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


Mike

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Well this is a blast from the past Mike, great to see you making progress with it. My 1/32 version is still a mere dream but I will get around to it one day (famous last words)

I will be following this one closely.

Cheers

Doc

Had to be done eventually :blush: That's why I like these KUTA builds... gives you the chance to take up the cudgel again on kits that you'd given up on. I have to say though - I'm REALLY enjoying working on it again, and I'm falling in love with the shape now it's actually starting to look like one :wub:

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No folding wings on the MB5, surely?

I didn't say that -- but to clarify. If you took an outer Hellcat wing, from the fold line to the wingtip you have a MB5 wing. 'Course the fold line would have to be straightened but the flaps and ailerons are almost identically placed, and the plan profile matches very well, then the straightened fold line becomes the MB5's wing root. The only thing that needs adding is the wheel bay

See here, how anyone thinks this looks like a Mustang wing is beyond me, the chord is very broad which gives it that stubby look but the wingspan is only 3 feet less than the Sea Fury, that works out as only 1/2" in 1/72 scale :

MartinBakerMB5003.jpg

Edited by kitnut617
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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:

As far as I know your cockpit's correct. I've painted mine Grey-green too.

Joseph

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I didn't say that -- but to clarify. If you took an outer Hellcat wing, from the fold line to the wingtip you have a MB5 wing. 'Course the fold line would have to be straightened but the flaps and ailerons are almost identically placed, and the plan profile matches very well, then the straightened fold line becomes the MB5's wing root. The only thing that needs adding is the wheel bay

See here, how anyone thinks this looks like a Mustang wing is beyond me, the chord is very broad which gives it that stubby look but the wingspan is only 3 feet less than the Sea Fury, that works out as only 1/2" in 1/72 scale :

MartinBakerMB5003.jpg

Now if that doesnt scream Wyvern from the top view, I dont know what does. Of course I am speaking only of the fuselage and not the wings!!

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Looks good Mike, looking forward to the finished result. The type looks fantastic with a 112 Sqn sharkmouth on it too!

I've a trio of Pegasus ones to finish but they've stalled for lack of inspiration, although the Centaurus engined FAA one needs a new u/c.

Let's have a pic of your three then Lee? :)

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Wow it is pretty much a p51 then is it ??

Nah... it was designed to utilise the laminar flow type wing (all new design), was also designed to take the power of the Griffon engine from scratch, had a design brief to be easy and cheap to maintain (hence the spaceframe fuselage with bolt on panels, and was also a breakthrough in cockpit erganomics. It was said to handle very nicely too, but was just overcome by the end of the war and the beginning of the jet era. :shrug:

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Apart from using a similar radiator duct design but then not exactly the same (the Do.335 did as well, the rear one) there's nothing remotely similar in the rest of the design to a P-51. The MB5 is probably my most favorite aircraft and Mike's work on his is very good, I like what he's doing with it.

Edited by kitnut617
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A small update in terms of visible changes, but quite a bit of work's gone into getting it to this stage. The ailerons have been cut out and adapted to take the replacement parts, the flap wells have been fettled and re-detailed with thin strip and lengths of styrene rod to simulate the hinge. Half the fuselage has been tidied up and re-scribed, the rest is scheduled shortly. The number of problems is reducing to a manageable level now, so it's looking promising that I'll get it finished.

airframe2.jpg

The prop has been pinched off the SC kit, polished up and coated with Klear to retain the shine (there's a pic with a shiny prop boss), the blades tidied and painted, then the whole lot weathered & assembled.

prop1.jpg

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Whoa! that has turned out very nice. Are those the kit props Mike, or did you use something else?

Thanks :) They're the Silver Cloud kit props. I'd made a full resin set and was going to use those, but I couldn't be bothered scribing the details into the bosses, so used the spare kit parts instead ;)

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Thanks Chris ^_^

I wasn't happy with the interface between the prop & the fuselage, so I glued a piece of thin styrene on the front and then backfilled with CA, sanding it back to profile so that I ended up with a nice crisp front-end. There's a chin intake there too that's just a bulge on the kit, so I chopped a chunk out, installed a few scraps of styrene sheet of varying grades, then sanded it back to somewhere near scale thickness. It's turned out ok for a bodge-up, and there's no see-thru effect as there's a blanking plate at the rear ;)

nose1.jpg

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Scribing is complete, including adding some additional panel lines seen on some plans that are available online. I've also removed the little symmetrical intakes to the aft of the engine bay, as they'd been damaged by successive sanding sessions. I shaped the end of a McDonalds coffee stirrer and crash moulded a couple of replacements, which I glued on once I'd rescribed that area. The added bonus is that there are now open intakes there instead of the blank bulges that were there before.

You can probably see that I've also cut some chunks out of the wing tips and filled them with some clear acrylic, which I'll sand back to profile once the CA is cured. The area was backed with silver paint and a little nub drilled in the acrylic with a suitably colored paint popped in before attachment.

airframe3.jpg

Not shown in the pic is the work I've done to the horizontal tail, which suffered from the same rounded edges to the attachment point that affected the nose. I used the same technique, which has improved the look appreciably. I'm considering doing the same to the fuselage flats to improve the joint still further. :hmmm:

The next job (after sanding & masking the nav lights) will be to do a final sanding job on the entire airframe, clear all the debris out of the panel lines and then prime with a view to painting :shocked: I'll also have to start thinking about the landing gear attachment points, and detailing the gear bay doors, which seem to be more complex than the flat kit parts.

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Today's work includes sanding the nav lights to shape and polishing them, adding a few details & some wiring to the landing gear bays, some mesh to the front of the belly scoop, permanently attaching the horzontal and vertical tail sections, plus beginning painting the landing gear. A few touch ups to the airframe have been necessary as they've shown up, but the number of blemishes is constantly reducing, so we should be good to go shortly.

airframe4.jpg

airframe5.jpg

I think it's getting towards the time when I should attach the windscreen & fair it in :frantic:

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Looks good. The prop and boss look fantastic! Maybe I should cut plastic on the SC? Anyway, looking pretty good Mike.

You might as well... shame to waste the cash. Your main issue will be the canopy though - perhaps you could have a word with Falcon & see if they'd sell you one separately? All the rest of the issues with the SC kit can be fixed with a little patience and the application of some good old fashioned modelling skills ;)

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