Macchi M-5

[Clunkmeister]

On 1/13/2020 at 2:58 PM, sandbagger said:

Hi all,
Pilot's seat modified:

Thickness of seat back reduced.
Seat belt slots added.
Seat back rolled edge added (0.4 mm lead wire.

Mike

Mike, I love your approach on this.

Like yourself, I find some kind of odd masochistic pleasure in pleasure in HPH kits as they provide us with subjects nobody else dares tackle in 1/32 "The One True Scale". 

Personal;ly,. I would probably have hauled out the Evergreen sheet and started drilling, but in retrspect, I think you made the right move here.

I have this kit sitting in my stash somewhere, but before I tackle it, the HPH B-36, Fisher's Guppy Skyraider, and Fisher's September Fury need to be finished. 

I'm wondering if I need to build the Aviattic Balilla first to get me in the frame of mind to tackle this one. When I see a builder like you scratching your head on a build, even if it is HPH, warning klaxons go off in my mind and I stop and take immediate notice.

hahahaha

[bob_von_buckles]

Incredible work, Mike!

 

von B 

[Clunkmeister]

9 hours ago, bob_von_buckles said:

Incredible work, Mike!

 

von B 

Coming from Bob von Buckle, that's quite the compliment!!

-E

[biggtim]

Just catching up on this build, very fine work going on here!!

[Clunkmeister]

5 hours ago, biggtim said:

Just catching up on this build, very fine work going on here!!

Tim, maybe we need a GB of these. It's about the coolest looking WW1 plane there is.

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I'm calling the fuselage finished.
I've scuffed the underside roundel to represent water wear.
The fuselage was given a weathering coat of Dark Dirt clay wash 'Flory Models' to represent general grime, especially as crew and mechanics had to walk on the cockpit decking.
It was then sealed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC-311) lacquer.
A second light wash of White was applied to give an indication of salt spray and to highlight the fuselage panel nail lines, then sealed again.

Now onto the wings,

Mike

[Clunkmeister]

Very, very nice work Mike!  Phenomenal as usual!

[harv]

.....harv

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The propeller is finished.
Hand made wood laminate special from 'ProperPlane'.
Airbrushed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen (ALC-311) with a few drops'Tamiya' Hull Red (XF9).
Erosion protection stripes (either Copper, Tin or Mondel (Copper-Nickel Alloy) brush painted.
Propeller bosses brush painted with 'Mr. Colour' Stainless Steel (213).
Final sealing coat of 'Tamiya' Clear Orange (X26).
Propeller bosses coated with 'AK Interactive' Kersosene (AK2039).

Mike

[Clunkmeister]

Mike, did PP custom make that prop for you, or is it one from his selection? 

[Vandy1 VX-4]

Beautiful work I always Admired this aircraft. But scared of the kit.   You have done a magnificent job. 

[Bomber_County]

Mike , I wish I had a quarter of your skills, I don’t think I’ll ever try resin...........

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
I've started working on the wings.
The wings were covered in Clear Doped Linen (CDL), but of a much lighter, almost white' finish.
Photographs of the aircraft show darker ribs tapes over the lighter covering, which I'm assuming was because the rib tapes were effectively double thickness linen.

The wing were primed with 'AK interactive' white AK-759.
The wing spars were masked off and airbrushed with thinned 'Tamiya' Smoke (X19).
The masking was removed and the internal cross bracing wires drawn on with a pencil.
Pre-shading was then airbrushed with thinned 'Tamiya' Smoke (X19).

The wing was lightly airbrushed with the white primer to tone down the pre-shading and spars.

 

The raised detail was then lightly sanded to highlight the wing ribs and outer edges.
The whole wing was then sealed with 'Alclad' Aqua Gloss (ALC-600).

'Aviattic' clear Bleached CDL (ATT32044) was used to cover the wing.
The same decal, cut into 2 mm strips was used to cover the rib tapes.

