Gloster Gauntlet 56 Squadron

[galgos]

I look forward to seeing your build, you’re a brave man, et bon chance! 

[galgos]

Not glued but just placed for trial fit:

 

 

In order to get the gap that exists on the real Gauntlet:

 

 

but get some sturdiness in the tailplane structure I drilled through the forward securing point and inserted brass tube, ditto for the elevator pivot rod:

 

 

 

[Brandy]

What a lovely build, glad I found it! I do agree though that the panel highlights are a little too much, but still at the edge of acceptable.

 

Ian

[galgos]

Thanks Ian, I’m still undecided about the panel weathering though I have to say it doesn’t look quite so “extreme” in the flesh! I’m away for a few days and will make up my mind later before moving on. 

[galgos]

Been a while (busy on the golf courses!) but it's finally time to address the elephant in the room.....the engine and its exhaust ports!  You'll remember the Silver Wings ones were too short and didn't quite reach the collector ring so I cut them off.  Since then I've given shed loads of thought and several "experiments" with different materials  including wire, resin, plastic and brass tube in order to solve the best way of replicating the distinctive appearance of the Gauntlet nose:

 

 

I finally settled on 1.6mm plastic rod, having first fixed the engine in its position in the engine cowling.  Only by firstly doing this could I determine the length of each piece of rod, it worked out at approximately 4.5mm, but it did vary slightly.  18 of these were required, final result isn't perfect but looks ok to my (only slightly jaundiced) eyes!

 

 

All that remained then was the tripod arrangement in 3 positions around the engine/cowling:

 

 

It all looks quite business-like, I'm looking forward to getting this onto the front end of the fuselage, hopefully on Wednesday.

[bigbadbadge]

Nice work on that engine Max  looks lovely. All coming together now. Fuselage looks great.

Chris

[galgos]

Thanks Chris, I’m relieved that the engine has worked out (reasonably) well. I’ve got a few “free” days shortly when I hope to move the Gauntlet on, though I’m still waiting on the struts from Silver Wings…..they are in the post but apparently still in Poland according to the tracker. 

[galgos]

Although it looked "OK", I wasn't 100% happy with the engine/cowling unit, so I "deconstructed" it!! One of the inherent problems with the assembly is that the outer circumference of the engine block over the cylinder heads is smaller than the inner circumference of the cowling......there's an awkward gap!  To fix the exhaust port pipes a couple of days ago I put lumps of Blu-Tak behind the cylinder heads to hold it all steady, but today I decided to take it all to pieces and start again.  

 

A couple of reason for this:  firstly I'd glued the oil drain unit back to front (no guidance on this in the instructions) but the front end should look like this:

 

 

Then studying the few available front end pictures I decided the supporting "tripod" arrangement was wrong, the rear two stays needed to be further back on the engine block and the front stays vertical rather than angled forward (as seen on Gladiators):

 

 

And finally I think I can make a better job of the pipes now that I know what I'm doing!  "Progress" today, amended tripods and drain sump:

 

 

The "backside" with that gap!  I mixed up some epoxy and whacked it in the spaces, though the tripods also served their purpose in securing the engine to the cowling:

 

 

Letting the epoxy dry supported by some sanding blocks:

 

 

Looking for good pictures never stops, they're getting harder to find but one or two excellent ones here:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Lovely job on the reconstruction Max, looking good.  Looking forward to seeing the exhaust pipes in place too.

Chris

[IPMS19]

- Very often, in this radial configuration,the cylinders heads are problematic, either shorter or longer to fit the cowling, that's why I will use the Gladiator assembly for my Gauntlet to come. as my research are progressing, I discover one problem succeeding to another , the last ones are the bulges on the inside of the main wheels receiving the masts and axe, and those on the fuselage behind the gun channels. I think of some milliput work but not decided yet.

 

[galgos]

2 hours ago, IPMS19 said:

- Very often, in this radial configuration,the cylinders heads are problematic, either shorter or longer to fit the cowling, that's why I will use the Gladiator assembly for my Gauntlet to come. as my research are progressing, I discover one problem succeeding to another , the last ones are the bulges on the inside of the main wheels receiving the masts and axe, and those on the fuselage behind the gun channels. I think of some milliput work but not decided yet.

 

True, I had exactly the same problems with my Anson, with the same solution…..BluTak! 

[galgos]

Now here's a thing, some might say, of beauty!   Second iteration of the engine completed and the prop plus spinner finished in Bare Metal Foil:

 

 

I couldn't resist temporarily putting the engine unit onto the fuselage, not even correctly orientated but you get the drift.

