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Grumman Gosling /Widgeon


rob Lyttle

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I'm going to have to take my time working out the painting process on the DHC-6, so rather than sitting watching paint dry I'll have some fun with this..... 

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My Airfix book puts it at 1958, and indeed the kit content is appropriately simple. I guess it was originally a Series 1 kit in a poly bag. 

I picked up some prop-liner books some time ago on a recommendation, to help and inspire with a few civil builds. One is the Osprey publication "Caribbean Props", and it features a nice set of pictures of a Grumman flying-boat in action.... 

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Well, it turns out that the plane pictured is in fact a Grumman Mallard, clearly a bigger and later (post war?...) development of the Gosling. 

But it gives me some idea of what could be done with the little kit. 

The Gosling has smaller engines, inverted in-line pretty much in the style of a DH Gipsy engine. 

While the US Coast Guard scheme is good looking and close enough to a civil option for me, I was pondering the possibility of using the decals left over from the DHC-6 Twin Otter - the Canadian West Coast Air decor - as a what-if..... 🤔

Anyway, got to build it first. 

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Outstanding choice of subject! :thumbsup:

 

Here is a crop from a Grumman ad in the Dec'45 issue of Field & Stream showing a standard scheme

Grumman-Print-Ad-crop-smaller.jpg

 

You can see full color examples in this Widgeon photo thread http://theflyingboatforum.forumlaunch.net/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=94&start=80#p7007; the thread is in a Widgeon sub-forum.

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Nice choice. I have a type 3 red stripe baggie of this one (sans decals) with a cracked windscreen that I got from eBay in about 2001 that I daren't start, so look forward to yours. There’s a very nice Portuguese example in their maritime museum in Lisbon if you can be tempted. I’m sure I could donate some Frog Shark spare decals... Anyway I’ll enjoy seeing whatever you do with it!

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

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Nice to see one of these on the go . Watch the locating lugs for the engines . I cut mine off and butt fitted to get a fit . Old Model Decals in NZ do a few civil schemes if that helps 

Martin H

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On 10/09/2021 at 12:17, Grandboof said:

Old Model Decals in NZ do a few civil schemes if that helps 

Thanks for the advice, Martin Grandboof, yes all the location fittings are a bit dubious on this. 

The notion of spending out on a Decal sheet and postage from the other side of the earth for this little critter is a nonstarter though. Getting the 26decals option for the Twin Otter Scillies Skybus is more than enough for me in the way of extras. 

The transparencies aren't so good.... 

IMG_20210916_222358

The front windscreen at the top there is clear, but it's too small for the opening. The side windows are like the bottoms of beer bottles. 

I'm going to try to glaze the front some other way. So far I've installed pillars. 

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The flaps are coming out with a view to some deployment. 

Also relieved the rudder for some movement, the trim tab will go back on maybe with a bit of deflection. 

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And other than that, the puny wee pilot is getting an arm and a better head with a baseball cap.... We'll see how that goes. 

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On 09/09/2021 at 23:49, AdrianMF said:

baggie of this one (sans decals) with a cracked windscreen that I got from eBay

You're very welcome to this one Adrian if you want it, but I expect it will be too small to fit your kit as well. Unless you want to play with the fuselage opening somehow. I'm thinking of glazing the side windows with Kristal Kleer, instead of the kit parts. 

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Well, a little bit of spare time resulted in a some plastic bashing and I have the basics of an airframe. 

IMG_20210917_172805

 

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Nothing was a perfect fit and the location pins were messing things up, as expected. They had to go, and those on the nacelles will as well. 

The pilot got a better seat position before closing the fuselage, and looks about the right position through the windows. 

IMG_20210916_234042

 

For the flaps, I slid the top piece forward a couple of mm, filled the te gaps with ppp and honed them down to level surfaces again. This meant the front edge on the top of each flap could be rounded off somewhat to meet with the wings. The marked lines moulded to indicate the ailerons etc were not a great match top and bottom, but it's expected on an old kit like this.

IMG_20210917_183626

There's evidence of my endeavours with the port cowling /nacelle in the picture..... I'll tell you about that next time 😎

Edited by rob Lyttle
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Dang, you're certainly having to work for this one! :worthy:

 

34 minutes ago, rob Lyttle said:

There's evidence of my endeavours with the port cowling /nacelle in the picture

😱

 

28 minutes ago, CliffB said:

I've heard that this kit has a bit of a "reputation". 

Reputation or criminal record?