This is a long tedious job as both sides of the upper and lower wing need to be treated this way, but hopefully it'll have the desired effect.
I still have the roundels and markings to apply, plus any final weathering and a sealing coat of semi-matte to finish.

Mike 

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
Out of interest here's a shot of the various parts that are WIP.
I've yet to add the rib tapes,

Mike

[Sir Desmond Glazebrook]

Dear sandbagger.

I am disappointed. Every time I search the Vendors area, I never see your skills for hire or sale.

How long must I wait?????

[sandbagger]

Thanks Sir Des, if a tad overstated 

Hi all,
I think that's as far as I can take the top roundels.
The inner white ring was replaced with the same 'Aviattic' CDL decal used to cover the wing.
The reason being that photographs show what appears to be CDL inner roundel rings, not painted white.
Moving on now to the undersides of both wings.
That means red and green outer areas with CDL centre sections and 'ghost' roundels' under the upper wing.

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The wings and tail plane/elevators are finished.
The underside of the upper wing has 'ghost' roundels visible from the roundels on the top surface - created with masks and airbrushed..
The heat deflector panel (for engine exhausts) on the inboard left wing painted with 'Alclad' Steel on black primer.
Final weathering applied using 'Flory' fine clay wash.
Surface finish airbrushed with 'Alclad' Light Sheen,

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The fin and rudder are now finished.
The kit decals were not used, but instead airbrushed.
The CDL covering and rib tapes were applied as for the wings.
'Flory Models' fine clay wash (Dark Dirt) applied for weathering.

Mike

[GusMac]

Those 'ghost' roundels are great. A really neat touch that just enhances the realism. 

[DocRob]

Great attention to the detail concerning used materials in reality and the concerning effects reproduce them.

14 hours ago, GusMac said:

Those 'ghost' roundels are great. A really neat touch that just enhances the realism. 

I second that, what a great fake translucency.

Cheers Rob 

[HubertB]

Thirded !

Hubert

[harv]

Fourthded........harv

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
And the lower wing floats.
The kit supplies the earlier 'hull' shaped wing floats. which were attached directly to the underside of the lower wing.
Also supplied are the later 'ski' type wing floats, which were attached to the underside of the lower wing with support struts.
Once again no surprise that the kit does not supply the support struts, just the floats!!

I made the support struts from soldered micro-tube and chiselled recesses into the underside of the lower wing so the floats are correctly positioned, taking into account the 3 degrees of wing dihedral angle.
Some Macchi M.5 aircraft had wing floats of just varnished wood, others had markings such as Italian roundels, white discs etc.
This particular Macchi M.5 had the Italian tricolours applied, similar to that of the fin.  

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
After finishing the wing floats it was pointed out the they seemed too short.
After re-checking the drawing I realised that in fact they should span the chord of the lower wings and also that the sides of each float were angled in towards the nose.
So back to the drawing board.
As the micro-tube struts were already fitted and matched the location recesses I'd created in the wing, I didn't want to start the floats from scratch.
Also, because of the struts, I couldn't really cut and insert an extension to lengthen the floats.
So I stepped the top and bottom surfaces and added 0.5 mm thick plastic card strips.
The bottom of the floats had a packing piece of 0.5 mm thick plastic card to help create the shallow curve on that surface.
Once that was done I filled the sides with modelling putty and once set, sanded it all to shape.

So not perfect, but I think close to the correct size etc.
The second shot shows the floats test fitted to the underside of the lower wing halves,

Mike

[sandbagger]

Hi all,
The upper wing has now been joined and the lower wings secured to the fuselage (with the required 3 degrees of dihedral angle)
The shots below show the upper wing dry fitted with only the unfinished 'V' interplane struts located.
The unfinished engine is just positioned onto the fuselage 'Z' support struts.

The two upper 'Z' struts from the engine bearers to the underside of the upper wing still need to be drilled into the bearers and upper wing.
NOTE: The unfinished engine is positioned further rearwards than it will be when finally fitted.

So far both wings appear to be correctly aligned when viewed from the top and sides.

Mike