Gloster Gamecock 1 fighter

[Balsabasher]

Paul do get one and you will wonder how you managed without it,the small knife is a curved blade to get into awkward areas,reallygood,take a look at Axminster tools and click onto wood carving section,this company has a few in from America.
For your work they would be ideal.
Barry.

[Balsabasher]

The all important sacrificial wing alignment jig was made from scrap ply,you can tack this together with a glue gun which is ideal for the eventual tear-down,draw the correct stagger and distance between the wings trasferring it to two eqi distanced vertical pieces,any necessary adjustments can be made by packing or small blocks of balsa wood.

The lower wing was test positioned and a small brass screw holds it into place,I needed to add a filler piece because I forgot about the wing cut out !
During its service career the Gamecock had additional centre section and interplane struts fitted to eliminate wing flutter,I need to decide soon on which configuration is needed ? all would be correct as the aircraft got updated at Gloster's.

The engine assembly was studied in detail and prior to cutting any parts a clear picture built up in my mind of how to go about it,basically we have nine cylinders which taper,these were spun up on my lathe ( how did I do without it ? ) these attach to a centre crankcase and a drawing placed underneath with the different tangents marked beforehand,still to fit are the valve guides,rear exhaust chamber exits to the ehaust proper,the collector ring is a washer from which the respective pipes come from,at the top of each cylinder is the spark plug with HT lead and valve covers,the material for the various pipes will probably be either solder or electrical cable,the rear chambers will need to be hand fashioned,this engine is really a model in itself and essential to the character of the aeropane.

To make the cylinders I used standard beech dowel and simply turned it down to the required diameter,then the taper was added and finally an experiment that worked was the fins cut in with a parting chisel,judge for yourself they look relistic to me anyway.

The engine even in this state took me three hours to get to the asembly stage but was well worth the effort,once the other details have been added then it should look the part especially with a lick of Citadel 'tin bitz' paint.


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http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/ASSEMBLING_THE_ENGINE.JPG

[Balsabasher]

Time for the radial engine to receive a bit of detail,the manifold pipes were made from soft solder partially pre-wrapped around a piece of suitably sized dowel,these were then tacked with cyno and then flooded later when they were all in place,the pushrod guides are slithers of bamboo obtained from a cheap pound shop china blind,the rocker cover detailing is simply spots of thickened PVA applied with a craft modelling tool,the crankcase front was moulded from FIMO in the oven,the engine is not quite finished as I need to add the split collector pipes at the rear of the cylinders.

The jig needed a bit of adjustment to get the upper wing sitting the correct distance,I just packed the top of the jig out with balsa strips tacked to the upper cradle,it did the job and then the cabane strut locations were marked and indent drilled to take the brass tube struts,these were glued at the lower end and left unglued at the point where they meet the wing,the plan is to set everything up then lift the top wing to do priming and painting,remember better to add cabane struts to the fuselage first rather than wings to the struts first,thats the way that fullsize biplanes are rigged,you get the decalarge right first then fit the wings and rig those for dihedral/stagger and tension.
The centre section inverted 'V' struts will be added when the wing is removed,the struts are pre-bent then offered up making small adjustments until they just start to press into the lower surface of the wing,a gentle bit of pressure is all that is needed,the jig does all the work in the dry state and is easily adjusted prior to adding anything,I would not be without the jig.

Everything is set up and drying out ready for the next stage and that is to remove the upper mainplane and finish that and the lower wings with primer and paint prior to eventually re-fitting everything,its all about detail planning and thinking things out first with simple sketches or in your mind.

Barry.


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[buccfan]

Fantastic work Barry, the engine work is excellent. Regards Paul J.

[Balsabasher]

Thank you Paul,the engine is a model in its own right and I love building them,years ago in the old wartime 'Aeromodeller' magazines they did drawings fo scale model engines made from things like knitting needles and scrap,we have those plans here in our archives and even today they make for great subjects to build up.
Its not what you put into these details more like what to leave out ? otherise you would go on and on and above all a lot of the finer detail is vulnerable to damage.
Barry.

[lastvautour]

Fantastic engine Barry.

Lou

[cliff strachan]

Great stuff Barry. I especially like not only the overall tutorial but also the engine.
Cliff

[Balsabasher]

http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/BLANK_FOR_PROPELLER.JPG






First job today was to mix up some slow drying epoxy and go around all of the joints on the cabane struts to make sure that everything is secure and will not move when the upper wing is lifted.

