Vulcanicity Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I'm something of a late starter for this GB, but hopefully I'll get this beauty done! It's the old Heller Gloster Gladiator in 1:72nd, which is one of my absolute all-time favourite kits of one of my favourite aircraft. I built my first Heller Gladiator some five years ago, and I loved it so much, I was dying to build a second! While the interior detail is a bit scant (and I'll be adding lots of scratchbuilt additions) this little kit still has a superb representation of the fabric exterior detail, minimal flash, and excellent fit. I've got the Modeldecal sheet 31 to portray my Gladiator as a silver aircraft from 87 Squadron based at Debden, 1938. As well as the green wavy squadron flash, the aircraft (K8027) is resplendent in Roundel Blue tailfin, wheels and prop hub. Can't wait to get painting! As regards other add-ons, I've got the Aeroclub white-metal Mercury, although to be frank I'm not convinced it's much of an improvement on the kit offering. I might try and get my hands on a resin engine. I'm also adding the super Quickboost resin Browning gun barrels. The rest (including most of the interior) will be scratchbuilt, as per usual. Before the GB started I had finished scribing the nose panels, drilling rivets and opening up one or two cowling apertures. I'll probably leave the raised lines on the rest of the aircraft. Since then I've been scratchbuilding, and more scratchbuilding! There's a superb pictoral walkaround of the Shuttleworth aircraft here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/1003/lasermonkey/Gloster%20Gladiator/ Since the Gladiator floor is not completely solid, I've totally replaced the kit part with plasticard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 That's nice work on the cockpit Phil Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 The Modeldecal instructions shows the spine behind the cockpit as being in Roundel Blue as well. Photographs, however, show that the spine was silver and not painted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Very nice Phil - haven't seen one of these built in a while! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhaselden Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 Always liked the Heller Gladiator - thought it was a great kit. Can't understand why Airfix doesn't release it 'cos it still stands up well to today's kits (IMHO). Incidentally, I always liked Heller's Vampire too...but that's another story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted October 19, 2012 Author Share Posted October 19, 2012 Thanks all! Christopher, we must have different editions of the Modeldecal sheet as the instructions on mine definitely don't show this. Thanks for the heads-up though, useful in case I get carried away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher Posted October 20, 2012 Share Posted October 20, 2012 Maybe they changed it as mine does show the spine that way. In any case it will look good - I have built the version. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Well, it's been a while since updates, but I have been busy! Just finished the cockpit, it'll get primered tommorrow. The kit offering really is pretty sparse, with just a blobby instrument panel, bulkhead, floor with crude "pedals", stick and rather underscale seat. I've added all the sidewall detail, a totally new floor and put a new face on the panel. It'll soon start coming together! Must say I'm pretty chuffed with the floor assembly. Corrugated boards are simply plasticard scribed with my Tamiya scriber. Just opened a new packet of Swann-Morton blades, so I used the thick foil for seatbelts. The big trim wheel was a nightmare to do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted November 8, 2012 Share Posted November 8, 2012 This is incredibly good work, Sir! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted November 11, 2012 Author Share Posted November 11, 2012 Thanks Old Man! After quite a lot of work, I've finished painting the cockpit. Apologies for the dismal lighting, I'll try and get some better pictures taken before I close up tommorrow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted November 13, 2012 Author Share Posted November 13, 2012 I sealed up yesterday, and as promised here are some slightly better images I took beforehand... As ever, the camera magnifies the errors, but I'm pretty happy with the cockpit. It's certainly unusual for one of my scratchbuilt floors to fit as well as this one has! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Rogers Posted November 14, 2012 Share Posted November 14, 2012 That's great work Phil, in 1/72 as well! Fantastic start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted November 21, 2012 Author Share Posted November 21, 2012 Thanks Doug, glad to see someone is watching! Another brief update. Got the fuselage together last week, and I immediately had to start thinking about rigging. Heller delightfully provide a rigging diagram which suggests that the entire job can be done with five closed loops. The two longest bits of thread run through the fuselage at the base of the cabane struts, so they had to go in with the fuselage decking... I fitted the lower wing after completing the scribing of the centre section panels, attaching the gun panniers and drilling out the cartridge ejector chutes. Notice I've severed the barrels on both these and the fuselage guns; this is because I've got some lovely Quickboost resin replacements. Not visible on the shot above are the mounting holes I've drilled in the underwing panniers for the wing guns. And now we come to the facepalm moment. Beginning to have a look at the undercarriage, I suddenly realised that the kit was missing its wheels! I have no idea whether I took them out, or lost them, or whether they were missing from the kit when I bought it (several years ago at the Yeovilton show). Anyway, I had little choice but to order a new pair courtesy of the Pavla Gladiator update set. Usefully, this came with a replacement two-bladed prop with the nuts exposed, and a replacement set of decals for K8027, my 87 Squadron scheme. Since the ModelDecal sheet I had with the markings on is seriously dated and rather yellowed, I'm quite glad really. My current woes involve the engine, but that's for another time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMChladek Posted November 23, 2012 Share Posted November 23, 2012 I've been watching this one myself. Those details you are adding might make somebody think this is a 1/48 model as opposed to a 1/72 