C'est Fini! Morane-Saulnier MS406 (RS Models, 1/72)

[Old Man]

 

With a little luck, I could bring this one in by the deadline. It's a nice little kit, that I got after butchering an old Frog 406 recently. This is missing its seat, but the fellow who sold it included without mention in the listing a Brengun photoetch set so I make no complaint. I don't generally use such things, but its seat piece will make a nice template for constructing one myself. I also have a PrintScale decal sheet for the type. I haven't decided on a subject yet, but leading contenders are a 'phony war' example with reduced upper-surface roundels, or a machine in Vichy Indochina.

 

I've begun by tending to surface detail.

 

 

The usual engraved panel line is not always correct for machines of the thirties and earlier, and the MS-406 is one instance of this. Photographs make clear there was a raised fastening strip over joints in the odd aluminum-clad plywood material used. I deepened the lines a bit, and laid .01"/0.25mm round rod in the channels, fixed it with Tamiya extra thin, and have sanded it down just short of flat to the surface. I will do similarly for joints across the seams once the fuselage is assembled.

Edited November 2, 2021 by Old Man

[Bertie McBoatface]

That's something not often seen, replacement of engraved with raised panel lines. Very interesting.

[Old Man]

On 10/5/2021 at 9:36 AM, Bertie Psmith said:

That's something not often seen, replacement of engraved with raised panel lines. Very interesting.

 

Sometimes it's needed, Sir.

 

As you may gauge from my avatar, I do a lot of interwar stuff. In those days a lot of stuff stands proud of the surface where metal panels are bolted or screwed on. Fastener strips, crimping at the edges to add strength to thin sheet. The raised detail on, for instance, the old Monogram biplanes is correct. On the Dewoitine 501/510 the raised detail on the Heller kit is right, the engraved detail on the Pavla is wrong. Judging by available photographs, the same seems true for the MS-406. In one sense, it strikes me as odd, because it must be easier to set raised lines into a mold than recessed ones --- you're putting a groove into a surface in the first instance, and removing a good deal of surface to leave a this raised ridge in the second.

[Bertie McBoatface]

2 minutes ago, Old Man said:

Sometimes it's needed, Sir.

 

I quite understand, one thinks of the famous overlapping joint in the area of the Spitfire fuel tank, correctly moulded by Tamiya and sanded flush by modellers the world over.

[Old Man]

Beaucoup de progrès ici, messieurs.

 

This is going together a lot quicker than I usually manage, mostly because the kit forced my hand.

 

 

This is all there is by way of dedicated interior shot. This is one of those instances where the interior parts look good on the sprue, but just don't seem to work together if made up as sub-assemblies. It would be nice if the directions showed just where things ought to go, and if there were some positive locators. But there aren't. I could not make things work, in relation to one another or get them properly centered assembled into one of the fuselage sides. So to see how they might be made to go together, I tacked the halves together with a few drops of CA, and started putting things in from below, through the wing opening. Once I got the instrument panel where it ought to be, more or less, I figured putain ça and ran Tamiya thin over the seams, and stuffed the rest in from below. The front bulkhead in the kit is pointless, it's invisible, and if you put the heel runners where it lets you, they're not centered. I may later put a quadrant or two in from the top, but it's not a high priority.

 

So here is how things stand now,,,

 

 

 

 

Fit on the big pieces was pretty good. I attached the lower piece first, then the uppers. The LocTite CA container/applicator is in the picture because I just got it, and it's good. Worth the money, precise as a toothpick point.

 

There is a little raised detail to go on the tail area still, but not much. The applique will be sanded down a bit more here and there.

 

I expect to be painting next session.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Old Man

[2996 Victor]

10 minutes ago, Old Man said:

On the Dewoitine 501/510 the raised detail on the Heller kit is right,

That's fascinating, OM, and something that hadn't occurred to me - all the more embarrassing as I've got a Heller D.510 on the cards....! And also a Heller Mureaux 117 - hopefully that's another case in point  I really need to do my research!

 

I've also got an RS MS.406 in my stash, so watching your build progress.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[Old Man]

Just now, 2996 Victor said:

That's fascinating, OM, and something that hadn't occurred to me - all the more embarrassing as I've got a Heller D.510 on the cards....! And also a Heller Mureaux 117 - hopefully that's another case in point  I really need to do my research!

