Sovietwarplanes

Which is the most accurate MBR-2 in 1/72nd? Ease of construction is of no importance to me...

From what I've seen, all available kits share the same mold, which depicts - rather accurately - an MBR-2 bis.
Follow this link for a build with discussion of its merits and defects:

http://translate.google.it/translate?hl=it&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scalemodels.ru%2F

Unfortunately, the link is incomplete...

http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26523&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=20 At present there is no alternative. It was a very long time vakuform Karo Ace, a lot less accurate.

So I have thought. It's no problem for me to modify these kits and fill them up with detail, I only hate they're always over-priced...
Thanks for the info

I have the Eastern Express version of the MBR-2bis, and although it has some heavy flash in places, it looks like a pretty nice kit.  From that thread that Walker posted, it seems there are some interesting paint schemes for this aeroplane.

Regards,

Jason

If anyone wants the Eastern Express MBR-2bis kit, there's an ebay seller in China who has four of them left (I bought one already!  :D ). He calls himself East Street Daiyee; I've dealt with him before, and he's first class. Tell him John sent you! ;) Check out his store as well - he's got a lot of Eastern Express reboxings of various VVS and other kits. I also bought an EE LaGG-3 series 35 (rebox of Dakoplast kit) while I was at it.

Here's the link!
http://cgi.ebay.ca/Eastern-Express-1-72-Short-range-flying-boat-MBR-2-bis-/360126763418?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53d93a519a

John

That looks exactly like the one I bought, complete with flash!  Come to think of it, I may have bought it from Daiyee.  I know I bought a couple of Eastern Express repackagings of the Dakoplast IL-2 off of him.  John's correct; he's a good seller.

Regards,

Jason

Oh well - guess what - this kit has now been reissued by Condor (Ukraine):
http://www.hannants.co.uk/product/CDR72101

(Hannants also has the Miniworld line of 1/72 molded brass/bronze machine guns in stock - ShKAS, Degtyaryov DA, etc.)

John

MBR-2 drawings from the Seawings site:
http://www.seawings.co.uk/BerievMBR-2plansgal.htm

MBR-2 photos:
http://www.seawings.co.uk/Beriev%20MBR-2Photogal.htm

Seawings "What's new" page; scroll down for a variety of Russian flying boats, old and new, and also WIG "ekranoplan" types:
http://www.seawings.co.uk/whatsnew.htm

John

Thank you for the links, John!  I'd seen the plans for the MBR-2, but I don't remember seeing those photographs.  I'd also forgetten what a fascinating "plane"(?) the Lun ekranoplan is.  Now that would be fantastic in 1/72nd scale!  Amodel, are you listening?

Regards,

Jason

A rather nice built MBR-2:
http://www.seawings.co.uk/modgaldaviespage-1.htm (http://www.seawings.co.uk/modgaldaviespage-1.htm)

That really is nice! Something to inspire me when my MBR-2 Christmas present finally arrives - thank you! I don't know if I'm good enough to try that camouflage pattern, though...

John

Nice discussion and great material coming up!

The good news is that the breakdown of parts in the M-Avia/Siga/etc. kit makes it rather easy to get an early MBR-2 with M-17 engines. The most difficult thing would be a new cowling for the engine, but perhaps getting some 'inspiration' from a He.51...
...and what's best, all the original parts can be called into service if the scratchbuilding fails.

Some interesting profiles on this Russian forum, which I stumbled across tonight:
http://karopka.ru/forum/forum236/topic6967/

Photos, etc. - I haven't had time to investigate this site, but it looks like a good one:
http://crimso.msk.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft22355.htm

MBR-2bis page:
http://crimso.msk.ru/Site/Crafts/Craft19960.htm

John

Great links, John!  I got some excellent photographs of the IL-2 (of course) from the second link.  It even has a picture of how the coolant tank is attached to the front of the engine - the first picture I've seen of this (I realise that's probably not too exciting for most people, but good stuff for me!).

Regards,

Jason

I just noticed this thread on (as usual) Scalemodels.ru regarding the MBR-2bis, and building the 1/72 kit:
http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9314&postdays=0&postorder=asc&&start=0

I still haven't received mine, but I'm certainly looking forward to it.

John

I received my MBR-2bis a couple of days ago; it really is very good. It's too bad the company who originated it (Dnieper Model Group, or something like that) only produced this one kit and then went out of business.

Waiting for delivery of the MBR-2 must have turned my attention to Russian flying boats - something made me dig out my copy of the RPM 1/72 Beriev KOR-2/Be-4, and start building it. I really don't agree with the attitude of "Let's have a good laugh at this Soviet-era lump of plastic" - someone cared enough to attempt to produce a kit of this aircraft, and the end result is the reality we have to deal with. Yes, it has lots of flash on it, some of the small parts are crude, and the panel lines are very faint in places. Overall, though, the shapes are generally accurate, and it could be made into a good model of a very attractive aircraft. One problem I have found (and I hope this is limited to a very few examples of the kit) is that, on mine, at least, the white plastic from which the kit is molded has a strange dark-grey swirl mixed into it. This kind of appearance is not unusual on some limited-run kits (Skybirds86 comes to mind) and can be the result of using more than one colour of styrene without complete mixing before feeding the material into the molds. It isn't a problem in that case; however, once I started sanding, I discovered that the grey swirl isn't just a different colour of styrene, it's actually some kind of foreign material (grease? graphite?) mixed right into the styrene which causes the plastic to flake or shred wherever it's exposed. This will require some experimenting to find out how to get a good surface finish before painting, assuming I get that far. Anyway, I like this kit!!!

(Considering Amodel's enthusiasm for Russian GPW-era flying boats, I'm surprised they haven't done the Be-4, by the way. Maybe they will as soon as I finish the RPM one... ;) )

John

I have the Be-4 kit someplace (I think), but as I recall I didn't have any problem with the plastic.  It was moulded in a typical dark green with no weird inclusions.  At any rate it'll be interesting to see how yours comes out - it's actually a rather handsome little plane, something like a monoplane Supermarine Sea Otter to these tired old eyes.  You're correct about Amodel - they should come out with the Be-4.  I have their ski-equipped Be-2, and it's a nice kit (with the usual Amodel caveat about being careful with the fit, although there's surprisingly little flash).

Regards,

Jason

Here there is an interesting work and many very good documents and photos МБР-2:
http://scalemodels.ru/modules/forum/viewtopic_t_29527_start_0.html

Thanks, Anatoliy! It's an excellent thread, and I bookmarked it for future reference whenever I build this kit. I love Scalemodels.ru! ;)

John