together now.....

 

The front sections of the tailbooms containing the maingear bays are glued in place on the underside of the wings....

 

spacer.png

 

The mating surface - where the tailbooms attach - isn't very substantial - so I fashioned a plug made from plastic tubing wrapped with plastic card to strengthen the joint.....

 

spacer.png

 

The model is getting difficult to handle with its long-span wings :analintruder: .........and attaching the tailbooms really needs three hands :wall:

 

The booms have a 'key' to aid in lining them up - but the fit is a bit 'slack' - allowing the booms to sag or rotate slightly.......

 

I tackled it by first glueing the port tailboom into place - lining things up by eye to make sure the fin was vertical and correctly aligned in side view.

 

After allowing the glue to set - but not too hard - I then attached the starboard boom and, with the model inverted and supported horizontally on the workbench, the horizontal stabiliser was glued in place and used to line everything up - it seems to have worked.....

 

spacer.png

 

Underside view - the joints need to be filled and eliminated - difficult when you are handling what feels like a balalaika !!!!

 

spacer.png

 

It's all downhill from here........ :whistle:

 

Ken

  • Like 3
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...