 

I've also got an RS MS.406 in my stash, so watching your build progress.

 

Cheers,

Mark

 

 

I have the 'Ailes de Gloire' number on the Dewoitine, and the pictures are quite clear. I'd like to have their 406 monograph, all I've got is the old Profile pamphlet.

 

Good luck with the 510, that's a pretty damn aeroplane...

[Old Man]

23 minutes ago, Bertie Psmith said:

 

I quite understand, one thinks of the famous overlapping joint in the area of the Spitfire fuel tank, correctly moulded by Tamiya and sanded flush by modellers the world over.

 

 

That's a new one on me, and I'll remember when (if) I do one. I seem to recall reading the 109 has an actual panel line right down the spine where the seam is....

[Bertie McBoatface]

3 minutes ago, Old Man said:

 

 

That's a new one on me, and I'll remember when (if) I do one. I seem to recall reading the 109 has an actual panel line right down the spine where the seam is....

 

That's a fact. Also the 110. I understand it came from building the fuselage in two halves, rather as we do!

[2996 Victor]

3 minutes ago, Old Man said:

 

 

I have the 'Ailes de Gloire' number on the Dewoitine, and the pictures are quite clear. I'd like to have their 406 monograph, all I've got is the old Profile pamphlet.

 

Good luck with the 510, that's a pretty damn aeroplane...

I've got the Ailes de Gloire number on order, waiting eagerly for its arrival! I've also got Aero Journal No.40, which arrived recently and which has an article on the D.510 but haven't had an opportunity to read it yet. I'm particularly interested in the aircraft that survived the Battle of France into the Vichy period.

 

Anyway, back to your excellent build.

 

Cheers,

Mark

[Old Man]

Peinture en cours messieurs.

 

Skipped the last little bits of raised stuff --- it's my model, and I'll slack off a bit if I want to,

 

Here it is under primer....

 

 

 

This is the early stage of painting. I do several thin coats, brushed on. Acrylic, cut with Future,

 

 

 

Brown is a mix of raw sienna cut with dark blue and red.

 

Grey is US neutral grey cut with a bit of dark blue.

 

Green is alternating coats of an old PollyScale French Khaki and MM Green Drab.

 

Underside is MM light grey cut with a bit of dark blue and a hint of straight black.  I have extra in little plastic cups with snap lids.

 

Since these were taken, a finish coat has been put on, and demarcations gone over with a blend of the adjacent colors. Gloss coat is drying, but I am done for the night and will be doing decals tomorrow.

 

Subject will be a pre-war (May, 1939) example, from the PrintScale sheet.

[Old Man]

On 10/11/2021 at 1:21 PM, Bertie Psmith said:

 

That's a fact. Also the 110. I understand it came from building the fuselage in two halves, rather as we do!

 

Interesting.

 

In the Great War, the Pfalz company in Bavaria did wooden fuselages in two halves. An odd bit of continuity....

[John Masters]

This is looking good.  I have a couple of these RS Model MS406 kits.  I have better hopes now for them.  I'll keep a heads up for the front bulkhead!

[Bertie McBoatface]

31 minutes ago, Old Man said:

 

Interesting.

 

In the Great War, the Pfalz company in Bavaria did wooden fuselages in two halves. An odd bit of continuity....

 

The Mosquito was made that way too. All the systems were installed before they were joined, which made life very easy in the factory.

[Old Man]

Beaucoup de progrès ici, messieurs.

 

Mais pas de progrès heureux.

 

Between niggling little things with the kit, and the Print Scale decals, I cannot say I am having fun with this build.

 

However it is up on its hind legs....

 

 

 

 

The decals have been a serious problem. I don't mind that the blue was too deep and pure, like an interwar RAF roundel. I painted over the blue --- I was one of those insufferable kids who always colored within the lines, and don't much mind keeping my hand on such tasks.

 

The decals come off the paper quick, are quite thin, and snuggle down well. Unfortunately they will fold over on themselves sliding off the paper, and if they have to be moved on the plastic will wrinkle.

 

The under-surface was the worst. Neither the decal positioning diagrams, nor the kit instructions give the least hint of something I expect many will not suspect, namely that the large serials lap over onto the landing gear doors. And here the niggling bits about the kit begin to interact with the decal difficulties.

