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This kit has been in my
possession for about 7 years. The molds have been around even
longer. Based on a recent exchange of gunfire on the Hyperscale
forums page, it appears that the kit was first marketed in the
late '60s under the name Impact. Following this, and over the
next 20 years, it was reissued under no less than 3 different
brand names, including Pyro, Lifelike, and in 1993, Lindberg.
Although this kit does show its
age with rather large ejector pin marks and a scantily dressed
cockpit, it is still a surprisingly respectable and accurately
proportioned offering. The fabric effect for the wings and
fuselage is just right, IMHO.
As I've said, this kit has been
on my shelf for more than a few years. I purchased it shortly
after finishing another Lindberg offering, the Bristol Bulldog.
Like the Gladiator, the Bulldog was a basic kit that built into
a nice model. I decided that I would dress the Gladiator up as
much as possible, and started looking for aftermarket offerings.
It took some scrounging, but I was eventually able to obtain an
Airwaves photoetch set (aw48087), which I believe is still
available. I would recommend this set for anyone building the
Lindberg Gladiator, as it definitely improves the Spartan look
of the cockpit.
Construction started in 1998 with
the photoetch pieces for the cockpit which includes seat, floor,
sidewall, rear decking, instrument panel, rudder pedals, compass
facing, control stick. Trim wheel and throttle levers. At the
time, I had relatively little experience with photoetch, and
trying to fold, position, and glue all these pieces eventually
did me in. So after a couple of days, the kit went back on the
shelf where it remained for another couple of years. In the
meantime, I was able to purchase a new Bristol Mercury resin
engine, offered by Engines and Things, and a 3-blade prop from
Aeroclub.
Flash forward to November 2002. I
am tired of looking at this kit. "Must work on it… must
work on it". This time I persevered. With the aid of
several references (see end of article), I completed assembly of
the cockpit (not without a fair amount of test fitting and mild
profanity). Parts were glued together using Tombo Mono glue, and
airbrushed using PollyScale British Interior Green. TomboMono
glue is available at craft stores and can also be purchased
online (just do a word search in Google). This glue is
advertised as a permanent, water based glue. Using the small tip
applicator, I squeezed a small amount of glue onto a scrap of
paper, and then used a toothpick to transfer a small amount onto
the back of each photoetch piece. This glue looks and behaves
like regular white glue, but dries faster. If the pieces are
joined immediately, the bond will be permanent. I like using
Tombo Mono better than gel superglue, because the bond, while
permanent, is not as rigid as superglue. So if you have glued
parts together and then accidentally drop them onto the
worktable, the bond is much less likely to shatter.
Fuselage halves were glued
together using Tamiya Liquid glue, applied with the applicator
brush. Once the glue was set, I filed along the seamline using a
small bastard file to smooth out any irregularities in the
surface. I then mixed Testors Liquid Cement with Some Tamiya
putty, until the putty was not quite a liquid, and brushed this
along the seam lines. Once this was dry, I laid down a line of
super thin superglue, also along the seam lines. This was give
about 10 minutes to dry, and sanded with progressively finer
grades of sanding film. This method does take longer, but it had
the effect of absolutely eliminating any trace of the seam line,
so much so that I could have applied a natural metal finish with
no resulting evidence of the old seam. I'm not sure why it
works, but my theory is that the thinned down putty settles
better into tiny crevices than the undiluted putty. The
superglue seals the pores in the putty, resulting in a glass
smooth surface when sanded and polished.
The wings were attended to next.
The top wing consists of three pieces (center, left and right
outside panels). Lots of putty, filing and sanding are needed to
turn out a product which looks like one continuous surface! Next
the bottom wing and wheel struts were glued onto the fuselage.
Again, substantial puttying, sanding and filing are needed to
produce smooth joins. Obliterated panel lines were rescribed.
Wing struts were glued to the bottom wing using Tamiya glue.
Once the struts were set enough to stand on their own, the top
wing was test fitted to ensure the correct alignment of the
struts. Surprising, very little adjustment was needed.
Paint was mixed next. I had
already decided to model my Gladiator as an Mk2 in Egyptian
markings, so I needed Light and Dark Earth colors. I decided
that Tamiya XF-59 (Desert Yellow) was close enough to Light
Earth for my tastes. The Dark Earth required a little
creativity. XF-49 (Khaki) served as the base, with other colors
(my apologies, one day I will scientifically mix and record my
combinations) added until the "right" color appeared.
To start the painting process, I airbrushed the bottom of the
top wing black along the wing ribbing lines. I then airbrushed
white (XF-2) over the bottom side of the wing, adding paint
until I got the desired mix of light and darker areas. The upper
side of the top wing was painted next with XF-59. Camo lines for
my Dark Earth concoction were then airbrushed freehand using my
Iwata HPb. Finally, I went back over the highlights by mixing
slightly darker shades of the base colors and airbrushing these
along the ribbing lines.
