Martin Marauder B26B - Airfix 1/72

[Navy Bird]

10 hours ago, CedB said:

Now then Bill, is this serious or an example of your famous dry sense of humour?  

 

Well, here's the story. After my grandfather finished flying a Spad in WWI, he settled in and became a horologist. (That's a clock maker by the way.) His house was filled with clocks whose times were all set a bit different so they would chime in sequence. Very cool. When he passed in 1965, I had a look through his workshop and acquired a bunch of cool stuff, including a bottle of mercury. I'm guessing this was used somehow in clocks? I don't know. Anyway, I actually followed the method I described above more than once to weight a model. An extreme example was the Monogram 1:48 Black Widow - it needed a lot weight. I filled the radome about 2/3 full of mercury and sealed it in with superglue and putty. I think I also filled the nose wheel, too. 

 

I've been told this demonstrated a certain lack of sanity, common sense and prudence on my part, but hey - it worked.     

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I finally took the remainder of the mercury to the hazardous waste facility a few years ago. I hadn't used it since the mid-90s.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Looked it up, 

 

https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=mercury in clocks&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5

[Navy Bird]

3 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Looked it up, 

 

https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=mercury in clocks&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5

 

Thanks for that. Now I know. My grandfather specialised in pendulum clocks, so this is likely what he had the mercury for. Me, I just wanted models to sit on their wheels and not their tail.     

 

Cheers,

Bill

[CedB]

20 hours ago, Farmerboy said:

‘Walk away’ is a good mind set to have Ced, sometimes it’s the best thing to get out the cave, do something completely different and go back in fresh!

Looking good though, it is one of Airfix’s better models from that era, lots of nice details.

Thanks FB  Quite right. Still feeling a bit grumpy this morning so only a few minutes with 'the problem'.

 

19 hours ago, Keeff said:

I can't argue with your decision  @CedB .... have a break, take bug deep breaths, roll your sleeves up and get back amongst it!

 

The progress is good though .... and I hope you get the weight sorted .... 

 

Keith ☺️ 

Thanks Keith. Weird isn't it? Sometimes the modelling is very calming, other times it winds you up!

 

18 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

 

Well, here's the story. After my grandfather finished flying a Spad in WWI, he settled in and became a horologist. (That's a clock maker by the way.) His house was filled with clocks whose times were all set a bit different so they would chime in sequence. Very cool. When he passed in 1965, I had a look through his workshop and acquired a bunch of cool stuff, including a bottle of mercury. I'm guessing this was used somehow in clocks? I don't know. Anyway, I actually followed the method I described above more than once to weight a model. An extreme example was the Monogram 1:48 Black Widow - it needed a lot weight. I filled the radome about 2/3 full of mercury and sealed it in with superglue and putty. I think I also filled the nose wheel, too. 

 

I've been told this demonstrated a certain lack of sanity, common sense and prudence on my part, but hey - it worked.     

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I finally took the remainder of the mercury to the hazardous waste facility a few years ago. I hadn't used it since the mid-90s.

13 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Looked it up, 

 

https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=mercury in clocks&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5

9 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

 

Thanks for that. Now I know. My grandfather specialised in pendulum clocks, so this is likely what he had the mercury for. Me, I just wanted models to sit on their wheels and not their tail.     

 

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks Bill and Dennis  

There you go then, pendulum weights.

 

18 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

PS. I finally took the remainder of the mercury to the hazardous waste facility a few years ago. I hadn't used it since the mid-90s.

Ah, well now… I emboldened the appropriate part of that comment!

Maybe the golf weights are safer?

 

 

So, I've put six weights in the radio shack. 18g. Is it enough? A test… (click the picture for a video)

 

 

On balance (titter) I think that's not enough.

There are some more canopy bits to go on the front but it's looking marginal.

 

Best leave it until my mood settles.

 

I've not had wine for about a week - do you think that might be it?

Or is it because I woke up to a smell of burning plastic - never good for a modeller.

It's not in the house so must be something outside.

