Gloster Gladiator

[absmiami]

Ive had a two month fling with a Gloster Gladiator …

please forgive me …

[absmiami]

I’m the token model car builder in my local IPMS chapter.  Last fall they organized a group display for an IPMS event in Pompano  -  the plan was to do a Battle of Britain display - 1/32 scale - and as members signed up for specific builds -  no one seemed to wanT do the Gloster Gladiator - which of course was a biplane with great history …

[absmiami]

Now i havent built an airplane model in - oh - 55 years …. But I adopted the Roden Gladiator - figuring hey - how hard could this be ….  So without a great deal of clear thought - i bought the kit Off the shelves of the last remaining hobby store in South Miami - and made an on line purchase of an old True Details cockpit set …. And of course i had no idea what i was subjecting myself to …

[bisc63]

Very nice! At 1/32 scale, there's all kinds of detailing possibilities, a guy could go nuts in the cockpit alone. Bravo on your choice of this workhorse of a plane, and looking forward to seeing your progress.

[Snake45]

Very cool! I always thought the GG was among the very best looking biplanes ever. I have the old Pyro kit of it that I need to build someday. Drive on! 

[absmiami]

This is sort of a time lapse deal …. I finished thr Gladiator fri nite - about 8 hours before the group gathered for the display at the IPMS show - 17 planes - all way better than mine -

[absmiami]

The true details set had a not so good sheet of instructions and a whole bunch of tiny parts - it went together but needed some carving And Mods to wedge into the fuselage halves ….  I replaced the radiator with something that actually looked like a radiator and jammed the cockpit into the fuselage …

[absmiami]

I spent alot of time on the instr panel - dont know why - you basically cant see it - but i opened the doors and added some detail there …

[absmiami]

Paint is mostly Tamiya - with some Alclad here and there - the markings were a mess - mostly  because i had to make some if my own and i applied the various markings in the wrong  order - oops - 

[absmiami]

So this is the finished Gladiator - constructed in two months - the struts are peices of nickel that were filed flat - 

you see - i actually can finish a

model - just took lots of cursing - and i didn’t leave the house - or sleep …

[bisc63]

It's a great looking display! The base and groundwork give it a strong sense of reality ( along with all your meticulous detail work ). Well done.

[absmiami]

Thanks - for the record - the base was made by another club member for the group display - it is really nice - 

[David G.]

Sweet detail work on this!

Nicely done.

David G.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Very nice. All your effort paid off handsomely.    

[Dave Ambrose]

Ah, Roden kits. They look so simple. . . .
That's a very nice build and you did justice to the subject. 

I got surprised by their kit of a Hispano-Suiza 8AB aircraft engine. I bought it thinking it was a neat looking engine, and would make a good slumpbuster. It turned out to be a good deal more educational than I expected, but it made a nice little engine. Seriously thought about putting it in a hotrod afterwards but it's on its stand with a prop.