The underside of the aircraft and
lower wings were airbrushed white using the same technique as
with the underside of the top wing. After masking this off the
white areas, XF-59 was airbrushed over the topside of the bottom
wing as well as the fuselage. Dark Earth was freehand airbrushed
next to conform to the camouflage scheme. Wing and fuselage
parts were then hand brushed with several coats of Future. After
this had dried for 24 hours, artist's oils (primarily raw umber)
were thinned with lighter fluid, painted along panel lines and
then wiped away (lighter fluid contains naphtha, which
evaporates very fast, resulting in less time for the thinner to
"eat through" the Future clear coat.
The top wing was then joined to
the rest of the model. The engine, and then the engine cowling
were painted, joined together, and attached to the fuselage.
Exhaust stacks were airbrushed Modeler Master Acrylic jet
exhaust which had been mixed with black to dark it. Under wing
gun fairings were painted and attached to the bottom wing. Main
and tail wheels were painted and attached.
Decals were next. I used the
Gladiator Mk 1/II sheet available from Mike Grant Decals. This is a beautiful sheet that includes
markings for "foreign" Gladiators including Egyptian,
captured Luftwaffe, Latvian, Greek and Lithuanian. After some
deliberation, I decided on the Egyptian scheme. Decals went on
with out a problem, and snuggled down nicely with an application
of SuperSol.
Now time for the rigging. The kit
comes with preformed locator holes for rigging in the wings.
Based on what information I could obtain, it appears than these
holes are all in more or less the correct location. To rig the
aircraft, I used .009 steel piano wire, purchased from Small
Parts, Inc. Although
rigging wires in 1930's aircraft were more flat than round (thus
reducing wind resistance), I decided to go with the .009 wire
because, frankly, I thought it looked good, and I had some on
hand. This was probably the most laborious part of the whole
construction process. Using a pair of dividers, I measured the
length for each wire. I purposely overestimated length, so as
not to cut too short. Each wire was test fitted, clipped a
little, test fitted, clipped a little more, until it was the
right length. Once the correct length was obtained, a small dab
of white glue was placed in each locator whole to help secure
each piece of wire.
I haven't mentioned the canopy
and windscreen, but I decided early on that new canopy pieces
would be nice, given the thickness of the kit parts. The
windscreen kit part looked fine. Using the Heat 'n Smash method,
I created a new windscreen and rear decking canopy. These were
"painted" using strips of clear decal film which had
been airbrushed XF-59 or Dark Earth. Parts were then attached to
the fuselage using white glue. Wing tip navigation lights were
replicated with a dab of clear 5 minute epoxy, painted Tamiya
clear red or clear green after the epoxy was dry.
The final fiddly bit was the
radio antenna wire. I usually use nylon sewing thread rather
than stretched sprue, the latter being too delicate and easily
broken. I drill out a small hole in the aircraft rudder, insert
the end of the thread, apply a drop of superglue, and then pull
the thread taut and attach it to the antenna mast. This time,
however, I did something different. The technique I used is
described in an article by Lauren Blakley on the Armorma.com
website. Click here to read this article. Rather than stripping
telephone wire insulation as suggested in the article, I tried
something different to create the insulators. This consisted of
inserting a piece of stiff wire inside a piece of .08 styrene
tubing and then stretching the tubing over a flame. I then used
a sharp #11 blade, rolling it over a small section of the
tubing, until a small length of the tubing separated. This
easily slid off the wire, which also kept the tubing from being
crushed by the pressure of the knife blade. The insulator tubing
was then placed on a piece of Poster Tack stuck to the end of a
toothpick, for easier handling (I hate trying to handle small
fiddly bits with tweezers. They inevitably spring off and are
lost forever).
One loop was attached to the tail
post, pulled snug and glued. The same procedure was followed for
the antenna mast. This method is really easy once you get the
hang of it and makes it simple to get a taut wire without having
to resort to heating the thread.
Well, seven years later, the
project is done. I'm pleased with the way it turned out,
especially considering the age of the kit. I'll have admit,
though, the next Gladiator I build will probably be the new
Roden kit, not the venerable Impact/Pyro/Lifelike/Lindberg
offering!
References
1. Peczowski, Belcarz, Monografie
Lotnicze #24: Gloster Gladiator
2. Argus Press, Aircraft Archive Volume 1
3. J8
Gloster Gladiator in the Swedish Air Force
(website)
4. The
Battle of Britain History Site
(website - image)
5. Armorama.com
(website - Quick Tip)
6. Small
Parts Inc.
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