1/72 Pegasus Martin-Baker MB5

[Procopius]

Hullo all,

In a fit of madness I purchased a Pegasus kit of the Martin-Baker MB5, one of my favorite never-was aircraft of World War II, and the British answer to the P-51 Mustang, OR SO I THOUGHT. (More on that in a second.)

Now, Pegasus kits, as all of you knew and I now know, are not for inexperienced modellers, which ha-ha-ha, I guess I could be called that. I'm terrible. So I apologize in advance if you're the chappie who I beat in a feverish ebay bidding war to "win" (if gaining the right to pay more for something than anyone else was willing to can be construed as winning) this particular kit, because you could almost certainly do a better job on this than I'm going to. Such are the perils of the capitalist system.

There's not much to the kit, just some fairly thick pieces of hard plastic (see fig. 1), and some helpful templates for making landing gear doors, as well as instructions to scratchbuild your own 20mm cannon. Eep! For the first time in my life, I wish there was photoetch kit for something.

Now, one thing I hadn't realized before getting the kit in the mail is that the MB5 is a B E A S T. The thing is so big I kind of wonder if the kit is really 1/72 scale. As you can see here, it's a mammoth compared to a Sword Seafire IIc, though I've seen a picture that does seem to indicate that the MB5 was probably large enough to seat a family of six in relative comfort. Be that as it may, this thing isn't Mustang-sized, it's ginormous!

Even so, the canopy is so big that I'm kind of frightened. It looks like there'd be room for a large crew in this beast. Look how big it is compared to a Spitfire F.24's!

[Mike]

Looks... erm... interesting? What's the length on that fuselage? I built the Falcon vacform a few years back, and I have to say - it wasn't much bigger than a Spit. Nice pic BTW - one I've never seen of the MB-5

[Procopius]

Looks... erm... interesting? What's the length on that fuselage? I built the Falcon vacform a few years back, and I have to say - it wasn't much bigger than a Spit. Nice pic BTW - one I've never seen of the MB-5

Well, according to the ever-reliable wikipeda, the MB5 should be 37'9" (sooo...37.75 feet) to the Spitfire Vb's 29'11" (29.91 feet) in length, so 126% as long and 15" tall to the Spitfire's 11'5" (11.416 feet), so 131% as tall. (I'm mostly writing this down for my own later benefit.) So...the fuselage should be 6.29 inches long, right? Now I need to see if I have a tape measure...

[Andrew Jones]

The MB5 was indeed a big aeroplane, being at a length of 37' 9" ,18 inches longer than a P 47 Thunderbolt, however the wingspan at 35' is 5' less that the Thunderbolt and the MB5's loaded weight at 11,500 lbs compared to the T'bolts 17'500 lb is considerably less. I believe the size is due in part to the MB5's unique method of construction, useing a tubular frame over which the panels are fitted ,mostly by the use of quick-relase fasteners. This gives unrivaled access for maintenance ,but also give a lot of empty space within the airframe. Thus whilst the MB5 appears a large airframe for a single seat fighter, it is not a particularly heavy aircraft for its size.

[crookedmouth]

Now, Pegasus kits, as all of you knew and I now know, are not for inexperienced modellers, which ha-ha-ha, I guess I could be called that. I'm terrible. So I apologize in advance if you're the chappie who I beat in a feverish ebay bidding war to "win" (if gaining the right to pay more for something than anyone else was willing to can be construed as winning) this particular kit, because you could almost certainly do a better job on this than I'm going to. Such are the perils of the capitalist system.

...and with an intro such as that, how can anyone NOT want to follow this build. I'm only here to see how badly you screw up.

[The wooksta V2.0]

Providing the mating surfaces are given a decent flat sanding, you should be okay. The plastic is usually quite soft in Pegasus kits and cleans up quite easily. It'll need a modern style tub for the interior and the wheels could do with replacing with Tempest wheels. The canopy is a horrid fit, so ask Chris57 nicely and you might be able to scrounge a vacform one from a Magna MB5.

It looks daunting, but it's one of the better Pegasus kits and builds up nicely. I've built quite a few over the years and it's one of my favourites.

I suspect that I bought a Pegasus Spiteful from the same guy you got the MB5 from. IIRC, there's a Magna one one ebay now.

Edited September 12, 2011 by The wooksta V2.0

[Procopius]

I've never used a vacform canopy, shamefully. I'm kind of afraid of them, clumsy hands and all. Can small scissors or shears be used to cut them out and trim them? Seems safer than an x-acto. Also, is there an aftermarket cockpit or a cockpit that can be scavenged from an existing kit that won't cost me too dearly?

[The wooksta V2.0]

Not as far as I'm aware. Again, you might be able to get the cockpit tub from a Magna one, but TBH, a few bits of plastic card and a seat from a Spitfire should see you right.

[woody37]

I've never used a vacform canopy, shamefully. I'm kind of afraid of them, clumsy hands and all. Can small scissors or shears be used to cut them out and trim them? Seems safer than an x-acto. Also, is there an aftermarket cockpit or a cockpit that can be scavenged from an existing kit that won't cost me too dearly?

Get the sharpest knife you can and do gentle cuts until you 'get through'. Another lesson I've learned the hard way (and keep learning it ).

[Miggers]

Get the sharpest knife you can and do gentle cuts until you 'get through'. Another lesson I've learned the hard way (and keep learning it ).

