HpH 1:32 scale resin Macchi M.5

[AndrewS]

Excellent work on the engine!

You wip will be very useful for my build 


Andrew

[KiwiZac]

I'm not a Macchi fan but this is a treat to follow, Des. Great work on that engine.

[ALBATROS1234]

the engine looks really great des. but then i expected as such.

[tram1]

Great work Des,have you noticed the wing floats.Should they be solid wood as in the kit or hung from struts? I cant find any ref in the windsock datafile ?

[Des]

Thanks very much guys for all the nice comments, they are much appreciated.

Tram1 - I have seen many photos of the Macchi M.5 plus other versions of the same plane and the wing floats vary depending on the model. This classic photo shows a Macchi M.5 with the floats suspended on struts, but the majority of photos I have seen show the floats as being fixed directly to the wing, I will take another look at mine when I get to that stage and see what is involved in making modifications, I prefer the look of the suspended floats.

Des.

[mammut08]

Hi All,

If I remember correctly, the Windsock datafile on the M-5 does identify to serial number those airframes equipped with fixed floats. I believe it was limited to the first 50. Moreover, discussion of this kit over at Large Scale Planes suggests that both of the schemes provided in the HPH kit are for aircraft with suspended floats. I will have a look when I get home from work and see if I can sort this out. Me, I am going to finish mine as one of the first 50, so I can concentrate on a natural wood finish without a lot of markings.

Des, you engine is fantastic!

Best,

Dave

[Paperquest]

Des, you are an amazing artist, there's just no other way to say it.

Your builds are just so precise.  I've never seen close ups that still look real, I am amazed.

Mack

[PrzemoL]

Mammut is rigth, Des. "Suspended" floats are one of features of later version of M.5. The other change introduced after initial 50 boats was rearrangement of rib layout on lower wings. The early ones had the same "dense" pattern, as the upper wing. The later ones had the lower wing ribs with larger spacing. Indeed, the majority of fancy coloured M.5s were from the later batch.

And again, great work on your model, Des.

[pepperman42]

Fabulous miniature engineering!!!!

Steve

[Des]

Thanks very much Dave, Mack, Przemol and Steve for you very kind comments.

I finished all the components for the cockpit interior, again it is very basic but little is seen once closed up. Now comes the issues, the cockpit is extremely confined, the seat sits hard up against the control column, the control column (machine gun triggers) sits hard up against the instrument panel, the machine guns sit too far forward, the butt and handles should be sitting inside the cockpit. I don't know what the problems are, is the cockpit too small or are all the components too large, even the thickness of the fuselage walls at the cockpit are different  and the fuselage frames do not correspond with each side. I fitted the machine gun trigger cable and the rudder cables, can't be seen now. I am very disappointed with the kit so far, every thing I have touched needs extra work, I know that this is a limited run resin kit but it is looking more like a second rate attempt to make a kit of the beautiful Macchi M.5, the price of the kit is way too high for a poor quality product.

Des.

[Des]

I have temporarily fitted the bottom wings onto 1.0mm pins that are fitted to the fuselage, I still need to adjust the dihedral which will be set at 3º. The wings will be removed so the fuselage can be painted.

Des.

[radio]

Sorry to hear that Des. But you make a very great build.
Martin

[petrov27]

Also sorry to hear of the kits shortcomings.... but what you have done so far with it looks fantastic

[lcarroll]

Des,   
    Sorry to hear this Kit is so disappointing  despite all your efforts and the expense. I'm not sure I'd have your patience with this one. It's short comings are no doubt worse then you represent them given your skills; as Petrov says it looks fantastic at first glance however the dimension problems are not easily, if at all, remedied. I definitely will be waiting for another brand of this subject; this one, even leaving the price out of the equation, looks like trouble! Struggling at every step definitely takes the fun out of the exercise!
Cheers,
Lance

[rowan broadbent]

Des, (and anyone else who needs them)

here are 1/32nd scale drawings of the Macchi M5 floats used by the majority of production machines, the dimensions are taken from factory drawings. The struts should be constructed over-length and trimmed to an exact fit on the model. These were originally prepared for our 1/48th decals and the Blue Max kit.



Rowan