Yes ANOTHER MB5! It's the Monsoooooon!

NARSES2 · February 06, 2017, 07:04:17 AM

Quote from: PR19_Kit on February 05, 2017, 08:11:31 AM

Because I don't trust those butt jointed wings I added two piano wire min-spars to each wing and drilled matching (sort of...) holes in the respective wing root as well.

As a matter of interest Kit do you drill your female hole with a larger diameter so as to give some wiggle room ?

PR19_Kit · February 06, 2017, 08:25:26 AM

I didn't to start with, but had to open them up later is the AoA was all wrong.

The Wooksta! · February 06, 2017, 02:12:53 PM

It doesn't really work for me, I'm afraid.

Having said that, I'm vehemently opposed to real warbirds being hacked about as racers because there's so few of them left. If you want a racer, design and build your own or get one built proper, not waste a precious resource.

PR19_Kit · February 06, 2017, 03:22:37 PM

Quote from: The Wooksta! on February 06, 2017, 02:12:53 PM

It doesn't really work for me, I'm afraid.

That's OK Lee, it works for me, and this is WhiffWorld.

I'm inclined to agree about wasting precious resources, but they have so many P-51s in the US there's almost enough for one each.

PR19_Kit · February 07, 2017, 08:46:44 AM

I've got the primer and first colour coat on this one now, but I'm not going to post any more pics of the build 'cos I want the whole thing to be a surprise.

It's looking pretty good to me, plus the decal sheet is printed out now and I'm really pleased with that.

PR19_Kit · February 08, 2017, 08:21:46 AM

I've picked out a few panels in different shades on the wings and I'm VERY pleased with how that looks. I've also got the teeny weeny canopy glued in place it looks suitably ridiculous.

I'll put the decals on before any more work, which will improve things a lot. I've built up the main gear assemblies now, and that's pretty fiddly, but I suspect they'll be stronger than the white metal gearlegs on the Skybirds kit, which I'm sure will break off before too long.

The Wooksta! · February 08, 2017, 03:21:04 PM

The Skybirds ones sag with the weight of the prop casting.

PR19_Kit · February 08, 2017, 04:05:26 PM

Quote from: The Wooksta! on February 08, 2017, 03:21:04 PM

The Skybirds ones sag with the weight of the prop casting.

Damn right there, it's a very heavy model for a 1/72 WWII vintage fighter.

The main gear legs lean forward at a very steep angle too, so the tops are always under a bending stress. I'm sure they won't last long.

I've got all the decals on this one now, and it looks AMAZING!

PR19_Kit · February 09, 2017, 04:13:53 PM

While doing final assembly on this MB5 variant I've come across an issue that doesn't seem to be mentioned in reviews or anywhere else, and it may be of interest to other MB5 builders.

The main landing gear of the MB5 doesn't exit the wing at 90 deg to the lower surface, it leans forward at quite an angle. Incidentally this means the bottom edge of the curved doors is parallel with the ground when the aircraft is at rest, see below.

As far as I can see the AZ model doesn't allow you to do this as the socket for the main gear leg, which is moulded into the upper surface of the wing is at 90 deg to the chord line and the leg itself isn't angled to suit the slope of the main gear leg. I've tried drilling the socket out at an angle but then the upper gear door fouls the slot in the lower wing section and the spigot at the top of the leg won't align with the socket.

My solution was to cut off the spigot at the top of the leg at angle to suit and to superglue the whole assembly into the wing slot. Not ideal I know, but not something I could sort out unless I'd made mods before assembling the two wing halves.

Does anyone else have this problem or have made a right hash of something somewhere?

Gondor · February 09, 2017, 05:20:48 PM

Perhaps replace the spigot with a pin after the top of the leg has been angled correctly?

Gondor

PR19_Kit · February 10, 2017, 03:42:20 AM

This one's sorted now, and I'm embarking on the backstory.

As shown before the Monsoooooon has a blanked off cockpit compared to the fighter version, and has a minute canopy installed (it's a 1/144 scale F-16 canopy.....

) and as well as the dorsal fin it has clipped, Hoerner tipped wings and a clipped prop too. The fuselage is all over Halfords Appliance White and the wings and tailplane are in Halfords Silver with some panels in contrasting shades. I drew up and printed all the decals myself, even the little sponsor decals, which were scanned from pics of RW race aircraft.

Melo Scanlon is a good friend of mine from my flight simulation days and is tickled pink to think that I've promoted him to be Scanman Airmotive's race pilot. Oh yes, Scanman Airmotive is the name of the virtual aircraft design and development company that Melo and I invented back in the 90s.

It's a bit brighter than the Monsoon PR3 I think, yes?

I'll link the backstory here when I've finished writing it, but it may be a while as it goes on and on and.....

zenrat · February 10, 2017, 03:46:38 AM

Neat. It must have really hurt you to shorten those wings.
Are you OK? Do you need to talk to anybody?
We're here if you need help...

Dizzyfugu · February 10, 2017, 04:46:04 AM

Very cool, and it looks fast!

Captain Canada · February 10, 2017, 04:52:58 AM

Oh wow that is great ! Love the look of her, especially from the top. From that view, she looks like a Bearcat doing Mach chicken Louie ! Nice tribute to your pal and your old sim days as well. Very cool.

Gondor · February 10, 2017, 06:09:24 AM

That's very nice looking Kit! Looking forward to the backstory

Gondor