Gloster Goblin - FINISHED!

[Weaver]

My SSGB kit from Black Knight is a Pavla 1/72nd Gloster G.40 Pioneer, better known as the E.28/39 Whittle engine testbed, for which, many thanks.

Since this aircraft is so intimately wrapped up with the history of the jet engine, I am, true to the spirit of Whif, going to drop a large and sacreligeous bomb on that by converting it to a rocket interceptor with a battery of RPs in the nose, the overall scheme being colsest to a somewhat less disposable Ba.349 Natter.

The back story suggests that it needs to get it away from runways, so CTOL or an Me-163-style take-off is out. I see it taking off either vertically or at a steep angle using auxilliary rockets, and then recovering near the launch site using a parachute and air-bags, like some modern drones do. It would still be RAF and still 1940s.


Options and obstacles are:

1. Natter-style vertical tower launch. This involves me making a credible tower, so unless some kind of oil-rig kit falls into my lap, I'll have to make it out of Plastruct girders, which are expensive and, so far, not to be found hereabouts (there's one shop left to try).

2. TEL vehicle, with either vertical or steep angle launch. Suitable vehicles that spring to mind are the RAF Recovery Set (not least because it includes a mobile crane) or the Scammel tank transporter. The 1/76th scale of these shouldn't matter since the aircraft is so small that the slight scale difference wouldn't leap out at you. Problem is that I still then have to make the lauch rail and it's elevating gear, which still implies some Plastruct, although there are other options too.

3. Model the plane post-recovery, i.e. lying on it's airbags with a parachute trailing behind it. It'd be fun to do a diorama with it lying in someone's back garden on the remains of their greenhouse, but don't hold your breath for that....




Mods to the kit will be:

RPs in the nose. I'm hoping that an FFAR front plate can be grafted it, rather than having to scratchbuild it.

Ventral strake to give a straight "runner" to engage with the launcher (the basic plane's egg-shaped), which will also allow the auxiliary fins to be dispensed with. Could possible put a cruise-chamber nozzle in the back of this, but that kinda contradicts the "desperate last ditch" vibe of the back story.

Clipped wings with tip tanks for fuel, since a cylindrical LOX or HTP tank would have to go in the fuselage.

If I go for the "recovery" option, airbags deployed from the main u/c bays and an open parachute compartment behind the cockpit.




The little resin u/c units are gorgeous and I feel terribly guilty about not using them - sure they'll come in for something though...

[Black Knight]

sound good  can't wait to see what you do 

[philp]

I like the idea of it landed (crashed?) in someone's garden.  The pilot should be out because "any landing you can walk away from is a good landing".  Maybe some irate gardener chasing him with a hoe or shovel.

[Ed S]

I like this idea.  I wonder if you could find a 1/72 SAM or missile launcher that would fit.  Or possibly scaleorama a larger scale vehicle.

Ed

[Weaver]

I like this idea.  I wonder if you could find a 1/72 SAM or missile launcher that would fit.  Or possibly scaleorama a larger scale vehicle.

Ed

I have the 1/60th Revell V-2, but that's earmarked for something else. The old Airfix SA-2 would probably be ideal, but it's rare as hen's teeth these days.

[Mossie]

Maybe an Airfix Bloodhound launcher with a little bit of modding?

[Weaver]

Maybe an Airfix Bloodhound launcher with a little bit of modding?

Yes I thought of that, and I've got one spare too. It doesn't really have rails as such, but it would be a good source for the elevating gear.

[Weaver]

Right, I'm going for the free-standing Natter-style tower, because I've worked out a way to do it on the cheap  :

The Natter tower was complicated affair that supported three rails: one for the fuselage and one for each wingtip. I'm going to make my tower out of four Airfix Pontoon Bridge trusses assembled into a square-section tower, with just two rails which sit straight on it. The idea is that two booster rocket packs attach to the plane under the wing roots, and the boosters ride on the rails, not the plane. That way, when the the Goblin jettisons the boosters, the rail guides go with it, instead of having to retract/jettison them separately. The fact that it uses the Pontoon Bridge sections fits well with it's "last ditch" vibe: they'd use whatever standard items were available rather than designing and building something new.

