Crisis, What Crisis? (1/72 AZ Gloster Gauntlet)

[Beard]

23 hours ago, Procopius said:

I've been looking at early Hurricanes, myself. Or more accurately, looking for them, the pre-war boxing seems quite scarce these days, and the Battle of France ones not much better. Surprised Airfix seems to have discontinued them for this year; would've thought they'd be a big seller.

 

There are widely available in the UK but postage to the US would be prohibitive.

 

Not wishing to rub salt into the wound but I took delivery of the Iliad pre-war Hurricane sheet today... there are some nice options on it.

[Procopius]

3 minutes ago, Beard said:

 

There are widely available in the UK but postage to the US would be prohibitive.

 

Not wishing to rub salt into the wound but I took delivery of the Iliad pre-war Hurricane sheet today... there are some nice options on it.

 

Yes, yes. I managed to find one here, on Amazon of all places. Might get a few more later, as I'm reading 12 Days in May, by Cull. Also, does the canopy on the Airfix kit look wonkily tall to anyone else, or is that just some bad photo angles?

[Beard]

It looks odd on the one I did but I put that down to me, rather than the kit.

[Procopius]

7 minutes ago, Beard said:

It looks odd on the one I did but I put that down to me, rather than the kit.

 

Alas no: 

 

[Cookenbacher]

The kit does look very "short runny", but it looks like a neat aeroplane already with your skills applied, PC. A wonderful familiarization to the Gauntlet, a fighter that's only existed at the very edges of my consciousness.

 

13 hours ago, Procopius said:

If we ever learn how to teleport, it will be because we've strapped a scientist laden with recording equipment to a large piece of photoetch and attempted to join it to another piece of photoetch, and no spares are available for either.

 

10 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

Adrian (who recently found a small part that departed at high speed during cutting six feet away from the bench)

We need to get on this. Adrian, your experience proves that it's possible to return from whatever dimension/universe that PE parts can access, arriving only six feet away from its departure point. Now, we need to know how long the intervening time seemed to the part itself. Perhaps it was flung to another dimension, packaged up, sold, placed on a model, displayed for decades, and was flung back to our dimension when the tail of a wagging dog knocked it from its shelf. Perhaps, we'll never know.

[Procopius]

I think Dr. Cookenbacher is on to something here. Clearly someone needs to build one of those dreadful Eduard all-photoetch WWI aircraft kits and see if they can open a doorway into this dimension.

[Procopius]

Well, it's definite. I'm once again sick. Third time in three months. Time to put Winston up for adoption. This is miserable, and it always seems to come just as I've started to get back to running. I really am in despair about this.

 

In other news:

 

The Gauntlet lists slightly to one side, or did, until I cracked the wing-fuselage join and stuffed in a crude shim:

 

20170412_222453 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

20170412_222500 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

20170412_222450 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

That settled its hash, more or less.

 

20170412_222436 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

The other side of the aircraft was quite gappy as well, so I masked around it with tape and shlooped some filler into the gap, as big as a 1/72 man's head:

 

20170412_222506 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

There's quite a bit of sanding to be done yet, but then weirdly we pretty much move right to painting and priming (not in that order), then decals, then rig and attach the top wing and cowl/engine, and then the landing gear. Sounds so easy.

 

 

[Stew Dapple]

Sounds good - finished by the weekend then?  

 

Sorry to hear you are off-colour again. It's probably character-forming or something, if that's any consolation. Hope you feel better soon and I'm sure the rate of re-infection will subside once summer spreads its wings again...

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Procopius]

As a side note, you can see the familial resemblance to both the Gladiator and the almost-was Gloster F.5/34: 

 

 

Just now, Stew Dapple said:

Sounds good - finished by the weekend then?  

 

Unlikely, Winston has learned how to flush the toilet. He doesn't know how to use it yet, at least not for its intended purpose. This bodes ill.

[CedB]

Sorry to hear you're not feeling well PC - time to show Mrs P the 'Man Flu' video?

Good work on the wings - this certainly looks like a short-tun kit and I feel your pain... but it looks like you're molding it to your will  

 

I like the look of that F.5/34 - something mildly Mossie about the empennage (although I may be slightly obsessed) and Hurri about the canopy. Wikipedia says "The F.5/34 was the first monoplane fighter built by Gloster and the last design penned by H.P. Folland for the company" and "Folland left the company in 1937, following the takeover of Gloster by Hawker, feeling that Hawker designs would be favoured over his own." Lots of crossover I guess.

[stevehnz]

3 hours ago, Procopius said:

Well, it's definite. I'm once again sick. Third time in three months. Time to put Winston up for adoption. This is miserable, and it always seems to come just as I've started to get back to running. I really am in despair about this.

 

There's quite a bit of sanding to be done yet, but then weirdly we pretty much move right to painting and priming (not in that order), then decals, then rig and attach the top wing and cowl/engine, and then the landing gear. Sounds so easy.

 

 

I'm detecting just the slightest bit of cynicism here. Hang in there mate.

Steve.

[jean]

Hi Mr. P,

Third time sick? Here we'd start thinking some malevolent spirit is involved and we'd go and see a Nyanga (witch doctor) for him to rattle the bones...

Can't you farm Winston to a no kill kennel for a while? Just to make sure they teach him NOT to flush the loo while he is standing inside?

Great build!!!

