Old Man Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Gloster Gladiators of the Royal Air Force first saw active service on 'Air Control' operations during the Arab Revolt in Mandatory Palestine. 33 Squadron, based since 1935 at Ismailia in Egypt, began to exchange its Hawker Hart light bombers for Gladiator fighters in February, 1938. 80 Squadron, a Gladiator unit based at Kenley, was embarked for Egypt in April, and arrived the following month. These two units were the total fighter strength of the RAF in the Near East, and while their presence had been intended for protection of the Suez Canal from Italian bombers, should war come with that country, a more immediate employment soon was found for them. The distinguishing characteristic of the Arab Revolt which commenced in Mandatory Palestine in late April, 1936, was the degree to which at the outset all elements of Arab Palestinian society cohered in a unity of purpose. The most visible element at the start of the Revolt was a general strike, and a wide-spread refusal to pay taxes. The Mandate authorities considered these things far more important, and far more dangerous, than urban riots or the emergence of partisan bands in rural areas. The Mandate authorities managed, by a judicious mix of political manouvering and military force, to break the strike and restore order in urban areas, but only damped down violence in the countryside. Among the political manouvers was establishment of a Royal commission to look into causes and solutions: The Peel Commision report, when it came, pleased neither Arabs nor Jews. The killing of a District Commissioner in Galilee in September, 1937, followed immediately by the outlawing and deportation of leading Arab political figures, renewed the violence of the previous year. The activity of the partisan bands in the countryside escalated quickly, and was on a sounder footing than previously it ever had been. By the summer of 1938, armed Arab bands were collecting taxes and running courts in many places, and the situation in Mandatory Palestine was considered quite precarious by both military and political authorities. Major reinforcements of soldiers, police, and aircraft were provided the Palestine garrison in the wake of the Munich Crisis for a renewed effort to break the insurrection. A flight of Gladiator fighters from 33 Squadron, and another from 80 Squadron, based at Ramallah, were an important element of the aerial reinforcement. Aircraft could do little to influence matters in the urban areas, where the Arab and Jewish 'hard men' engaged in tit-for-tat murders by bomb and pistol, but in the countryside, aircraft had throughout been the most effective battle arm of the Palestine garrison. Very early a system known as the 'XX Call' had been set up, in which RAF wireless staff accompanied Army operations, to summon air support if contact with any large number of partisans occured. Aircraft were always waiting on five minutes notice for take-off, and there was no part of the country which could not be reached in under half an hour. The system proved so efficient that often operations by ground troops were, in effect, simply bait to draw out Arab bands in the hills so the aircraft would have opportunity to attack them. The Gladiators, with four machine guns, had far more fire-power than the Hardy and Hind machines already on the scene, which could only bring one gun to bear at a time, and strafing had proved already to inflict more casualties than bombing in such operations. The Gladiators came to specialize in what were called 'Air-Pin' operations. Efforts to disarm the Arab partisans in the rural villages had foundered on the ease with which approaching troops could be seen coming, and when they were seen, the partisans could quickly disperse in flight, carrying their small stocks of arms and ammunition. In 'Air-Pin' operations, Gladiators appeared over a village before ground troops were seen approaching it, and persons deemed to be fleeing the approaching columns of soldiers and police were shot from the air. These operations greatly increased the quantity of arms seized and arrests made, as well as casualties inflicted, not all of whom, certainly, were actual partisans in arms. The 'Air-Pins' were not completely one-sided, either. At least two Gladiator pilots of 33 Squadron were killed by rifle fire, and their aeroplanes wrecked and abandoned. By the end of January, 1939, the dominance of the Arab rebels in the countryside had been broken, their activities in Palestine coming to amount to little more than occasional sniping and murder of persons suspected to be collaborators with the Jews or the English. Political concessions to the Arabs promulgated in May, 1939, including severe restrictions on Jewish immigration to Palestine, helped hold the peace, though bringing increased trouble from Jewish gunmen. By then war with Germany, and probably Italy, was clearly in the offing, and the reinforcements given the Palestine garrison, including the Gladiators of 33 Squadron and 80 Squadron, were back at their normal stations in Egypt. This model is of a 33 Sqaudron Gladiator, L7620 SO*O, as it appeared early in 1939; it was photographed in flight as part of a formation over Jerusalem. It is marked with the code letters assigned 33 Squadron at the time of the Munich Crisis; this was not common (it is the only machine in the photograph to carry them), but it is not too unusual, there are photograps of at least one other 33 Squadron Gladiator so marked, and also of 80 Squadron Gladiators bearing the early letters. I do consider the marking of these letters at this juncture to indicate a more than usually