1:48 Gladiator MkII

The improved second version and how to tell it

The Gladiator Mk II received a more powerful Mercury VIII engine with automatic mixture control, an electric starter and a three-blade metal fixed-pitch propeller in place of a two-blade wooden one. On a model the difference shows precisely on the propeller and on details around the engine cowling; the shape of the cockpit and the framing stayed the same as on the preceding form. Skis were fitted in place of wheels with no further intervention and were removed again when a thaw came.

In the north, where flying was done off ice and snow

Some of these machines went to Finland during the winter fighting at the turn of 1939 and 1940. They flew from places where there was no runway, that is from prepared surfaces on frozen lakes, and a wheel was exchanged for a ski as needed. The finish received an irregular white field over the upper surfaces, which flaked off by the spring. The eastern theater can also be recognized by the yellow bands the machines carried on the underside of the wingtips and around the rear part of the fuselage, so that friendly defenses would not mistake them. At the same time the same type was guarding British cities and carried an untouched factory finish with not a single addition.

Winter camouflage and masking

The white coat on these aircraft was applied in a hurry and did not hold, which is a rewarding subject for a model. First the basic pattern is sprayed, after drying the white is added and then abraded in places. The glazing stencils therefore come at the very beginning and stay in place through every coat until the surface is finished. They are uncovered only after the last matte overcoat, otherwise the edge of the white field peels away together with the tape when it is lifted.