Bugatti 100P - Special Hobby 1/72nd

 

 (The completed model is posted here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/08/bugatti-100p-special-hobby-172nd-scale.html

Special Hobby surprised modelers with the release of an all time favorite of many, the Bugatti 100P. Of unbelievable futuristic lines and design for the time, it seems incredible that the plane was built in the late 30s, in collaboration with designer Louis De Monge. The plane used two Bugatti engines in unusual positions inside the fuselage, with long shafts driving contra-rotating props, a "Y" tail configuration and a complex refrigeration system, plus a completely stylized fuselage with positive arrow wings and retractable landing gear. In fact, the design looks so extraordinarily modern, that it could have been conceived today. Needless to say, the project had to overcome a great number of technical difficulties. The objective was to build one plane to participate in the Deutsch de la Meurthe coup and another, modified, for a speed record attempt. The proximity of the war, felt by all nations, made the French government commission a fighter variant. The plane never actually flew, and it was absconded when Germany invaded France. It still exists today, restored, in the EAA Aviation Museum, and as many of you know a replica was build that had a fatal accident when flown.

If you say "Bugatti" you think Italian, which is right, as Ettore Bugatti was born in Italy, but moved to Alsace -then Germany, but becoming French after WW1- as a very young man and then he became a French citizen, where his firm was established. In fact, Bugatti is a French firm.

 Contents of the box:

Very nice detail:

Sharply molded and very clear canopy

Resin parts:

Nice surface detail:

Well molded parts:

The resin parts are obviously a direct cast of 3D-printed ones:

Much detail has been reproduced:

A couple of contemporary pages:

Believe it or not -and Seattleans/Pugetians may know this- a primitive injected kit of this plane was released there by Projekts Models Co. long time ago (1980, 42 years ago!). I just bought one, for the heck of it. I will be posting a separate build with it, but here is a photo. I love a challenge!:

Continuing with the Special Hobby kit, you have to buy the canopy masks apart, something that doesn't make me particularly happy. I understand that when a different manufacturer releases an aftermarket mask you have to pay for it, but for one made by the same manufacturer? c'mon guys, include it in the kit, and charge one or two more dollars, instead of the $5.50 plus $10.55 in S&H (total $16.05) I had to pay for it! Cheeky monkeys!:

Extraction of the parts from the sprues and casting blocks has commenced:

The fuselage has locating devices and some detail in the cockpit walls. I had to open a bit a few of the dimples for a better fit. The fuselage halves have some ejector pin towers that need removal, especially the one on the half-fin, as it will hinder the fit of the other half:

Carefully remove the ejector pin towers as these will impede proper closing of the wing halves:

You can see here the solution for the vents that SH provided, resin L.E. inserts for the injected parts. The other Bugatti 100 I am modeling used a different approach, trapping inserts between the fin and stab halves:

The smaller insert is for the fin:

Separating now most of the small parts. There is a lot of detail covered here, and care is needed not to lose anything. The gates are not intrusive and can easily be removed and sanded when needed. There is very much to-scale detail for example in the props, which are paper-thin, and also some heavy-handed parts, like the wheel covers, which are thick slabs that would benefit from some thinning down. Yes, the covers had flanges and doublers  but their edges were thin. Which leads me to my ongoing beef: too much reliance on computer design, too little looking at photos of the real thing. Although no doubt a very nice kit, something in it gives me the general feeling of an Academy kit, some je ne sais quoi, some geometrical approach influenced by the computer software instead of an organic one, not sure. Still, don't get me wrong, nice kit, and very happy it exists!:

Here is a comparison between the old kit seat (to the left) and the new kit. The "old" kit got it right. The new kit simplified the volumes and lost the ergonomic design of the original, and it's much thicker. This is the disconnect I see many times between computer design and reality:

The shafts are provided as separate parts. They have a groove that notches over a rail molded on the fuselage sides. There is no stop provided to tell you where they should begin or end...