And stuff it full of Blue Tac before you do.

That holds it pretty firmly(instead of it wobbling all over the show)and makes the cut lines easier to see.

As Andrew says,the MB5 was a big kite but full of fresh air so that all the lovely big Griffon grunt

channelled through that Rotol Contra could be used to great effect.

Needless to say,the test pilots at Boscombe loved it for it's very sprightly performance,the ground types loved it

for it's accesibility and ease of maintenance.

It was certainly very capable of showing the "speed kings"of the time(Griffon Spit/Tempest/Mustang/Thunderbolt)

a clean pair of heels low down or at altitude.

Mark

[Procopius]

Well all of this has certainly filled me with trepidation! I've never really kitbashed anything aside from science-fiction wargaming miniatures in my misspent youth, which is a lot less demanding. Vaccform canopies...I own exactly two of those, for the horrible Octopus Seafire III kit, which has coaxed more swears out of me than a gallon of cheap rum ever could, and remains incomplete, with many of its fragile resin bits busted. No tears. No tears. The less said of it the better.

Progress on the MB5 is slow; mostly I just sand the parts down and try to see how well they'll fit together. I tried for the Magna MB5 on Ebay today, but despite the aid of a loyal UK-based satrap, I did not prevail.

Here's where I sit in terms of the kit:

Don't worry, nothing's glued together, I'm too frightened of wrecking my £25 (plus cross-Atlantic s&h) model right off the bat. The props have an immense amount of flash, and I'm trying to file them down without gouging them. I also have to cut out the tailwheel doors, figure out how to make a cockpit interior (never really cared about those, but feel I should give it the college try)...maybe use pieces from the Spifire V fuselage in one of my Sword Seafire IIc kits?

Allegedly, once I detail the cockpit "to choice", according the instructions, I should glue the fuselage together, then add the rear cockpit fairing. There's just one thing...the fairing's presence makes the canopy not fit properly!

(fig. 1: the fairing with canopy)

(fig. 2: the canopy absent fairing)

So now what?

[Michael louey]

Interesting kit you have there.

I have a couple of kits of the MB5, one is the Falcon vacform already mentioned, the other is by a short lived company called Skybirds 86 (or 87?).

The latter looks like a nice kit, less 'agricultural' looking than the Pegasus (I've had a few of their kits but only ever built there Spiteful).

Skybirds 86 are the only company I've yet encountered which supplied their vacform canopies precut! The sad part for me is that I have dented mine (Don't ask how).

I now plan to scrounge the Falcon kits canopy to complete the Skybirds kit. I am hoping they may have supplied 2 in the Falcon kit but even if they haven't I'll still steal the canopy.

The Falcon canopies are really some of the nicest around so in some ways this may be an improvement.

Regards

Michael

[The wooksta V2.0]

A PM on this forum to Chris57 should get you a brand spanking new Magna MB5 - he's the UK agent and a top bloke too.

The Octopus Seafire. Throw the wing away, because it's unsalvageable. With some minor surgery, the wing from the Airfix Spitfire IXc (the current red boxed one NOT the ancient tool) will fit nicely. It'll give you a Seafire IIc rather than a III, but with slightly less grief.

[Procopius]

A PM on this forum to Chris57 should get you a brand spanking new Magna MB5 - he's the UK agent and a top bloke too.

Many thanks; I've sent him a message forthwith!

Edited September 13, 2011 by Procopius

[Mike]

Looks like a whole heap of fun

If you're looking to build some detail in, have a shufti at my build thread here

[Procopius]

Oh frabjous day! Thanks to the good offices of the gentlemanly chris57, I was able to obtain a Magna resin MB5 kit, which, I might add, is beautiful. Here's my plan: having purchased some plasticard, I intend to trace the Magna landing gear doors onto it and thereby take care of my Pegasus kit. The Magna kit also comes with two vacform canopies, and I'm confident that my expensive classical education has equipped me to tackle them.

Well, maybe not. But I'm feeling optimistic!

[Procopius]

I bet you had forgotten to even think I'd forgotten about this, hadn't you? Well, wrong! I was just scared of cutting the vacform canopies. Visions of severed fingers floated through my head. I like my fingies!

Well, I finally found the US equivalent to blu-tac ("mounting putty", which sounds more promising than it is), and in between mucking about with my new/used airbrush and compressor (a complicated gadget, going from brush painting to it gives me deep sympathy for the Gloster Gladiator pilots switching to Spitfires), cut out the canopies. Huzzah!

I would never have been able to do this without advice from you guys. Thanks, Britmodeller! Maybe someday I'll be able to build a Valom Firebrand.

[Bladerunner]

Hi,

The MB-5 is one of the most beautiful fighters ever. So interesting to see this build, and even more to see both kits getting built at the same time. You are a fast learner. Will be following your build for sure!

Cheers

John

[woody37]

It looks like you've made good progress of a not so common machine, look forwards to seeing more of it

[ExRAF]

Keep plugging away - nice to have a build of a rarely seen aircraft.

[TobyC]

I wonder what became of this?

[Procopius]

Oh, it sits in a box in my model closet waiting for the day when I have courage equal to desire.

[Sten Ekedahl]

Today there is a very good resin kit of this highly interesting aircraft, produced by Planet Models which I think will surpass all other kits; at least the Pegasus one.

[Procopius]

I had no idea they made one!