MPM 1/72 XF-85 Goblin - Upgraded kit

MPM 1:72 XF-85 GOBLIN - upgraded kit
'In The Box Review'

Reviewer: Myself (smakr@bigpond.com)

Kit: MPM No.72134 1/72 XF-85 Goblin - Upgraded kit

Upgraded kits of MPM variety do not have new parts as some might think, they are simply the original MPM kit reissued with a few extras, such as a brass-etched set from Eduard and resin pieces. Naturally therefore, aside from the resin extras you can assume that this review also applies to the original XF-85 release. I am assuming that the brass etched set is actually included in the original MPM release because they are included on the sprue diagram of the MPM instruction sheet (which generally doesn't change with upgraded kits, they just insert a new errata sheet pertinent to the newer release) - if anyone can confirm this, let me know.

Aircraft: The XF-85 Goblin is one of those aircraft you would have to describe as being aptly named. A small parasite plane intended for use as an escort fighter for the huge B-36 Peacemaker bomber, to be attached to a trapeze bar extended from the B-36 bomb bay. The small egg-shaped aircraft had three tailfins with dihedral tailplanes and a large intake in the nose where it was intended to house four 0.50" machine guns. The XF-85 had no landing gear as such and as the boxart suggests was moved around on a trolley when on the ground.

In 1948 the aircraft had its first flight from an EB-29B Superfortress "Mother Ship" aircraft while it remained attached to a trapeze beneath the modified WW2 bomber. There were four flights during which the Goblin remained hooked up before it was finally released from the trapeze at about 20,000 feet. Problems were encountered in hooking the XF-85 back up to the Mother Ship and on one occasion the aircraft was required to make a belly landing at Edwards AFB. Modifications to the program and plane continued, including the addition of fins on the main wingtips to improve stability and further testing was undertaken. The program showed potential and there was a moderate amount of success but ultimately it proved too difficult and inefficient and the whole concept was terminated after just two hours of flying time.

Parts: There are 30 light grey limited run injection molded parts on one sprue in a plastic bag. These parts are typical limited run, but good MPM quality, with a few ejector pin stubs to be removed and some thick attachment points to the sprue. There is a tiny amount of flash that only needs a rub down with sandpaper to remove. Panel lines are engraved and the quality overall is quite good. The canopy is vacform and floats with the parts in the bag, slightly scratched.

Separate small plastic bags contain the decal sheet, brass etched set and resin parts, so thankfully these will not get scratched. There is also a small decal film for the console detail on the instrument panel. The brass etched set is Eduard as you would expect and essentially contains cockpit detail such as seat, instrument panel and the intake fan. There are four resin parts and these are all cockpit details, being seat, tub, control column and console. The edges are a little rough and need sanding.

Instructions: The main part of the instruction sheet is from the original MPM XF-85 Goblin kit (given away by the kit number being different and matching original boxing), which is an A4 sheet folded in half. A short history is on the front and the centrefold has six assembly steps and a sprue diagram for the injection mold parts and brass etched set. The assembly steps are straight forward to follow for those accustomed to MPM kits and having had some experience behind them as they are not absolutely precise for positioning of parts. On the back is of course the four-view diagram for markings and decal placement. The one diagram is used for both versions with only serial numbers differing. For painting, there is not a lot of assistance from the instruction sheet, with only the interior of the intake (silver) and cockpit (Interior Green) being covered apart from the external scheme which only includes three colours (Natural Metal, Black and Yellow) anyway - with ANA call outs provided on each.

For the upgraded part, a separate single sided A5 sheet is also included as insert and this simply covers the resin cockpit construction. The painting information here is much better, with Humbrol numbers and (unlike Airfix kits! - Ed) names for each of the interior components. It also provides a small list of both the injection molded and brass-etched part numbers that the resin set replaces.

Versions: The first two prototypes are supposedly provided for by the kit, both in Natural Metal with black anti glare panel in front of the cockpit and yellow tailfin tips where the serial number is displayed, hence using the one four-view diagram as stated above. The first prototype, serial 46523, based at Edwards AFB, March 1949 and the second prototype, serial 46524 based at Edwards, Summer 1948.

Decals: Produced by Propagteam and stamped 2000. These are likely to be up to the expected standard that Propagteam are renowned for, so one can expect them to be thin and need careful application to the model. The colour density is of course excellent with essentially USAF insignia, serial numbers, step here, pilot names and fuselage bands provided on the sheet.

Accuracy: Curiously my (accessible) reference material on this little airplane is very thin - I say accessible because a number of my items are packed away, so they will be retrieved when the kit is built, so I can't comment a great deal, but it looks reasonably convincing on the sprue. According to the dimensions provided on the instruction sheet I can see the length is about 3 mm overscale.

Detail: Essentially typical of what you would come to expect from MPM and their limited run kits. The surface detail is reasonable with engraved lines and control surfaces. Obviously the brass-etched and resin sets spark up the interior of the aircraft more than the supplied injection molded parts so that is a big plus. For those interested, the kit supplied parts for the cockpit are floor (with pedals), stick, seat and rear bulkhead. The intake fan and internal spire ensure that the interior of the fuselage is blanked off. The resin parts include sidewall detail and console for the main instrument panel. On the inside of the fuselage halves is some sidewall detail, effectively they just look like vertical "wooden beams" where the etched sidewall console is superglued against - I haven't made up my mind yet if I will use the etched or resin parts!

Most of the detail is applied to the landing trolley which includes a full array of components and all of which can be utilised from the injection mold sprue.

Options: The only options in this kit are the landing trolley and positional trapeze hook (ie: extended or retracted) on the nose.

Impressions: Naturally you will need to have some experience in these sorts of kits to give it a go, although because the plane is such a quick and easy build for those of us who know MPM kits, it could in fact be a good starting point for a novice to intermediate modeller, dabbling for the first time in a multimedia kit.

Anyway, the aircraft parts breakdown is very simple. The two fuselage halves will trap the cockpit in place with the nose intake section being added to the front. The vacform canopy is added next along with the wings which are of course butt joined to the fuselage sides. As with most limited run kits, there are no locating rails, pins or tabs in this kit - everything is butt joined. The tailfins are then added along with the ventral fins as well - there are oval marks on the fuselage to assist with the positioning of these parts. The exhaust is added into the rear of the plane and then you can optionally display the trapeze hook on top of the nose in the open or retracted position. Brass etched parts will be needed for the wing fences, wingtip fins (although technically if you are modelling the prototypes in early form you could actually leave these off) and actuating struts for the trapeze in the open position.

The rest of the construction deals with the landing trolley whereby you add the beams altogether to make up the trolley shape, whack on the supporting A-frames, add the wheels and axle and pulley rod at the front.

Overall: To me this kit is another typical MPM offering that should build up into a decent replica of a most unusual aircraft type that modellers should be very happy with. While there are about 30 (injection molded) parts in the kit, two-thirds of this amount is actually used for the landing trolley, so you can imagine how quickly the airplane itself should be able to be built once the cockpit fit out has been done. The trolley itself includes the smaller parts, such as the supporting A-Frames, wheels and pulley. An impressive offering and one that would be welcome to any modellers collection. On the sprue I would recommend this kit highly to those who are adept at using brass-etched stuff and have a couple of MPM kits under their belt.

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