Subject: Re: MB5 Gallery submission
From: "Steve Bamford" <[email-masked]>
To: "John Stokes" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 18 Jun 2001 21:42:08 -0700

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com
----- Original Message -----
From: John Stokes <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Sent: Sunday, April 22, 2001 4:26 AM
Subject: MB5 Gallery submission

> Steve,
>
> I fancied having a go at submitting one of my models for potential
inclusion
> in you gallery, attached are 7 .jpg photos, I can supply these at higher
> resolution if required. Feel free to use whichever phots you think are
best,
> & leave others out.
>
> Hope this is OK,
> Regards
> John Stokes
>
>
> The Martin-Baker company is better known these days for producing ejector
> seats, but started out as an aircraft maunufacturer in 1929. The MB5 is
> often mistaken for a Mustang with its underslung radiator, but in reality
> was about one and half times bigger. It first flew in May 1944 and was an
> exceptionally manoeverable and fast machine, with a top speed of 460 mph
> from the Rolls-Royce Griffon engine driving the two counter-rotating
> propellors. It had a great number of virtues, the cockpit layout being
> described as a model for all the RAF's fighter aircraft, and was well
> engineered from the maintenance point
> of view. The wide track undercarriage and excellent view made it easy to
> handle on the ground, and the propellor arrangement meant a complete lack
of
> swing on take off. Once in the air it accelerated and climbed ferociously
> and with its armament of four cannons in the wings would have been a
> formidable fighter. Sadly it was not put into production, for which there
> are probably a couple of reasons. 1) Jet aircraft were begging to come
into
> service and represented the way future developments would go, and 2) it
was
> possibly felt by the air ministry that at this late stage of the war
> Martin-Baker may not be able to tool up for mass production in sufficient
> time. Whatever the true reasons, the MB5 was the last of a series of
> exceptional aircraft designed and built by James Martin and Valentine
Baker,
> and what a great looking one !
>
> I have long wanted to build a model of this aircraft, and the Falcon
> vac-form is only periodically available from some of the specialist
> retailers so I was pleased to get one at 1999 IPMS UK nationals. It is
very
> basic, consisting only of the main airframe components and little else.
> There is no cockpit, undercarriage, wheel wells etc, all of this has to
come
> from your own sources. Starting with the cockpit, I scratch built most of
it
> using parts from other suitable aircraft and the seat & other items from
the
> generic etched brass RAF set from Reheat. It's not actually that hard to
do
> and quite satisfying to create it all yourself. Details of this aircraft
> including photos of the interior are available on the Martin Baker website
> and were of great use in doing this. The big airscoop under the fuselage
was
> so thinly moulded that I cut the front centimetre away and made my own
from
> plasticard strip by rolling an oval shape and cutting the front edge at
the
> required angle. It was then stuck on and blended in with plenty of filler.
I
> tend to use Milliput as a filler as unlike many other brands it does not
> melt the plastic, which is an important consideration when building
> vac-forms. The next area to tackle was the main undercarriage, and I cut
> away the closed doors and fabricated a complete bay from plasticard and
> detailed it with various bits and bobs. It is not 100% accurate because I
> don't have any photos of this area, but it looks  ok. Next items were tha
> main  undercarriage legs, I didn't have any suitable ones in my spares box
> so ended up making them from brass wire detailed with lengths and collars
> cut from plastic tube. The bottom ends were filed with a circular section
> rat-tailed file, and the stub axles for the wheels superglued on at 90
> degrees. The wheels themselves are from the Monogram Typhoon. I did not
> think that simply butt joining the wings to the fuselage would be strong
> enough, so I cut a spar from 40 thou plastic card and slotted it through
the
> fuselage, then slid the wings over it and fixed them in place. The final
> item was the propellor, which I didn't fancy making from the vac form
> components supplied. I therfore used a spare set of broad blades provided
as
> an option in the Tamiya Mosquito kits, and cut them down to match as
closely
> as possible those on the vac-form sheet. They were then inserted into pre
> drilled holes in the spinner (itself a 3 part vac-form packed with
Milliput)
> and fixed at the appropriate angle. It is not quite correct as the
> propellors counter-rotated, and although mine are all at the correct
pitch,
> the actual airfoil section of the blades are all the same instead of
> opposite. No one would know unless I told them though! The Serial number
is
> included on a small decal sheet, but all the other markings have to come
> from your own resources. The Prototype 'P' markings came from a small
sheet
> produced bt the Fantasy Printshop, which was conveniently
> released just as I needed them. This kit was a lot of work, but also very
> satisfying to build. The more you have to put in yourself, the more you
feel
> you have achieved, I certainly learned a few more new tricks with this
one.
>
>