Roden 1:48th Gladiator- FINISHED

[delta7]

this will be my next project .... should be interesting , and slow , as Iv never rigged a biplane before and the parts are really small

I have bought the eduards etch, which is also tiny and some tools to help

Edited July 28, 2011 by delta7

[HOUSTON]

Delta7

I quite like the Gladiator and this is going to be a good build for sure

HOUSTON

[delta7]

small update

I have built the engine and cowels, but had major problems with the exhausts onto the cowel, these are individual pieces, 2 per cylinder and happily ping apart when you try to inset the engine into the cowel-

Im going to feed them in from the front and glue them in place that way

the cockpit walls have had the eduard etch added - to show how small everything is Iv added in the ruler

Edited June 10, 2011 by delta7

[delta7]

cockpit completed- had to do a lot of fettling to get the instrument panel to fit, added a bit of spare spuce at the back to give it some strength

Edited June 15, 2011 by delta7

[Col.]

Fine work in the cockpit Delta7. This kit also lurks in my stash so will watch your progress with interest and steal all your tips for future reference

[Nik W]

Great work so far!

Will be following this one closely as some day (after a major thinning of the stash to be fair) I'd planned to build Faith, Hope and Charity.

Looks to be a lovely kit, keep up the good work!

[delta7]

Thank you guys-

I am trying to follow the advice given here

http://modelingmadness.com/reviews/allies/gb/cleaverglad.htm

http://www.kitreview.com/kitreviews/gladia...ireviewbg_1.htm

The major problem with the kit os lack of location points so fitting is tricky, a case of dry fitting repeatidly until happy

I would say that the eduard etch is a worth while investment as some kit parts are poor and some are oversize

In order to get the cockpit floor to fit I glued the etch to the reverse side of the kit part, it was meant to replace, and this gave better fixing points-

one tip- the floor fits above the horizontal spar and care has to be taken with the etch parts on the side walls so that they dont interfere with the locating points. you can see in the pics above that I had to cut one leg off the left hand side as it interfered with the wheel

I have joined the halves together

and to help I made locating tabs from scrap plastic sheet, the white one is more visable in the picture , there were 2 on the lower fuselague, one at the rear and one in the front, these were painted green to match the pit but arnt visable anyway

Edited June 15, 2011 by delta7

[Silver Fox]

I too have one in my stash but the very things you have had issues with me have put me off starting it. Thanks for the inspiration it may well move up the to to list.

[tonyot]

Looking good so far, having just built one of these (which is in the Ready For Inspection section) I`d advise you to check the fuselage sides to see if they are sunden in where the interior side wall detail has sunk through and watch the struts as they are very soft and prone to breaking, especially the cabane struts on the fuselage which I`d replace with brass rod. The holes for the struts would also benefit from being drilled out a bit more.

If you are doing a Sea Gladiator check your references too, to be sure which type it is. True Sea Gladiators were serialled N55xx and had a recessed arrester hook housing which you`ll have to fabricate whereas Interim Sea Gladiators were serialled N22xx and N23xx and had an external arrestor hook. The hook in the kit is rubbish and will need replacing with an Aeroclub item.

All the best

Tony O

Edited June 15, 2011 by tonyot

[andy hood]

Very nice work so far!

[delta7]

some more today, filled and sanded the bottom join ( I use halfords filler) added some external etch and the lower wings and tail section, opened up some holes for struts

main asemblies were a nice fit with very little gap

I have futured the canopy and will mask and add that soon then give everything a undercoat of halfords finest grey

@tonyot - that is a great plane you have done and something I hope to be able to do sometime, my skills are still a bit basic and Im going to take easy options, so I wont bother too much about the tail hook, the eduard etch set has parts to spruce it up but it will sit external.

There are sink marks, I hadnt spotted them until you pointed them out and some mold marks but I hope the paint will cover these

[bigbadbadge]

Looking good, built a Mk1 Gladiator some time ago with the eduard bits, very enjoyable build and went together well Rigging not too bad either, keep up the good work.

All the best

Chris

[tonyot]

To be honest you would be better off filling in the sunken mould lines on the fuselage as they show up through the paint and I wish I had done that on mine! Why not brush on some paint now to see if you can live with the sink marks if you are not sure about filling them first? Glad you liked my model too by the way but I`m sure yours will be just as good if not better,

All the best

Tony O

[delta7]

After looking at various options for rigging I orderd up some " Bobs buckles" so after priming the kit I have been drilling and fitting these

The rigging line will be superglued to these, excellent service by Bob !!!

it is slow going as my eyes can only take so long working with such small parts before I need to take a break

The lines on the fuselague caused by the mold arnt so noticable after the primer so Im going to leave filling these, I think I would do more harm to the fine detail than I would gain

Edited June 25, 2011 by delta7

[HOUSTON]

delta7

MY you have come a long way since I last came here..

Great leaps and bounds as this comes along nicely and IT IS LOOKING pretty awesome.

[jimbuna]

Coming along nicely.

[delta7]

The struts are on and paint done

top wing on to show how she will look, not glued yet

I need to varnish it and do some minor touches then Ill fit the top wing , I plan to tape the top wing , upsidedown to my cutting board and then lower the kit onto it to help with alignment. All the location holes have been widened to help. Then rigging.

Edited July 6, 2011 by delta7

[Killingholme]

Looks good especially the cockpit with all the etch.

Is the 'shadow' scheme 'upside down' though? I thought the darker colours went on the upper wing the lighter on the lower?

Will

[delta7]

DOH

you are right - it should be extra dark sea grey on top ( which it is ) and dark sea grey on the bottom , I have checked and I used the wrong bottle for the base. I will redo this in a lighter shade

thanks for spotting this

[Killingholme]

DOH

you are right - it should be extra dark sea grey on top ( which it is ) and dark sea grey on the bottom , I have checked and I used the wrong bottle for the base. I will redo this in a lighter shade

thanks for spotting this

No probs. I work mainly in artificial light, and I find the swatches on the tops of pots of EDSG, DSG, etc etc all look exactly the same...

Will

[delta7]

AAAAARGGGGGHHH

tried to apply decals but these are a POS :wall: they crumbled as soon as they came off the backing paper..... trying to source some more aftermarket stuff.

she-who-must-be-obayed is already Gathering her brows like gathering storm,Nursing her wrath to keep it warm, with the amount Iv spent this month so Ill need to keep low and try to get to the postman before she does

Edited July 11, 2011 by delta7

[Richard B.]

I had the same problem.

I ordered 1/48 decals from Iliad Design.

BTW - the Lindberg 1/48 Gladiator is pretty good. Not as refined as Roden's but good value. I believe Lindberg's is still available.

[delta7]

decals have been sourced and should be here next week, in the meantime I driled out the exhaust ports on the cylinders and fitted the pipes, fitted various other pieces and repainted the lower wing

the upper wing isnt glued on yet its just placed for show

Edited July 13, 2011 by delta7

[delta7]

back on track - top wing fixed and decals arived today

only problem is that the colour scheme calls for black/white on undersides but I think Im just going to ignore this and stick with the light grey

Edited July 18, 2011 by delta7

[delta7]

rigging

my setup = coffee is a necessity

put a touch of glue on a buckle and attatch one end of the line

turn upside down and repeat on opposite end, let to set then trim ends

involves much tweezering and footering and shouting but it works

Edited July 21, 2011 by delta7