...to help locate where exactly they go (fore and aft-wise) temporarily position the bulkhead, they should stop against it:

I am not saying -just in case you were wondering- that the old Projekt Models kit is better than the new kit, because it is not (42 years of separation between them mean a lot), but I am pointing out that there is no replacement for a keen eye and a dexterous hand, no matter how much technology or brand power is available to you, and also considering the amount of information that is now at our fingertips. I guess it would be good to take the eyes away from time to time from that computer design program, and look at the real thing (or photos, etc).

The fit of the resin wheel well inserts to the lower half of the wings is perfect. The fit of the resin intakes in the elevators is ok, but filling and sanding will be needed, as those resin parts are just a smidgen thinner than the elevators:

Just like all the resin inserts that are trapped between two injected parts that I have ever used in my whole modeling life, they are too thick/big and will needed sanding down:

Painting of some items started:

Unconvinced by the joystick in the kit, I made replacements:

You can't close the fuselage without sanding of both, bulkhead and seat, something you do not want to find after the parts were painted. Strange, as this is one of the newest kits on the market, and you still get fit issues. This is nothing, you sand the parts for one minute trying the fit as you go, and problem solved, but I rather have a good fit to start with:

Once the resin inserts are partially sanded down, the other wing sections are glued. There is a section at the root that needs additional support (the white styrene bits), otherwise the upper and lower parts may not align, or may displace when gluing the wing to the fuselage, as they are "floating" on that area:

The fuselage halves are glued. The fit again is not impressive, but is workable:

The way the wing halves are designed means that there is a seam to fill towards the wingtip. A plug that forms an air exhaust on the fuselage spine is inserted from inside; more filler will go there, as the solution is not perfect. On the other hand, an air intake immediately after the canopy -also on the spine- is rendered as solid, therefore some modelers may like to carve the intake a bit, or just sand down the volume and replace it with very thin metal foil folded to shape. With this kit it would have been ideal to replace some parts with photo-etched items, like the intake just mentioned, the inst. pan. and its two "elbow" supports, a lever that goes on the side of the inst. pan., the wheels covers, etc. No doubt someone will come up with that...at an extra cost:

The wing is glued to the fuselage. I am still finding fit issues in the form of a gap at the seam chord-wise, and around the separate triangular parts that form the end of the wing root on both sides (containing the air exhausts). This gaps are not big, but in my model they are big enough to require padding with .05 styrene sheet, and of course filler. 

The complex, flowing volumes of this plane have no doubt been a serious challenge for the kit maker, and for some things I guess there are no easy solutions. I am building in parallel the old Projekt Models kit of the same plane. Some approaches I feel are better in that kit, some in this. I wish we could have had the best of both worlds. Nothing here is really difficult, just the usual tasks of refining the fit, add filler, sand, etc. that all modelers practice in most kits. It is that I had the expectation of an overall better fit and engineering.

The tail is on. Once more the strange engineering makes the addition of these parts awkward, plus the fit again is not spot on, making the seams not easy to blend. The model is now ready for a first coat of primer that I have no doubt will reveal areas that need further attention. At this stage I tried the canopy on. The transparency is very clear, but it had some flash -easily removable. The bottom "frames" are too thick (exceeding the fuselage width), or perhaps it was just a molding "lip", whatever the case, they had to be carefully sanded down to obtain a  good fit:

I love the fact that Special Hobby released this kit, as the plane is of extraordinary appeal, it's from the Golden Age, and it's civil. The complexity of its shape may have caused more than a bit of head scratching to the kit designers/manufacturers, and due to this and their engineering approach, this is not really a very"comfortable" kit to build. Still, I applaud its release, and modelers with some experience can certainly cope with the small challenges it presents.
 

Nothing more exciting than two Bugatti 100P flying low and inverted over the building board. Foreground Special Hobby, background Projekt Models Guano Works:

As the last stages of the build are reached, it is of note that whilst the old Guano kit included braces for the landing gear legs (see below), the new SH kit doesn't. The curious thing is that the legs do have a locating hole for those braces, so perhaps someone forgot to include them in the molds. At this stage the landing gear doors were sanded down quite a bit, to eliminate that house door-like thickness, without forgetting some little bits that are provided separately. It's strange that while the props are rendered wafer-thin, other parts that could have benefited from a light hand. 

