1/72 Special Hobby CC&F Goblin

[Richard Tucker]

I got this on offer from Special Hobby direct last year and thought it was perfect for this GB.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think I'll do the one with the full canopy. It looks a little less like an ugly duckling.

 

The Canadian Car & Foundry Company acquired a manufacturing license for the Grumman G-23, and improved FF-1, of which it completed a total of 52, some of which were assembled from US-built components.  Although initially rejected as a fighter by the RCAF as outdated and too slow, with the advent of war, the last 15 of the CC&F production batch were taken on strength as the Goblin I.  The aircraft type served with the RCAF from 17 September 1940 until 21 April 1942.  "A" Flight of No. 118 RCAF Squadron was equipped with Goblins at Rockcliffe in Ottawa, and subsequently became No. 118 (Fighter) Squadron, later stationed at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia where the Goblins for a time constituted the sole fighter force on the east coast. 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Id agree its a unique and different option. 

[dogsbody]

Ooh! I'll be following this build. 

 

I've got one of those kits in the stash, plus an older MPM FF1/Goblin kit.

 

I grew up an hours drive from Dartmouth, so some Nova Scotian aviation history is always welcomed.

 

 

 

 

Chris

[dogsbody]

Some of my Goblin pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chris

[Robin-42]

I have it in the stash too, I had forgotten how ugly it is from every angle!

[zebra]

An interesting choice, great to see this in the GB. 

On 7/9/2022 at 12:58 PM, Robin-42 said:

I had forgotten how ugly it is from every angle!

I'd call it "distinctive"!

[Richard Tucker]

I've begun with the internals. This really is a plane on its mother could love....

 

I've used some of the ModelAir Aluminium. It isn't quite as good as the AK XTreme Metal. On the other hand, it doesn't smell and need bad chemicals to clean everything so it is perfect for the cockput colours.

 

 

The PE was quite well behaved. It needed painting though.

 

I didn't think the wheel well internals werre very good. The fit isn't great and I think it is a little small.

 

 

 

 

[Richard Tucker]

Real life has got in the way of updating BritModeller but I've been making slow and steady progress on the Goblin. Here are all the updates in one big long message

 

 

The fuselage went together ok. I had to do a bit of sanding but I've been pretty successful in getting rid of the joins on the fuselage. The lower wing as a decent fit but the 2 tail planes were not and needed trimming.

 

 

The skids were a fiddle to attach and then I lost one somewhere so I ended up making one from some putty.

 

Once I had done more sanding and priming, I then set about the 5 camo colours on the plane.

 

 

White first, Then Sky Type S, then Black. All on the underside. I'm going to paint the whole thing, decal the plane and then attach the top wing. 

 

 

Having done the 3 underside colours, next with was the turn of the Dark Earth and Green.

 

 

It wasn't exactly clear from the instructions which cowling to use. I pained both and then one fitted the resin engine better so that is the one I've used. The attachment for the engine and the exhausts behind it was a fiddle and needed some CA and hope to get it in place, square and centred.

 

 

The decals were no bother at all and reacted well to the Microsol and Microset.

 

 

The canopy was full length and had you cut off 90% of it for most of the schemes in the box. This was a high stress moment, but it was successful.

 

Next up was the struts and rigging. There are only faint marks on the wings for locating the struts. I thought this would be a challenge but having glued in the lower struts, I found that when I placed the wing on top, it was flat and all struts made contact with the top wing.

 

 

 

The undercarriage was not very good at all. I've recently built the newish tool Airfix Wildcat and that shows how to do complex undercarriage. The Goblin's struts were not good and didn't fit well into the strange, badly fitting wheel well.

 

 

The struts on the plane needed repainting. This was them before I painted them.

 

Most of the masking worked well.

 

 

The central white / black line was the worst.

 

Nearly done now!

 

 

I added the final bits and pieces including the PE bits on the top of the wing. I expect they will get broken off if a fly farts near them.

 

 

I noticed that one was wonky so this was fixed. Once again, the tail plane struts were in need of a touch-up so they got that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Richard Tucker]

Here is the completed plane. It already needs a dust

 

 

 

 

[81-er]

That's a really nice model there, Richard, well done!

 

James

[zebra]

Very nice! You've made short work of what sounds like a tricky kit, and it looks great, well done.

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

On 8/19/2022 at 8:05 AM, Richard Tucker said:

The undercarriage was not very good at all. I've recently built the newish tool Airfix Wildcat and that shows how to do complex undercarriage. The Goblin's struts were not good and didn't fit well into the strange, badly fitting wheel well.

Thats turned quite nice, do you think you could use an Airfix undercarriage in place of it ? I ask because Id like to build one of these someday and have spare Martlet/wildcats. 

Edited August 22, 2022 by Corsairfoxfouruncle

[John Masters]

Excellent biplane and a distinctive design and era.  It’s a nice change from all the jets and ground vehicles.

[Richard Tucker]

On 8/22/2022 at 1:20 PM, Corsairfoxfouruncle said:

o you think you could use an Airfix undercarriage in place of it ?

The Wildcat undercarriage is a bit different but I reckon with a bit of effort you could. The worst bit about the Special Hobby undercarriage is the 2 arms from the lower part of the wheel well. They don't help align anything.

[Grandboof]

Just caught the mega update . Great result 

Martin H