Peter Lloyd Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 (edited) One in the bag and two nearing completion, time to start another one.... I will definitely be pushing it but it seems like a good excuse and a way to rid myself of this group build distraction and get back to the 2012 biplane program. So I will be building this, one picked up because I feel guilty if I don't occasionally buy something from my local shop. And because I built this model in about 1979 in glorious red and cream plastic! The kit (very disappointingly) only comes with pre-war decals for a silver doped aircraft, but I have the decals from the Sword kit on hand. Cockpit is very basic: Fear not, I have since worked out that the interior is the usual green colour, and I've decided to tart it up a bit, preferably without slowing things down too much. Edited June 11, 2012 by Peter Lloyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted June 11, 2012 Share Posted June 11, 2012 Great, another biplane I know what you mean about the local hobby shop guilt trip Peter - I usually buy base boards to sate my conscience! Cheers Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted June 14, 2012 Author Share Posted June 14, 2012 I have thrown in some new cockpit parts using the pictures on the IMPS Stockholm website. This was all done with scrap plastic, sprue, and cardboard with tape seat belts, and was more fun and just as easy as using brass and resin. I perhaps should have used a spares box instrument panel but mine is cardboard with sliced sprue gauges. The canopy looks pretty thick so, no biggie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 I tried making a moulding of the Pavla resin instrument panel by melting sprue into a piece of aluminium foil rubbed down over the original. It was okay-ish but I decided to go with the one I made from sprue slices and card. Construction continues. A few sink holes here and there to fill. I also filled in the slots on the upper wing which simplify fitting the struts, and add strength. Although the detail is pretty 'soft', the restrained fabric tension is very well done. Apart from perhaps being a little skinny in the rear fuselage, the model looks okay. To me anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted June 19, 2012 Share Posted June 19, 2012 Beautiful work on that cockpit Peter.. Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 (edited) Upper camo in progress. I had to knock up an eyeball mix of dark slate grey and it's not really green enough. Funny how you can have 40,000 bottles of paint and yet every model has at least one colour that's not in the collection: Got carried away with some airbrush streaking. Obviously 'R' was a pretty battered aircraft so, while I'm relishing the chance to do a lot of weathering, it will be a challenge to make it realistic. Seams are really the main frustration on my models. I just seem to never be able to make them disappear. My landing gear struts are especially bad but I can't get in there very well and more work will probably make them worse. Note the arrestor hook fairing, only after some mid-build research did I realise 'R' had this. Second picture is from 'British Aircraft of WWII' edited by Daniel March. Any suggestions as to the colour of that primer? Edited June 23, 2012 by Peter Lloyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted June 26, 2012 Author Share Posted June 26, 2012 Got some weathering done. The Pavla decals worked better than those of the Spitfire, and were made by a different company... their printed logo appears to read 'BOQ' in stylised lettering. They were thin, and although they didn't stick all that well or respond much to Micro Sol, they conformed nicely after pressing them lightly with hot water on a tissue. The weathering consists of streaks applied with an airbrush, an enamel wash, and drybrushing lightly with a mix of enamel and oil paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maltadefender Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 That's a lovely finish on so tiny a kit, Peter. Great stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted June 26, 2012 Share Posted June 26, 2012 Superb build. What a lovely little aircraft! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 I attempted to start the rigging today... whoo-ee... it's a task at the very limit of my manual skills. But for the Malta Group Build, NOTHING must prevent success! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 (edited) That's the spirit Peter! What technique are you using for the rigging? Looks really nice. I forget how good the matchbox Gladiator was. I have only ever used it for converting other models, never built one 'out of the box'. regds Will Edited June 27, 2012 by Killingholme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misterfriend Posted June 27, 2012 Share Posted June 27, 2012 This is looking great. I'm thinking of adding a Gladiator to my collection and can't decide between the Revell/Matchbox one or the Sword one. Think this may have swung me towards the former. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Lloyd Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 Will, I have started the rigging using Nitenol wire... my first use of this method. Nitenol cuts fairly easily but is very springy. It seems it's crucial to cut the wore to the correct length: too long and you end up with a curve, too short and obviously it's, er, too short. I drilled holes as per my previous, invisible mending thread technique, and I probably shouldn't have. Gluing the wire into the holes makes it 'point' in the wrong direction, so it takes a curve. It is better for it to sit on the surface. By not fussing too much about exactly where the ends of the wires finish up, I have been making progress. But I have to go a bit at a time or my eyeballs will explode... and of course now is not the time to stuff this up. I can't speak for the Sword Gladiator, but I do have the Pavla one. And indeed the surface detail is much more 'up to date' and the panels, rivets, guns etc are clearly superior. The cowling on my model is a little clumsy, it needs to be thinned (I didn't) and the dimensions (diameter?) could be wrong... I will have to see the final result. But given the nice depiction of the canvas, and the foolproof construction method, the ol' Matchbox kit has a lot going for it. My only other biplane is the Vickers Vildebeest by Azur and getting the top wing on with separate struts and aileron actuators etc was, um, very challenging. The best thing about this build has been not getting too bogged down in the construction process, but still having a decent basis to build something that captures the essence of these workhorses. I hope to have finished pics up in the gallery in a day or two. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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