Nomore Shelfspace Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Hello again, this time it's my Airfix Gladiator. This is a very nice kit indeed, but in some ways I feel the new Airfix kits are designed by people who are a whiz on the Computer Aided Design, but not really modellers. Otherwise their kits wouldn't have so many tiny parts... not that I'm complaining as this makes up into a model where it's hard to tell what scale it is from the photos! Only problem I found was the part with the inner struts had been slightly squashed in packing, so I had to very carefully bend them into the correct angles before the wing would fit. Also the wheels would not fit onto the pegs on the landing gear without trimming the pegs, and the engine cowling was awfully fiddly - just a two piece moulding would have done! See comment above... the guns either side of the fuselage fit from inside, which means when you paint the fuselage, they get painted too, and it's tricky to paint them by hand... so I cut the barrels off and stuck them in after the main paint was finished. My "silver dope" (that stuff again) is a mixture of the old Humbrol 11 and matt white. The markings are what I think is the archetypal Gladiator, as flown by those doughty chaps at Hendon Air Pageant a few years before the whole world went mad for five years. The only bad thing about this is my own fault - I thought I could rig a biplane, but as you can probably see, my attempts using stretched sprue fixed with the thick Deluxe Materials cyano (in the tube) do not look good. Blobs of glue looking like silver, well, muck. I got all the wires in though, some of them are a bit bendy looking... the myriad tiny stencils were a major job, I just took it in stages. I did have trouble with the larger decals however, when coating them with Klear some of them bubbled, even though they were completely dry. Not encountered that before. As I say, a very nice kit but one that needs a lot of patience! PL 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jean Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 no matter what you say, it is a great Gladiator you have built here! I haven't seen this new tooling yet, but the built models look fantastic. Considering I only have the (very) old model in my stash (which I will build, for the hell of it, one of these days...), I really want to try my hand on the new one! And your rigging looks just right. The blobs of glue you talk about must only exist in your imagination, after sniffing too much of it! All around, you have produced a good looker! And I love these markings, no matter what a lot of people say about them lacking in originality. Great job! JR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Beauty! If I could build one that looked half this good, I'd consider it a major personal achievement. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLC1966 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I really would be happy with that, the thing stopping me is that nasty 'R*****G' word, scares me off to be honest. But your work looks good to me. Is there a rigging guide or the such as like ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nomore Shelfspace Posted July 23, 2014 Author Share Posted July 23, 2014 I really would be happy with that, the thing stopping me is that nasty 'R*****G' word, scares me off to be honest. But your work looks good to me. Is there a rigging guide or the such as like ? Yes, the instructions have some very clear rigging diagrams. Most helpful to someone who has actually not tried rigging a biplane before... PL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Looks a little beauty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jer Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 I think you've done a superb job! I can't see the problems with the rigging all looks good to me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Beautiful Gladiator. Getting one of these on Friday for my birthday, hope mine turns out this nice Sean Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It's a disease Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 This is great, nostalgic for me. My first ever kit, ever, was the old tool of this somewhere way back in 83-84. I've never rigged a biplane so you get points for trying. (I bet there was a time you couldn't paint either) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomoshenko Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Don't be so hard on yourself that's a nice build. Also a good finish with the H11 and white. I have this kit myself and agree with you about the shortcomings, lovely kit but can't understand why the engineered the gun assembly the way they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
It's a disease Posted July 23, 2014 Share Posted July 23, 2014 Yes, the instructions have some very clear rigging diagrams. Most helpful to someone who has actually not tried rigging a biplane before... PL Perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FalkeEins Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 very neat, looks loads better than mine did, must try that H11 & white mix! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 That's a bit nice! As for the glue issues, well rigging wires have anchors, cleats and turnbuckles on them, don't they? They're not glue blobs, they're details! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Oh Yes! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Fantastic Gladiator, Really nice work ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Very nice. The rigging looks darned good to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natter Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 You do yourself an injustice, that is a lovely Gladiator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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