sharp ground crew tending the machine, and so have held weathering to a minimum and given the machine all its proper functional stencilling. L7620 was passed on to the Greek Air Force in December of 1940. The Airfix 1/72 Gladiator is a great kit. As someone who mostly does open-cockpit subjects, I cannot get over how sweet the fit of the canopy proved to be; after only a very little sanding fore and aft, the thing was practically snap fit, and just to see if I could, I painted framing before attaching it to the fuselage, and the result you see. One does need to take care with mating surfaces, especially those of the struts, and cowling/engine assembly is a little tricky --- I found it easier to assemble this as a separate unit, rather than trying to put it together on the nose (the attachment of the motor to the nose is about the only poor fit I found in the kit). A bit of pre-scoring, and a hot blade, is the best way to deal with the 'X-jig' incorporated in the interplane struts. I put in the full complement of braces for the motor, and put in a reflector sight and supporting frame, and added damping rods in the rigging; otherwise the kit was built as is. Codes are from a Fantasy Printshop sheet, serials are from an old ModelDecal sheet, roundels and stencils from the kit decals. 50 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thud4444 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 I had no idea about any of that, great little history lesson. Fantastic Gladiator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DennisTheBear Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Wondeful build with a beautiful paintjob and great decalling. The background information is intetesting too, giving context to the aircraft depicted. Extremely well done all round! DennisTheBear 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Beautiful work Old Man, and a superb result Cheers, Stew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TonyTiger66 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Stunning work Old Man ! I have followed another of your builds; you really have a great method for the natural metal/silver dope finishes. I enjoyed the historical background. Also; super photography. TonyT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 That's a fantastic model, with a very interesting bit of little-known history. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invidia Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Lovely build and a great back story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wyverns4 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 A cracker and I have learned something as well; double bonus! Christian, exiled further south Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Superb. I thought this was in 1/48 or even larger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Absolutely superb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cngaero Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 A great story, a great looking Gladiator and a great little diorama. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Love it,......a beautiful model, a Gladiator to boot and in one of my favourite schemes which I hope to model myself one day,.....the history was just the cherry and icing on the cake! The weathering on that top wing looks superb. My wife`s Grandad has his Palestine GSM for this campaign,.....his Army battalion was a sort of Empire `fire brigade' pre war and he also served in Burma and India before going to the desert in 1940 to join the 8th Army and sort out Musso`s boys and then Rommel,........followed by a return to India and then onto Burma yet again to join the 14th Army and sort out Tojo`s little yellow men (I won`t say what he called them!). Love the model, Cheers Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polo1112 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 A beautiful and very convincing Gladiator !!! I love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark4700 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Superb. Fantastic build, excellent photographs and an interesting history lesson as well. What more could you want? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat C Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Really nice Gladiator - how have you done what looks like the wooden centre to the prop? Pat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire31 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Thank you so much for the fascinating (and topical!) history lesson, of which I previously knew nothing! Superb Gladiator – at first, I thought it was the 1:48th Lindberg/Pyro kit – a compliment to your modelling and to Airfix' tool makers. Very impressed overall. Kind regards, Joachim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meatbox8 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 A really nice looking Gladiator which fooled me into thinking it was 1/48th. A fascinating back story too. Semper Idem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viking Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Very nice model & back story. Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Kunac-Tabinor Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Corrrrr, now that's a nice build- one of those - "you cant tell the scale" models - which I always think means its a good 'un. I like the way the MSG codes are visible in 1 photo and not so much in the next - which matches the famous photo very well. One question- in the photo the Glads have their spinner bosses on - but yours is removed. Any reason? Top build, and a lovely bit of history to boot. Hats & Huzzars from me Jonners Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Superb modelmaking and a top notch presentation.Well done old chum,be proud of that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevej60 Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Outstanding quality finish and great background information too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted November 22, 2016 Author Share Posted November 22, 2016 Thank you for the kind words, Gentlemen. I am glad you like the model, and the presentation. The kit is of such quality it is easy to get a good model out of it. Accounts of RAF aircraft in the interwar often give these passing little glances at what the aeroplanes went into operation against, but they seldom give any real sense of what was going on. I first learned of 'Air Control' from such asides in old Profiles when I was a boy, and when I got older, I started to look into these things more deeply. The whole business is oddly topical now, when one looks at the current employment of U.S. and NATO forces in the Middle East and Central Asia. On 11/21/2016 at 0:26 AM, TonyTiger66 said: Stunning work Old Man ! I have followed another of your builds; you really have a great method for the natural metal/silver dope finishes. TonyT This one may prove the end of an era, actually. I have been working for years now off a good-sized body Palmer Prismatic Bright Silver, a craft acrylic which I lucked onto at my local shop, and have found an extraordinarily good silver paint. I cut it somewhat with Future, and several thin coats brushed on give excellent coverage, with just a little variation in strength of the coverage. That bottle as just about run out, and I cannot find this stuff for sale anywhere now. Several paints I have tried for replacement have not worked out. I have been driven to using an old rattle-can Testor's silver on a recent build. I currently experimenting with a Winsor-Newton tube acrylic bright silver, which show some promise.... On 11/21/2016 at 2:43 AM, tonyot said: Love it,......a beautiful model, a Gladiator to boot and in one of my favourite schemes which I hope to model myself one day,.....the history was just the cherry and icing on the cake! The weathering on that top wing looks superb. My wife`s Grandad has his Palestine GSM for this campaign,.....his Army battalion was a sort of Empire `fire brigade' pre war and he also served in Burma and India before going to the desert in 1940 to join the 8th Army and sort out Musso`s boys and then Rommel,........followed by a return to India and then onto Burma yet again to join the 14th Army and sort out Tojo`s little yellow men (I won`t say what he called them!). Love the model, Cheers Tony Sounds like the old fellow used up several life-times' worth of luck to still be here. Amazing career. On 11/21/2016 at 8:27 AM, Pat C said: Really nice Gladiator - how have you done what looks like the wooden centre to the prop? Pat For quick wood in 1/72, I paint the surface pale buff. I than use brown, yellow and orange washable markers; get a little of the color out on some foil, then pick it up with a brush chargd with a little Future (or any acrylic gloss). Sometimes a couple of passes are needed. 23 hours ago, Jon Kunac-Tabinor said: Corrrrr, now that's a nice build- one of those - "you cant tell the scale" models - which I always think means its a good 'un. I like the way the MSG codes are visible in 1 photo and not so much in the next - which matches the famous photo very well. One question- in the photo the Glads have their spinner bosses on - but yours is removed. Any reason? Top build, and a lovely bit of history to boot. Hats & Huzzars from me Jonners Regarding the propeller boss, Sir: pure oversight. I did not notice that in the photograph, which once it had served for inspiration I mostly looked to to discern what radio array was used. It is tricky to get the grey lettering to show up in pictures against the silver. Not much difference in tone, just in reflectivity. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 48 minutes ago, Old Man said: Sounds like the old fellow used up several life-times' worth of luck to still be here. Amazing career. Well he must have been one of only a handful of the original battalion to return home after the war! He died in 1989 and was a proper little hardman, with ginger hair to boot and must have scared the enemy to death,........ he went up and down the ranks a number of time and from the sounds of things he had what we now call PTSD after the war and most probably during it too,.....which isn`t surprising,..... but they just had to try and get on with it and things like that were left behind the family front door back then, with the wives and children taking the brunt of things. Massive respect for that entire golden generation......my own Grandad`s also served, ..my Southern Irish one could have sat out the war in safety but chose to enlist and went to India (I think he was a Chindit too from the little he told me) while the other served as groundcrew in the RAF in Iceland and elsewhere. When we make our models we should never, ever forget the men who operated the real thing. Great Glad again,.....beautifully made, Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airjiml2 Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Great story, great model. Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seahawk Posted November 23, 2016 Share Posted November 23, 2016 Fascinating background and lovely model in unusual markings: more please! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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