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I've always admired the graceful design of the Gloster Gladiator. The RAF's last bi-plane fighter has some fascinating stories attached to its brief career as a frontline fighter, cut short in the build up to WW2 by the development both in Germany and the UK of faster monoplane designs powered by the type of inline, liquid-cooled engines that fascinated the public during the Schneider trophy era. Nevertheless, there are some absorbing stories associated with the a/c, not least the hectic struggles of Faith, Hope and Charity over Malta before the beleagured island was reinforced first by Hurricanes and later by Spitfires. As a BoB nut, a few years ago I joined the Battle of Britain Historical Society and went on a few pilgrimages to crash sites with other members. Amongst these, I got to know the son of a family whose name is readily associated with the hilarious TV series following the exploits of Rowan Atkinson and his colleagues - Blackadder. My friend's father, William Francis Blackadder, joined the Auxiliary air Force in 1937 and in mid November 1939 flew with 607 (County of Durham) Squadron to France to support the BEF and the Allies against the German threat after the invasion of Poland and the declaration of war. At the time, 607 Squadron were still equipped with Gladiators, and Francis Blackadder flew to France in a/c registered as K8000 AFoF. Throughout the winter of 1939/40, the squadron operated their Galdiators but were fortunately re-equipped with Hurricanes just before 10 May 1940 when the German advance west started. Gladiator K8000 was lost in March 1940 when the squadron was practising squadron attacks in France. It collided with another of the unit's aircraft when both pilots were killed. Francis Blackadder wasn't involved in this tragedy and after leave back in England in early May 1940, returned to 607 Squadron and eventually returned to England after Operation Dynamo. He flew Hurricanes with 607 Squadron through much of the BoB based at Tangmere near Chichester and was awarded the DSO and promoted to Flying Officer. I decided to reacquaint myself with the frustrations of bi-plane construction and rigging, using Roden's 1:48 scale kit to portray Blackadder's Gladiator, the result of the build being the subject of this post. Not being blessed with particularly nimble fingers or great eyesight, it was a satisfying build but not without its frustrations. This is actually my 2nd effort. I made a fundamental error after completing the first one by spraying it overall with what I can only assume wasn't the right acrylec satin spray which produced an overall effect as if the model had been operating in a Finnish winter scenarion, covered in a white mottling. Impossible to correct, hence my second attempt where I fortunately managed the finish reasonably well. I spent quite a bit of time mixing a shade to replicate something like the texture of the weathered & singed stainless exhaust system of the Galdiator's radial engine after looking at the renovation that was then going on of a similar a/c up at Duxford. It was also one of my early efforts at producing some measure if the scratches. oil and exhaust stains that typified a/c in service generally. The radio antenna required a bit of ingenuity but turned out OK, as did the rigging with careful location of pre-drilled holes and that wonderful elasticated rigging material. I didn't complicate the build by adding too much detail to Roden's OOB offering apart from some etched seat belts, some fuse wire brake lines and the decals from various aftermarket sheets but I was quite pleased with the finished item. Any confidence I've developed in terms of bi-plane building will doubtless be completely eroded once I have a go at one of the WnW 1:32 scale offerings.