1:48 Gladiator MkI

An outdated type on long fronts

When the fighting broke out in the eastern Mediterranean in 1940, the Gladiator was among the equipment Britain could release quickly from home stocks. It was slow but reliable and undemanding about terrain. It took off from dusty strips where a more modern machine with a narrow track would have got stuck, and mechanics could repair it with a minimum of tools. A crew carried spare fabric and dope with them in a crate.

Sand, mountains and two different roundels

In the Western Desert the aircraft were given a yellowish-brown finish with dark blotches and light blue undersides; at mountain airfields in Greece the European brown and green combination remained. More interesting, though, are the markings themselves. British squadrons used a pair of letters ahead of the roundel, but in special conditions it was often dropped and only the single letter of the aircraft remained on the fuselage. Greek crews on the same aircraft painted the roundels over and replaced them with their own circles in a different order of colors, supplemented by stripes on the rudder. The same example could thus change two entirely different systems of markings within half a year.

The effects of the desert on building a model

If you are building a machine from the southern theater, reckon on a markedly weathered surface, abraded leading edges and dust in the corners. That is exactly why it pays to have the insignia sprayed: subsequent dry toning will age them naturally, whereas over a decal the glossy film gives itself away. The glazing is masked before toning and uncovered only at the end. Dust in the corners is applied dry with pigment, but only where it would genuinely settle, that is under the flying surface and around the landing gear legs.