Group Build: Biplane - barnstormer to fighter

[Rockin' Rob]

Well boys I'm done. Hit it with a gloss coat this morning while it was under 100F. I fixed my torn decal and I'm pretty happy with my pristine version of the ambassadors Beechcraft. I veered slightly on paint scheme because , that's what I sometimes do! I thought the wing braces would look better in blue and I left the underside of the bottom wing all yellow. Other than that I tried to stay as true to what I could find as accurate.

That looks great! I like that yellow

 

[BarleyBop]

wing braces

Bird looks great! And the blue braces do add a nice contrast in there.

 

[Werner Voss]

Thanks again!

I think also that using black primer hurt me. I was doing super-thinned color, and a lot of the black came through, but the clear really made it look worse.

Looks pretty good to me.

 

[Ron2]

Sweet. Gorgeous job on one of the most gorgeous biplanes ever!

Thanks!

 

[Ron2]

Bird looks great! And the blue braces do add a nice contrast in there.

Thanks BB!

 

[Ron2]

That looks great! I like that yellow

Thanks. It's a Tamiya lacquer. It went on very glossy. I like the tamiya paint but dont think I'd like mixing paints all the time.

 

[kevin]

Good looking plane Ron2 .

 

[Ron2]

Good looking plane Ron2 .

Thanks

 

[Tommergun]

I think I'm ready for a gloss clear and then decals.

 

[wjbrandel]

Got the gaps straightened out finally, but I knocked this piece off while sanding.

Got that tiny piece put back on. I'm hoping to get more work done this weekend.

 

[BarleyBop]

ready

Which plane is this again? It's looking so good with the rigging!

 

[Tommergun]

Which plane is this again? It's looking so good with the rigging!

1/72 Airfix Gladiator Mk 1

 

[Ron2]

I think I'm ready for a gloss clear and then decals.

View attachment 196040

Is that 1/48?

 

[BarleyBop]

1/72 Airfix Gladiator Mk

Nice! Kinda thought it was looking familiar!
Inspiration for my Sea Gladiator !

 

[Edbert]

My idea for mounting the struts correctly worked well, do a degree. If you want to try this make sure your acetate is flat, mine is curved, that didn't make it impossible, just harder.

You also have a balancing act, too thin and there's not much rigidity, too thick and the holes are hard to cut correctly. What I used is 0.015 for reference.

I put a blob of Elmer's (easy to peel off later) on top of each post where it comes though the acetate so it would stay in place while handling it for the outer posts. Nothing worth a picture. You can see curvature I was dealing with, I should have flattened it more before getting this far, but not a deal killer.

 

[Rockin' Rob]

Started in on the top camouflage. Mixed up some Olive drabs and I think I nailed that color. The dark gray camouflage calls for dark sea Gray. The dark sea gray that Tamia has is way too light. I did spray it on over the dark green thinking it would darken it up. It didn't. So I looked up a custom mix and I'll go with 16 drops dark gray, two drops flat white and one drop flat blue and see how that looks.

 

[Rockin' Rob]

I think it's starting to come together just a little. Blending in some XF 21. Just starting in on the tail. With the weathering I think it might come out looking okay?

 

[BarleyBop]

Barley's Sea Gladiator

Trying to make headway.
Start with the engine they say...

The parts cut, cleaned up, ready for painting and assembly... but instructions are quite vague on attaching the 18 exhaust stubs to the cylinders and inside the cowl. Better look online for some previous build wisdom!

When assembling the 1/48 Roden Sea Gladiator (Kit 405), the engine, exhaust stubs, and the three-piece cowling present one of the most notorious fit hurdles of the entire build.
If you follow the instruction sequence exactly, the engine assembly will be too wide, causing the cowling panels to bulge, gap, or completely fail to close around it.
To achieve a flush fit against the cowl, you must aggressively modify the exhaust stubs and cylinder tops...

Turns out my exhaustive experience of exactly one aircraft build, with radial engine (thankfully), provided me with one of those "got a bad feeling about this" premonitions.

See how those squiggly little stubs have extra protrusion on the straight end; up to 2 mm may have to be removed.
I will test fit once the engine is assembled and slipped into position in the cowl.

 

[MattG]

You'll get it sorted just fine Barley, going by the multiple other builds I've followed of yours over the years.
Matt.

 

[Rockin' Rob]

You'll get it sorted just fine Barley, going by the multiple other builds I've followed of yours over the years.
Matt.

Yes, but I hope it doesn't sour you on airplane builds. I've never built a Roden kit, but usually Big Radial engines are a blast to build.

 

[BarleyBop]

Yes, but I hope it doesn't sour you on airplane builds. I've never built a Roden kit, but usually Big Radial engines are a blast to build.

Haha, following you guys and past radial engine builds on here, gotta say radials are THE COOLEST!
... and when it comes to pickles, I luv them sour!

 

[Ron2]

Barley's Sea Gladiator

Trying to make headway.
Start with the engine they say...

The parts cut, cleaned up, ready for painting and assembly... but instructions are quite vague on attaching the 18 exhaust stubs to the cylinders and inside the cowl. Better look online for some previous build wisdom!


Turns out my exhaustive experience of exactly one aircraft build, with radial engine (thankfully), provided me with one of those "got a bad feeling about this" premonitions.

View attachment 196079
See how those squiggly little stubs have extra protrusion on the straight end; up to 2 mm may have to be removed.
I will test fit once the engine is assembled and slipped into position in the cowl.

Who are you trying to fool? You'll probably end up scratching a complete radial out of styrene!

 

[Jakko]

Big Radial engines are a blast to build.

Suggestion for your next kit, then: a MiniArt M3 light or medium tank with interior

 

[Rockin' Rob]

Suggestion for your next kit, then: a MiniArt M3 light or medium tank with interior

Will an rfm Sherman with complete interior work?

 

[BarleyBop]

scratching a complete radial

That would be something!

a MiniArt M3 light or medium tank with interior ...

an rfm Sherman with complete interior...

Those sound like challenging projects with plenty of cool factor! I'd be following those with bated breath!

 

[Bob T]

Oh yes....this should be fun...

 

[Bob T]

Looked at a lot of Staggerwing photos today. And there are a lot of them.
It appears the rigging on this plane will simpler than most. Looks like just the four cables per side, and no exposed turnbuckles.


The mounting points are molded in, so location should be straightforward.

 

[BarleyBop]

Staggerwing photos

Nice! Is that cable or rod? Lots of these stays seem rigid, unless of course they are under a lot of tension...

 

[Ron2]

Looked at a lot of Staggerwing photos today. And there are a lot of them.
It appears the rigging on this plane will simpler than most. Looks like just the four cables per side, and no exposed turnbuckles.


The mounting points are molded in, so location should be straightforward.

Wait there's rigging??? I hadn't pulled up any photos like these.

 

[Bob T]

I don't understand why the door is separate when the instructions have you glue it in place. I spent 20 mins sanding the door trying to get it to fit...

Took me at least 30 minutes to get it to fit. It wasn't even close.