Martin Baker Mb5 1/72

[Ossie]

During a clear out of one of my late father's cupboards, I found a Skybirds 86 Martin Baker MB5 1/72. I have never seen or heard of Skybirds 86 before. The kit has both plastic and metal parts.

I only recently started modelling and have only worked on three Airfix model planes. 

Does anyone have any advice/tips on constructing this type of model?

 

[Work In Progress]

Skybirds 86 was a one-man cottage industry brand of highly accurate limited run kits. I would not try to build it until you've done some more modelling. It;s also quite valuable. I'd prefer it over the AZ kit but the AZ kit is much more what people are used to these days.

 

He did some other lovely things too including the first accurate 1/72 Hunter, a nice dH Hornet and a Scimitar

Edited January 25, 2021 by Work In Progress

[modelldoc]

Yes, the AZ-kit is a better choice.

 

Look:

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/21603181@N08/31658422627/in/dateposted/

 

Your kit is more for vintage collectors.

 

modelldoc

[TempestV]

In 1987 I was at the IPMS Nationals at Stoneleigh. I was only 15 and it was my first at ‘The Nationals’, and was blown away by some of the work on show.

 

Skybirds 86 were there with their DH Hornets and I spent a good half an hour or so chatting with Mike , the owner. He explained how he made all of the castings etc and was very generous with his time given how busy his stand was. On the Sunday I went back to say thank you and he gave me a Hornet F.3 and Sea Hornet for nothing – simply amazing. I still have the Sea Hornet and one day I will give it the attention is deserves. Mike sadly died a few years ago, and I will always remember his kindness.

 

The MB.5 might be a bit of a hard nut to crack if you have never built a limited run kit before. It might be worth selling it on and buying a few easier kits with the proceeds.

 

Cheers,

Chris

[Seahawk]

Yes, Mike Eacock was a true gent as well as a very talented engineer.  He and some of the vacform practitioners pioneered the way into what we now call multi-media kits.  The kits were well-designed but assumed the builder would assemble them with the same patience, care and love he'd invested in creating them.  Shake and bake they are not but they are quality products, hence the continuing high prices.

 

I built the M.B.5 as soon as it came out.  Checking it against my references I realised there was very little I could add or improve beyond maybe some Reheat (remember them?) etched wheels in the cockpit.  I have never had the courage to build it but I appreciate the touch of class it lends to my stash. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Seahawk

[Work In Progress]

I have a Skybirds '86 Scimitar and every time I look at that, or indeed some of my injection-moulded Aeroclub kits, I am struck not just by virtues of the kits but also by the admirably small boxes they fit into. 

[Ossie]

Thanks for the information. Sounds like a good quality and rare kit.

I will construct the kit, but maybe after a couple more Airfix kits to gain a bit more modelling experience. 

[malpaso]

I bought a Skybirds 86 Scimitar at a club estate sale.  A bargain at £2.50 it was a beautiful kit with excellent quality plastic, white metal and vacform parts and a very impressive decal sheet.  The instructions were clear if wordy in the old-fashioned way.  All in all a superb package for a one man band.  But I sold it off for 15x what I paid as I wasn’t that fussed about a Scimitar and knew it would be a while (if ever) before I built it.  Hopefully whoever bought it enjoyed the build.

I imagine the MB5 would be similar quality.  Not ideal for a first kit but there won’t be anything that patience and application can’t achieve once you’re happy building Airfix or similar.  
No one should be scared of a plastic kit, if it starts giving you trouble just wave a six-inch file at it and they always behave! 🤪

cheers

Will

[Work In Progress]

3 hours ago, Seahawk said:

I built the M.B.5 as soon as it came out.  Checking it against my references I realised there was very little I could add or improve beyond maybe some Reheat (remember them?) etched wheels in the cockpit.  I have never had the courage to build it but I appreciate the touch of class it lends to my stash. 

I'm confused, Seahawk.

Do you mean you *bought* it as soon as it came out and haven't built it?

[Kitkent]

It's definitely a high quality kit,I have one as well. I also have the Skybirds 86 Percival Prentice ,a Hawker Hunter kit and 2 Hornets. I would say keep it,they are rare now. All the best,Chris.

[FinnAndersen]

You will have more joy out of a newer all plastic kit. Nowadays they fit very well and can easily be made into respectable models.

 

But if you find the MB5 tempting, then buy the AZ offering and have a go. Do also try to dig out it's history and destiny.

 

I made a MB5 from the CMR resin offering, came out nicely

 

The MB5 was a gentle brute, quite a large airplane with some amazing features, but not a jet and therefore discarded.

 

/Finn

[Mr T]

I have built the Skybirds 86 MB5 and as others have mentioned, it is not a kit for the novice. It is well engineered and you need to follow the instructions to the letter. It does need some fettling and the plastic is quite hard and it also has a vacform canopy, an object that even some experienced modellers are not keen on. 

I met Mike Eacock a few times and he was a interesting chap to talk to. 

Edited January 26, 2021 by Mr T

[Seahawk]

1 hour ago, Work In Progress said:

I'm confused, Seahawk.

Do you mean you *bought* it as soon as it came out and haven't built it?

 

Yes.  Too good for me to defile it with one of my bodged builds.

[Johnson]

On 1/26/2021 at 7:14 PM, Seahawk said:

Too good for me to defile it with one of my bodged builds.

I often think my kits are better off left in the box. Pristine and unspoiled. I have quite a few.

 

I had a quick look on that well known auction site and see that there's an unstarted one for sale in the US. Only one bid ($6.99) so far and one day to go, but P&P would be be a lot. Tempting though as it's clearly a historic and collectors kit.

[Michael louey]

On 1/27/2021 at 6:14 AM, Mr T said:

I have built the Skybirds 86 MB5 and as others have mentioned, it is not a kit for the novice. It is well engineered and you need to follow the instructions to the letter. It does need some fettling and the plastic is quite hard and it also has a vacform canopy, an object that even some experienced modellers are not keen on. 

I met Mike Eacock a few times and he was a interesting chap to talk to. 

I have a Skybirds MB5 (as well as a couple of Hornets) and one thing I found to be very unique was that the vacform canopies were pre cut (maybe not fully cut through - I haven't got mine on hand to check) so the hardest part of using a vacform canopy was already done. The only problem with my MB5 is I accidentally trod on the canopy when having a look at it a long time ago. The windscreen is still ok but the canopy is irreparable. Fortunately I have a Falcon MB5 which I think has 1 or 2 vacform canopies and I plan to use one of those to finish off the Skybirds kit. I built the AZ kit last year and I don't think it's as good as the CMR kit in this thread. Hopefully the Skybirds kit is at least as nice.

 

Cheers

 

Michael

[Mr T]

The canopies are not fully cut through, they just need a final cut with a fresh blade. I have built the MB5, Hornet and Prentice and although good quality, they all need a bit of fettling around the edges. One thing about Skybirds kits is that the plastic is quite hard which makes them strong but makes thinning down trailing edges and attachment points a bit more work.