Anigrand 1/144 Northrop M2-F2/F3

 "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the world's first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better...stronger...faster." 

The Bionic Man. All Six Million Dollars of him.

Who couldn't be awed by the concept? Well, perhaps you had to be about 8 years old when the show first came out, but still, it was a cool idea.

The plane that Steve Austin crashed was actually a lifting body, called the HL-10 in the show (after the real Northrop HL-10, reviewed right here on MM) but actually the Northrop M2-F2. The footage is real - it was made the day test pilot Bruce Peterson pranged it at Dryden Flight Research Center (now known as the (Neil A) Armstrong FRC). Peterson, just like the Bionic Man, suffered the loss of an eye among his other injuries. He kept flying though, including on the F-8 used for fly-by-wire research (and didn't get a bionic eye, much less a nuclear powered heart).

It resides in the Smithsonian in Washington DC.

THE KIT

I previewed this cool little combo set from Anigrand right here on MM. So far I have built the HL-20 and the HL-10. 

The first thing to remember is that there are four other lifting bodies in the combo set, which reduces the sticker shock a little bit. The second thing to note is that the M2-F2 in this kit is actually the M2-F3, because it has the central fin. So far as my cursory research tells me, the fin is the only obvious difference. According to the plans on the two wikipedia pages (linked in references), the dimensions of the F2 and F3 are the same (they are, after all, actually the same plane). Quite why it took them three years to redesign it just to add a new fin is a bit beyond me, but probably the changes were internal, to do with systems or avionics. I guess!

Like the other lifting bodies in the set, this one has a single piece fuselage, three winglets or tail fins, canopy parts, and bits for the undercarriage. There is not much to it. It has a cavity for the cockpit but no detail in there.

CONSTRUCTION

Sanding - with a safety mask to avoid inhaling resin dust - was my first task. Small kit and the seam from the mould isn't too bad so this didn't take that long. I had to do it again after the first coat of paint and I'll quietly confess that even now it could use a bit of work.

Unfortunately, the superglue (well, my poor use of it) crazed the cockpit transparency on this one. Also, through lack of careful reference to pictures, I managed to cut of the fairing that goes behind the canopy, so I had to rebuild it with putty. Yes, I did a pretty lame job. After that a bit more sanding and the lifting body was ready to paint. 

COLORS & MARKINGS

This is one of the simplest of the lifting body schemes. It's bare metal overall, with a black anti-glare panel on the front. I used Tamiya TS-17 from a spray can. 

I carefully free handed the black anti-glare patch using a fine brush and Tamiya flat black. In the photos I notice I smudged some onto the windscreen - all I can say is that this thing in real life is smaller than it appears in these photographs. I will go back to clean that up one day, I guess, but didn't notice it when I did it!

The decals were equally straightforward. I used a bit of Mr Mark Softer on them which seemed to help. The only difficult bit was with the yellow NASA tail stripes. The decals are rectangles while the tailfin is sloped at the front. I lined up the decals and used a sharp blade to trim it to shape. Of course one of them ripped but I was able to piece it together again. 

CONCLUSIONS

April 2015 

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