joeg Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 This was really a nice build and though the Gladiator is certainly not my favourite biplane - I much more prefer the Gauntlet - as soon as I had purchased it in December I had to start with it. I nearly - apart from some small additions including strenghening of the undercarriage and adding more dihedral to the lower wing - as I had for both the concern of being too weak and sagging after completion - built it out of the box. The sutton harness was DIY as are the cockpit hatches, the starter crank and the rigging. Here pre-stretched clear plastic strips from old school binders came to use as they perfectly straighten after fixing when a heat source is placed nearby for a second time. As I love silver wings and was relieved that all metal panels were painted aluminium with the Gladiator I chose K6130 - the second production aircraft as it flew with 72 Sqn. This was the Flight Commanders (A-Flight?) aircraft, hence the red tail sections. The wing guns were intentionally omissed as my referrence foto showed them not to be installed at least during the foto-session. I might add the note that the exhaust collector ring was painted with several layers of silver, burnt iron and Klear in succession, including some patches of clear blue to give the impression of that heat resistant steel. Panel lines and main part of weathering were made primarily with a Faber Castell PITT artist Pen No. 117 walnut brown. Except small stencils no decals were used. Humbroln MET191 was used for the silver dope.Enjoy Cheers Joachim 11 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harv Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Wow. She is beautiful!. Love it.....harv 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biggtim Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 Like I said, Joachim, that is fantastic!! Probably the best one of those I've seen built so far! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeg Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 Thanks Tim 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bomber_County Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Absolutely stunning, the weathering is sublime congratulations on a great build.... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Great build and finish, it looks "real" to me just the right amount of weathering, used but not abused. Cheers Dennis 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocRob Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 Like you, I had not much love for the Gladiator, but then I saw yours. The way you painted and weathered the surfaces looks amazingly right, love the tone of the silver doped surfaces. When you look for the other materials depicted, they look equally convincing like the wheels and cowling. The rigging (I try to avoid flat rigging wherever possible) is a beautiful addition for the eye. You may not convinced me to buy one, but I had a lot of fun watching yours . Cheers Rob 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Clunkmeister Posted July 18, 2020 Administrators Share Posted July 18, 2020 Yessssss! Absolutely believable and perfect weathering as well! Brilliant work! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HubertB Posted July 18, 2020 Share Posted July 18, 2020 Not a fan of the Gladiator myself either, but your build could just make me change my mind Hubert 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martinnfb Posted July 20, 2020 Share Posted July 20, 2020 Very inspiring, clean and crisp. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now