Although I have previously described propeller carving no harm in re-capping here for completion and to save looking back,firstly the blank is prepared,in this case there is no membrane but I suggest on smaller propellers you leave a bit of extra wood to hold whilst you are carving,this is easily cut off later,check the plan/photographs and note the taper at the tips,does it taper either side ? or as in some early propellers one side only ? this is important to the final look of the prop which holds a lot of the character to any particular aeroplane,also check the blade pitch to see if the engine rotates left or to the right ? is it a tractor propeller or a pusher type ?
Now note the leading edge and add a pencil mark,it is so easy to carve two left hand blades as you get into the carving ! I once did this with a large rubber driven propeller and have never ever forgotton that expensive and time consuming error.
As you carve the blades allow the blade of the knife to follow the contour of the propeller blade especially at the root ie the hub of the propeller,propeller carving evolves if you follow this simple rule,you will find that the blade nearly always looks too thick at the tip,thats fine as you can leave this part until last to thin them out,make yourself an half round sanding block which you will find especially useful towards the root to smooth in that contour,larger blades are easier to incorporate some helical twist but on tiny propellers this is hardly worth it,a curved blade or chisel is easier to use but not essential.
Stain can be used for wooden props but I find brown marker artists pens ideal for this,they can then be varnished if required,the small spinner has yet to be added and can be easily dished with a countersink held in your hands to allow for the pin.
Even boot polish can be used as a stain and looks very effective.

The wheels with equal character to the type of machine were spun up from a piece of Jelutong,I made a few spares either for other models or to pick the best two.

I will probably tackle the undercarriage next with those big shock absorber covers to wrestle with.

Barry.

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[lastvautour]

Love to see your work progress.

Lou

[Balsabasher]

The undercarriage was soldered up from brass tube and brass craft shop  binding wire,the shock absorbers are balsa with Micropore wrapping flooded with cyno.


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The underwing fuel tanks were fabricated fton Jelutong and glued into position.



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Popsicle sticks simply protect the strut indents from build up of paint.



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A simple seat is made from the thin tin off a Red Bull drinks can and a balsa wood base,that tin comes in very handy for many jobs and can be cut with scissors.



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The propeller was varnished with yacht varnish,the engine was highlighted with Citadel 'Tin Bitz' paint,the prop brass leading edges were treated with this useful colour as well.



http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/Gallery/albums/userpics/10005/BRINGING_THE_ENGINE_TO_LIFE_WITH_CITADEL_PAINT.JPG





A trial assembly to see what she looks like,I think the model is well worth the many hours that I have put into  it.




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The impact of big solids is shown when they come together.


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[Balsabasher]

The Gloster Gamecock gets its colourful squadron markings,the Audi silver finish sems to have been a good choice to represent silver doped fabric,the markings are all hand applied and time to dip into the Citadel paints,it took me the best part of 10 hours work with shaky hands to get these colours on and te serial numbers still have to be done,then its assembly and interplane struts and something created from an old kitchen drawer and scrap palet wood kicking around in the yard,this has been an enjoyable and challenging subject and shows the real beauty of those pre-war silver biplanes before the war clouds lomed over Europe.
Barry.

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[buccfan]

What a fantastic piece of work Barry, you must be pleased with the outcome.I am particularly impressed with your hand painted markings. Do you always use the Citadel paints for this ?. They have them in Hobbycraft in Hull and I have often wondered what they would be like to use.Regards Paul J.

[Balsabasher]

Paul they are th finest pigment acrylics on the market,expensive but you get quality paint that covers,I use them all the time for hand brushed markings as they cover well on top of the Halfords spray paints,the biggest problem is sorting out the silly colour names skull white etc but I have managed to match up everything that I need so far,their range of different blues is useful for roundals and other markings,use a good quality brush and apply thin layers,avoid over brushing like all paints until dry and build up in thin layers.
Why not try their matt black for starters Paul ? you can then get the feel of them,wash brushes in water with a few drop of washing up liquid,no odour means ideal for domestic use as well.
Barry.

[buccfan]

I will give them a try Barry, the silly names are because they are made for the fantasy figure market, you said to use thin layers, are they ok to use straight from the pot or do they need a flow improver like the Revell Aqua and Humbrol acrylics ?.They work much better after adding the improver without diluting the colour.Regards Paul J.

[Balsabasher]

Use them as they are Paul without flow improver that would break down the delicate colour too much,they are good for brushwork as intended and flow well,store containers inverted and put a dab of colour on the base for identification,the reason for this is they do dry up else.
Barry.