Hmmm…

[giemme]

57 minutes ago, CedB said:

I've not had wine for about a week - do you think that might be it?

Or is it because I woke up to a smell of burning plastic - never good for a modeller.

Might be both....    

 

Balance look good on the Marauder

Ciao

[Chuck1945]

Any room for weights, thinking Liquid Gravity, behind the engines in their cowls?

[Steve N]

7 hours ago, CedB said:

So, I've put six weights in the radio shack.

 

I built the old Monogram 1/48 Marauder when I was a kid, and crammed a bunch of lead fishing weights in the radio compartment.  Unfortunately, it was so close to the center of balance that I needed a huge amount.  When I set the finished model on the shelf, the main landing gear collapsed in less than half an hour!  Maybe a smaller model with beefier landing gear might hold up better.

 

 

SN

[CedB]

7 hours ago, giemme said:

Might be both....    

 

Balance look good on the Marauder

Ciao

Thanks Giorgio. Fingers uncrossed and weight added!  

 

1 hour ago, Chuck1945 said:

Any room for weights, thinking Liquid Gravity, behind the engines in their cowls?

Thanks Chuck. I've bunged as much in as I can (see below)  

 

19 minutes ago, Steve N said:

I built the old Monogram 1/48 Marauder when I was a kid, and crammed a bunch of lead fishing weights in the radio compartment.  Unfortunately, it was so close to the center of balance that I needed a huge amount.  When I set the finished model on the shelf, the main landing gear collapsed in less than half an hour!  Maybe a smaller model with beefier landing gear might hold up better.

 

 

SN

Oh no Steve, now you've worried me! Hopefully Jim at the museum will take her off my hands  

 

 

OK, enough of this physics stuff, time for some brute force:

 

 

Loads in the radio room plus some, ahem, carpet in the cockpit.

 

I've also noticed the crew ladder which, hopefully, will stop any tipping. 

As long as it's glued on well!

 

Close up and be damned!

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Sorry to hear about the weight issue’s. The area under the cockpit, can any weight be added around the nose gear ? Can you add lead flashing behind the pilots, building up the floor. It will be pretty dark in there so I doubt people will see anything. 

[Navy Bird]

9 hours ago, CedB said:

Ah, well now… I emboldened the appropriate part of that comment!

 

The hazardous waste guy who took the bottle put it on a pile of old and used house paint cans. I explained what it was, that he should be careful not to break it, and that it might need a special disposal method. He didn't seem to care. As I left, I told him "well, at least don't drink it, and please look up Minamata disease."     

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Troy Smith]

3 hours ago, CedB said:

I've also noticed the crew ladder which, hopefully, will stop any tipping. 

The crew ladder was what Airfix supplied to stop tipping,  which worked very IIRC.

 

I've suggested this before for nosewheel  UC types.  Rare earth magnets.  You can get very powerful small magnets, I think I got some that are  2 mm diameter and 3mm long, drill into nosewheel, insert magnet.  Use a metal display base, or incorporate some metal sheet in display base, or even another magnet.

The build when I was doing this stalled, but one ebay seller did have details of the magnet pull as a weight and it was significant for such a small size.

 

Looking at the Marauder,  if you did want to add weight,  I'd have suggested some lead sheet, used in roofing,  you don't need much and should be able to find some leftovers,   and shaping to go behind bulkhead in front of instrument panel/behind panel, and shaping a bit for the bit holding the bombsight, as these are as far forward. 

 

HTH

 

[Navy Bird]

Scale Aircraft Conversions made a replacement cockpit (floor, instrument panels, nose gear well and strut, bulkhead, etc.) for the Hasegawa B-26, made from the same metal they use for their replacement landing gear. Interesting idea, although I can't imagine it is enough weight. According to a online review, it weighs 25g. The review also stated it was up to the modeler to determine if more weight was needed. Maybe if it was made from lead...

 

Ced, how much do you think the Airfix kit needs? 

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Biggles87]

Whoops, missed this somehow, please accept this IOU for 10 ‘likes’. I’ll go back to the beginning and read it properly now.

