247 Squadron Gloster Gladiator Mk2

[Rumblestripe]

My initial thought for this GB was a Spit, everyone loves a Spit particularly an early mark. I have an Eduard Me109E "in the stash"but I didn't fancy modelling the "bad guys" this time. I took a bit of advice and settled on a Gloster Gladiator. 247th Squadron flew the Gladiator in protection of the SW ports from a pretty rough strip near Roborough (also known at one time as Plymouth Airport) (More history of the site here). The strip was unsuited to more modern monoplanes at the time so the Glad was deployed having moved the squadron down from Sumburgh in Shetland where they were tasked with providing cover for Scapa Flow. Since deciding on the subject of my model I have done some internet research and I will add more of this as I add to this thread.

 

So this is the kit (love the pixie boots!)

 

 

Contents of the box...

 

And these are the add-ons I have chosen

 

I decided against the resin engine and cowl as they almost doubled the cost of the build and I'm not particularly fond of working with resin. So I have the Yahu etched instrument panel a set of turned brass gun barrels (as I more often model armour plastic bun barrels seem, wrong) and then we have the real challenge of this kit... rigging on the recommendation of another Glad builder I have chosen this elastic material. Wish me luck!

 

One thing that does concern me is the decals. I am told to expect these to be a pig to work with. I will try the Finnish swastikas to see how they handle. If they are as bad as people suggest I will be looking for alternates and would welcome pointers as it looks like I will be buying multiple sheets. This is what I hope to model.

 

 

[Rumblestripe]

So a little bit of my research.

 

No 247 Squadron was initially formed at the end of WW1 and disbanded in 1919. On 1 August 1940 the unit was reformed at RAF Roborough, named “China-British”, from the Shetland Fighter Flight, Sumburgh, (where it was tasked with the defence of Scapa Flow) to defend Plymouth. There is a particular incident that I am interested in modelling the aircraft involved. On 28th October F/O R.A. Winter intercepted a He111 over Plymouth at night but without result. (He damaged another on 6th November)

 

F/O R A Winter

Richard Arthur Winter was born on 7th September 1914 in Bexley and joined the RAFVR in April 1937 as an Airman u/t Pilot. He was commissioned in March 1939 and called up on 1st September. He then went on to the newly-formed 152 Squadron at Acklington on 2nd October. He was one of four pilots detailed to form a defence flight at Sumburgh, Shetlands arriving on 25th November 1939. He was still there when it was renamed the Fighter Flight Sumburgh on 5th January 1940. On the 1st August the flight was posted to Roborough and re-designated 247 Squadron, its new role was the defence of Plymouth dockyards. They were still equipped with Gladiators. F/O Winter survived the war and was released from the RAF in 1945 as a Squadron Leader.

 

L to R: F/O RA Winter, F/Lt. FM Thomas, F/O TW Gillen (taken at Sumburgh before transfer to 247)

http://www.bbm.org.uk/airmen/WinterRA.htm

 

From the records I have found there are two Gladiators of No 247 for which I have serial numbers

 

Serial N2308 Code HP-B transferred from 615Sq transferred to 2AACU SOC  03/04/43

Serial N5682 Code HP-K transferred from Shetland FF transferred to 1560 Met flight SOC 22/12/45

 

I intend to model HP-K there were two other aircraft that came down from Sumburgh N5644 and N5901 both of which were destroyed.

N5901 was damaged beyond repair when it hit trees in a forced landing at night whilst lost near Werrington, Devon. Sgt. R T Thomas was unhurt, he would not be so lucky later that year.

N5644 was destroyed during a night patrol on 21st November, Sgt. R T Thomas lost his bearings and flew into High Willhays, Dartmoor and was killed. Thomas was 22 and is buried in St Stephens churchyard, Bodfari, Flintshire.

 

I am assuming therefore that N5682 Code HP-K was F/O Winter's.

 

 

 

 

 

[stevej60]

Be very careful with those Decals I spent ages on one of these hoping to get a 607 Co Durham Sqn aircraft finally in the collection and they fell to 

pieces despite them looking fine on the sheet,excellent choice all the same.

[Rumblestripe]

10 minutes ago, stevej60 said:

Be very careful with those Decals

Yes, people have warned me. One of the first things I'm going to try is using one of the Finnish swastikas to see if they are usable, if not I'm going to be spending quite a bit on transfers as I will need roundels as well as all the serial and code letters and numbers as I have very little usable in the stash. I mostly model armour you see.

[Rumblestripe]

A little progress to report.

 

The cowl is in some ways not as bad as people made out. It is, however, a strange design and has quite a bit of flash on it.

 

 

Not a great photograph (I was lazy and just used my phone) you can see that there is no help in locating the parts together. This is a design decision because the engine is a push fit against the inner ridge so it is important to remove those ejector marks. Here is a quick wipe with Vallejo white to show where filler is needed, the worst of the flash has been wiped away with abrasives and the back of the craft knife.

 

 

The cowl as good as I can get it (the indentations to clear the bullet stream for the synchronised MGs are missing but will be added when I can get the alignment right) and the engine largely complete. I have drilled the oil cooler inlets though they will be pretty well hidden on the finished model. Careful to get the cylinder and crank assembly the right way round (guess who didn't)...

 

There are some missing braces from the engine which are my next little tweak.

 

Tally-ho chaps.

[Rumblestripe]

Slow progress, but behold the augmented engine assembly (and some pennies)

 

...added (what I believe to be) the oil sump in white plastic and the three braces in stretched sprue. Quite happy with that, once painted and installed I think that will be sufficient detail.

 

And work has started on "the office"

 

... I have reshaped the seat to more closely resemble that found in Gladiators, the hole in the back for the seat belts is a bit too big  but better than absent (as it was off the sprue) and rounded the top of the  seat and reduced the over-large sides to a better shape.

 

 

[Stew Dapple]

Good progress mate

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

[Rumblestripe]

Well this kit is definitely NOT for beginners. There's nothing wrong with it but it fights you every step of the way. Not sure I'll get this finished for 31st (pretty sure I won't) in which case I will plug on on WIP. So this is where I am.

 

 

As has been noted in other build threads there is nothing in the components to aid alignment so here you can hopefully see I have added some tabs of plasticard to help as even holding the two halves together is awkward.

 

So more progress on the cockpit...

 

 

Beautiful etched and printed instrument panel backed with 30thou plasticard, the visible white bits are touched in black before the panel is mounted in the cockpit

 

 

 

And here it is in place. Missing from the kit but added here; the bulkhead behind the driver's chair, the tray for the harness attachment and the bulkhead behind that. The lower harness belts are in place. You might also notice that I have added the fuel tank in front of the instrument panel, it will probably be invisible even with an open cockpit but I just worried that you might be able to see into that void. The harness tray is simplified, the real thing should have a bend in it and shouldn't rest on the radio.

 

 

A rotten picture, but it shows the rest of the harness added and the over paint from the tray removed from the radio. Some much has been applied to the harness and the tray to add a little visual emphasis. The harness belts are simply lengths of Tamiya tape with some wire loops to suggest a fastening mechanism. At this point the two fuselage halves are simply held together with Tammy tape, the rearmost bulkhead needs a little tweaking but otherwise we are ready to clag it all together.

 

Wish me luck! (If only real life didn't keep eating into my modelling time. Ho and indeed, hum.

 

Stay safe everyone.

[Stew Dapple]

Good luck mate  

 

You never know, you might get a sudden burst of activity, or get to the point where suddenly everything starts coming together and it gets done.

 

Cheers,

 

Stew