Old Man Posted July 12, 2011 Share Posted July 12, 2011 This is intended as a 'quick build', and by my standards certainly has been moing at high speed. I began this on the weekend of the Fourth, but have only now had the chance to process the back-log of pictures. The kit is the recent re-release of the old Matchbox Gladiator by Revell of Germany. It still has the Matchbox date and copyright moulded into the fuselage interior wall. I did a quick cockpit, trying to keep it simple since, as I am using the kit canopy, it will not be readily visible once things are closed up..\ Silver-grey plastic is from the kit, white is scratch-built addition. To get the bucket seat, I trimmed the back off the bottom of the kit seat, then turnd the bottom over and re-attached it. One of the things about the kit which needs tightening up a bit is the cowling; the lifter blisters are pretty 'soft', and need to be given better definition. The contour of the cowling is noticeably off; it should bulge at the center of its chord. If doing this again (and I probably will) I would simply sand off all surface detail in re-shaping the contour, then add on my own blisters. I have added fastenings, and straps for the exhaust pipes in their channels. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Here are some pictures showing the cockpit in the closed fuselage. Fuselage fit is pretty good. the instrument panel is notional, and pieced together from instrument panel decals in the spares box. The panel was re-positioned after these pictures. The forward decking is simply resting in place. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) At this point, the build became something of a repair and salvage operation. I had attached the cabane struts in their 'shelf' arrangement trapped under the forward decking (the 'positive attachment' feature of the old Matchbox series), and shimmed in the holes and done the seam, as well as filling in the 'trenches' and re-scribing them. Attaching the wings did not go so well, however. I should have done more preparation work on the fit of the pieces. In cleaning the joints I cracked one, theen after re-attaching it, managed to drop the thing. It might not have been so bad, except that I managed to almost catch it as it fell, which gave it a good deal of extra velocity and distance. One wing broke clear off, and so did two cabane struts. The end result was that I had to trim off both wings, finish the ends to work as butt joints, re-attach and finish their seams, then make new cabane struts. I was not particularly happy to have to do this, but think the results acceptable. Edited July 12, 2011 by Old Man Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 Fit of the tail-planes was very good, and only a very little fiddling was needed for the rudder. I cut out openings for the 'works' of the elevators and tail-plane incidence adjustment, and added control horns for the rudder. Here is the cowling in finished state: Here is the upper wing, with interplane struts attached on the their carrier (I thought I would give the kit method a try...)... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) Here is the bulk of the beast under a coat of Tamiya primer, after a little more surface work (the oil cooler is simply resting in place; it has been sanded down and a finer corrugate scribed in. Some final detailing has been done in the cockpit; a structure behind the seat, and a sort of pylon in front which, so far as I can tell, is put there to ensure the pilot will need reconstructive facial surgery after any sort of a nose-over.... Fit on the landing gear was quite nice.... Edited July 12, 2011 by Old Man Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 At this point, repair and salvage kicked in again, with yet another re-iteration of the old lesson --- never assume the manufacturere got it right; check always! I had attached the canopy, and was feeling pretty good about it (I do not often do canopies, mostly building open cockpit types). When painting the starkly moulded framework, I suddenly noticed that the framework in front was drastically wrong: the mould gives a horizontal frame across the front of the canopy that does not exist, and gives much too great a slant back to the joint between the front piece and the sliding hood. I trimmed off the incorrect frames, polished down with 1500 grit sand-paper, followed by baking soda, and some old plastic polish found in the wife's craft items, and then recoated with Future. After this I cut a little strip of clear five thousandths sheet (that I use for making windscreens), and glued it down with CA gel where the joint of the sliding hood and front piece should be. I then filed this down a bit thinner, and repeated the polishing process. I think it looks rather nice. I then repainted the frame-work in the interior green; painting done free-hand with a small brush, and some attentions from a very sharp toothpick.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 12, 2011 Author Share Posted July 12, 2011 (edited) Painting began last night, and here is the state of play as of this afternoon. Paints used are PollyScale, cut heavily with Future, and brushed on. The black is cut with a royal blue (RAF 'Night' was a very very dark ultra-marine), and the white is cut with deck tan. Several coats of both have been applied. Here is the first coat only of the upper-surface colors (dark green and dark earth). The heavily Future thinned paints are very thin, and always take at least three coats to cover. The dark green is out of the bottle, the dark earth is a mix of several browns and olive drabs, with a touch of red. The upper wing is simply resting in place in the second picture. Edited July 12, 2011 by Old Man Quote Link to post Share on other sites
