Bloch Mb-140

[Archibald]

No, I haven't stop modelling after the IRIAF Arrow (au fait, thanks RP.1 very much for its work   )

Next project : a mythical french aircraft, the MB-140. This was basically a four-engine variant of St Exupery's MB-174 from "Flight to Arras".
The MB-174 was already one of the best french aircraft of the 1940 campaign and Luftwaffe's worst nightmare before the Mosquito  came in  

The four engine variant would have been even better, with a speed above
370 mph and 5000 Ibs of bombs.
First prototype was on the jigs near Paris when German invasion forced the design team to destroy everything. Looks very CF-105 Arrow no ?  

Well in fact it's even worse, because the lone prototype was so secret (France was at war...) that NOTHING survived, aside some memories of Dassault ingeniers which had worked on the project and survived the war.

But this doesn't stopped myself from building this machine using my imagination and two MB-174s.
First step, building a top-view of this thing to see what mods were needed to a
MB-174.
Result can be seen here
http://www.whatifmodelers.com/forum//index...showtopic=16733

Next step
Building the machine. Here we go...  

[Archibald]

So I've started working on this thing weeks ago but I had very little time left these days.
I butchered my old MB-174 weeks ago then stoped all work on the model. I've started again three days ago, and as usually it went very quickly.
The old MB-174 gave its engines and parts of the wing around them, plus a fuselage plug
(the MB-175 only carried 1300 Ibs of bombs, and the MB-174 1000 Ibs).

[cthulhu77]

Neat concept. Are going to build up the wing leading edge with styrene or putty?

[Brian da Basher]

Looking good, Archie! I'm going to really enjoy watching your work on this one as I've got a really soft spot for 1930s & 1940s Armee d'l'Air warplanes.

I've got to agree about lengthening the inboard engine nacelles. Either that or shortening the outboard ones. Typically the inboard nacelles should be longer to make room for the landing gear and for prop clearance.

It also looks like you've got some work ahead of you with the wing's leading edge. I don't know what kind of tools you have, but if you've got a Dremel™ or similar rotary tool, cutting the engine nacelles off to reposition them farther down the wing would be a snap. Assuming you don't have a rotory tool, another option would be to simply cut the wing extension so it fits next to the inboard engine and then amputate the outboard engine cowling and cut pieces of blisterpack material (like the packaging for batteries) to fashion the rear part of a new outboard engine nacelle.

This is a really terrific concept and I give you a lot of credit for building it!
:salute:
Brian da Basher

[Archibald]

Thank you for the input guys!

If I understand well, problems are as follow

- Nose too short (I already knew that before building, thanks to the views I posted on the other thread)

- problem with the engines

Here's what I suggest to solve some of these problems

I can glue the glazed nose (which is a single piece of plastic) more forward on its support (and then,fill the gaps above and below)

About the wings, I can try to line the leading edge of the wings rather than the engines. This will push the outboard engines backward... and solve the most worrying problem.


I'll post some pics of possible modifications as soon as possible.

[AeroplaneDriver]

Lengthening the nose would really help with Center of Gravity.  It will give it a more balanced look too.

Love the concept.   Very ambitious!    

[elmayerle]

Whilst I can appreciate the amount of work that's gone (I've done it twice with a Ju 488V-401), I'd have a rethink.

Firstly, I'd halve the size of the fuselage plug and put one either side of the wing join.  Then make a new wing centre section with parallel chord and fit the engine nacelle to that.  You may also want to think about lengthening the nacelles on the inner engines for better prop clearance.

Definitely extend the inboard engine nacelles.  This also helps you with your cg concerns.  Beyond that, Wooksta makes a whole lot of sense with all his suggestions.

[Archibald]

I don't know what kind of tools you have

Well, that's the problem! Don't have skills or tools similar to some members here    This mean that I won't apply all mods you said, rather chose some of them.
- improving the wings
- changing the nose
- and maybe lengthening the inboard engine nacelles.