Gloster F5/34 Guardian repaint

[huub vink]

Just in an attempt to improve my "reflective texturing" skills, I did a reflective skin for the Gloster F5/34 Guardian. The real aircraft was painted aluminium dope, so it isn't a fully accurate repaint.
When somebody is interested I will finish and upload it.

I thought Henry William already did a reflective repaint for this model, but I haven't been able to find it.

Cheers,
Huub

[Shessi]

Very nicely done there Huub.

Silver/metallic etc is very hard to get right in Fs9.

Personally I think the wing definitely looks silver dope (excellent), whereas the fuse looks a little more like polished ally. Maybe a little more grey or darken it a bit may help??

You're getting good at this painting malarkey....

Cheers

Shessi

[SSI01]

Kinda/sorta resembles a Seversky P-35. Second the previous comments, very good dope-like textures on the wings in particular.

Hopefully you will be uploading this sometime with FSX compatibility.

[zswobbie1]

Thanks, Huub, that's a new plane for me, & I'm looking forward for your paint.
I think this plane is also good for some fictitous paints as well.

And I've found a carrier Gloster Guardian in our very own library as well.

[Motormouse]

Thanks, Huub, that's a new plane for me, & I'm looking forward for your paint.
I think this plane is also good for some fictitous paints as well.

And I've found a carrier Gloster Guardian in our very own library as well.

Hi, there were only 2 built, and by the time they were ready for the fly-off competition to see which manufacturer would be offered the contract, the Hawker Hurricane was in volume production, and the Spitfire was also coming on stream.

By all accounts, it had better performance in hotter climates than early versions of both of those, and, if you believe the interweb, impressed the Japanese enough for them to base the Zero on it.

The 2 that were built ended up as test hacks at Farnborough, being scrapped sometime during ww2.

Ttfn

Pete

[huub vink]

The model is done by Bill Holker and dates back to 2008 already. Its a sort of unfinished project and Bill also left the source files for anybody who is willing and capable to improve the model. Henry William did some alternative textures for the CFS2 converted version, which are available here in the library (just do a search on Guardian and they will pop-up).

The real aircraft was an interesting thing. The performance of the Gloster with the less powerful Bristol Mercury engine was similar to the performance of a Hurricane, so the aircraft definitely had potential. It was an all metal aircraft so less easy to produce and needed a lot a of materials which weren't really widely available. But perhaps the more important reason not to continue with the F5/34 was the lack of suitable engines. It seems the production of the V12 water-cooled engines was reserved for fighters in the early years of the war and radial engines were reserved for the multi-engined aircraft like the bombers.

Concerning the link with the A6M Zero; The Americans claim the Zero was based on the Vought V-141, an unsuccessful prototype which was sold the Japanese in 1937. However the Zero looks very much like the Gloster and had nearly the same dimensions. But as the fuselage shape was more or less dictated by the fact a radial engine was used, it isn't very surprising the shape was very similar. The available power from the engine can be linked to the dimensions. So it could also be be coincidence.

As I now have a decent paintkit for the model I might do some other fictional repaints, but that will be after I have finished my current projects.....

Cheers,
Huub

[Mick]

Concerning the link with the A6M Zero ... it could also be be coincidence.

Designers working with similar levels of technology and given the same task will usually come up independently with similar solutions.

Remember, it was dogma in the west that the Japanese couldn't come up with anything original. When the Zero appeared the first response was to simply not believe in its capabilities. When those capabilities were proved beyond doubt, then it became necessary to presume that it was a copy of some western design.

A similar thought process was applied to the Zero's pilots. The presumption in the west was that Japanese pilots couldn't see very well, couldn't shoot straight and couldn't fly well. When Zeros and Oscars started shooting down Allied planes in great numbers, some western "authorities" could only conclude that they were being flown by German pilots seconded to the Japanese.

Traces of that attitude remain to this day. Just consider the intense outrage expressed by some former American Volunteer Group pilots when historians pointed out that there were no Navy squadrons in their areas of operations, and the "Zeros" they shot down were really Army Oscars, raging that this statement (which is well documented) diminishes their accomplishments. They still refuse to believe that the Japanese could have produced two good fighters.

As for the Gloster's finish, though it was really silver paint and dope, it sure looks good in polished bare metal!

[huub vink]

Thanks for the interesting explanation Mick. I think this dogma was kept alive for many more years. I remember the arrival of the first mass produced Japanese cars and motorcycles. Here they were considered inferior to the large French German and British brands which dominated the market. And perhaps they were at some points, but at least they affordable and reliable and luxurious, compared with what the Europeans had to offer as standard.......

You are correct abut the finish of the F5/34. As I already mentioned in an earlier post the original aircraft were indeed painted with (quite dull) aluminium dope. But I thought this a bit looked nicer .

Cheers,
Huub