1:72 Gloster Gladiator Photoetched parts instrument panel for Airfix ex Modell-Hobby /AFX

The real subject

The Gloster Gladiator was the last biplane fighter of the Royal Air Force. It entered service in the second half of the 1930s and combined the older arrangement with two lifting surfaces with the novelties of the day: an enclosed cockpit and faired landing gear. It was still fighting at the beginning of the Second World War, among other places over Norway, the Mediterranean and North Africa, and it keeps its place among modelers precisely for the contrast between its outdated shape and the date of its use.

What the set contains

An etched instrument panel for the cockpit of a model in 1:72 scale. Etched metal is a thin metal sheet in which the outlines of the parts are etched with an accuracy otherwise unattainable at a small scale. The instrument panel therefore comes out crisp, with legible dials and without the soft edges an injected plastic part has. According to the name, the set is drawn for the Airfix kit.

Building tips

• separate the part from the sheet with a sharp blade on a hard surface, not with pliers
• sand the remainder of the tab away with a fine file or a sanding sponge
• sand the plastic instrument panel from the kit down in advance, so that the etched part settles flat
• it is glued with super glue; glue for plastic does not hold on metal
• degrease the metal before painting, otherwise the paint cracks and peels
• a drop of gloss varnish in a dial imitates the glass of an instrument

Terms of supply

The set is an accessory for a kit. The model, paints and glue are not part of the delivery, unless stated otherwise.