Mark's Workbench: 1/72 Heller/Smer Morane-Saulnier MS.230

[2996 Victor]

Hi everyone,

Here is another build currently on my workbench (read: table ), started as a contribution to the French Fancy II Group Build currently running on Britmodeller.

My choice was the venerable Heller 1/72 Morane-Saulnier MS.230 parasol monoplane, but just to be a bit different I'm going to finish it in the markings of the Portuguese Aeronáutico Militar who had one example, plus 22 built as the MS.233 with a five-cylinder Gnome-Rhône 5Ba or 5Bc in place of the original Salmson 9AB.

For reference, I'm using my copy of this book: http://mmpbooks.biz/ksiazki/308. Why, you may ask, is a trainer included in a book about fighters? Apparently, some of the MS.233s were fitted with a single synchronised weapon and used for gunnery training but, pending the arrival of Gloster Gladiators, as these aircraft were at the time the most modern in the AMP they could also be used in the fighter role in times of dire need.

Obligatory box (1980 boxing), instructions and sprue photos:




The decals are "a bit past it", so I'll be using these:

I've heard that LF Decals can be a bit temperamental, and are printed with an overall film so need careful cutting out. Forewarned is forearmed!

Thanks for looking in, more in a bit.

Cheers,
Mark

[mbittner]

Nice project!

I recently finished a KP D.500 using LF decals and mine were translucent, so you might have to provide some sort of "undercoating" to them before you apply. I had to do that to the Escadrille emblem that went over decal stripes on the fuselage.

[2996 Victor]

Episode 2: The Saga of the Wing

The wing is moulded in two halves, upper and lower, with the ailerons moulded complete with the upper half. These were removed carefully and set aside, then the mating surfaces of the wings sanded to give a good joint with the trailing edges being thinned in the process, and the upper and lower panels were glued together carefully as there are no locating pins:



As the wing rib detail is very pronounced and a bit uneven, I decided to sand it smooth and recreate the ribs: this has taken a fair bit of doing, together with numerous coats of paint followed by further sanding. Amazingly, in the right light the moulded ribs are still just about visible, but I think I'm just about happy enough with it to continue:


Thanks for looking in: more soon!

Cheers,
Mark

[2996 Victor]

Nice project!

I recently finished a KP D.500 using LF decals and mine were translucent, so you might have to provide some sort of "undercoating" to them before you apply. I had to do that to the Escadrille emblem that went over decal stripes on the fuselage.

Thanks, Matt, that's very kind of you! Its a nice little kit, well moulded with good detail (apart from the excessive wing ribs!), but the interior is typically sparse.

Interesting about the decal translucency - thank you for the heads-up! I think it should be okay on this bird as its silver overall, but I might need to consider the rudder marking.

Cheers,
Mark

[2996 Victor]

Episode 3: Enter the Dragon Smer (subtitled "Fuselages, or how I learned to love the plastic")

Being a child of its' time, there is precious little interior detail in the kit and being inspired by a similar build on Britmodeller I decided that here was an opportunity to do a bit of detailing. I garnered some interior photographs from t'interweb and set to.

The fuselage was scraped down to half its thickness, and a representation of the stringers and frames cobbled together using PB wire and square section styrene strip. The interior rigging wires were added with thinner copper wire, a floor made and the whole lot painted up:

I was feeling quite chuffed with myself And then it was time for a little holiday, our first in exactly two years.

While Jane and I were on holiday in North Devon I was reading through a brilliant build thread on Britmodeller by Putty Animal, who is none other than our own William Adair, in which he scratchbuilds a 1/144th scale FE2b. You can find the build here https://forum.ww1aircraftmodels.com/index.php?topic=12423.0 and on Britmodeller here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235045706-royal-aircraft-factory-fe2b-in-1144/. I'd thoroughly recommend a read through. It is an absolute masterpiece!

Anyway, although I was fairly happy with the fuselage interior, that tiny little Fee made me think, "I can do a bit better!" So I bought a Smer re-pop of the kit and began the fuselage again!

I started by scraping down the cockpit walls again, although there was no Heller logo to remove this time I also made a new floor again:


This time round, I thought I'd approach the interior a little differently and started with the fabric effect on the interior. I sprayed a primer coat of Tamiya rattle can IJN Grey-Green, my favourite wood base coat, and concocted a sort of salmony-pink shade  to represent the red dope:


A very dry brush was then used to randomly splodge some linen colour over the pink, the intention being to reproduce the effect of red dope bleeding through the linen covering on the fuselage, while the floor panel was tinted with successive coats of Citadel Seraphim Sepia to create a sort of wood effect:


Stringers and frames were made from Plastruct 15thou diameter rod and 30th square strip respectively, also sprayed with IJN Grey-Green and held in place with tiny amounts of PlasticWeld solvent. Even though the joint formed is paint to paint, its actually strong enough to hold the stringers and frames in place, although it wouldn't stand much abuse! The frames were also treated to the Citadel Seraphim Sepia:

Also in this photo is the bulkhead for the forward cockpit. I made this from a piece of 30th styrene sheet, profiled first to fit the interior of the fuselage sides and then opened out using the time-honoured "drill a chain of holes and connect them up" method, followed by careful sanding to shape referring carefully to period photographs. This was painted in the usual Tamiya IJN Grey-Green, then the very edges were masked and the majority of it sprayed with Tamiya Bare Metal Silver. I made it over tall so I'd have a handle while I was beating it into shape!