Real plane (thanks to Christos Psarras who led me to these images):

Primer and a bit of painting:

The two Bugattis receive some paint:

The ancillaries are painted at this stage too:

Now for some notes on the canopy: the original had some arcs of the same plexiglass (or the likes) material from inside at the front section of the canopy, these were translucent and whitish due to the glue. This effect can be replicated using Scotch "magic tape", which is also translucent and whitish, from the inside, as in the original, not as external frames. Then there are metal flanges at the base of that top section, and other metal flanges surrounding the aft section and at two hinging points running lengthwise. Summarizing: there is no blue on the canopy. The kit's transparency has the "arcs" at the front of the canopy molded in relief, which is not accurate. The rest is ok. So to be clear: the first three arcs on the canopy are not metal as the instructions say, they were plastic reinforcements, they may be left unpainted or painted a translucent off-white. The rest of the arcs (4 and 5) were metal flanges, and so was the base of the canopy all along. There are difference in the metal tones, so look at photos of the original at the EAA Museum, not of the (not quite) flying replica.

Since we are at details, the spinner had a little hole at the very tip, and that's absent from the kit. Easily correctable, though.

The canopy is on. The wheel hubs have been masked and the tire color painted:

The wheels are set in their forks, and the legs glued to the wing. The fit of the square hole-and-peg for the legs has to be -once again- adjusted, as the peg is too big. The round stick at the root of the leg is not a comfortable fit in the well either. Minor touches will fix this. Then is the prop six-part assembly: be careful, as the props are keyed with a little pip that goes into a hole, and their pitch is set accordingly to their position (for or aft). Failure to understand how this works will produce a headache. The model ,is ready now for the LG covers, that have been thinned; even so, the small roundish bits that go against the wing are still too thick, and will be further thinned. As mentioned before, P.E. parts would have been perfect here (and in other places too). If AMP (and many other manufacturers) can include P.E. parts in their kits, I can't see why SH can't do the same. Remember that SH forgot to include the LG small diagonal braces, these will have to be fabricated and added:

Completed model:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/08/bugatti-100p-special-hobby-172nd-scale.html

Miles M.5A - SBS 1/72nd resin

The Miles M.5 Sparrowhawk was born from Mr. Miles' sudden and irrepressible need to participate in the 1935 King Cup air race on short notice, modifying for lacking of time a Miles M.2 Hawk as G-ADNL. After this prototype, four more were built with a modified fuselage (according to Brown's Miles Aircraft Since 1925) that differ from the prototype and from each other in one way or another. Two more were built for the Royal Aircraft Establishment for experimental purposes. The plane in beautiful blue and silver represented by the kit flew in the Portsmouth to Johannesburg (England to South Africa) air race.

 The completed model is here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/08/miles-m5a-sbs-model-172nd-resin.html

This SBS kit, like all their releases, is of high quality and great detail. Besides their usual practical engineering this time an innovative solution is provided for the wing-to-fuselage joint, an interlocking system that guarantees alignment and greatly simplifies construction minimizing seams. Masks, decals, photo-etched parts, printed film, good instructions, color prints, and absolutely clear transparencies complete the contents, as usual sturdily and nicely packed to protect the contents.

As per their excellent standards the casts are refined, the small parts well protected with "ears", and no blemishes whatsoever are present. In general it's easy to remove the parts and the cleanup is minimal, but occasionally an extraction will need some thinking and skill, and cleanup will need to be careful. Casting tabs of course vary in thickness according to the part, making removal once in a very while a bit more challenging. But this thicker tabs may be a requirement of the casting process to ensure what I just praised: flawlessly molded parts. I found in my sample a minor issue that needs a modicum of reworking and care to fit properly, the parts involved are the fuselage nose insertion plug and the wing lower lip. This will be discussed during the build.

SBS keeps releasing superb kits of very appealing subjects, long live SBS! 

