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Martin Baker MB-5 (1:48 Falcon Vacform)


Mike

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I thought I'd re-awaken this one that's been sat on the top of my spray booth for the last few years, since I lost interest in it for some reason. Probably the amount of filler needed to correct the horrible step in the underside of the fuselage :S I'm now on layer two, and it's coming together.

state1.jpg

state2.jpg

It was one of Falcon's early vacs, so everything was vacformed, even the props, wheels & struts. Consequently, I replaced those parts with custom made resin and brass parts, plus a scratch built cockpit, dropped flaps, tail wheel with all the bays detailed, and some exhaust stubs. The wheels were made from a resin He 219 wheel that was modified and given a 4-spoke hub, then cast up. I also recreated the fabric tail surfaces and mobilised them to give the finished article a bit more interest :)

The landing gear struts have taken a bit of damage over time, so a minor repair there, but the main thing is sprucing up the airframe before I can commit to paint. Should be fun!

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Anybody got a spare canopy for one of these, the old Silver Cloud kit canopy was pretty poor and mine's "kettled" touse a local phrase!

I'd be very grateful and would be happy to do some sort of exchange....you can't have my first-born though!

Cheers

Col'

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Anybody got a spare canopy for one of these, the old Silver Cloud kit canopy was pretty poor and mine's "kettled" touse a local phrase!

I'd be very grateful and would be happy to do some sort of exchange....you can't have my first-born though!

Cheers

Col'

Col - I currently have a spare (Two came with the kit). If the original canopy survives being split to be posed open, you can have the spare ;)

I've got the old Pegasus MB5 in a part-built state lurking around some where.

May be I need a KUTA to go and find it. :hmmm:

I also have one of those, and if you need any spares from it, I'll happily donate you the whole lot ;)

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I had one of my far-too-frequent rushes of blood to the head today, which resulted in the remaining flying surfaces being cut out, and the detail in the flap bays removed, as I wasn't happy with it. Most of the filling of the wobbly fuselage underside has been done, and I'm also working on reinstating some obliterated or missing panel lines as I go along.

underside1.jpg

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An MB-5? Beautiful aircraft, interesting to see how this build works out. I've the Silver Cloud version, which I'm frightened to even cut plastic on!

Don't blame you! :lol: I was given the SC version to see if any of the parts would be better than those of the Falcon kit... nothing so far! :doh:

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It will be nice to see this one in your display cabinet instead of having to move it each time I visit your workshop.

How do the two kits differ Mike, apart from the obvious?

Any pictures for comparison?

Chris.

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How do the two kits differ Mike, apart from the obvious?

Any pictures for comparison?

I don't have any pictures, but the main issue is the dreadful QC on the SC kit. The cockpit glazing is about 3mm thick and as transparent as your average bathroom window (exhibitionists excluded).

I've just done a quick comparison of the gross dimensions, and they're so alike that I would say that the Falcon kit was used as a pattern for the SC kit. There's a passable cockpit in the SC kit, and some detail in the wheel bays (which I copied from photos), and metal landing gear. With a spare canopy and some really hard work it could be made into a decent kit, but as I'm a long way into the Falcon kit, I'm not going to bother :)

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I remember that being built. Made using some left-over Mustang wings to save time and take advantage of the laminar-flow wing... looks too short & stubby for my liking - especially around the nose :hmmm:

I've flipped this pic horizontally to illustrate what I mean :)

MB5.jpg

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Col - I currently have a spare (Two came with the kit). If the original canopy survives being split to be posed open, you can have the spare ;)

I also have one of those, and if you need any spares from it, I'll happily donate you the whole lot ;)

Cheers Mike, I did think of getting a Falcon kit as well as the Silver Cloud one as this has to be one of those "Might have been" aircraft on a similar vein to the TSR2 and is certainly one of my fave aircraft so I'm looking forward to seeing this one completed.

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Cheers Mike, I did think of getting a Falcon kit as well as the Silver Cloud one as this has to be one of those "Might have been" aircraft on a similar vein to the TSR2 and is certainly one of my fave aircraft so I'm looking forward to seeing this one completed.

Keep watching, and once the canopy is installed, just drop me a PM and I'll let you know whether No. 2 canopy is up for grabs ;)

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A quick update. :)

Rudder has been attached, after adding some strip styrene to create the "well" into which it fits, sharpening up the joint no end. I've also pinned on the horizontal tail fins, although they need some alignment before gluing. The flap troughs have been smoothed, the edges of the ailerons thinned to permit offsetting, and some bad panel lines have been filled with CA and sanded back ready for the replacements to be scribed in the correct (I hope!) place. I also tacked the resin prop bosses on with a couple of dabs of CA, just to see how it'd look ;)

airframe1.jpg

It's starting to look like an MB-5 at long last :D

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Hi Mike,

I'm looking forward to seeing this one done. I'd say if you keep your nerve it'll be grand. I have the Silver Cloud kit myself and I hope it'll look passable some decade. I suspect that it's one of those short-run injected kits that would be easier to build as a vacform. I would certainly prefer a vac canopy.

Just one question: should the flap and undercarriage bays be zinc chromate?

Joseph

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Just one question: should the flap and undercarriage bays be zinc chromate?

Yes, I believe so... I'll probably respray them - especially after deciding to re-do the flap detail with some finer strip this afternoon. The cockpit can stay interior grey-green though... I'm not a masochist! :suicide:

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I remember that being built. Made using some left-over Mustang wings to save time and take advantage of the laminar-flow wing... looks too short & stubby for my liking - especially around the nose :hmmm:

I agree, it doesn't look right at all. What makes it look wrong is the short fuselage, small wings and the u/c folds away the wrong side of the main spar.

What surprised me when I built my 1/72 Airframe kit was the size of it, not many people appreciate that the real aircraft was the same size as a P-47 or a Sea Fury, way bigger than a Mustang. But the most extraordinary thing I found about it, the wings are an almost dead ringer to the Hellcat wings, from the fold hinge line to the wingtips everything matches quite well except the wheel bays that is. Another thing that has a Grumman look to it is the tail wheel mechanism.

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I agree, it doesn't look right at all. What makes it look wrong is the short fuselage, small wings and the u/c folds away the wrong side of the main spar.

What surprised me when I built my 1/72 Airframe kit was the size of it, not many people appreciate that the real aircraft was the same size as a P-47 or a Sea Fury, way bigger than a Mustang. But the most extraordinary thing I found about it, the wings are an almost dead ringer to the Hellcat wings, from the fold hinge line to the wingtips everything matches quite well except the wheel bays that is. Another thing that has a Grumman look to it is the tail wheel mechanism.

No folding wings on the MB5, surely?

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