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Airfix 1/72 Gloster Gladiator


Doug

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Hi All,

As I said in my previous post "best material for rigging", I have never really built a bi-plane before, but I was given a Gladiator kit and I would like very much to build it. I know that this is a very old kit that needs some work, not as much as my defiant, but work all the same. To be honest I don't want a perfect replica, but would like to do some improvements such as cockpit, rigging and some detailing on the guns both the fuselage and under-wing guns and the propeller. As yet I am not sure whether to complete it as a sea Gladiator or standard RAF machine.

The other thing I may not do is replace the kits engine and shroud with the one from a Blenheim as I don't have the kit and would rather try and re-work the kit item first.

So please if you have any hints and tips you would like to pass onto me please do so I would be grateful for any help.

Doug.

Edited by Doug
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Have you a death wish or something? You are committing yourself to a considerable amount of work. This may no doubt prove unpopular, but here's my advice. Buy a Heller Gladiator. Take every piece in the Airfix kit and alter it until it looks as much like the equivalent piece in the Heller kit as possible. For all the pieces that are in the Heller kit but not in the Airfix, make from scratch pieces for your Airfix kit. This may still leave you wanting to put more detail on such things as guns, of course. Then make the Airfix kit, if it is still capable of being so described.

Alternatively, just make the Heller, which does come with a rigging diagram. (And pre-drilled holes for the rigging, or am I imagining this?) Plus a spare propellor which you can use.

Falcon do a replacement canopy - it comes in the same set as their Defiant, I believe. If you seem set on a series of old and awful kits, you might as well buy the whole set.

For rigging you can use invisible thread, or very fine fishing line, but lots of people have their own choice.

Edited by Graham Boak
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One hint about rigging: do not use a power drill on a normal setting. Either use a pin vice, another hand drill, or a power tool on a slow setting. This is from experience. I was drillng holes on a Po 2, and suddenly realised that the latest holes were considerably larger than the first ones. The high speed drill had been melting the plastic, and this had built up in the drill to make it steadily larger.

My method came from the Lancs/Cheshire IPMS Group, Jean Deprez and Ron (Fleming?). Assemble the model without the top wing. Leave the undersurface of the lower wing and the upper of the upperwing unpainted. Pass thread through the appropriate holes - separate pieces for each run. Superglue them in place where they come through the lower wing (or onto the fuselage), applying the superglue to the underside, but ensuring it enters the hole (slide the thread up and down to ensure this. Pass the thread through the holes in the upperwing, then glue the wing in place. Add clips to the ends of each thread to ensure it is taut, then superglue in place. When the superglue has all dried, cut off the unwanted ends, then fill/sand the upper and lower surfaces to remove all evidence.

PS I believe Heller show how to thread all the rigging in one loop, which can be brought out of the fuselage and tied to make it taut. I've never had the nerve to try anything like that, and it presumably does need some precut grooves to hide thread runs across the wings. Clearly it works for somebody.

The other tip I've seen is that if you make the rigging from stretched sprue, then blowing warm cigarette smoke across them will tighten them. I don't smoke, and it doesn't seem a good enough reason to start.

Edited by Graham Boak
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The Heller Gladiator does have holes but no grooves. The holes themselves are overscale but easy enough to fill. For a Sea Gladiator the best model would be the Pavla Gladiator with a replacement prop. If you're going to drill holes use a pin vice as Graham says. You can actually use the Airfix Gladiator wheels to replace the Heller ones (which are without covers and spoked) but I wouldn't use anything else. I would also recommend the Matchbox (Revell) Gladiator. This is a nice little kit but does need some work in the cockpit.

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Revell are rereleasing the Matchbox Gladiator later in the year. Deltabits did a Sea Gladiator conversion but I think that's long gone. TBH, it was just a three blade prop (the Airfix one has one in anyway), dinghy pack and arrestor hook.

Pavla? At their prices? Had away! £15+ for a Gladiator that will be very ill fitting if their previous abominations are anything to go by. I'd take the chance on getting a Heller one on ebay.

What about the old Frog kit? Was that any good?

Edited by The wooksta V2.0
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I saw the Frog one but never bought it. It was in their days of simplifying struts, I believe, so you'll have had a filling problem. It was perhaps marginally better than either Airfix or Matchbox, but I can't confirm that. Those three are about on a level, with the Heller soaring above.

I don't have the Pavla, but their later kits are much better than their earlier thick and crude horrors. I'd have given it a chance, but for my backlog.

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Hi Doug

I built one last year, painting it as a Sea Gladiator:

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...=30137&st=0

I hadn't built an aircraft kit for a serious number of years. I just wanted a quick build inter-war naval aeroplane to stand next to my figures. I keep promising myself to do a proper detailed job on a Heller/Pavla Gladiator. I enjoyed the build and made lots of mistakes in the process (that I don't think I would have made had I been well practiced).

Since that build, the markings are available commercially - but I think they have the diamond pattern for the upper wing in blue.

Al

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Hi Wooksta,

Thanks for your response to my Defiant thread, and for piping in on this one. if your information is correct about Revell releasing the old matchbox kit I may just hang fire. I never built it but I am told that next to the Heller kit it's the best available and by the way the Pavla kit presently retails at £18.99, you would be better off spending the extra £2 and getting the Roden 1/48 kit!!!!