The forward bulkhead was fitted into place, the handle part lopped off and the whole lot sanded flush:

I think that looks a bit better than the Mark 1 version! I've got some fine wire for rigging on order, so I'm waiting for that to arrive before I can finally button up the fuselage.....

Thanks for looking in. Comments and criticisms are always welcome (please don't be too harsh!).

More soon,
Mark

[2996 Victor]

Episode 4: Watch out for them 'oles.....

On the MS.230 and other aircraft of similar construction, there is what appears to be a sheet of plywood on the level of the top of the fuselage sides but below the coaming, which is opened out with two holes for the bodies of the hapless occupants.

I was wondering how to make this while ensuring that said holes coincided with the cockpit openings in the coaming panel. "Some blooming sharp measurement", was my first thought. Then it occurred to me that the instructor in the back seat also has an IP. If I made the sheet bit (sorry!) in two pieces I could then line up the openings correctly and hide the join under the instructor's IP. Sneaky!

Marking out on a sheet of 10thou styrene:

Sizes are guesstimated based on the openings in the coaming panel and interior photos.

Cutting out by degrees:



And paring back the edges:

followed by a light sanding and and wipe with a brushful of MEK to round things off and a coat of my favoured IJN Grey-Green wood base colour ready for tinting (Herge?).

The wood surround panel has been divided in two and the two parts trimmed for length such that the holes now correspond with their respective cockpit openings. Here they are resting in position with the help of the ever-useful Blu-Tak:


And with the coaming panel plopped in position:

The panels need to be trimmed for width, of course, and woodified.

And that's where things are!

Thanks for looking in

Cheers,
Mark

[kensar]

An interesting and unique subject!

[2996 Victor]

An interesting and unique subject!

Thanks!

It's an interesting aeroplane and the Heller/Smer kit is really nice. Yes, its a child of its time, but apart from the wing ribs the detailing is pretty restrained and really nicely done, in fact its far nicer than some "modern" kits! The very basic interior is the biggest tell-tale as to the kit's age. Heller did some really nice kits and they're well worth a look.

Cheers,
Mark

[ColonelKrypton]

Mark,

Very nicely done, the "I can do a bit better" version is indeed.

There is a nice feeling of accomplishment whenever time is spent fussing over and adding such details.

I recently stumbled across your build on Britmodeller and it's nice to see your build here as well.

Although I tend to prefer early pre WW1 and WW1 types, there are many of these between the wars types which are interesting and the MS.230 in particular as it was the type used in the Blue Max movie which appears at the end as the new German monoplane design resplendent in it's silver finish and black crosses.

cheers, Graham

[2996 Victor]

Hi Graham,

many thanks for your kind words, its really appreciated! I'm pleased that the improvement shows although I wonder if still finer materials would be even better for next time.

There is definitely a feeling of accomplishment when those details turn out as you'd hoped (more or less!), and its good practice for my rapidly-growing stash of Great War subjects. I'm used to scratching finer details on railway subjects, but I've done very little of that for some years and I'm re-learning a lot of techniques: details on aviation subjects are a lot finer, too (i.e. less agricultural). Its great fun doing it and kits like this offer plenty of scope.

My focus of interest is rapidly shifting back in time. About twenty-five years ago, 80% of my stash was of Great War subjects. Most of those were sold off in the intervening time and when I really returned to aviation modelling last year, as so many of us did, I gravitated to the Second World War. Its good to be back doing Great War subjects again! I've got a few interwar subjects which I intend to build.

I'd forgotten about The Blue Max until recently, when it was screened on one of the obscure TV channels. I caught the end twenty minutes, just in time to see George Peppard come to his sticky end. I imagine the MS.230 was supposed to represent the Fokker E.V in some way. Perhaps I should stage my two builds side-by-side when they're finished

Cheers,
Mark

[mbittner]

Any way we can get a scan of your work on the piece under the cockpit coaming so those of us wanting to build our own, have something we can work with? Please?

[2996 Victor]

Hi Matt,

There should be a drawing attached: the dimensioned version on the left is twice full size for 1/72, on the right actual size at A4. Hopefully!!! The distance between the two openings when trimmed for the model is approx 4.5mm, but that is a guide only

Cheers,

Mark

[PrzemoL]

Lovely work in the tine scale. Definitely a thread to follow with interest. Thanks for sharing.

[2996 Victor]

Lovely work in the tine scale. Definitely a thread to follow with interest. Thanks for sharing.

Many thanks, PrzmoL, that's very high praise indeed! Hopefully the remainder of the build will turn out alright

Cheers,
Mark

[kensar]

So this is the monoplane used at the end of the Blue Max movie?  Interesting!