1/72nd Mikro Mir AW52 'Flying Wing' Finished and in Ready for Inspection in Aircraft Modelling

[Mr T]

I reckon I might get this one done as I only have one other build on at the moment and that is at the painting stage. So what better than the AW52 'Flying Wing'. This was designed at the end of WW2 to test out theories around laminar air flow. To get a higher speed, jet engines were used (although top speed was disappointingly below what was expected)and a tailess swept flying wing shape was used as that was fashionable (the DH108, early Comet studies and some 'V' bomber designs all looked at tailess designs). Two AW52s were built, the first flying in November 1947. One crashed, giving its pilot the dubious distinction of the first pilot to use a martin-Baker ejection seat. The other was broken up in 1954. Laminar flow was rarely achieved as any surface irregularity, like a dead insect, broke the flow up.

The Mikro Mir kit is a shortish run affair in grey injection moulded plastic with a small largely redundant PE sheet and some 3D decals for the cockpit. No resin or canopy masks and only a small decal sheet is provided for both white painted airframes. The kit surface detail is good, and both engines are sort of provided in full. Not enough combustion chambers are provided, but it doesn't matter anyway, as the engines are buried deep in the wings. The detail provided for the engines is a bit overkill in my opinion. There is some flash on the parts and very little in the way of assistance to fit parts together. The instructions sometimes depict parts that are not moulded as shown. This is going to be interesting.

 

So far, some parts stuck together. Virtually all needed some fettling to fit together. Good job the model will be one colour, even if it is white.

 

 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Mr T

[Col.]

You've picked another good subject Mr. T. The kit, however, seems to have as many quirks as the real machine going by your description.

[Mr T]

Thanks It is a bit strange in places. The wheel wells do not fit together without some serious surgery and the air intakes are potentially 'fun'. It is an unusual aircraft and not an easy configuration. I have stuck a set of outer wing halves together and they seem reasonable. I reckon once the wheel wells and engines are in, it may be fairly plain sailing (famous last words). I think I am a bit of a masochist. This year has seen a Mach2 kit and a couple of short run and resin kits pretty near to each other. 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Agreed with the others very good choice and quite interesting to boot. 

[Mr T]

A thought has just struck me looking at the box art. It is a very nice rendition of the AW52 in flight, but I am not convinced by the scenery it is flying over. My guess is that AW52 flew mainly in the vicinity of the West Midlands or central southern England. The landscape looks a bit rocky, more like bits of Wales or the North East or the west coast of Scotland. Not saying it didn't go to any of those places, just probably not typical territory for it. Artistic licence I suppose. 

[Col.]

5 minutes ago, Mr T said:

A thought has just struck me looking at the box art. It is a very nice rendition of the AW52 in flight, but I am not convinced by the scenery it is flying over. My guess is that AW52 flew mainly in the vicinity of the West Midlands or central southern England. The landscape looks a bit rocky, more like bits of Wales or the North East or the west coast of Scotland. Not saying it didn't go to any of those places, just probably not typical territory for it. Artistic licence I suppose. 

That's a good point. Certainly not the type of terrain I'd want to be flying over in an unproven and distinctly experimental aircraft type!

[CliffB]

A fascinating choice and a new one on me.

[Mr T]

It is an interesting aircraft and is one of a number of experimental aircraft that appeared in British skies in the post war era to take advantage of the performance advantages of the new jet engines. It was a bit of a dead end in itself, but it showed a willingness to explore new configurations. 

[Mr T]

I have not forgotten about this build, but at the moment I am suffering with frontal sinusitis, which means I am not firing on all cylinders and once I have done stuff I have to do, I am a bit tired to do much in the way of modelling. Started on antibiotics yesterday, and so hopefully things will start to improve. Fed up with the pain and feeling tired. 

[Col.]

Sorry to learn you're unwell Mr. T but hopefully the antibiotics give you a quick recovery.