one as they look THAT good IMHO. This is going to be a stunner for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 (edited) Thanks for keeping the faith JMC! I've been absolutely deluged in work for my Masters in the last couple of weeks, so progress on the Gladiator has been frustratingly slow. Now, with my last deadlines this year dealt with, I should just have enough time to plough on and make the deadline. It's going to be tight, but I should be able to prime and start painting at the end of this week, and have a complete aircraft ready for the deadline. Here's where I'm up to.... I cut down the main gear legs by about 1mm, as I've always thought that the Heller kit undercarriage arrangement looks somehow too stalky. At first I thought the wheels were too small, but I confirmed that the Pavla resin wheels are the right diameter, and so became sure that the legs are too long. Looking at online videos of the Shuttleworth collection's gorgeous airworthy example in action, I notice that there's quite a bit of travel in the shock absorbers, and it's my suspicion that Heller moulded the legs to be closer to the right length for an aircraft in flight, rather than an aircraft on the ground with the shock absorbers compressed. Coming to do the tailwheel, I was again distressed to find it missing. The only thing I had which was even vaguely suitable was this Harrier outrigger wheel, the last mortal remains of a disastrous GR3 I built at the tender age of nine... With quite a bit of a reduction in diameter and thickness, plus some plasticard additions, this was the result... I mentioned last time that the engine had given me problems. This is because the gorgeous Vector resin Mercury/Pegasus I bought at Telford looked the part when I'd glued the nine individual cylinder heads to the crankcase, but was about 4mm too big in diameter. I wanted to keep the lovely detail at the ends of the cylinders, so despite much thinning of the cowling, the only solution was to prise them off and cut them down from the base. Here's the result after re-assembly: After some more scratchbuilding to add pushrods and cowling braces, here's the basically finished engine ready for priming: This week I've been busy drilling new rigging holes, trying to fill the oversize holes on the kit, and adding all the tiny details needed before the primer coat. Onwards! Edited December 4, 2012 by Vulcanicity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Nice recovery, Sir, on the wheel. Really looking forward to seeing this one done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Impressive to see so much work going into this humble kit Phil Looking good Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Swindell Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Hi Phil May be a bit late if you've already chopped the legs down, but the Gladiator leg length did not alter between ground / flight (weight/no weight). This is because the suspension was inside the wheel (Dowty patented internally sprung wheels). The wheel moved verticaly up and down in relation to the attachment point to the leg, as opposed to a conventional arrangement where the wheel was attached at it's centre and moved up and down with the bottom of the leg. With the aircraft in flight the wheel would appear to be attached above the wheel centre, on the ground this could appear to be below the wheel centre. Looking at the Pavla wheels, the central rectangle is the area where the wheel attaches to the leg, this should be vertical, and the attachment point could be anywhere up or down this rectangle depending on how much compression the springs were under. Here's an article from Flight Global about the wheels, note illustration 4 with the wheel under no load the attachment point for the "axle" is at the top of the slot. Lovely job so far, love the scratch built cockpit details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted December 9, 2012 Author Share Posted December 9, 2012 Dave, Tthanks very much, what a fascinating piece of design! I had "kind-of" noticed the wheel design on pictures of the real thing, which do tend to show a placement of the axle distinctly above centre when parked. I must say I'd sort of glossed over it without thinking, and as you suggest, it is rather late to do anything about it. I still think Heller might have moulded the legs a bit long though, and am happy with my Gladiator's "sit" now I've cut them down. Will definitely bear those odd wheels in mind for next time though; do you know if they were fitted to anything else? I imagine the internally-sprung wheels weren't great combined with muddy airfields in winter-seems like they'd get clogged up pretty easily... After a few more little additions to the exterior, things have progressed quickly. Here's the model primed on Thursday: Not forgetting the engine and various cowling parts: I initially used Revell Aqua silver, but this was really too dark and metallic for my liking, so the second coat was this same colour with about 1/5 white. Much more like silver dope! Blue trim is Humbrol 25, and (I promise) looks much brighter in decent light! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMChladek Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 That is indeed a good looking color as it seems to have just the right "dope" look to it in the pictures. The the wheel stance also looks pretty good IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted December 10, 2012 Share Posted December 10, 2012 Not been following your progress as closely as I should but that is some impressive modelling Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 That's a good looking finish Phil - nice idea to add some white - it looks perfect to my eye! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vulcanicity Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Thanks everybody! I genuinely did finish this build in time after working flat out until Friday, with several late nights! However I was screwed over by the Firefox malware warning issue, so I infuriatingly missed the deadline for actually posting any pictures. What a waste of effort! Anyhow, since the thread still seems to be open I'll just slip a couple of pictures in and pretend that I made it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 What a nice result - the extra detailing adds a lot Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted December 17, 2012 Share Posted December 17, 2012 That is a lovely little Gladiator! Well done! Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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