 

John. 🇺🇦

PS: ‘ Hairy Bird ‘ is one of my all time favourites, I’m trying to persuade myself NOT to buy the ICM 1/48 version.

[Terry1954]

44 minutes ago, Biggles87 said:

Whoops, missed this somehow, please accept this IOU for 10 ‘likes’. I’ll go back to the beginning and read it properly now.

 

Same here, John! 

 

I can't believe it's page 4 already. Impressive progress, how do you do it Ced!

 

You are certainly knocking this one into shape. First tooled in 1973 according to Scalemates, 52 years ago........ 😱

 

And I've already picked up a new tool hint ........... an ultrasonic cleaner for the airbrush. I think that's a must have.

 

Looking forward to seeing this in Norwich (well Old Buckenham I guess) in a few weeks. Can't believe you staretd this a mere 10 days ago, to be ready for the next delivery, and I've been fiddling away with the P-51 sunce the summer of 2022!

 

T.

 

 

[CedB]

18 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Sorry to hear about the weight issue’s. The area under the cockpit, can any weight be added around the nose gear ? Can you add lead flashing behind the pilots, building up the floor. It will be pretty dark in there so I doubt people will see anything. 

Thanks Dennis  

I don't want to add anything in the front wheel bay as it's so nicely detailed:

 

 

Not that I've done anything with it. Feeling a bit guilty now so I may look for some reference shots.

 

17 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

 

The hazardous waste guy who took the bottle put it on a pile of old and used house paint cans. I explained what it was, that he should be careful not to break it, and that it might need a special disposal method. He didn't seem to care. As I left, I told him "well, at least don't drink it, and please look up Minamata disease."     

 

Cheers,

Bill

 Some people…

I've had a similar experience trying to dispose of paint here; the 'regulations' are a bit, how would you put it, dumb.

Emulsion paints can be donated to charity only if they've NOT been opened (why would you have them?).

Opened cans have to be empty (poured down the drain?) or solidified with sand or something. Then, I think, they bung them in landfill.

You have to get a special permit for other paint and you're limited to twelve cans a year (or something like that).

No wonder people just chuck 'em in the hedges.

 

15 hours ago, Troy Smith said:

The crew ladder was what Airfix supplied to stop tipping,  which worked very IIRC.

 

I've suggested this before for nosewheel  UC types.  Rare earth magnets.  You can get very powerful small magnets, I think I got some that are  2 mm diameter and 3mm long, drill into nosewheel, insert magnet.  Use a metal display base, or incorporate some metal sheet in display base, or even another magnet.

The build when I was doing this stalled, but one ebay seller did have details of the magnet pull as a weight and it was significant for such a small size.

 

Looking at the Marauder,  if you did want to add weight,  I'd have suggested some lead sheet, used in roofing,  you don't need much and should be able to find some leftovers,   and shaping to go behind bulkhead in front of instrument panel/behind panel, and shaping a bit for the bit holding the bombsight, as these are as far forward. 

 

HTH

 

Aha, thanks Troy, hopefully the weight will balance things out and the ladder will just stop the tipping.

Magnets are a good idea but I'm not doing a diorama - this will, hopefully, go into one of the museum cabinets.

The weights I've used are lead, I think, and they've gone here:

 

 

Hopefully that's enough 🤞

 

14 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

Scale Aircraft Conversions made a replacement cockpit (floor, instrument panels, nose gear well and strut, bulkhead, etc.) for the Hasegawa B-26, made from the same metal they use for their replacement landing gear. Interesting idea, although I can't imagine it is enough weight. According to a online review, it weighs 25g. The review also stated it was up to the modeler to determine if more weight was needed. Maybe if it was made from lead...

 

Ced, how much do you think the Airfix kit needs? 

 

Cheers,

Bill

Thanks Bill, great idea for future modellers  

The instructions say 12g in the nose but there's no room  

We'll see if I've done enough. Too late now!

