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1/48th Merit Gloster Gladiator Mk.I, 87 Sqn `zapped by 601 Sqn' 1938.


tonyot

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Hiya Folks,

                Having first seen the Gladiator in the now sadly defunct Battle of Britain Museum at the RAF Museum Hendon,.... I have always fancied building an 87 Sqn aircraft with the units distinctive unit markings of a black bar with wavy green line;

IMG_0725_zps2d4fad45_NEW1163250-medium

 

And the unit was well know for its aerobatics team;

RAF Aerobatic Display Teamsk7977a36649162_2055612027784969_1099567934797250560_n

 

But then I came across photos of one of 87 Sqn`s Gladiators that had been zapped by 601 Sqn of the Auxiliary Air Force, presumably at their RAF Hendon base. One side of the fin bore the 601 Sqn insignia while the other had a roughly applied `Popeye'!

 

Gladiator Mk.I, K7974, of 87 Sqdn carries a 601 Sqdn

 

GladiatorK7974popeye1

 

 

So,.... when Eduard included a decal option for K7974 in the photos above, wearing these markings in their re boxing of the Roden kit (which I`ll be building in Fleet Air Arm markings) I decided to apply these spare decals to the Merit kit. I had to make some tweaks as the white areas on the Popeye decal needed to be overpainted with silver and the green wavy line was also overpainted using a darker green as the pale green of the decal was too light,.... both being done using a small brush after the decals were applied to the model. 

Here is the Merit kit box art;

962749-15126-75-pristine

 

 

And finally,...... if you are still with me,.....here is the model,! I had built and painted the model almost 2 years ago but I couldn`t get the mojo to rig it,....... and I have to say a massive thanks to my mate Neil for the Uschi rigging thread,......it scared me to death but once I got used to this new medium it I felt like I`d never stopped rigging at all. 

 

DSCF4891DSCF4888_NEWDSCF4901_NEWDSCF4903_NEWDSCF4896_NEWDSCF4893_NEWDSCF4892_NEWDSCF4907_NEWDSCF4905_NEWDSCF4897_NEWDSCF4889_NEWDSCF4895_NEW

 

 

So thanks for looking and all the best,

                                                            Tony

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Cheers Fella`s,...... the Merit kit is much easier to build than the Roden kit, but it is simplified and not as detailed so swings and roundabouts,.....I forgot to mention that the propeller came from the Roden kit too.

The model was finished using a Tamiya rattle can and then brushed with matt varnish.

Cheers

         Tony

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Just now, fightersweep said:

Never been brave enough to try a rattle can, but that finish would be ideal for a B-17 I need to do.

 

Steve

Go for it Steve,..... I`ve done a couple of B-17`s using the same rattle can and I was pleased with the results.

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Thanks! I'll give it a try. What's the colour in the Tamiya range? 

 

I just remembered, I did try a rattle can on a 1/48th F-105 many moons ago (about 30 years ago!!). I think it was a car paint. It wasn't a bad effort for a first try, but it was a bit blotchy. I think I tried the can in hot water first before using.

 

Steve

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11 minutes ago, tonyot said:

Cheers Fella`s,...... the Merit kit is much easier to build than the Roden kit, but it is simplified and not as detailed so swings and roundabouts,.....I forgot to mention that the propeller came from the Roden kit too.

The model was finished using a Tamiya rattle can and then brushed with matt varnish.

Cheers

         Tony

Thanks Tony 

All the best 

Chris 

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1 hour ago, woody37 said:

You make that rigging look easy mate, lovely finish :)

 

Thanks for the rigging material mate,...... that stuff is quality and helped a lot,...... now onto my Walrus which has been waiting around a year for its rigging! 

Cheers bud,

                 Tony

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2 hours ago, fightersweep said:

Thanks! I'll give it a try. What's the colour in the Tamiya range? 

 

I just remembered, I did try a rattle can on a 1/48th F-105 many moons ago (about 30 years ago!!). I think it was a car paint. It wasn't a bad effort for a first try, but it was a bit blotchy. I think I tried the can in hot water first before using.

 

Steve

Hiya Steve,

                 The Tamiya can was AS-12 Bare Metal Silver mate,....... Tamiya sprays go on beautifully,..... just add the coats lightly. 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/Tamiya-As-12-Bare-Metal-Silver-100ml-Spray-Can-86512/14006169371?iid=253864449213&chn=ps

 

All the best

                Tony

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Beautiful build presented with an interesting story and photos.

Adding rigging to a biplane makes it look much more convincing, good work !

Is the Merit Gladiator a good kit ?

Merit is a brand name from the same company who does Trumpeter kits and they have a reputation to mess up british aircraft subjects.

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Cheers again everybody. 

5 hours ago, BerndM said:

Beautiful build presented with an interesting story and photos.

Adding rigging to a biplane makes it look much more convincing, good work !

Is the Merit Gladiator a good kit ?

Merit is a brand name from the same company who does Trumpeter kits and they have a reputation to mess up british aircraft subjects.

Yes it isn`t bad actually,..... although it was rather expensive for what you get. The fit of the parts was excellent although I had to add quite a bit into the cockpit to get it looking OK, including a plastic card rear bulkhead and interior framework. The prop is also from a Roden kit.

 

Cheers

            Tony

Edited by tonyot
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6 hours ago, tonyot said:

Cheers again everybody. 

Yes it isn`t bad actually,..... although it was rather expensive for what you get. The fit of the parts was excellent although I had to add quite a bit into the cockpit to get it looking OK, including a plastic card rear bulkhead and interior framework. The prop is also from a Roden kit.

 

Cheers

            Tony

Thanks for the info about the Merit kit. I have one Roden, one Roden/Eduard and with all the extra marking versions i could need a third one as well. ( and maybe some time to build them :hmmm:)

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