Contents:

Superb decals:

A nice set of photo-etched parts:

Film and mask:

The innovative wing-to-fuselage interlocking system:

Flawless and superbly clear transparencies:

Good instructions:

Remove carefully the remains of the casting tab from the wing lower lip, or it will interfere with the nose. And watch out when you handle the nose, as it has very realistic thin "gills" behind the cheeks. You can see in the photo the stress line, I almost broke them:

The lower portion of the  inserting plug on the nose will have to be carefully trimmed, otherwise it makes the wing and fuselage spread apart a little:

The "gills" mentioned above that produce the depth effect. The plug in the process of being reduced:

A nice wash:

And the parts are ready for painting. The smaller bits are better kept in their blocks:

As molded in my sample, the nose and wing lower lip force the fus/wing apart:

The fit at the top is perfect:

And the fit of wing/fus is perfect too:

Thus is the nose insertion plug and wing lower lip what is generating a minor issue here, the lower lip of the wing as well as the lower portion of the nose plug have to be sanded down a bit to allow the nose to be closer to the fuselage, again, in my sample, other kits may not need this. An easy fix in any case.

 To better represent the kit subject, Number 3, you may add two details: a light over the headrest fairing, and a mass balance projecting from the rudder à la DH88:

I am almost sure there was a blister over the fuel cap on top of the fuselage nose, but can't find a clear photo of it.

Some base colors are applied:

Instrument panel assembled. The minute door and the seat painted, and other parts wait for the metal color after the gloss black base coat:

 After masking the black on the back side of the blades aluminium is applied, also to other metallic parts:

All the minuscule fuzzy etchy parts are glued and painted:

The inst. pan. goes inside the fuselage:

Fuselage and wing joined:

Nose added:

This system makes things incredibly easier, provided you do your duty too cleaning the parts from their blocks and checking the fit. It eliminates hard to fill seams and much puttying and sanding. It's a keeper!

The M.5 was a relatively small plane, and the Monomail was a big one. Here compared side to side:

The hole for the mass balance spigot is drilled. CMK "nav lights" will be used to provide the light as seen a few images above:

A piece of thin steel wire is inserted, and a blob of white glue will simulate de lead weight:

Landing gear legs (sided, watch out!), horizontal tail and rudder now in place, quick and easy helped by SBS locating devices. Still, check alignment and fit as you glue, the kit does not self-build or provides automatic perfection:

A coat of primer is airbrushed on the fuselage. Wheel hubs are masked and tires painted. The control linkages and Pitot are painted metal. A sample of the blue I may use is created. Prop and door are masked in preparation for the oncoming blue (so I don't forget to paint them):

A relative of the sparrowhawk is visiting this morning:

After painting the tires and unmasking the wheel hubs, I realized that the tiny wheels have even tinier manufacturer lettering! "DUNLOP"and something else that my failing eyes can't read.

A coat of gloss white is laid down as a base for the blue color, without forgetting the spinner and door:

The blue color is airbrushed, not forgetting the spinner and small door:

The exhausts that were painted before will now be added. These are tiny and easy to twing and twang, so SBS kindly provides two spares:

The photo-etched parts are added. All their locating holes had to carefully be made a bit bigger, as the spigots in the metal parts wouldn't fit (this is because of primer and paint). A light was added as per photos of the original plane on the headrest fairing:

The rudder control horns and linkages were a nice fit as was the Pitot; the aileron linkages were not a good fit and had to be very carefully trimmed; the darn things are tiny! The wheels are now in place, their fit is perfect. You can see in the background a piece of Tamiya tape with the windshield masked -with the mask provided in the kit- that I forgot to paint with the model (darn!):

Decal application followed. The decals are very good, thin, sharp, with solid colors and with minimum carrier that disappears once the decals set. SBS has made another improvement here: they separated the large wing registration letters, avoiding the spanning carrier to show. This is something that many modelers do by themselves, thus it is nice to have it done from you. Because of the thinness of the decals (which is what makes them good) you have to be very careful on applying them, but they are not fragile to a point that hinders the job, they can take some repositioning and prodding provided there are provided with a wet surface. In the photo below, the decals are still wet, just applied:

Another bonus provided by SBS is the little door, that can be posed open or closed (if the latter, the door has tab that is inserted in a groove on the fuselage side, nice touch).

What a nice little kit.

 The completed model is here:

https://wingsofintent.blogspot.com/2022/08/miles-m5a-sbs-model-172nd-resin.html