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The Mallard seems to have been a post war sort of "half way" development between the Goose and the much larger Albatross. It was a turbo conversion of a Mallard belonging to Chalks Ocean Airways that crashed in 2005 taking off from Miami to Bimini in the Bahamas when the wing came off due to fatigue. As I have a bit of a thing about flying boats I have almost bought this kit several times with a view to building it as a FAA Gosling aka Widgeon, but decided that it was not likely to be worth the trouble - but good luck to you anyway.

 

Pete

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If you spend your modelling time as an assembler of kits like Tamiya, then you'll struggle to come to terms with this'un..... 😇

The engine cowlings, it turned out, were a bit narrow when the sides were glued together. That's in comparison to the nacelle shape moulded on the wing panels. 

So it was either file away at the nacelles to reduce them to match the cowlings, or widen the cowlings to match the nacelles...... 🤔

I reckoned they could benefit from the best part of 1mm extra so I cut the cowlings apart before they set properly and sandwiched a piece of 1mm stock between. A couple of dry fittings suggested I was on the right track with just a bit of honing and cleaning. So the glue was applied..... 

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The second one is in the process. 

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😎

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4 minutes ago, PeterB said:

I have almost bought this kit several times with a view to building it as a FAA Gosling aka Widgeon, but decided that it was not likely to be worth the trouble

So sorry @Peter B.... That "clash of posts " reads like I'm having a go at suggesting you're a kit assembler, or something. Nothing of the kind is intended. Just an unfortunate mix of you posting while I was writing about the engines and the kit's criminal record!! 

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Right on all counts @Tentacles🙄

As for trying fixes, I had a go at the front windscreen 😱

The kit piece was u/s as already described so I resorted to making it. 

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A central glazing bar had already been installed so the idea was two pieces with enough bend to reach the little pillars inserted in the sides. 

Dang,, to quote @dnl42........

I wouldn't want to make a habit of that! 

Here's the 2nd one bent and being shaped while still on a handle. 

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It's not a brilliant result but it's done and in, and I ain't going back there to have another go. 

The floats are on as well, with new legs made of strip instead of the round sticks in the kit. The same with the tailplane struts. 

IMG_20210918_000800

 

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A quick update on the little Grumman...

Some paint is applied, matt white thinned enamel for everything except the underneath surface of the Hull. Then some blue. 

IMG_20210922_202459

 

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That windscreen isn't going to win any prizes, other than the "For dogged determination in the Face of Adversity" award. 

The kit propellers are no good. 

IMG_20210922_202606

Fortunately I have a couple of spinners going spare from a Special Hobby Lockheed Twin that look presentable. 

The engine fronts were in a bit of a state after installing the 1mm spacers, but I drilled them out to take some styrene tube, and then the spinners are mounted on Ali tube shafts that are a nice fit in the tubes.. 

I'm wondering about posing this on a base very much like the box art, with a cotton wool spray.

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I like the look of the wheels retracted, and with the flaps deployed it would suit a take-off or landing pose. In which case props are not needed. I could make clear prop discs, but I'm looking at the spinners just pushed into position and thinking that gives the appearance OK. 🤔

Obvs the wing floats both got broken off early in the painting process but I'll give it another go. 

And I got a couple of side windows done in Kristal Klear and they look alright so I'll press on with the rest of them 

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On 9/9/2021 at 11:49 PM, AdrianMF said:

 with a cracked windscreen that I got from eBay in about 2001 that I daren't start, 

 

Regards,

Adrian

 

Come come Adrian, what kind of talk is that, 'tis but a trifle for a man of your proclivities and madness to scrap everything but the wing floats and reverse engineer everything else to perfection, you know you want to.

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3 hours ago, spaddad said:

what kind of talk is that

I think this kit may be approaching DH-88 Comet levels of rubbishness, so kudos to Rob for wrestling something out of it!

 

3 hours ago, rob Lyttle said:

I'm wondering about posing this on a base very much like the box art, with a cotton wool spray.

Sounds like a brilliant way to go.

 

Regards,

Adrian

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How about we do a kind of Pass the Parcel project, so we do a bit and then pass it on to the next builder.... ⁉️😇

 

I've always made a point of avoiding the Airfix Comet and the S6B, but I managed to beat the Airfix Hudson Into an L14 Super Electra 

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Great work Rob, wrangling your way to a good result. Always my favourite watching these old kits getting beaten into shape. Will the props spin so you can use a hair dryer for the photo opportunity? Just don't blow the cotton wool away. 😀

 

Ray

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1 hour ago, Ray_W said:

Will the props spin so you can use a hair dryer for the photo opportunity?

Funny enough I usually like to have free spinning props and I'm in habit of using metal tubes, Ali or brass, with the smaller dia tube or rod in the prop /spinner sliding neatly into the bigger dia tube bearing in the engine. But not on this. I'm either going with clear prop discs or just the bare spinners for the Action look. 

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