 

4 hours ago, Biggles87 said:

Whoops, missed this somehow, please accept this IOU for 10 ‘likes’. I’ll go back to the beginning and read it properly now.

 

John. 🇺🇦

PS: ‘ Hairy Bird ‘ is one of my all time favourites, I’m trying to persuade myself NOT to buy the ICM 1/48 version.

Thanks John and welcome  

 

3 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

 

Same here, John! 

 

I can't believe it's page 4 already. Impressive progress, how do you do it Ced!

 

You are certainly knocking this one into shape. First tooled in 1973 according to Scalemates, 52 years ago........ 😱

 

And I've already picked up a new tool hint ........... an ultrasonic cleaner for the airbrush. I think that's a must have.

 

Looking forward to seeing this in Norwich (well Old Buckenham I guess) in a few weeks. Can't believe you staretd this a mere 10 days ago, to be ready for the next delivery, and I've been fiddling away with the P-51 sunce the summer of 2022!

 

T.

 

 

Thanks Terry  

How do I do it? I don't do much else, that's how!  

[CedB]

This morning I've scraped the seams with the 'Ninja scraper' and sanded the wing edges:

 

 

The scraper's great for raised seams like this one.

 

So everything's been cleaned up:

 

 

What next?

Clean up the bay doors:

 

 

All raised as it happens so cut off and sanded flat.

 

Now then, I'm planning to finish this with AK True Metal paste which, as regular readers know, is one of my favourites.

I like a black or grey primer for this.

BUT this model had invasion stripes.

So I'll brush paint the primer, then fit the canopies, then paste (carefully).

Or maybe I'll paste and then fit the canopies.

So I don't want to have to mask the windows, 'cos I'm lazy.

And we know the stripes were painted 'in the field' and are usually a BIT rough.

Suits my skills then.

 

On with the first coat of white primer just in the strip area:

 

 

Interested to see if this works?

Me too…

[giemme]

1 hour ago, CedB said:

This morning I've scraped the seams with the 'Ninja scraper'

I've just had this vision of you in Ninja outfit, battling this kit into submission...

 

Now I need something strong to drink... or a lie down... or even both...

 

   

 

Ciao

[81-er]

Some nice progress there, Ced. Hopefully that's enough weight to keep her nose on the ground

 

James

[Troy Smith]

11 hours ago, CedB said:

the ladder will just stop the tipping.

If you use the ladder in the right place there is no need for noseweight.  It says so on the instructions, well the set I checked on Scalemates did, but that was old enough it still used Airfix paints codes...

How authentic the ladder is I do not know,  but it works. That what I did when I built it in the mid 70s. The remains still exist of that!

I'm not sure how B-26 crew boarded.

@Steve N @fightersweep ? 

 

Good luck with the paint! 

Cheers 

T

[fightersweep]

1 hour ago, Troy Smith said:

I'm not sure how B-26 crew boarded.

@Steve N @fightersweep 

 

Typically, from what I've heard and seen in various films, the pilot, co-pilot, bombardier etc would enter the aircraft through the nose gear bay. The guys in the back would usually enter through one of the waist gun hatches. They're not particularly high off the ground but a small ladder attached on the kit wouldn't look out of place and prevent the dreaded tail sitter. A bit blurry I know, but a screen grab taken from a film showing one of the gunners entering through the waist hatch. 323rd Bomb Group, Earls Colne.

 

[Steve N]

Are you planning to build it with both bomb bays open?  It was nice of Airfix to include the aft bomb bay, but it was almost never used in service.  It was usually sealed shut and used to store extra ammunition,  Building it with the rear bomb bay closed would be a bit more complicated..you'd have to cut the "closed doors" part in half, and remover the "keel" from the aft bay.  I do agree it looks cooler with both open, though. 😎

 

SN

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

On 9/9/2025 at 7:53 AM, giemme said:

I've just had this vision of you in Ninja outfit, battling this kit into submission...

 

Now I need something strong to drink... or a lie down... or even both...

