Dragos' Miles M.52 in 1/72

**rockpaperscissor** · #1 05-19-2011, 03:27 PM

Hi folks. After a fairly lengthy haitus from card modeling, I'm getting back into the swing of things with the Miles M.52 by Dragos. He graciously sent me the file after I expressed interest in the model. I just love the looks of this thing! It's a basic model without a lot of detail, but it's just what I felt I needed at this time - not too demanding. Something I can complete fairly quickly, and whet my appetite for more complex modeling.

All the parts are contained on one page, and he includes a labeled drawing of the finished model to help with construction. It's typical bulkhead construction and the parts have no glue tabs, so the modeler can either make his own, or use internal glue strips. Because my model is only 1/72 scale, I was able to form the fuselage tubes by simply butt gluing the paper edges. The following photos show my progress so far. I'm working on the wings now, and will post more photos as I move along.

**rockpaperscissor** · #2 05-20-2011, 07:12 AM

The wing spar went in with no problems. There is a wing former on each side which sits right next to the fuselage.

The right wing mated up perfectly with the fuselage, but the left wing did not. I discovered a design flaw. On the right wing, the topside is a straight cut, but the underside has a slight curve toward the leading edge. The curve allows the wing to sit tight against the fuselage. This situation is reversed on the left wing. Here the straight cut is on the underside, and the curve is on the topside. Hopefully this is something that dragos can fix. I was able to get a pretty good fit anyway with some careful trimming.

**Alcides** · #3 05-20-2011, 07:17 AM

Hi Don. I was missing your builds. Nice to see you working in this model. Pretty an clean. Waiting for more

Alcides

**gomidefilho** · #4 05-20-2011, 07:35 AM

Welcome back Don! I'm glad to see you builds again!

**Don Boose** · #5 05-21-2011, 09:15 PM

Glad to see another build from Don I. This is an excellent build (as always) of an unconventional aircraft.

Don

**rockpaperscissor** · #6 05-22-2011, 07:32 PM

Thanks for nice welcome back fellas. It does feel good to be doing some modeling again. This is an alpha build of Dragos' model, and I did find some problems with rearmost fuselage section. The tail plane indicators are off center on the part, which would have made the entire tail section appear to be rotated about 1mm off from the rest of the fuselage. That's a lot in 1/72 scale!

There was no way to fix the model at this point, so what I did was to correct the part using Photoshop, and then print out a new tail on regular weight printer paper. I applied adhesive to the back with a glue stick, and then wrapped the new piece around the existing tail. It doesn't quite meet up on the bottom, and it's a shade darker, and a little wider that the rest of the fuselage, but at least the tail planes look right, and I didn't have to start building it all over again.

The tail planes went on without a hitch. I'm building a Fiddler's Green flying base for it now, and I'll post a wrap up tomorrow (probably).

**rockpaperscissor** · #7 05-23-2011, 03:14 PM

Well, I've completed my alpha build of Dragos' Miles M.52. I enjoyed it immensely, and it was a nice introduction back into the hobby after a 3 month hiatus.

It has a few issues. The rearmost fuselage skin alignment problem was covered earlier. When compared with internet line drawings of the M.52, the wings are set too far back (assuming the drawings are correct). Even in 1/72 scale they could come forward a good 1/4 inch. The vertical stab and tail planes are also too far back, and could be moved forward a good 1/4 inch as well. With these few modifications, I think Dragos has a real winner here. It's fun and quick to build, and is a really attractive looking bird. Many thanks for letting me be one of the first to take a crack at it, Dragos.

I mounted the model on a Fiddler's Green stand decked out with the RAF badge. Looks pretty sweet!

**Don Boose** · #8 05-23-2011, 03:20 PM

Well done!

(The other) Don

**Gerald43** · #9 05-24-2011, 08:56 AM

Fine Work! Gratulation!

**rockpaperscissor** · #10 05-24-2011, 10:32 AM

Thank you all for your comments during and after the build. Now that my juices are flowing again, I'm ready to start on something a little more involved. Maybe one of those nice Zioprudenzio models I just downloaded. Hmmmm.