 

You have to have the gear doors in place to put down the serial characters, and the doors do not fit at all well into the open bays. Even after considerable fettling (and since there is a rim on the inner surface of the door you can't go wild with sanding and trimming) I could not get them to lie flat, though they were horsed in good enough.

 

 

The decals proved to have no film surround, they were just the white, nothing else. No silver worry, of course, but given their propensity to hug themselves and to wrinkle and general thin-film fragility, I'd have happily faced great swathes of silvering instead. If the sheet had not contained duplicates of 'N' and '8', it would have been necessary to find another subject (and of course by this time I had the unit badge, etc., and early miniature roundels on). The only one that went on smooth was the '4', the rest drove me to a blue streak that reached self-pitying tones by the time I had the '3' underway. All the others had to be rescued from serious folding over, had to be straightened out to true, and cured of wrinkles. A lot of water and a soft brush proved the only way to manipulate them.

 

I'm not saying Print Scale decals sucer l'eau des marais, but if you get them for a desired subject, be prepared for a fight they could well win, and check the colors.

 

I think we fought to a draw....

 

 

The radiator cover above is another of the kit's contributions. In the center of the fairing/cover interior is a mammoth ejection tower, hard to clear without harm to the part. If you simply follow directions, you will be putting the radiator at its maximum descent. If you don't want that, the instructions give you neither warning nor any suggestions. But the radiaator faces don't fit in the opening decently anyway, so I wound up cutting down the kit pieces level, lost one, and replaced both with home-mades, which took very little time to do, and if I did another of these (and I might) I'd just do that straight off.

 

However, we are at la dernière petite étape de bits et de bobs, with exhausts, canopy, and gun barrels about all that's left, along with some touchings up,,,,

 

 

[Old Man]

41 minutes ago, John Masters said:

This is looking good.  I have a couple of these RS Model MS406 kits.  I have better hopes now for them.  I'll keep a heads up for the front bulkhead!

 

And a few other things, John.

 

But they are a good replica, and what I did with the panel seams is a bit fanatical. How the kit parts come doesn't really detract from well-finished appearance. A good part of why I went ahead and did it was to test the technique. On fabric covered wings you often have to do ribbing yourself, and I had earlier given up on applique of styrene strip, as it too often lifted when sanded down. On the old Frog kit I had taken a run at putting in those characteristic raised ridges on the wings, and it had finally occurred to me to combine channeling with fair lashings of liquid solvent glues. So it's a new one for the armory....

Edited October 25, 2021 by Old Man

[Natter]

That is coming together really nicely.

[Old Man]

C'est fini!

 

 

 

Some more pictures in the gallery, and I will be doing an RFI presentation when I know a bit more about the subject. This was flown by Adjutant Pierre Le Gloan of the 5th Escadrille, GC III/6, at Chartres in May of 1939. Adj Le Gloan seems to have been something of a character....

 

This is brush painted, with a blend of adjacent colors put in at the demarcations, backed by washes of the base color on each side of the line.

 

I went along some, but not all, of the raised seams and 'ribs' with a sharp graphite pencil on one side only before a second coat of spray matte.

 

As I have been a bit critical of the kit, i want to point out that the canopy fit very well, and needed little adjustment of mating surfaces. It's an important consideration for me, as I am no good at all at blending canopies to the fuselage. I make sure of the fit, paint and Future dip, then stick the thing on with white glue.

 

Wife made the serial numbers on the tail (No 163) as one of the Print Scale decals for this balled up hopelessly. She also did some small roundels, which let me make good a couple of little slips painting over the blue on one.

.

Despite difficulties, this kit does build up well, and I'm glad to have the model. I intend to do another, from the Vichy unit in Indochina in 1941. An odd little patch, that. I expect I will scan the Print Scale sheet's Vichy stripes decal, and do them 'homemade' on white sheet that's a bit easier to handle. I cannot imagine the originals going down smoothly....

 

 

[Old Man]

Juste pour info:

 

Here are a couple of pictures from the old Profile number on the MS406, showing the raised seams.

 

 

On review, I think I did get a little overenthusiastic around the nose. But aft of the exhaust it's clear things are raised.

Edited November 3, 2021 by Old Man