Boundless Ambition: A-Model's 1/72 M-50 "Bounder" Supersonic Bomber

[billn53]

There's something about large, supersonic bombers of the 1960s that appeal to me. Thus, it's a bit strange that the only one I've built (since returning to the hobby six years ago) is this 1/72 Italeri B-58 Hustler:

 

 

 

I just finished up a quick, out-of-the-box build of Flyhawk's SBD-3 Dauntless and have been pondering a couple of longer-term projects to work on (thinking ahead for the 2024 IPMS National Convention, which will be held locally). Looking through my stash, I found this:

 

 

 

and said, "Why Not?"

 

[Note to self: What have I gotten myself into?]

 

It definitely meets the requirement for large, fast, and 1960s! Here's how it compares to the B-70 Valkyrie:

 

 

 

[Another note to self: I really should start that Italeri B-70 sitting in my stash, too!]

 

If you're not familiar with the M-50 Bounder, here's a short description I found online:

 

Although built only in prototype form, this design by Myasishchev was an extremely advanced turbojet-powered bomber with supersonic flight capability. In configuration, the Myasishchev M-50, codenamed 'Bounder' by NATO, had a shoulder-mounted cropped delta-wing, a conventional tail unit with all-swept surfaces, and landing gear comprising retractable tandem main units mounted on the fuselage centerline, each with a four-wheel bogie; while retractable outrigger balancing struts, each with two wheels, were mounted near the wingtips. The slender area-ruled fuselage provided pressurized accommodation for a crew of three and incorporated a large weapons bay. Power was provided by four wing-mounted Soloviev D-15 turbo-jets of 13000kg thrust in underwing pods. First flight of the M-50 is thought to have taken place in 1957, and the last of several prototypes, re-designated M-52, took part in the Soviet Aviation Day fly-past in 1961.

 

and, here are some photos of the actual aircraft:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The M-50 prototype is currently on display at Russia's Central Air Force Museum at Movino Airfield, outside Moscow:

 

 

 

 

 

Time now for me to open the box and take stock of what I have in store for me. While I'm doing that, here are some videos for your entertainment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

An excellent choice, Bill :). It takes me back to my Observer’s books of the early 1960s :). I’ll be hanging around and watching your progress :). Good luck. 

 

Martin

[billn53]

You'll be hanging around for a long while, Martin! I'm going to take my time on this one (the kit cost too much to for me to rush it and make un-forced errors). Also (having taken a peek inside the box), it's definitely "short run" material and will need lots of care & attention. I'll be posting photos soon, but here's a video showing what I'm  up against:

 

 

(the video is 40 minutes long, so best to skip through it -- otherwise you'll be bored to tears by the time it ends)

[opus999]

Oooh!  This will be cool!  A '50s Iron Curtain aircraft... what's not to like?

[billn53]

38 minutes ago, opus999 said:

Oooh!  This will be cool!  A '50s Iron Curtain aircraft... what's not to like?

Precisely ! And, I’m thinking of building an early Fishbed to go with it. The size difference should be very striking.
😁

[Pin]

This is a very good kit, taking into account its short run nature and fiberglass body. When properly cleaned the parts fit quite well. It is going to be a stunner

[billn53]

6 hours ago, Pin said:

This is a very good kit, taking into account its short run nature and fiberglass body. When properly cleaned the parts fit quite well. It is going to be a stunner

 

Thanks, Alexey. 

 

I  took some time last night going through the parts, and yes, many of the parts will need some cleanup, but nothing I haven't encountered before. My biggest concern is dealing with the seam along the top & bottom of the fiberglass fuselage. There's lots of scribed detail there that I don't want to lose.

 

------------------------------------------------------------------

 

For those who haven't seen this kit before (which will be almost everyone, I'm guessing),  here's a short summary of what's in the box.

 

First off, the box is big. Really big:

 

 

 

(Yes, that's a 1/72 Super Sabre in front, so you know this is going to be a big airplane)

 

Opening the box reveals the fiberglass fuselage & wings, plus a bunch of styrene sprues in ziplocked bags. Total parts count is 340, so there's a lot of styrene packed in those bags.

 

 

 

The fiberglass fuselage and wings are very rigid, much more than if they had been made of styrene. The fuselage piece is just over two feet long, and I'm going to have to make some additional room on my workbench!

 

 

 

There is a long seam running the length of the fuselage, top and bottom. The top seam will be hidden by the styrene dorsal spine, but the bottom will need to be dealt with. There's a significant amount of scribed detail there that I don't want to lose:

 

 

 

The wings are also fiberglass, and the surface scribing there is pretty rough. I might just fill it all in and use a pencil after painting to mark the panel lines.

