Airfix 1:72 Gloster Gladiator

[72twink]

No I agree - shouldn't be too hard, I blame a recent trip to Malta for this as well as my Malta Spitfire interest, "Faith" now has a two blade prop but period pics show a 3 bladed item.





edit: Pavla set U72130 has a 3 blade prop and hook

Edited by 72twink on Wednesday 31st July 14:09

[dr_gn]

Currently negotiating with Airfix on the price of a spare set of decals.

Quite funny.

[Eric Mc]

I had to pay £3 to get a replacement set for my Cromwell tank (I mucked up the placement of one decal).

[dr_gn]

Eric Mc said:

I had to pay £3 to get a replacement set for my Cromwell tank (I mucked up the placement of one decal).

That's what I'm currently down to. My offer of £2 max. is pending...

I could have almost bought an entire new kit for what we started at (hopefully that price was quoted in error!).

[Eric Mc]

Maybe they're getting wise to [people topping up their decal banks.

[Jonny1984]

I think £3.00 is their default sum, my Fiesta windows were that much

Looking forward to seeing you put this together after all the advice you have given me.

[dr_gn]

Jonny1984 said:

I think £3.00 is their default sum, my Fiesta windows were that much

Seems that way.

Jonny1984 said:

Looking forward to seeing you put this together after all the advice you have given me.

Yeah, this is where you find out that all that advice is rubbish Could go either way: it looks like I'll be finishing it to represent overall silver paint, which is not someting I've done before. It may well turn out looking a bit flat and boring:



Was just about to start painting the interior, but the cup of tea I was promised over an hour ago has only just arrived

[Eric Mc]

I presume you had to lie on the grass to get that picture

[Jonny1984]

Unless he's a Borrower

I reckon it'll turn out good

[dr_gn]

Flip-out screen on the camera. Plus the opportunity to photograph that womans legs was too good to miss for someone who lists aircraft modelling as a hobby.

[kenny Chim 4]

Eric Mc said:

decal

Oi, I remember you defaming some of us for using this description of your preferred named 'transfers' Eric

(Only joking and thanks for your advice with regards to Johnson Klear the other day- very much appreciated).

[Eric Mc]

I honestly don't remember that.

Of course, being of a certain age, I still remember when here in the UK we only used the word "transfers". I was looking through an old (1974) Airfix catalogue the other day and the word "transfers" is used throughout - with no reference to "decals" anywhere.

However, the American term "decals" has gradually come to be the main word used bow and you don't see "transfer" being used anywhere now.

[kenny Chim 4]

Understandable and I was only really pulling your leg Eric.

Alas I had to miss your collective PH visit to the RAF Museum in Hendon last time. Perhaps you would be kind enough to organise another- especially once the downed and recovered Dornier is there: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339428/La...

[Brigand]

Should be a nice kit that once its complete; I recently finished the Airfix 1:48 Hawker Fury. Clearly a very old kit, but it went together well enough and came out nicely in the two-tone metal finish, (I believe the front half of the fuselage was metal, the rest was painted canvas) although the wing sections were solid upper/lower section moulds just like your Gladiator so I was unable to put in the bracing wires given my basic tools at hand, which was a shame.

Edited by Brigand on Thursday 1st August 05:42

[Eric Mc]

kenny Chim 4 said:

Understandable and I was only really pulling your leg Eric.

Alas I had to miss your collective PH visit to the RAF Museum in Hendon last time. Perhaps you would be kind enough to organise another- especially once the downed and recovered Dornier is there: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2339428/La...

That would be nice to do - although I think it will be many years before the Dornier goes on display there.

[dr_gn]

Brigand said:

Should be a nice kit that once its complete; I recently finished the Airfix 1:48 Hawker Fury. Clearly a very old kit, but it went together well enough and came out nicely in the two-tone metal finish, (I believe the front half of the fuselage was metal, the rest was painted canvas) although the wing sections were solid upper/lower section moulds just like your Gladiator so I was unable to put in the bracing wires given my basic tools at hand, which was a shame.

Edited by Brigand on Thursday 1st August 05:42

Yes, I love the polished aluminium/doped silver look on '30's biplanes too. I wish Wingnut Wings would do a few in 1:32.

Rigging is going to be an experiment - thinking elastic line (EzLine)poked into some drilled holes with a dot of cyano to hold it, although the thinnest available looked good on the 1:32 SE.5a, so it may be too thick for this.

[dr_gn]

72twink said:

Good view of the light behind the canopy on there. The Airfix one is nicely mounded on the stbd. fuselage half, but is't there on the port half. Might drill it all out and replace with a blob of clear melted sprue.

[Eric Mc]

My £3 TRANSFER set arrived in this morning's post.

Excellent service from Airfix.

[dr_gn]

Back to the engine - I've drilled out the intake trumpets to make them look more refined:



Painted them in Chainmail with a spot of dark wash inside to give some depth. Here they are with the engine block (Vallejo black with Tamiya gunmetal powder), and the intake manifold (Chainmail with MIG dark wash and gunmetal powder). The front cover and supports is vallejo black with a satin-ish varnish:



The propeller painting scheme is incorrect on the plans - it should have a dark brown central hub section. The rest is correct - dark green edge strips, buff blade fronts and black blade backs. A lot of masking for a single component, here it is half done (spinner not done yet):



Cockpit details are painted now, not that they will be seen under the greenhouse of a canopy. I used some decal belts from my Tamiya Mosquito project (watch this space!). They look terrible, but again they'll not really be that visible. And...unlike the '109 the instrument decals fit the panel this time!



Fuselage sides painted interior green with a dark wash and weathering powders. A tad too dark perhaps, but pratically invisible anyway. Instructions don't mention painting the lower wing IIRC, but for anyone having an open canopy, the bare grey plastic would be visible under the cockpit assembly, so beware. I've cut the fuselage gun barrels off for placement at the end, but fitted the breeches anyway:



Wheel hubs are preshaded and painted. Not quite bright enough yet and too much preshade, so they'll get a couple more thin coats of red tomorrow hopefully. Slightly annoyed to find that the three dimples on one of the covers are missing. Hardly a show stopper, but one of those annoying niggles that always seem to be part of the Airfix experience:

[dr_gn]

So I decided to go for the silver finish and not bother with the other decals - In the end Airfix offered them for what I considered a decent price (as opposed to 2/3 the cost of the whole kit!), but I just couldn't be bothered to go through the hassle of phoning, debit card, order etc etc etc.

Then, this morning the decals arrived in the post "with compliments".

Can't say fairer than that. So, Monday morning I'll be off to Modelzone to buy *another* Gladiator to build up with these new decals and maybe some p/e details when they become available.

So well done to Airfix for great service...and another Gladiator sale.