Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Aero-space => Topic started by: Brian da Basher on May 17, 2014, 04:03:25 AM
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A while back raafif gifted me a very nice 1/72 Miles Master from Pavla:
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MilesMasterbox.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MilesMasterbox.jpg.html)
Now that's one very cool looking aircraft in my book!
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MilesMastersprue.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MilesMastersprue.jpg.html)
This one comes with all the bells & whistles, including resin bits, two vac canopies and a killer decal sheet:
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MilesMasteraddedbits.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MilesMasteraddedbits.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MilesMasterdecals.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MilesMasterdecals.jpg.html)
The decals will be properly hoarded for later...I have plans...
I decided what this baby needed were some of the awesome spats Mr Fontaine made for me on his Mattel vac form machine:
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/Jeffvacspats.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/Jeffvacspats.jpg.html)
More aerodynamically perfect fixed landing gear you'll never find.
First off, I had to modify the wing a little...
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildwing.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildwing.jpg.html)
Much better now. Next up was a little work on the nose.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildnose.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildnose.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildnose02.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildnose02.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildnoseinside.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildnoseinside.jpg.html)
and then the tail:
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildtail.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildtail.jpg.html)
Wait! What's going on here? Well, sometimes you have an idea for a model and sometimes the model has an idea for you.
More to follow as progress allows,
Brian da Basher
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Watching intently...
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Wow! Brian still has some of the spats I pressed out for him. Good to see they are still in demand :)
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A spatted 'tween the wars jet? :)
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Single-engine version of the Jet Sparrowhawk?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Sparrowjet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Sparrowjet)
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This looks interesting, I'll be watching this build with interest :)
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The new tail looks like a jet plane, will this be a Miles Master-jet aircraft? :D
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Day two was landing gear day. Here's how the spats looked before I glued them together.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildspats01.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildspats01.jpg.html)
Much clampage was required...
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildspats02.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildspats02.jpg.html)
Here's the gear attached after a bit of PSR.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildspats03.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildspats03.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildspats04.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildspats04.jpg.html)
Here's a close-up of the tail wheel.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildtailwheel.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildtailwheel.jpg.html)
More updates to follow...
Brian da basher
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Wow! :-*
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Knowing how hard that plastic is to work with.. well the kit I had from Pavla anyway.. terrific work
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Here's where things stand prior to painting. Part of a drinking straw was used for the tail pipe.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildtailpipe.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildtailpipe.jpg.html)
The canopy was cut and attached. A little more PSR was needed to blend it in.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildsideR.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildsideR.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MMbuildsideL.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MMbuildsideL.jpg.html)
Now off to get some painting done.
Brian da Basher
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Glad to see you're having fun with this Brian.
I'm surprised Pavla didn't include spats in the kit - every other Miles aircraft looked good in them. Their angle looks a bit off from the side in your photos tho ?
Nice idea of an early jet - going to place it along-side a Whittle ??
Not surprising that Miles went for a vectoring nozzle ;) at such an early stage - avoids the melted runways that the Germans experienced with the first Me-262s.
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Many thanks for the kit, raafif and for the eagle-eye on the landing gear! I modified the gear by making a sharp cut to the top so they sit at a better angle now.
Decals later today, hopefully.
Brian da Basher
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"Miles to go"?! It would have taken me 6 months to get to this point, with a year to go til I finished it!! ;D
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In 1936, the Air Ministry was alarmed to learn jet engine development had begun in Germany. The pressure was on and unfortunately, Frank Whittle succumbed to it and suffered a nervous breakdown. Fortunately, the brilliant engineer Charles Long was able to pick up the work and in no time, had designed a prototype which was built by the Miles Aeroplane Co.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MrLong.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MrLong.jpg.html)
The Miles Long jet had a truly revolutionary engine, but was rather pedestrian in most other aspects, except for a pair of incredibly sexy, aerodynamic spats perfectly suited for the dawning Jet Age.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_001.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_001.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_002.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_002.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_003.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_003.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_004.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_004.jpg.html)
The new Miles Long prototype broke all speed records, but it was on the cutting edge of technology and suffered the worse for it. Specifically, the engine required metallurgically advanced metals which slowed production considerably. By the time of the 1938 Czech crisis, the Miles Aeroplane Co. had only managed to upgrade the one prototype and build mock-ups for training.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_006.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_006.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_007.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_007.jpg.html)
The RAF contracted for more mock-ups to be built and placed at airfields all around England. The new Miles MacGuffin, even though flightless, became commonplace, to the point the Germans couldn't help notice.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/pcircus.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/pcircus.jpg.html)
Luftwaffe Chief Goering made a panicked phone call to Hitler to advise him Germany was now totally out-classed in the air. The Führer knew he'd better back down or face defeat under waves of the new British jets.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_005.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_005.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_008.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_008.jpg.html)
Fortunately, the Germans never noticed how few Miles MacGuffins actually flew. Week after week, the one flying prototype and the legions of mock-ups graced British newsreels until it seemed the RAF was armed with a futuristic, unstoppable mighty host.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_009.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_009.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_012.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_012.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_013.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_013.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_014.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_014.jpg.html)
Eventually, the Miles Aeroplane Co. gave up on the Miles Long/MacGuffin and moved on to other work. The Miles Long prototype was scrapped ignominiously in 1940.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_010.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_010.jpg.html)
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_011.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_011.jpg.html)
While utterly forgotten today, for one brief moment, the Miles Long/MacGuffin kept Britain from war.
(http://i1099.photobucket.com/albums/g392/Bri2k/Miles%20project/MM_015.jpg) (http://s1099.photobucket.com/user/Bri2k/media/Miles%20project/MM_015.jpg.html)
The model is brush-painted by hand in acrylics and decals were from spares. I'd like to thank Jeff for the spats and raafif for the kit which was a lot of fun and took me about four days to build.
Brian da Basher
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:)
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Great Whiff Brian!! ;D 8)
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Awesome! I especially love the drinking straw jet pipe. Raafif was reading my mind when he mentioned thrust vectoring - reminds me of the flexible flue pipe on the wood stove that heated the old homestead!
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Love it, absolutely love it!
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Very nice whiffer there.
The paint scheme work really well
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Tres cute !!! Sorta reminds me a bit of the craft in the Disney "Planes" movie 8)
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Spats? Jet engine? Of course the Nazis backed down. What other choice did they have with the Long/MacGuffin's winning combo?
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top notch there Brian :) ((is that starboard wing tip coming unstuck ?))
The nose intake is real sexy !! 8)
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Belated congratulations! :-*
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I wasn't sure about the bendy straw exhaust, but it looks great! Nice spats, too.
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Ha Ha - excellent! ;D