El pibe vitina Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Hope I could progress so fast as you... Bye for now! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VG 33 Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Hi Old Man This is a very intersting subject and you are progressing so fast. I think the lower wing should be lighter than the upper, in light green/light earth. What do you think about that? Patrick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Hope I could progress so fast as you... Bye for now! This is much quicker than usual for me, Sir. I want to focus in this build on the final finish; the Future thinning is still fairly new for me as a technique, and I want to get to know it, so to speak.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Hi Old Man This is a very intersting subject and you are progressing so fast. I think the lower wing should be lighter than the upper, in light green/light earth. What do you think about that? Patrick I was tempted to go the whole 'shadow shading' route on this one, Sir, but decided it would not be right for this plane at the time I want to represent it. The machine I have in mind, with LW-E coding, serial K6147, was a very early production Gladiator, delivered in 'silver wings' finish. It received its camouflage paint during the Munich Crisis, while on strength of 25 Sqdn., and this would certainly have been only two colors, not four. 607 Sdn., which received it in December 1938, was an Auxiliary Air Force squadron, a sort of part-time reserve body. LW-E was photographed very clearly during the squadron's 'summer camp' at Abbotsinch in August of 1939, and there is no tonal variation discernable in the photograph between the upper and lower portions of the fuselage sides, nor is there any such variation to be seen in photographs of other 607 Gladiators taken at the same time, including one close-up of a pilot and his ground crew grouped by their machine. So I do not think the thing was repainted (by a part-time ground crew) while with 607 in peace-time. Once the squadron was mobilized, and when it was sent to France in November 1939, it is quite possible it received the full shadow shading treatment, along with new AF squadron codes. Late-production Mk. II Gladiators (with serials in the N range) were delivered from the factory in the four color scheme. Certainly all four colors (light green, light earth, dark green, dark earth) existed well before 1939. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
HOLMES Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 OLD MAN, EXCELLENT choice ...I am looking forward to this lovely little aircraft... GOOD start already.. Here have a look at this in case you missed it the first time around...a bit of nostalgia... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-14031264 HOLMES Quote Link to post Share on other sites
The Mikester Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 OLD MAN, EXCELLENT choice ...I am looking forward to this lovely little aircraft... GOOD start already.. What HOLMES said! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tempestwulf Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 At this point, the build became something of a repair and salvage operation. I had attached the cabane struts in their 'shelf' arrangement trapped under the forward decking (the 'positive attachment' feature of the old Matchbox series), and shimmed in the holes and done the seam, as well as filling in the 'trenches' and re-scribing them. Attaching the wings did not go so well, however. I should have done more preparation work on the fit of the pieces. In cleaning the joints I cracked one, theen after re-attaching it, managed to drop the thing. It might not have been so bad, except that I managed to almost catch it as it fell, which gave it a good deal of extra velocity and distance. One wing broke clear off, and so did two cabane struts. The end result was that I had to trim off both wings, finish the ends to work as butt joints, re-attach and finish their seams, then make new cabane struts. I was not particularly happy to have to do this, but think the results acceptable. Something about broken wings brings back nighmares of my meagre attempts in 2010 of trying to build three 1/72 F4U. 1x Academy F4U-1A - dropped 4x, 1x Italeri F4U-4B - dropped 5 times and eventually smashed and scrapped for parts (I lost the plot) and 1x Italeri F4U-5. The latter wasn't dropped but I held onto it with vice like grip lest my paranoia took hold. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 Something about broken wings brings back nighmares of my meagre attempts in 2010 of trying to build three 1/72 F4U. 1x Academy F4U-1A - dropped 4x, 1x Italeri F4U-4B - dropped 5 times and eventually smashed and scrapped for parts (I lost the plot) and 1x Italeri F4U-5. The latter wasn't dropped but I held onto it with vice like grip lest my paranoia took hold. I appreciate your commiseration, Sir. I have done more damage than this to projects, but have usually managed it at the tail end of long efforts.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 18, 2011 Author Share Posted July 18, 2011 The build proceeds, gentlemen, though so doe the resistance.... This is the basic paint-work complete; the upper wing is merely resting in place. The more I looked at the flap, the less I liked the job I had made of filling the trenches and rescribing. So I went ahead and did something I had thought I might do in the planning stages of this: I cut flap out of five thousandths sheet, and cut in hollows to receive them. The result is much cleaner lines, and a better sense of separate pieces there. Here are a couple of pictures with full gloss and matte coats, decals applied, cowling and wheels assembled to the model. The upper wing is still just resting in place. I shortened the protruding proboscis of the kit motor after assembling the cowling to the model, filing it down to flat with the exhaust ring, and this was a mistake, because some powder got into the model and has fetched up on the windscreen It does not show much in the pictures, but is there. I can only hope whatever conditions of atmosphere or static electricity have it clinging to the inside surface will ebb. I had to re-scribe panels on the fabric portions of the fuselage after painting. Roundels are from the spares box, mostly from an Airfix Gladiator sheet, and letters are from Fantasy Workshop. No serial shows on the photograph of this machine I am working from; since it was pre-war, I doubt this owes to censoring. