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World War II
Discuss WWII and the era directly before and after the war from 1935-1949.
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REVIEW
Blenheim Mk. 1
Merlin
Staff MemberSenior Editor
AEROSCALE
#017
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United Kingdom
Joined: June 11, 2003
KitMaker: 17,582 posts
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Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 07:44 PM UTC


In his first review for Aeroscale, Ben Micklem takes a look at MPM's 1:72 mixed media Blenheim Mk.1. Keep 'em coming Ben!

Link to Item

If you have comments or questions please post them here.

Thanks!
Emeritus
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Uusimaa, Finland
Joined: March 30, 2004
KitMaker: 2,845 posts
AeroScale: 1,564 posts
Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 08:48 PM UTC
Oh, this reminds me of something. Just what could that be ... Yep, to just go and finally finish that mk.I still lingering on my workbench. It's been in-progress for over a year now...

Nice review!
You mentioned the radial sprue has some flash - how's mould alignment on it? Looks pretty good judging from the one closeup photo.
The triangular exhaust collector ring support would indeed have been nice additions on the PE frets, as they're tricky to make from scratch. The engines can be further improved by adding the exhaust pipes missing from the kit: the cylinders already have the holes for the pipes. Flexible tubing is ideal for this.


robot_
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United Kingdom
Joined: March 08, 2009
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Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 10:00 PM UTC

Quoted Text

The triangular exhaust collector ring support would indeed have been nice additions on the PE frets, as they're tricky to make from scratch. The engines can be further improved by adding the exhaust pipes missing from the kit: the cylinders already have the holes for the pipes. Flexible tubing is ideal for this.



Thanks for your comments Eetu!

Not being an expert on radials (or any type of engine...), is the triangular exhaust collector ring support the three spoke-like parts in the front of the engine? If so, that's what I meant by "details for the front of the engines"! Thanks for the tip about the exhaust pipes- I was wondering what those holes in the cylinders were, as they looked a bit odd!
Emeritus
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Uusimaa, Finland
Joined: March 30, 2004
KitMaker: 2,845 posts
AeroScale: 1,564 posts
Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009 - 10:59 PM UTC
You're welcome.

Yep, the exhaust collector ring supports are the details you mentioned.
Here's a build thread of my still-to-be-finished model, also showing how I chose to tackle the engines.
robot_
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United Kingdom
Joined: March 08, 2009
KitMaker: 719 posts
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Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 02:27 AM UTC
Eetu, that build thread is amazing!

I am worried now! Looks like a challenging build ahead. I am doing a conversion into this aircraft:
http://www.aviationarchive.org.uk/stories/getobjectstory.php?rnum=G1939
Which has a metal nose, no turret and clipped wings.

I'll check my undercarriage parts carefully, and if they are like yours, I hope I can get replacements from MPM as you did.

I hope can make my engines to look a fraction of the quality of yours!
Emeritus
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Uusimaa, Finland
Joined: March 30, 2004
KitMaker: 2,845 posts
AeroScale: 1,564 posts
Posted: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 - 06:15 AM UTC
Goog luck with your project.
And thanks for the compliments. Much obliged.

From the review photo, the mouldings on the radial sprue look much better than on my sample. Since the main landing gear on the Blenheim is pretty simple, I've been even thinking about scratch-building all-new units for the mk.IV still in my stash.
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