Anyway much thanks for that info Wooksta, any idea when they intend (Quarter) to release it????

Doug.

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Hi Al,

That's a very good build indeed and I will use a lot of what you say when I come to build mine. Did you find out how much in diameter the kits engine cowling is out by? The blisters I can scratchbuild so I'm not worried about them and as I do not have a Blenheim I will have to stick with the kit item and therefore try to alter it in some way to make it look better!

Doug.

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I saw the Frog one but never bought it. It was in their days of simplifying struts, I believe, so you'll have had a filling problem. It was perhaps marginally better than either Airfix or Matchbox, but I can't confirm that. Those three are about on a level, with the Heller soaring above.

I don't have the Pavla, but their later kits are much better than their earlier thick and crude horrors. I'd have given it a chance, but for my backlog.

I have the Frog one. The top surface of each lower wing features a recess for a separate panel about 18mm square , and the underside of the top wing has one 18 x 35 mm. The insert for the top wing features a slot into which a bar across the top of the interplane struts fits (or not...). There are a couple of locating holes for the struts in the lower wing insert. No idea why they introduced the separate panels, which seem to serve no purpose except to guarantee the need for filler. My second-hand example also has a tailplane that looks as though its edges have been nibbled by a caterpillar, and moulding flaws in the wheels, but that's not typical of Frog in my experience and may be the reason this particular one never got built. It certainly beats the Airfix kit, with its solid cockpit and truly awful engine (Frog's has separate cowling halves and the Mercury at least has recognisable cylinders) but I'ld go for the Matchbox one in preference, if I couldn't get a Heller kit.

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I would also recommend the Matchbox (Revell) Gladiator. This is a nice little kit but does need some work in the cockpit.

It's a very nice kit except for being a too bit squat in the canopy area for my taste. A problem Matchbox seemed to have with several other kits eg F9F Panther. Agree with everyone else that the Heller kit is a gem.

Nick

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I have built the Heller, Frog and Matchbox one in my time. The Frog one is ok enough but needs a replacement canopy. Heller is better but to be honest the Matchbox one is much better with a very subtle fabric effect on the wings. Having said that I recall that the canopy is a tad shallow. I have seen pictures of the Airfix but kit I would avoid it like the plague.

Good luck

MH

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Hi Al,

That's a very good build indeed and I will use a lot of what you say when I come to build mine. Did you find out how much in diameter the kits engine cowling is out by? The blisters I can scratchbuild so I'm not worried about them and as I do not have a Blenheim I will have to stick with the kit item and therefore try to alter it in some way to make it look better!

Doug.

I think it more about the profile of the cowling in the kit which is the problem. I just went for the easy option (whilst maintaining it as 100% Airfix) by using a Blenhiem cowling. Come to think of it I will have a spare cowling and engine somewhere if it would help.

Al

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Hi Al,

If you can find it and we can arrange postage I would be very happy for it to wing it's way to me, but no problems if you can't, please read below as I may have an alternative, well for an engine anyway.

As it happens I have an old Matchbox Stringbag which tried a test flight from a top shelf several years ago and most of it went to that great plastic warehouse in the sky, but I kept the engine and some other bits that survived and I was wondering it with a little bit of filing and reshaping if I could incorporate that into the build, not strictly Airfix but may make it look slightly better. I know the cowling will probably not be of much help but the engine may despite being the wrong type, it may also be to big, but I will check it against the plans I will be using to aid with the build.

I was also informed yesterday that Revell may be re-releasing the old Matchbox Gladiator later this year so may well get a couple of those and add get some replacement canopies!

Anyway the Airfix build awaits and I think I now have enough knowledge to start getting stuck in!

Doug.

Edited by Doug
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might just have to get a few of those for a Stringbag i want to do- hope it doesn't do a lemming and join yours Doug

Hi Paul,

Hey it wasn't my fault, honest!!!!! (and to tell the truth I didn't build it, but I wasn't jealouse of it, really).

Doug.

Edited by Doug
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I actually prefer the Matchbox kit over the Heller one, save for the canopy but a Falcon set cures that.

There's no doubt that Matchbox absolutely excelled with their small bi-planes. I'm happy to see Revell bringing the Gladiator back at what I'd expect to be a very reasonable price.

I remember having the FROG tooling in a different package marketed by Remus, not unlike the Airfix blister packs. I think it had FROG artwork and I'm fairly sure I bought it from the toy department of our local Boots the Chemist in the late 1970s. I don't remember seeing a Novo Gladiator, now I think about it.

John

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There's no doubt that Matchbox absolutely excelled with their small bi-planes. I'm happy to see Revell bringing the Gladiator back at what I'd expect to be a very reasonable price.

I remember having the FROG tooling in a different package marketed by Remus, not unlike the Airfix blister packs. I think it had FROG artwork and I'm fairly sure I bought it from the toy department of our local Boots the Chemist in the late 1970s. I don't remember seeing a Novo Gladiator, now I think about it.

John

Hi John,

Where did you read about revell re-releasing the Matchbox Gadiator as I did a search and found nothing?

Doug.

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