I want to make a 1/72-scale airplane plastic model for the first time in a while. This Gladiator is a biplane. In the past, when I bought several kits at a local model shop, I was told that I could take two of the small plastic models in the box and choose them. I was told that I had quiet tastes.
To Airfix’s credit, I heard the new gladiator kit is pretty good. There are a lot of steps and burrs. I wonder if it is a kit of one or two generations before a recent kit.
A part of the propeller is melting…
I don’t know how the essential parts fit anymore. The main wing and fuselage are glued together with a clamp.
It is shocking. The mold is reproduced only from the chest of the pilot.
It isn’t easy to attach the upper wing to the body. The new kit seems to improve on this.
(2020/10/27)
A strange hole in the lower part of the body is probably the hole to be inserted when attaching to the decorative stand. The stand is not attached, so it should be covered with putty.
The propeller blades were chipped, maybe because the plastic was not run into properly, so I managed to fix them to look like propeller blades by putting putty or shaving them. I don’t think the exact shape was reproduced.
Does it mean we can take off in an hour? One hour to finish? About two hours? No, no, no, an hour is not enough, but it will be finished soon.
Do I need 1/72 scale strings for a biplane? There are quite a lot of them, depending on the model. I thought it might not be easy.
Somehow, after finishing the wire stringing work, I felt that a sense of precision came out.
(2020/10/29)
The underside of the fuselage is half white and half black, so first, paint white.
The color number only listed the Humbrol enamel paint. I have no choice but to choose my own Vallejo and Mr. Color. I compared the colors with a rough guess.
After blowing, the light aircraft gray, the painting with airbrush will be finished. It might be easier to work with brush-painted camouflage with a Vallejo.
Vallejo Model color does not easily cause unevenness, even with brush painting. But honestly, I prefer airbrush.
That’s enough to cover the canopy. But it might be better to paint it more neatly. It is also an interesting system to reproduce only the upper part of the pilot’s chest, and the other part is flat.
This time, because it is a 1/72 scale, it is a slightly small finished aircraft mode.
This is a Sea Gladiator in Malta. There are many things to say, such as whether two propeller blades are enough or three propeller blades or whether the color of the camouflage is a little different, but it can’t be helped if I say too much in detail.
If I think about it, they’re going into the jet age a few years from now, and I admire the pilots who fought against the enemy with these old planes.
Marking is Gloster Sea Gladiator Mk. I N5520, ‘S,’ ‘Faith’ of the Hal Far Fighter Flight, Hal Far, Malta, June 1940.
When the Italian army invaded the Mediterranean Sea in time with the German invasion of France, England hurriedly sent the Sea Gladiator to Malta, which was installed in the aircraft carrier Glorius. The other plane was an Italian biplane, so they had a close air battle.
The underside of the fuselage has an interesting color scheme. I remember painting the underside of the same pattern in 1/144 of the Romanian air force Hurricane in the past.
Shortly before the Hurricanes arrived, there were only 3 Gladiators to defend Malta, nicknamed “Faith,” “Hope,” and “Charity,” respectively. Although two were lost, only the “Faith” survived and retired on September 3, 1943.
When I made Texan before, the kit came with a decorative stand, so I attached neodymium magnets to the stand and the body so it could be displayed in flight. The surface is flat and painted, so you can’t see the embedded magnets.
It was an ancient kit, and the scale was small. I had a hard time making it, but it took off safely! I think it would be more interesting to make it bigger overall. But anyway, it’s small and cute. Next time I make a plane, I will make a 1/48 scale; luckily, I have a lot of stock.
(2020/11/01)