JR

[Cookenbacher]

The shim was a great idea PC, and sorry to hear you're under the weather - again.

 

The F.5/34 looks to me like a Gladiator fuselage attached to a Hurricane wing. It also looks a little Zero-ish. Ooh, you're right about the Mossie empennage attachment, Ced.

[Procopius]

3 minutes ago, Cookenbacher said:

The F.5/34 looks to me like a Gladiator fuselage attached to a Hurricane wing. It also looks a little Zero-ish. 

 

You're not the first to say it! Some have claimed that Mitsubishi got some of the idea for the Zero from Gloster, who they had a prior business relationship with. I have my doubts. 

[Beard]

I hope you feel better soon PC, repeated periods of illness are depressing.

 

[Greenshirt]

2 hours ago, jean said:

for him to rattle the bones...

If you forget the feathers it'll be for nought. 

[rob85]

I was going to say zero but I didn't know if that's because I recently watched eternal and have been fondeling the tamiya Zero... it's a nice looking AC, shame it didnt make the cut.

 

i hope you shrug this one off soon Mr.P, people say rats spread the plague but I have my doubts... kids were surely the culprits, and the stats for germs/never being more than 2 foot away from one much be similar.... good luck!

 

Rob 

[Selwyn]

Just come onto this thread, and not wanting to stick an major oar in re the instrument panel, but the gladiator had different panels depending on customer requirements, the preserved Finnish aircraft (in Sweden?), an export aircraft, has a very different panel to the RAF aircraft at Old Warden which has the RAF standard six instrument panel. 

I wonder if this could be true of the Gauntlet as well?

[Procopius]

Well hell. Are there any preserved Gauntlets besides the one in Finland?

[stevehnz]

8 hours ago, Cookenbacher said:

The shim was a great idea PC, and sorry to hear you're under the weather - again.

 

The F.5/34 looks to me like a Gladiator fuselage attached to a Hurricane wing. It also looks a little Zero-ish. Ooh, you're right about the Mossie empennage attachment, Ced.

Back when, it was the prefered method of making one of these, using a Zero fuselage & Blenheim outer wing panels, very very close, I've long held ambitions toward this & got the relevant bits but it might just be easier to find a resin kit of the F5/34, Planet & Magna have both done them.

Steve.

[stevehnz]

2 hours ago, Procopius said:

Well hell. Are there any preserved Gauntlets besides the one in Finland?

The googleshere rapidly bogs down in Gladiator refs when I search for Gauntlet, I did find this one however, maybe you have too, how is your Danish. Bear in mind Selwyn's ideas about different panels on export machines, I'd guess that the RAF standard flying panel was in use by the time the Gauntlet popped up???

Steve.

[Procopius]

Well, the Gauntlet II entered production in 1935, so that certainly seems likely, but I confess to having a few doubts. My book on the Gauntlet and Bulldog should arrive any day now, hopefully it will hold answers that prove useful for the other Gauntlet I have in the stash, because heaven knows I'm not opening it back up now.

[Procopius]

18 hours ago, CedB said:

I like the look of that F.5/34 - something mildly Mossie about the empennage (although I may be slightly obsessed) and Hurri about the canopy. Wikipedia says "The F.5/34 was the first monoplane fighter built by Gloster and the last design penned by H.P. Folland for the company" and "Folland left the company in 1937, following the takeover of Gloster by Hawker, feeling that Hawker designs would be favoured over his own." Lots of crossover I guess.

 

It's fascinating, isn't it? It'd be very interesting to read a comprehensive history of the British aviation industry between the wars.

[Procopius]

A little more work tonight, though my sinuses are draining like sluicegates right now. I was going to stay home sick tomorrow, but Winston's school apparently has Good Friday off (the only thing in the entire country that does), and the thought of being helpless and at his mercy in my hour of weakness is too terrible to contemplate.

 

20170413_212444 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

As you can see, it's not a large aircraft. Incidentally, the mounting holes for the struts were embodied as raised dots, and I drilled them out with a largish bit, as the strut locating pins look a bit like the strut saw a particularly attractive lady strut recently and became overstimulated. 

 

On the underside, I've been trying and mostly failing to blend the wing into the fuselage. Hopefully I haven't irrevocably altered the shape of the aircraft.

 

20170413_212818 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

Test-fitting the engine and cowl:

 

20170413_213504 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

20170413_213452 by Edward IX, on Flickr

 

It looks like the locating hole is a bit low; the cowl should be a little higher up, I think:

 

 

Incidentally, the surviving Finnish Gauntlet is useless as a reference for this, as it has an Alvis Leonides engine from a Percival Pembroke, of all things. 

 

I think we're getting pretty close to a primer coat. I'm thinking Alclad White, to give the Aluminium underbelly the proper dull look to it. 

[Jonny]

On 3 April 2017 at 11:48 AM, corsaircorp said:

Waf !

Work also for Wife (women) Related Stress

No ! I'm not ashamed about this one

Sincerely.

Corsaircorp

 

^{I'm wondering what Mrs. Corsaircorp will say when she's this?}

 

It's almost certain that she will!,  Equally certain that there's a large element if truth too.  I've recently had comments such as Why did you buy that - you've got one / Why gave yo booked for the May airshow at Duxford ... You went  last  year.  It never ends and it IS stressful.

 

Jonny