 

 

 

The leading and trailing edges of the wings are thicker than I would like. I've not dealt with fiberglass before, so I'm not sure if my scraper will be able to thin the edges.

 

    

 

Four bags of styrene sprues include parts (left to right) for the nose / cockpit section; tail surfaces & fuselage details; engine pods; and landing gear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is also a clear sprue with the canopy and a handful of lights. The glazing is pretty thick, and combined with the small windows I don't expect much of the interior detail will be visible. I'll try making a vacuform copy in hopes of getting more visibility into the cockpit.

 

 

 

The recessed panel lines on the styrene parts are a bit soft, typical of short-run kits:

 

 

 

Likewise, the sprue gates are rather large, which will make removal of the many small parts a bit of a challenge. Here's a closeup of the pitot tube (which I plan to replace with something more refined).

 

 

 

The styrene parts are not numbered, so the first four pages of the instructions show what the part numbers are for each of the sprues. Hopefully, there are no errors here!

 

 

 

The assembly sequence consists of 46 steps. Each step has a detailed drawing showing what parts are needed, paint callouts, etc. It is clear that a lot of effort went into drafting the instruction manual!:

 

 

 

There are also three large fold-outs showing alternative paint and marking schemes for the M-50: Two from the 1960 flight test program, and one for how the aircraft appears today at the Russian Air Force Museum:

 

 

 

The provided decal sheet is pretty basic, but looks well made and should get the job done!

 

 

 

 

So, I have my work cut out for me! I do wish there were more detail photos of the M-50 available on-line (I've yet to find one showing the cockpit interior, for example). I did learn that a book on the M-50 is about to be published (which I've already pre-ordered from Amazon) -- Hopefully, some of the missing details will be found there.

 

 

 

That's all for now!

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

17 hours ago, billn53 said:

You'll be hanging around for a long while, Martin!

It sounds just like me, Bill

[RidgeRunner]

She should look fanyastic when she's done! She is exactly my kind of thing!

[AliGauld]

What a monumental build this will be.

She not only is a big beastie but a complicated one as well.

Looking forward to this one.

 

Cheers,

Alistair

[opus999]

I agree with @AliGauld!

 

Fiberglass, huh? That's a whole new world -- I didn't know they made models from fiberglass.  Make sure to wear your respirator if you do any sanding or cutting!

[cpoud117]

Best of luck, that's an amazing project!
I don't have nearly enough room, patience or Mojo to even attempt anything like that.

It would definiterly turn a few heads if you manage to display it at a show.

[billn53]

Work has begun, if only a very small step . . . .

 

The engraved panel lines on the wings are really very rough, and I'll have to do something about them. One option is to fill them in completely and either re-scribe, or simulate them with pencil and/or paint shades. Either way, I will need to document the provided panel line locations. To do that, I ran a pencil along the existing lines to highlight them, then ran the wings through my copier. I also did a scan so that the panel lines have been captured digitally (for possible future use).

 

 

 

I also thought it might be possible to "clean up" the existing lines by running a scriber along the engravings. That did improve the situation somewhat, but it's not going to fix the worst of them. I do think, however, it's a promising option for deepening the edges of the major control surfaces (i.e., flaps and ailerons):

 

 

 

I'll have similar issues with the fiberglass fuselage, which will be more difficult since it is a cylindrical surface, unlike the wings.

[Serkan Sen]

I had Amodel's Sotka, Mainstay, Blackjack kits in the past. But due to their huge sizes and fiberglass parts I sold them. I will follow this build with great interest.

It is not easy to rescribe the panel lines on fiberglass parts and as already said please use a proper mask and gloves when sanding/cutting these parts.

Serkan

[John_W]

That trick with the copier is worth remembering.

Quite an elegant aircraft, wouldn't have looked out of place in a Gerry Anderson Series.

Looking forward to seeing how you get on.

[billn53]

Though the magic of PowerPoint, I traced over the scans I made of the wings and their pencil-highlighted panel lines, to create a template that I should (very optimistic, I am) be able to use with my Cameo Silhouette to create a set of masks. I should then be able to use the masks either/both for re-scribing and painting the wing panels, after I've filled in the original, unsatisfactory lines.

 

 

[Flankerman]

Great start Billn53...

 

I built mine in 2007.......

