Acklington Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Just finished, the latest addition to my RAF Ouston project, Gloster Gladiator Mk.1 K6132 of 13 Group Communications Flight, RAF Ouston, Northumberland, April 1941. K6132, 13 Group Comms Flight, Ouston, April 1941 (4) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr K6132, 13 Group Comms Flight, Ouston, April 1941 (7) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr K6132, 13 Group Comms Flight, Ouston, April 1941 (9) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr K6132, 13 Group Comms Flight, Ouston, April 1941 (12) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr K6132, 13 Group Comms Flight, Ouston, April 1941 (13) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr K6132, 13 Group Comms Flight, Ouston, April 1941 (18) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr K6132, 13 Group Comms Flight, Ouston, April 1941 (21) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr K6132, 13 Group Comms Flight, Ouston, April 1941 (22) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr K6132, 13 Group Comms Flight, Ouston, April 1941 (28) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr K6132, 13 Group Comms Flight, Ouston, April 1941 (30) w by Philip Pain, on Flickr And here is how the model looked during construction! K6132, rigging St Johns, Oct 19 w by Philip Pain, on Flickr This is a recent Airfix kit, so accurate and nicely detailed. Nevertheless it did fight me most of the way to completion! Also the Mk.1 didn't have the under-cowling oil cooler intake, so this was removed and the gaps plugged. K6132 was only the fourth Gladiator built, and initially served with 72 Squadron at Church Fenton. There it became the mount of James Nicholson, who subsequently went on to win the only Fighter Command VC of the war. It was while he was flying it that the Munich Crisis led to K6132 being hastily and somewhat crudely camouflaged, and it adopted the codes 'RN-S', serial number probably deleted. There is a photo of Nicholson flying it as such. 72 converted to Spitfires, and K6132 was one of three Gladiators allocated to 13 Group's communication flight in April 1941. The Group HQ was in Newcastle, and the three Gladiators became the first aircraft to use the still incomplete RAF Ouston, flying off the grass areas. After a year or so with 13 Group, K6132 moved on to the RAE at Farnborough, where it survived until 1945, probably the oldest Gladiator to see the end of the war. "Three Gladiators", sounds a bit like 'Faith, Hope, and Charity', but in Geordieland they would have been "Pet"; "The Lads"; and "Man" (as in 'wi i man!'). K6132, Valentines Postcard w by Philip Pain, on Flickr K6132 was also used for a set of photos taken by "The Aeroplane" pre-war, and the view shown was made into a Valentines Postcard (my own collection). It is thus the most common image of a Gladiator to be found on the internet. For the colour scheme I have assumed the 'Munich' camouflage (without shadow compensation shading), with 1940 sky undersides. Then during the winter of 1940/41 the 'half black' under wings recognition markings were re-introduced on fighters, until ordered to be removed on 22 April 1941. So perhaps these were the only Ouston-based aircraft ever to wear (very briefly) this recognition feature. I have also just attached the prop spinner with blu-tac, as many Gladiators flew without a spinner. Thanks for looking. 54 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather Kay Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Liking this a lot. That in flight photo is just perfect. Lovely stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farmerboy Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Superb! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Another beautiful addition to the RAF Ouston collection,great job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binbrook87 Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Fantastic job. Love the Gladiator. Hats off for your end result with the rigging! I just don't have the skill or the patience. Great work 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Superb Gladiator! You have really made the most of this excellent kit. Kind regards, Joachim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vinnie Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 That is a good looking model. Well done with the rigging.👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Excellent Gladiator ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 You wrote " Also the Mk.1 didn't have the under-cowling oil cooler intake, so this was removed and the gaps plugged. " That is actually the carburetor intake. Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMCS Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Lovley Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bertielissie Posted November 3, 2019 Share Posted November 3, 2019 Lovely work. But then I'm biased-the Gladiator is my favourite biplane. Lovely work on the rigging too. When I did mine I had trouble attaching the two-piece cowling. How did you go attaching/fitting yours?? also, did you use acrylics or enamel paint (Humbrol or other brand)?? A really beaut job.👍👍👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoftScience Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 Simply lovely. I'm getting ready to start mine. Any advice on the rigging? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg Law Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 Well done. Also a good history write up. The rigging must have been a bit of a nightmare. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Learstang Posted November 4, 2019 Share Posted November 4, 2019 Lovely little Gladiator - always one of my favourite aeroplanes! Regards, Jason Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 That looks great. The flying shots are very effective too. Regards, Adrian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djos Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 PERFECT! wires looks just right. Best regards Djordje Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 That's superb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickydicky210 Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Lovely Gladiator 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Animal Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Adorable. Absolutely beautiful result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Masters Posted November 5, 2019 Share Posted November 5, 2019 Boffo! A good one indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acklington Posted November 7, 2019 Author Share Posted November 7, 2019 Many thanks for the comments, they are much appreciated. I use humbrol enamels to paint with, all hand painted. Although I'm not too happy with their newer tins, which seem designed for spraying? Some colours take days to dry properly. The colours in each tin also seem to vary quite a bit. The Gladiator cowling was a bit difficult and fiddly to get right. Even more so was the propellor and its mount, which seemed impossible to glue in place without the prop being glued solid! I eventually held it in place and applied a microscopic bit of liquid glue at a time, checking each time that it still turned. I had also made a new shaft for the propellor, to give it more substance. As for the rigging, I now need the services of a counsellor! I first super-glued each nylon thread to the underside (pre-painted) of the top wing, having drilled deeper holes. The centre section rigging I took right through the top wing, repairing the damage afterwards. The bottom wing (upper surface) was also pre-painted, and all the holes drilled right through. After the wings and struts were in place I threaded the rigging through the lower wing holes and super-glued them tight. Again, repairing all the visible damage on the undersurface, afterwards. This is really not an ideal method, but the rigging is strong, which is what I wanted. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roy107 Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 Superb! Thank you for showing her off! Plus you took me down the rabbit hole of checking out your RAF Ouston website, which made for a very distracting lunch break and certainly looks like a project I'll keep an eye on as you add more aircraft. I'm also intrigued to read your experiences with rigging; I've used a similar method and it may not be the most delicate way, but it works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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