Gavia's 1/48 scale
Bristol Scout C

by Mike Grant

Eduard / Gavia's 1/48 scale Bristol Scout C is available online from Squadron

Here is Gavia's 1/48 scale Bristol Scout C.

This is the first Gavia kit I've built and I must say I'm impressed- very fine mouldings, sharp trailing edges on the wings and nice decals.

The build was a platform for experimentation- I wanted to simulate the translucency of the fabric covering from both above and below. On the top surfaces I tried to suggest a shadow either side of the ribs, and to do this I created decals designed to fit exactly over the wing/tailplane surfaces.

Once applied using copious amounts of setting solution I sprayed several light coats of clear-doped linen acrylic over the decalled areas until I achieved the subtlety I was aiming for.

The underside of the upper wing was even simple. I applied copies of the upper surface decals (just the red ring, actually) and again sprayed the linen colour in several passes until the roundel was only just visible. I also darkened the ribs slightly. In certain lighting the trompe l'oeil effect is quite convincing.

Strictly speaking I suspect that the white portion of the roundel should show up as a darker area below the wing (because the light's not passing through it) but in this case I think perception looks better than reality.

The model was rigged using fishing line (thanks Peter) coloured with a black marker before being glued into pre-drilled holes. It's the first time I've used this method for rigging, and it offers several advantages over my usual stretched sprue method, not the least being the additional strength it gives to the completed model.


 

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Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2004 by Mike Grant
except image with grey background Copyright © 2004 by Tom Calbury
Page Created 29 November, 2004
Last Updated 29 November, 2004

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