Yet another MB5/6/7 whatever......

[PR19_Kit]

For some reason I've ended up with a lot of AZ MB5s and 6s, not that I'm a fan of the two seat MB6, but you get a complete MB5 kit in with it, and it's easier to find and cheaper than the straight MB5 in most places.

This one may even end up as a two seater, but with a different canopy to the frankly UGLY two seat one that AZ supply. I'm thinking about an FAA Sea Monsoon FAW2 night fighter in the lovely Sky and EDSG scheme, with some well known NAS providing the crews etc.

So far I've got the wings assembled, two pairs of them........

Why, you may ask? Well who's building this, and what's my hallmark? Yes, LOOOOOOONG wings, and these will probably be folded. The straight MB5 wings are so short it's hardly worth the bother of folding them so the 2nd set of wings will be used to extend the 1st set, and then be folded. Or something like that anyway.

I have no less than five MB6 fuselage halves (No, I have no idea why there's an odd number...) some of which have had the engines sawn off, and some have had their radiator intakes sawn off too. But there's enough bits to make one complete MB6 fuselage and one complete MB5 fuselage too, once they're all glued back together, and that's in progress.

More reports as things progress.

[PR19_Kit]

One thing I noticed while checking back on my other two MB5 builds. Everyone had problems with the wheel well inserts of the AZ kit making the wings too thick and some sort of action had to be taken to get the two wing halves to fit. In my case I filed the darn things down until they did fit but others used different methods.

Checking my first MB5 build, the one in which I used the Skybirds 86 'marbled' kit, I founds this pic of the real thing while it was being built.



Does it have any wheel well surrounds like the AZ kit? No, not a sign of them.

In fact the aft part of the wheel well has a completely straight divider from the wing area aft of the well!

I'd go so far as to say that AZ didn't look too closely at this pic, so I've left the pesky well surrounds out completely.   

[kitbasher]

Ooer!

I actually like the ‘MB6’ canopy, but not as a two-seater - rather a better shaped single seater canopy.  That’s how I plan to build mine, anyway - single seater with the two-seater canopy in Malaya-based Tempest II-style colours.

[zenrat]

One thing I noticed while checking back on my other two MB5 builds. Everyone had problems with the wheel well inserts of the AZ kit making the wings too thick and some sort of action had to be taken to get the two wing halves to fit. In my case I filed the darn things down until they did fit but others used different methods.

Checking my first MB5 build, the one in which I used the Skybirds 86 'marbled' kit, I founds this pic of the real thing while it was being built.



Does it have any wheel well surrounds like the AZ kit? No, not a sign of them.

In fact the aft part of the wheel well has a completely straight divider from the wing area aft of the well!

I'd go so far as to say that AZ didn't look too closely at this pic, so I've left the pesky well surrounds out completely.   

Unless they put the surrounds in after that picture was taken...
 

[joncarrfarrelly]

The model companies got the wheel-wells wrong on the P-51 for decades, they had
a "surround" that followed the lines of the landing gear covers, with a rear wall that
doesn't exist. It's as if no one ever bothered to go take a look at a real Mustang.
 

Looking at what you can see of the well on the right side of this photo, I'd agree
that there was no surround, rather, as in the Mustang, just an open space in the
structure.

[kitbasher]

Interesting stuff that I’ll be keeping track of to inform my own MB5 build(s).

The shot of the MB5’s u/c bays is intriguing, specifically the u/c leg ‘socket’.  Given comment/observation in other MB5 threads regarding fit and forward rake of the legs, could it be that AZ actually got the attachment points right, and it’s the legs that are deficient?

Look at the left wheel well.  The attachment point appears to be vertical, with the leg clearly raked forward.

So, curious.  Doesn’t necessarily make the kit better, but it may make fitting the legs easier somehow by fixing the legs not the attachment point?

[kitbasher]

The model companies got the wheel-wells wrong on the P-51 for decades, they had
a "surround" that followed the lines of the landing gear covers, with a rear wall that
doesn't exist. It's as if no one ever bothered to go take a look at a real Mustang.
 

Most 1/72 FW190 main u/c bays are wrong, too.

[PR19_Kit]

This one could run and run..............

The Flight magazine cutaway drawing shows the same structure as that pic of the wing being built, with no well surrounds.




And yet the most well known MB5 pic, this one....



....certainly looks as if there are surrounds.

It's notable that the lower pic shows no centre section main gear doors, which were fitted later on in the aircraft's life, so perhaps they did both jobs at the same time, together with the taller fin?

On the other hand, Jon's pic shows it with no surrounds and no doors either!

The issue with the angle of the landing gear legs is also moot. On my Monooooooon pylon racer I had to cut to top of the legs off to get the angle correct, but I'd have had to enlarge the narrow slot in the wing to get it correct if I hadn't done that. Which means the mounting lug in the top section of the AZ wing is in the wrong place. They've moulded it so that leg comes out of the wing at 90 deg to the wing's lower surface, which it didn't in the RW.



To add further to the 'well surround' question, the pic above shows the short fin and no inner doors...................... 

If ever an aeroplane needed a 'Morgan & Shacklady' type book, the MB5 does!

[NARSES2]

At the end of the day, who knows what they would have done if the type had entered production ? 

[joncarrfarrelly]

In the photo that looks like there is a surround, I think it’s an optical illusion.

[kitnut617]

I agree with Kit, the AZ MB6 canopy is really yuck! I tried to improve on it ---

[PR19_Kit]

I'm going to try tilting it up at the back, like a Hawk or Harrier trainer.

The backstory being that the Sea Monsoon was developed from the MB5 T2 trainer. 

[PR19_Kit]

Some build progress is being made on this, despite the fact that I don't seem to have more than one complete model, even though I have 5/6 fuselages, 4-5 wings etc. but only one cockpit........... go figure?

Starting with the mandatory kit box lid....



It may not actually be THE kit that I'm using as I have 3-4 of them to hand, but some of its bits will end up on the Sea Monsoon I'm sure.

So far I've manged to coble together one complete two seater fuselage by cutting the port engine from an MB5 fuselage and gluing it onto the only complete MB6 fuselage half I have. 

The cockpit, from an MB5 kit, is semi-assembled and is awaiting some paint. One of the longer Sea Monsoon wings has been assembled, and will be built with the tips folded of course. 

As I said above, I plan to raise the rear of the canopy, so I've assembled another of the spare fuselages and sawn off a chunk of the upper side, and that will act as a 'spine' to fair in the rear of the canopy. A bit like some pylon racing Mustangs.



Various bits of it so far.

[joncarrfarrelly]

I'm going to try tilting it up at the back, like a Hawk or Harrier trainer.

The backstory being that the Sea Monsoon was developed from the MB5 T2 trainer. 

Here I was hoping you'd do a Miles M.31 Magister IV style canopy.   


Miles is one of those odd duck companies, some designs are "ooh, that's lovely",
others are "Wut??!".

[The Rat]

It's as if no one ever bothered to go take a look at a real Mustang.
 

Well, there are so few left...