Martin Baker Long Ranger NF.1

[kitnut617]

Thanks guys

Is that canopy from a Phantom? It's got the little tri-angular section in the middle.

Not sure where the canopy comes from Kit, it's not from a Phantom though, it only has that one frame leaning backwards. I'll see if I can remember where it came from though because if it's in my spares box, then I've built a kit which it came from and I should still have it.   
It has to be from a two-seater jet, the front edge was sloped backwards from the top to the bottom, I had to carefully file it so it was more vertical to match the MB6 windshield.

[NARSES2]

That does look good

[Dizzyfugu]

That's looking very good - and the longer canopy looks much better and sensible than the cramped OOB solution.

Will there be a separate radar pod, e .g. under one of the wings, or is that supposed to be part of the tip tanks?

[b29r]

Oh yes, this is going to be splendid!  Will be following right along with you 

Best regards,
Kem

[kitbasher]

Nice!  Looks like a Cavalier Dart Mustang on steroids.

[kitnut617]

Thanks guys.

The box art shows the MB6 with nice big tanks on the wing tips which I like the look of



But the camo schemes on the back of the box show short fat ones and I think that's because the wings don't show the broad chord it should have.



But what you get in the box are long skinny tanks which look weird when you put them on the wings.  I decided they needed to be a bit bigger and found a pair of Shackleton wing tip tanks in the spares box. They're a little bit longer and quite a bit bigger in diameter.  The tanks are a bit bigger in diameter than an APS-4 pod so that's where the scanner will be located. The camo schemes show both tanks have a scanner in the noses of the tanks but I think I'll just go with one.  In this pic of the parts you can see the difference between what's in the box and what I'm putting on it.  Apart from that , I think the carpet monster got one half of one of the kit tanks, I can't find it anywhere --- 

[kitnut617]

Is that canopy from a Phantom? It's got the little tri-angular section in the middle.

I think I know where the canopy comes from Kit, it's from the Airfix Tucano T.1 kit.  At least looking at some photos of the Airfix kit of the canopy it has features that I remember modifying to fit it on the MB6.  For some reason I had sawn the front end off it and then didn't use it, I think I had done it for one of my two tandem seat Spitfires but then went on to use something else for those projects.

[PR19_Kit]

Ah, yes, sounds plausible.

Not one I'd have thought of, I must admit, although I have a Tucano in The Loft somewhere.

[kitnut617]

Generally, if I know I can get a vacuform canopy replacement, any of the injected ones I have in the stash are fair game.

[kitnut617]

Got a bit done this weekend ----

Painted up the cockpit, glued the tail wheel in before gluing up the fuselage. I've glued the fin/rudder on (which is now 1 scale foot taller), glued the duct intake on and then glued the Sabre engine cowling on. Just a smidge of putty was required on the top and bottom corners.  I then glued the two bits of canopy together so it was easier to mount on the fuselage for pics.  There's no armour plate/headrest in the box so I found one, comes from a Mustang Mk.II but looks the part.  I sloped it back to match the canopy mid-frame which just happens to line up rather well.

[PR19_Kit]

That's starting to look pretty mean there, very powerful and menacing. 

[kitnut617]

Thanks Kit ---

I've also decided to use the kit wing-tip tanks, but as underwing drop tanks.

[Old Wombat]

Looking really good!

[kitnut617]

Thanks Guy ---


anyway, the wings and tail planes are on  -----

[Weaver]

That's got a good, chunky look to it now - nice one.

For future reference, the Heller F-84G is a good source of big-but-old-fashioned looking drop/tip tanks. Yours are fine though.

I could see this hunting Polikarpov Pe-2 night-harrassers over Korea...