Mass Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 (edited) G'day all I've stuck my hand up for the Gladiator to Gauntlet conversion and when I get the article I'll have more of an idea how much pain I've let myself in for. In the meantime, here's the donor plastic. I picked it up about 4 months ago for A$7 [about £0.002 by the time the aussie peso stops falling] and it is a basic sort of a kit, not too much inside the cardboard at all. In fact, one of the stand outs is that the new Hornby boxes are very robust - tells you what the rest of the kit is like Plastic highlights? Have to be the phenomenal ejector pin markings on the wing surfaces, moulded in pilot head [yes, same as the old Testors kits] and panel lines made by the Matchbox engraver. The decal sheet looks OK, but it is one of the dreaded Mission Impossible brown backed ones [self destructs when used] so hopefully I wont use it. Once I get more info I'll work out which markings I'll aim for, the Danish one may be a goer if I can get the colours sorted out or I may go for the Finn one pictured below, but to my eyes it does not quite look right. In any event, this should be great fun - cheap kit, no tears over wrecking a plastic masterpiece, and back to basics modelling. Bring it on. Ciao Mass {Guess who can't spell?} Edited February 25, 2009 by Mass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted February 25, 2009 Share Posted February 25, 2009 I'd go for the latter but only on the basis that i love Sibelius! Aesthetically speaking i would have to agree though Mass don't worry - the sterling is anything but that these days- but is just about holding it's own against the Zimbabwean Dollar isn't the gaunlet a georgeous looking kite good luck with the project Mass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mass Posted February 26, 2009 Author Share Posted February 26, 2009 (edited) G'day all Got the article plus a profile that appeared in the mag with the conversion [big thanks John] and now I have an idea of whats going on. First up, the Finn version is out (sorry Walrus) becasue the cowling does not match that in the article. As you can see from the side profile here the Townend ring is much thinner, hiding a Mecury VIS2 engine, so I am not sure what donk is under the Finns hood but given what they did to MS406s, Brewster Buffaloes and the ilk it could be anything at all. So it looks like the Danish version, however Mr Bowyer's profile article mentions that at the time of the Munich crisis all Gauntlets adopted the dk green / dk earth topside colours, black & white undersides and red and blue low viz roundels. This is tempting . We'll see. Unfortunately I'll have to depart from Mr Hall's article in one respect if I may. For the undercart and the interplane struts he used spare Hawker Hart parts; I don't have these handy so I will have to scratch build them. The first thing to do is to carve out a new fuselage from balsa , and then from there a talc and dope filler to seal and finish. I guess this gets rid of the worst aspect of the Airfix kit I have - the trenches on the fuselage and the disembodied head in the sealed over cockpit. He states that the best glue to use to mate balsa and polystrene is good old balsa cement, this is going to be a new experience (and I hope less dangerous to me than super glue - yes, I thank my lucky stars at least once a year for my trust old bottle of acetone). The article also implies brush painting rather than spray (and given it was written in 1964 that's probably the way it was) so more old skills to be dredged up metinks. OK, enough blab, I'm off to the hobby store this weekend to get my balsa, dope and balsa glue and then we hit the board. Ciao Mass Edited February 26, 2009 by Mass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mass Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 (edited) G'day all Some progress to report, as I have started on the fuselage carving. I chose the balsa to work with as it is a softer wood, if I was a bit more confident I think I would have gone for the obechi Mr Hall gives as a harder wood alternate. The balsa cuts easily with a #11 blade going with the grain, but cross grain it has a horrible habit of actually pulling fibres out rather than cutting. Razor saw is a bit better. Anyway, I have gone from this: through this to this and now all I need to do is mark on the plan profile and cut away and I will (nearly) have the fuselage ready for profiling. It's only taken one hour to get this far and I have lost some of the jitters as balsa is so cheap - the small plank I bought for A$10 has enough in it for about 15 fuselages this size, so an error will not cost much $$ wise. Won't be making too much progress in next few days, work etc taking up time. Ciao Mass [still can't spell] Edited February 28, 2009 by Mass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousA667 Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Great progress! Wooden fuselage, proposed scratch built undercarriage, that's true spirit of Alan Hall! I hope you enjoy the build and if you want to spray the silver paint I don't think we would have a problem with that. peebeep Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnonymousFO98 Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Inspirational Mass liking this a lot don't worry the Danish Gauntlet looks very good too maybe i need to listen to Neilson instead when i follow your build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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