 

   

 

Ciao

Ced the 🥷

[CedB]

On 09/09/2025 at 13:53, giemme said:

I've just had this vision of you in Ninja outfit, battling this kit into submission...

 

Now I need something strong to drink... or a lie down... or even both...

 

   

 

Ciao

Oh dear, sorry about that Giorgio, not the sort of image anyone wants in their head!  

 

On 09/09/2025 at 15:46, 81-er said:

Some nice progress there, Ced. Hopefully that's enough weight to keep her nose on the ground

 

James

Thanks James, fingers crossed 🫰

 

On 10/09/2025 at 00:07, Troy Smith said:

If you use the ladder in the right place there is no need for noseweight.  It says so on the instructions, well the set I checked on Scalemates did, but that was old enough it still used Airfix paints codes...

How authentic the ladder is I do not know,  but it works. That what I did when I built it in the mid 70s. The remains still exist of that!

I'm not sure how B-26 crew boarded.

@Steve N @fightersweep ? 

 

Good luck with the paint! 

Cheers 

T

Thanks Tory. I've checked my instructions and there's no mention of the ladder being an alternative to the weight. Pity, it would have saved lots if trouble!

 

On 10/09/2025 at 01:05, fightersweep said:

 

Typically, from what I've heard and seen in various films, the pilot, co-pilot, bombardier etc would enter the aircraft through the nose gear bay. The guys in the back would usually enter through one of the waist gun hatches. They're not particularly high off the ground but a small ladder attached on the kit wouldn't look out of place and prevent the dreaded tail sitter. A bit blurry I know, but a screen grab taken from a film showing one of the gunners entering through the waist hatch. 323rd Bomb Group, Earls Colne.

 

Thanks Steve. Hopefully the ladder will help!

 

18 hours ago, Steve N said:

Are you planning to build it with both bomb bays open?  It was nice of Airfix to include the aft bomb bay, but it was almost never used in service.  It was usually sealed shut and used to store extra ammunition,  Building it with the rear bomb bay closed would be a bit more complicated..you'd have to cut the "closed doors" part in half, and remover the "keel" from the aft bay.  I do agree it looks cooler with both open, though. 😎

 

SN

Thanks Steve. Yep, I usually build to the kit instructions rather than using it as a base for a proper model so we can learn from the experts, just like this! Thanks  

 

11 hours ago, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

Ced the 🥷

 Thanks Dennis. I think the term for the tool, but certainly the recommendation, came from our own @Fritag and he's certainly closer to Ninja than I am!

[CedB]

Feeling a bit weird over the last few days, probably and ear/sinus infection. It's making me dizzy if I move my head too quickly and generally suppressing the mojo and patience. I have pressed on though, a bit…

 

Can I use these as a mask?

 

 

No, wait, there's a 'doors closed' option in the kit:

 

 

Which, sadly, wouldn't fit without shaving off some of the bottom of the bomb bay:

 

 

You may have realised that I've finally given in to the masking so that I can spray the primer.

Took me a while.

Temporary window for the lost part:

 

 

Now then, d-day stripes.

We all know the regulations and, some time ago, Edward found some 3M tape that was the EXACT scale width.

Pity the guys who painted this aircraft didn't know:

 

 

See, the instructions have the white stipe starting at the bottom of the window (right hand side) but not fully covering it.

Hmmm.

The diagram also shows rectangular windows and the kit has squarer ones.

Or am I in completely the wrong place?

I'm doubting myself now…

 

Nope, triple checked and that's the right place.

I'll dither over that then and do the wings:

 

 

Same problem there - the scheme shows the left hand (in that pic) white stripe over the landing light. Nowhere near  

So I'll leave that and get on with some assembly:

 

 

I do like this jig.

I don't like the puzzle of how it all fits in the drawer:

 

 

Or not.

More wobbly modelling after a lie down.

[81-er]

The stripes on the scheme certainly don't look to be an even width, but what do the photos of the real aircraft show? I've got one of those jigs as well, a great bit of kit even if getting the parts back into the drawer is like something from the Crystal Maze

 

James