 

 

The full build is here : http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/modl_m-50.html

 

My walkround photos - taken at Monino are here :-

 

http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/m-50.htm

 

Hope this helps

 

Ken

Edited February 19, 2023 by Flankerman

[billn53]

8 hours ago, Flankerman said:

Great start Billn53...

 

I built mine in 2007.......

 

 

The full build is here : http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/modl_m-50.html

 

My walkround photos - taken at Monino are here :-

 

http://www.flankers-site.co.uk/m-50.htm

 

Hope this helps

 

Ken

Excellent! And thanks for the links, they’ll be very helpful!

 

(edit) I also found this build, done by our dear general @general melchett a few years back:

 

 

[billn53]

Today's task was to check the fit of the wings to the fuselage, and deal with any gaps, etc. that I might find.

 

First thing to do was to give the fiberglass parts a good rubdown with isopropyl alcohol. The, parts, as delivered, had a fair amount of mold release present which had to go away.

 

Each wing has two large pins that fit into holes in the fuselage. "Fit" here is a relative term . . . I had to trim down the pins and open up the holes before the wings would mate.

 

The front of the port wing fit pretty well, as seen from above:

 

 

The starboard wing, however, was sitting a bit too low at the front:

 

 

There were significant gaps at the rear of both wings:

 

 

And there were huge gaps running the length of the wings underneath:

 

After a couple of hours of old-fashioned, trial-and-error fettling I was able to improve the gap situation. That left another problem: the wings are free to flop up and down when attached to the fuselage. How can I ensure that both wings are mounted at the correct angle? For a normal-size model, I would make a Lego jig, secure the fuselage so it is sitting vertical, and use shims left and right to get the wings properly angled. But, this ain't no normal-size model! To make matters worse, the fuselage is a cylinder so how can I get it secured with its centerline vertical?

 

It then dawned on me that the fuselage isn't cylindrical everywhere. Specifically, there are two cutouts on the bottom for the landing gear bays:

 

 

 

I put wood blocks under the two bays and voila! The fuselage is sitting stable at (hopefully) the correct angle. (I have a bigger problem if it turns out the bay cutouts aren't square to the ground!)

 

 

 

I placed properly-sized blocks under the wingtips to get the wings level. I'll need to research how much, if any, dihedral or anhedral should be in the wings. But, whatever the correct angles should be, I can now achieve them by shimming the wood blocks up or down.

 

 

 

Finally, here's what the wing root gaps look like after my fettling and with the wings level. Not too bad. Unhappily, there are still large gaps on the underside of the wings -- but I have a clever plan for that!

 

 

 

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

[billn53]

I found a scale drawing of the M-50 with a frontal view that shows the wing anhedral. I haven’t any idea if this drawing is accurate or not, but it’s a starting point!

 

 

 

 

(edit)

 

From the drawing above, the M-50 wings have an anhedral of -3.6 degrees, which means my model's leading edge at the wingtip (where the wing meets the fairing for the outrigger wheel) should be 0.3-inches lower than at the wing root.

[AdrianMF]

Gosh this is a true multimedia beast! Hopefully your comprehensive prep work will win through.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[opus999]

Nice improvement on the wing gaps.  I must remember your idea of copying the parts on a scanner to preserve a record of the panel lines.  I use charcoal rubbings, which work OK, but this seems a better idea since you can make multiple copies if need be!

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Bill, great work--joining along.  I think I remember your F-100 build, it still looks a amazing!  best, Erwin 

[Space Ranger]

On 2/18/2023 at 3:22 AM, Serkan Sen said:

I had Amodel's Sotka, Mainstay, Blackjack kits in the past. But due to their huge sizes and fiberglass parts I sold them. I will follow this build with great interest.

It is not easy to rescribe the panel lines on fiberglass parts and as already said please use a proper mask and gloves when sanding/cutting these parts.

Serkan

It may be easier (and safer) to putty and sand the engraved panel lines flush with the surfaces, prime, then lightly scribe the lines into just the primer.

 

In any case, I’m sure this kit will be easier to build than the Contrail kit I tried to build back in the past. That was impossible.

[billn53]

1 hour ago, Space Ranger said:

It may be easier (and safer) to putty and sand the engraved panel lines flush with the surfaces, prime, then lightly scribe the lines into just the primer.

 

 

You must be reading my mind!

Following the philosophy that less is more, my going-in plan is to spray a few layers of Mr Surfacer 1000 over the existing panel lines, sand smooth, and  re-scribe into the Mr Surfacer. Hopefully that will do the job and I won’t need to do anything more invasive to the fiberglass. 
Bill