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 Here is the model with the upper wing attached.... There were some bad moments with this. I knocked one of my home-made struts off (the left rear cabane). When re-attaching this, I managed to snap all the new joints. After a solid curse, this proved a blessing in disguise: I took the opportunity to clean the attachment areas, slightly trim two cabane struts, including the re-atteched defaulter, and then the wing went on quite briskly, with no trouble at all, in less than two minutes.... I am putting the thing aside for a few days, and then, after touching up the damaged bits of the finish,  will do the rigging, and attach the propeller as a final step. I have 'pre-positioned' some rigging elements, namely the wing ends of the wires that run from the junction of the cabanes with the upper wing, as this location is much easier to reach before the upper wing is on. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VG 33 Posted July 19, 2011 Share Posted July 19, 2011 Still very interesting. You're gonna win the fight with this Matchbox Gladiator (Morituri te salutant...) Patrick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 19, 2011 Author Share Posted July 19, 2011 Still very interesting. You're gonna win the fight with this Matchbox Gladiator (Morituri te salutant...) Patrick Thanks for the vote of confidence, Sir. It has been a bit of a scrap, but never really out of control, quite, and I have learned a lot. This build is something of a 'recce in force', as there are a number of Gladiators on Middle East and Mediterranean service, with various oddities about their markings that I would like to build, and I want to see if this re-issued kit, cheap and cheerful as it is, would be suitable for a 'production line' bout of several at once. I think it might be, on the going here so far.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VG 33 Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 I agree with you Old Man as I've in my stash three of them : 1 Encore/Heller, 1 Pavla and 1 Sword. The Airfix one is the same price as the Revell but I do not know which one is better. Maybe the Airfix kit is the same as Heller. Patrick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted July 20, 2011 Author Share Posted July 20, 2011 (edited) I agree with you Old Man as I've in my stash three of them : 1 Encore/Heller, 1 Pavla and 1 Sword. The Airfix one is the same price as the Revell but I do not know which one is better. Maybe the Airfix kit is the same as Heller. Patrick With regret, Sir, I must advise against the Airfix. It was one of the first kits I ever bought mail-order from an importer back in my youth, and I was very glad to have it, but when I got two of the re-issues recently, I was shocked at the crudity of the thing; it is in the Merlin league. The decal sheet is good, with full markings, including all roundels, for four machines, so as a source for 'B' roundels in pre-war tones, it is worth getting for the decals, but that is all. I have the Heller, in the Encore boxing, and it is a very nice looking kit. I also have a couple of Pavlas, and two old Matchbox Gladiators. My granddaughter (age two) got in among my stash a few months ago, and for some reason got mostly into the Gladiators, and some of the Pavla bits are missing, and one Matchbox is still sort of scattered, though I expect they are still buildable. But again, I say with regret, steer clear of the poor old Airfix number, at least so far as building a model of a Gladiator goes. Edited July 20, 2011 by Old Man Quote Link to post Share on other sites
VG 33 Posted July 20, 2011 Share Posted July 20, 2011 Thank you for shedding light on those Gladiator kits. Patrick Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted August 7, 2011 Author Share Posted August 7, 2011 A bit more progress on this, Gentlemen. The resistance motif continues; in putting in the first rigging line, I dropped the booger, knocking off the upper wing once more, and breaking two cabane struts. I re-attached the wing, and cut the two replacement cabanes to the model with wing attached. Still, all structural rigging is now in place; runs for the ailerons and rudder remain to be done, propeller must be finished, and a good many touchings-up of the 'lick o' paint' variety are needed.... As an experiment, I have used the thicker EZ-Line for the flight wires, keeping them untwisted, in the hope they would suggest heavy 'raf-wire' bracings. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Old Man Posted September 2, 2011 Author Share Posted September 2, 2011 (edited) Well, the last little bits are finished on this one, Gentlemen. I confess I am not so much happy with this model as I am happy to be shut of it. It fought me to the last, with aileron wires refusing to attach till flat cursed at. But it is done now,and here are the pictures.... Still, most of my difficulties were of my own making, and I think this is a nice little kit, that I intend to have a few more passes at in future. I know what to look out for now, and suspect I will be able to keep from dropping the damned thing so often in future efforts.... Edited September 2, 2011 by Old Man Quote Link to post Share on other sites
El pibe vitina Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 Congratulations for finish it, and sure it will look fine in your models display. Is not usual to see a Gladiator with these colours, and look very nice for me. We wish to see the progress of your other models soon. Bye for now... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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