iggie's Special Christmas Goblin ***FINISHED***

[iggie]

This is my wonderful Secret Santa present; a 1/72 Special Hobby CC&F Goblin Mk.1
Beautifully wrapped and a lovely note inside from Santa






I'm really looking forward to this; Santa couldn't have done better!

[Martin R]

Another wow!

[Mikeew]

What a strange looking aircraft. I will follow with interest......

[iggie]

Just to let you know I've not forgotten this!!

The modelling bench has been returned from exile in the garage into the lounge, and the Revell Merlin that was part built before Christmas is nearly finished; some varnish and weathering to go and then the decks will be clear for Secret Santa related operations....

oh, and the Compact Diorama GB builds as well

[Arcwelder]

such a cool little plane.. this is going to be interesting!

[iggie]

And so we begin......
A closer inspection of the box contents reveals some nice moulding, albeit with raised detailing (but I'm never too worried by that) which is very restrained, and very little flash evident. There are a number of resin parts (including a lovely radial engine) and two small PE frets.
Progress so far comprises painting of the cockpit parts, assembly of the pilot and gunner's seats and work to assemble (yes!!!) the PE seat belts which are in multiple pieces








Oh and this was a recent addition to the bench; from Ikea at £8...very useful extra light!

[Mikeew]

Not a lot of plastic parts , but I guess that is made up with by the PE and resin parts, Looks great!

[AndrewR]

Special Hobby do love their multi-part etched seat belts, don't they? It's the same on my Caproni. Each seat with belts has 11 parts to it.

[iggie]

Special Hobby do love their multi-part etched seat belts, don't they? It's the same on my Caproni. Each seat with belts has 11 parts to it.

I have to be honest here and say that had this kit not have been a Secret Santa gift, the tiny add-on belt buckles that fell off twice while fixing the belts to the seats would have gone in the bin
But, as it is a SS gift, then I was good and got the magnifying light out (Boy does that make life easier with PE ) and stuck 'em back on again!
Progress yesterday afternoon including assembling the cockpit bits and pieces (and forgetting to photograph the finished assembly), and buttoning up the fuselage which required super-glue all the way around due to some fit issues internally and the lack of locator pins
This was the instrument panel before fitting:
The instructions called for black overall on the IP, but I went with Anthracite and then scratched a little off to represent scuffing

[Old_Tonto]

Very nice work on the IP.

What is the fit of the main parts like?

[iggie]

So far the fit has been a little iffy, and not helped by the lack of location pins. I should have glued in some tabs to help with the fuselage alignment....but forgot!
On the other hand the tail planes slotted straight in, and would have been happy to stay in place even without glue.
I've certainly built a lot worse, from mainstream producers as well
Progress to yesterday evening:
Fuselage buttoned up with cockpit in place



Exhaust collector ring; very nice resin parts with drilled out exhaust already done
I've painted it in a mix of Revell Anthracite and Humbrol Bronze (acrylics) to represent burnt iron

Again, a very nice resin engine

[beany]

Really enjoying this build thread iggie, you're making a cracking job of it. It is interesting what you say about lack of locating pins because these days I often cut them off when doing mainstream kits like Airfix or Revell, especially on older moulds, as I often find they are the reason for slight misalignments, but the downside as you say is that that sometimes means introducing tabs to keep the alignment true.

Cheers
Al.

[iggie]

I have to say that although frustrating, I am enjoying this build hugely and each completed stage feels like a triumph!
The latest:
Wings are on, using the main struts only so far; cabane struts still to be fitted

Engine and exhausts in place

[Martin R]

Great progress, Iggie.

regards,

Martin

[iggie]

Cheers Martin, it's starting to gather momentum now
Progress to yesterday evening:
Cabane struts fitted, and all flying rigging installed as per rigging diagram provided. The aileron actuating struts provided were too short (or put another way, I've built it with too much space between lower and upper wings ) so I have substituted brass rod instead

close up of double rigging

the upper wing ailerons also have some tiny wing-like balances on them; I'm guessing they are to introduce some 'feel' to prevent excessive control movement if the aileron is in air-stream shadow at low speeds or high angles of attack. They may of course just be there to induce bad temper and blindness in modellers!