I've got the Pontoon Bridge (it was earmarked for something else, but I can easily get another), I've got some Plastruct ladder coming, and I've just bought some chequerboard decking so I can make a boarding platform at cockpit height. The boosters will probably be cut-down Bloodhound ones.

Of course, it would still need recovering, so I could do a different diorama later using the various vehicles.

[Weaver]

Still havn't started this, apart from cutting up the bridge trusses and cutting some resin bits off their blocks, but I do have all the bits now. The scheme's been a bit refined: the boosters are going on the rear fuselage (Natter-style) now, because the Bloodhound boosters have angled nozzles and it makes more sense from a thrust-lines/CofG point of view. The diorama is now going to be pilot in, almost ready to launch, with the LOX going in at the last minute. The latter is possible because Army of One swapped me a pair of RAF Emergency Set firefighters in protective gear, and Bungle threw a Refuelling Set into another trade gratis, so the smaller tanker will be used - cheers guys!

Now all I have to do is finish the LIS entry and get this one started.....

[Weaver]

Right, made a start now  - nothing worth photographing yet. Ventral fin cut, fuselage and wing parts cut and trimmed and various offerings made. The kit is typical limited run fare: no location pegs, not so much flash, but various odd blobs of plastic in unexpected places. Surface detail is pretty good with only the odd glitch. Fit is okay if not wonderful, but it looks like the resin cockpit tub is too wide for the fuselage halves to close: still pondering that one, but I'm glad I didn't paint it before possibly having to sand it and generate loads of dust. REALLY glad I don't have to make the separate resin intake vanes fit either....

I can't decide whether to cut the wings down and fit tip tanks or not. It means re-scribing the ailerons, but a thought occurs to me: given the relatively large speed range and low technology of this aircraft, maybe it has split ailerons, i.e. only the outer parts operate at high speed to avoid over-control, with the inner parts kicking in, drooped to double as flaps, at low speed.


The LOX crew have also been given kidney transplants, i.e. had the sink holes in their waists filled. The plan has changed again: now the pilot's going to be out while LOX filling goes on, since there's no point risking his life at one of the most dangerous prep stages. This also gives me an excuse to have the canopy open, if either a) the cockpit is too pretty to cover up ( as if .... ) or b) the fit of the vac-form canopy is a horror story.

[Silver Fox]

Before reading the plans for this wonderfully irreverent build... I had this wonderful vision of the Gloster being fitted to a CAM ship.

Pity the poor Condor crew that stumbles a CAM ship with one of these coming off the rails.

[Weaver]

Okay, still not much to show, but a lot of things have been designed and measured up and are just waiting to be assembled.

Aircraft bits:



Fuselage with cut-out for extended spine (for parachute), painted cockpit, two boosters, one of which has been cut down, and the intake with an FFAR pod nose fitted into it.



Diorama bits:



Partially assembled LOX truck and painted LOX crew.

I've since found out that the suits are probably over the top for LOX: real rocket crews seem to just use gloves. However since the Goblin is a rushed-into-service job with a distressing tendancy to catch fire, the suits are probably justified in case of general accidents whilst fuelling.

The truck itself is going to be a real trasher, obviously kept running with bits from several wrecks, including commercial ones. The LOX tank however, will be shiney new, marred only by "shadows" in it's gloss finish where the crew have ripped off the big "LOX" signs thoughtfully applied by the factory, in order to avoid broadcasting the vehicle's purpose to any passer by.... It may also gain a canvas tilt cover for disguise purposes.

[proditor]

I like this.  It speaks to my level of crazy.   

[Weaver]

Trying to put the plane together today - what a little pig! Nothing fits, the wings are warped, the roots are too deep, the cockpit fits skewed into the nose.....ghaaaaaH! 

Pictures later....

[Martin H]

well........what did you expect from a pavla kit?