 

 

Hoping to do the empennage tomorrow but getting worried about the replacement struts, still seemingly languishing in the Polish postal system....been a week now!

[IPMS19]

- I particularly appréciate  the very nice metal finish, the yellowish hue may be caused by the lighting.

- For my own, I bought a metal Gladiator wing mast set, to add to the kit own, from BNA in Germany.......Still not delivered  yet from mid september......

[galgos]

The yellowish hue on the metal fuselage parts may be in part due to the low evening sun, but it’s also the MRP anodized aluminium paint colour. 

[IPMS19]

43 minutes ago, galgos said:

The yellowish hue on the metal fuselage parts may be in part due to the low evening sun, but it’s also the MRP anodized aluminium paint colour. 

- The sun set of the end of summer sun is mercyless

[Alpha Juliet]

Good morning - your build is coming on a treat!

 

I like the support frame you are using - where could I get one from?

 

Thanks and keep up the good work!

 

Adrian

 

 

[galgos]

Thank you Adrian, it’s from a company called Vertigo. https://www.vertigo-miniatures.com/  The jigs are excellent, highly recommended but the delivery and comms are not the best, so be patient! 

[galgos]

The empennage is just about done, a few delicate bits to be added later:

 

 

I decided not to include any form of turnbuckle, not strictly accurate I know but nothing that I had seemed to be quite right, and they're not very obvious:

 

 

I was studying this wonderful shot and noticed the wheel/axle area, it appears that the bulged hub is once again shiny metal:

 

 

so that's what I've gone for.....little more glitz is never a bad thing!  Hoping to get her up on her legs today, and I've drilled out the tailwheel leg and added a metal insert, so easily knocked off especially in resin! 

 

 

 

 

 

[galgos]

 

 

[bigbadbadge]

Engine and empenage looks wonderful especially mounted on the fuselage.  With regard to the turnbuckles,  with the smaller indescrete ones like on the tailplane, I sometimes use stretched plastic cotton bud tubes which when stretched enough can be very handy for this sort of thing. If you can find any these days!!!

 

Great work 

Chris

[IPMS19]

- Great inspiring work....

[galgos]

Been back from Spain for nearly a week but accompanied by a really rotten cold which has laid me low!  😩

 

But today I'm back on the Gauntlet's case.  Whilst I was away the replacement struts arrived....thank you Simon, so I've been doing a little prep with the interplane struts.  SW mould the struts with steel wire cores running through them, see below, they are over length and I suppose ready to cut to act as locating stubs into the wings.  The problem that I find is that the steel is damned hard to cut, with an accompanied risk of damaging the strut whilst trying to do it, so my technique is to pull them out completely.  At this stage I can clean up the ends of the struts with a swipe or two of a sanding stick, then I replace the steel core with a brass one at each end, so not full length.  The brass cuts more easily once pushed into place, and then can be adjusted for depth with slight pressure on the end.  Simple but effective:

 

 

 

[IPMS19]

-The difference with the Spanish heat is deadly, I see you are better now.

-It seems the metal core is not glued inside the resin, I met this problem in the past but I never tried this solution which look rather easy to do by fear of breaking the part

- For small damages to the resin even to fill a slot or else I use a drop of cyano peppered with resin powder,you get an immediate stone hard kind of putty. just take in account the far harder material obtained than the surroundind resin part for sanding.

[galgos]

1 hour ago, IPMS19 said:

-The difference with the Spanish heat is deadly, I see you are better now.

-It seems the metal core is not glued inside the resin, I met this problem in the past but I never tried this solution which look rather easy to do by fear of breaking the part

- For small damages to the resin even to fill a slot or else I use a drop of cyano peppered with resin powder,you get an immediate stone hard kind of putty. just take in account the far harder material obtained than the surroundind resin part for sanding.

I checked with Simon at Silver Wings, the metal core is there to add strength to the part but I don't think it's really needed.....locating the strut though is another matter!  Thanks for the filler tip, could be very useful. 🙂

 

I have a package of (I hope) useful bits for your planned Gauntlet J M, in the post either later today or tomorrow.

[galgos]

More prep work on the interplane struts.  As this photo shows:

 

 

the rigging lines between the for'd and aft struts go through the lower parts of the struts themselves, so that needs a bit of thought followed by some precise and delicate drilling:

 

 

Getting the rigging lines in place is going to be fiddly, I'll probably use stretched sprue or wire rather than elastic.  This also means of course having to sort out the orientation of the struts at this point, which are the ones near the leading edge etc so that the holes are drilled in the correct place.