[arfa1983]

Hope you feel better soon mate 

[Mr T]

Thanks Col and arfa, the big problem is running out of steam, I am getting the stuff done I need to do, which is added to with pre Christmas stuff like present wrapping and cake making. Once that is done not much energy for much  else. I think the antibiotics are beginning to work and the very cold spell in our part of Britain seems to be coming to end this evening. 

[Mr T]

As the S6B is finally showing signs of becoming an airframe, more work has been done on the AW52. The cockpit interior is complete, and the nose will be stuck together soon. The engines have had as much work as they are going to get, given that they will not be all that visible. Other bits and pieces are being worked on when there are a few minutes as the kit is broken down into a lot of small parts, and anything with a location pin is guaranteed not to fit in its location hole or slot without some work. The 3D decals for the seat belts and instruments panels have worked well, and I was impressed by them.

I don't think this will be finished by the 15th January, I might carry it on as a WIP in the appropriate section

[PeterB]

There is always the current KUTA which runs until March!

 

Pete

[Col.]

There certainly looks to be plenty detail on the parts. Perhaps it's time to begin bothering @Enzo the Magnificent for an extension

[Mr T]

Able to spend time on it today and the forward fuselage is together and the outer wings and fins cleaned up. I think I have also worked where most the bits around the air intakes are supposed to go. 

Made a decision to paint the undercarriage legs Medium Sea Grey as looking at the photos, they don't look 'silver' and I am not entirely convinced they are white. 

[Mr T]

This is a kit where anything can happen. Offered the nose piece to the centre section. This was taped together, as it still needs lots of bits and pieces inside it. I should have known better, it didn't fit. On investigation, the interior parts had pushed the nose piece sections out and were sitting way too high in the nose section. In the end, I have separated the nose pieces and shaved even more of the cockpit floor and instrument panel. Stuck it back together, and it sort of fits. Ho-hum, the outer wings halves have gone together, but how they will match the centre section is going to be interesting. I am convinced this kit was tooled by two people who were not talking to each other, and the instructions written by someone who had fallen out with the two mould makers.

Mrs T will have had a stressful day at work (because they all at present), so a G&T will be in order.

[Col.]

On 1/6/2023 at 4:53 PM, Mr T said:

Mrs T will have had a stressful day at work (because they all at present), so a G&T will be in order.

Seems you've had a stressful day at the workbench. That cockpit, however, looks great - nice work.

[Mr T]

Thanks Col. I'll be posting up another picture soon of the centre fuselage with all the engine intakes etc. I have started putting the centre fuselage halves together, as could be expected with this kit, the halves need some work to persuade them to fit together. My current plan is to tack bits together with cyano, and when dry use liquid poly to bond unglued bits and strengthen the join. Been fettling the air intakes as they are going to be difficult to work on once the forward fuselage is in place. The nice interior detail will be completely invisible as the cockpit opening is quite small. 

[Mr T]

Real progress at last!. As promised, a picture of the centre section interior and also the centre fuselage with nose attached and the outer wings ready for attachment. Once they are on, the kit is really going to look as if it is an aeroplane. All the undercarriage bits are painted, as well as the insides of the u/c doors with their insanely small and delicate hinges.

I think after my three GB entries, something easy like an  Airfix Hawk 100 might be the next on the work bench

[Col.]

This one looks to be coming together well now Mr. T.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Very nice, looking forward to the wings on. 

[Mr T]

Wings are on, and it is bigger than you think. There is going to be some fairing in of the outer wings, and  Miliput has been deployed to help the process. 

[John R]

It may be a bit late to help but then again if you had seen this earlier it might have put you off completely. This is one I built earlier

John

[Mr T]

Thanks for the link. My experience of this kit more or less exactly matches what you have described. If they had not wasted so much effort on bits you cannot see, then they might have spent some time on producing a kit that could have been built with less hassle. It is one of those kits that looks good in the box, but disappoints. The Mach2 Argosy I built last year was a better overall fit.