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Sea Gladiator 1/72


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2 minutes ago, Valhalla said:

Nicely done. Seeing all these Biplanes, I think I'm going to have to have a go myself with one of these wee beauties 🙂

I encourage you to do so, they are attention getters for sure !

 

Randall

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This was built entirely from the box. The resin pack was good but otherwise the kit was a bit of a battle. The fit of some parts was a challenge  

I wanted to build it because the gaping hole before the engine was fitted allowed me to better control the application of cabane strut rigging. I was happy with how that turned out. 
Looking closely at the Airfix version, I should be able to follow the same approach there, although the hole the engine fits onto is a bit smaller. 
 

Thanks to everyone for the support and positive comments. 

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One thing about the rigging. I used AK Thin elastic thread. This may well be too thick for 1/72. However, because I have only been rigging my biplanes for a little over a year, I like to see the rigging on a model I’ve built. I still get a kick out of it. 

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Nicely done Dominic 🏆

Regarding the rigging being over scale - a good example of someone building a model for their own pleasure in the result, not what somebody else says is "correct". Well done mate.

Gavin.

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2 hours ago, Nerazzurri said:

Nicely done Dominic 🏆

Regarding the rigging being over scale - a good example of someone building a model for their own pleasure in the result, not what somebody else says is "correct". Well done mate.

Gavin.

Thank you for that. 
Happiness is a personally rigged biplane 😉

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  • 3 weeks later...

A number of Sea Gladiatiors defended Malta in the early stages of WWII before the Hurricanes and Spits arrived.  It seems they were referred to as Faith, Hope and Charity.  The fuselage of one of them - supposedly that of Faith - has survived albeit without wings. There seems to be a bit of a "Battle" going on at the moment.  The fuselage is displayed in the Malta War Museum whilst the people at the aviation museum have obtained a set of wings.  However the War Museum says fixing "fake" wings on the fuselage with ruin it's authenticity.   You can look up pictures of this particular machine on the internet.

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2 hours ago, Sailorman said:

A number of Sea Gladiatiors defended Malta in the early stages of WWII before the Hurricanes and Spits arrived.  It seems they were referred to as Faith, Hope and Charity.  The fuselage of one of them - supposedly that of Faith - has survived albeit without wings. There seems to be a bit of a "Battle" going on at the moment.  The fuselage is displayed in the Malta War Museum whilst the people at the aviation museum have obtained a set of wings.  However the War Museum says fixing "fake" wings on the fuselage with ruin it's authenticity.   You can look up pictures of this particular machine on the internet.

We visited Ta Qali last October and had quite a long chat with the engineer working on their Sea Gladiator project. He said the wings are intended for a flying restoration, for which they are building a fuselage virtually from scratch. He very proudly showed us the pilot's seat that had only very recently been completed, using data from another Gladiator.

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You can check progress on this project via the Facebook pages they have set up.

Personally I would commend the National War Museum for protecting the integrity of the airframe for which they are custodians. Here it is.

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If anyone gets the chance to visit Malta, the National War Museum and Air Museum at Ta Qali are 'must do' visits. I'm slightly envious that Patrick is a resident of Malta, it really is the most charming place to visit. 

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I went to Ta Qali a few years ago - thoroughly enjoyed it. 
And it’s good to see these restoration projects. I notice the dead straight demarcation between upper and lower colours in contrast to the wavy line of the aircraft on HMS Eagle which my model depicts.  
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