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Gloster Gladiator Mk.1


Mike

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Gloster Gladiator Mk.1



1:72 Revell

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The venerable Gladiator was at one point in grave danger of being our frontline fighter at the beginning of WWII, and although conceived around the same time as the Spitfire, was hopelessly outclassed by it and the Hurricane, so was relegated to 2nd line duties for the most part. It's most notable action was in the defence of Malta, where it performed surprisingly well against tough opposition. Perhaps it's the British love of the underdog that makes it so appealing to modellers and aviation enthusiasts?

This kit is a re-release of Matchbox's original kit, and time has been quite kind to it, considering the copyright symbol is dated 1973. It arrives in a small blue end-opening box, and inside you'll find two sprues of silver styrene, a small canopy sprue, and a decal sheet sandwiched between the instructions.

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Given its heritage, the cockpit parts are limited to a seat and floor panel, upon which you glue the pilot, who is surprisingly cheerful, given he's expected to fly the plane with his hands fixed to his knees. Clearly, the addition of an instrument panel and some cockpit details would be a must for the dedicated upgrader. The finished parts sandwich between the diminutive fuselage halves, which have engraved and raised panel lines, and a reasonable facsimile of the fabric rear of the fuselage. The vertical tail is integral to the fuselage, but the rudder is a separate part, which is nice to see on such an old kit.

The front upper fuselage is added to sandwich the two cabane struts in place, which are arrowed to ensure that the modeller places them in the correct orientation. The cowling is a three part affair, with the collector ring sitting in front of the two halves of the main cowling, with prominent humps to accommodate the piston ends. A creditable rendition of the Mercury IX is also supplied, with a one-piece prop and spinner topping it off.

The lower wings have a stub joint to the fuselage, and a scrap diagram shows their correct angle, as well as the alignment of the fixed landing gear struts. The upper wing is a one-piece arrangement, and both wings have a reasonable rendition of the fabric covering, although the flying surfaces are moulded integral, and the upper wing surface looks a little "glassy". The two Lewis guns under each wing are separate parts with good locating pins, but the two Brownings in the fuselage sides are moulded integral to the fuselage, and fire through the propeller using interrupter gearing.

A handy rigging diagram is provided at the end of the building instructions, although nothing is provided in the box to accomplish the task. Some invisible mending thread or one of the proprietary rigging lines would be the best way ahead if you feel up to the task.

The canopy is thick as you'd expect from its era, and distorts somewhat, so perhaps the lack of detail in the cockpit won't be such an issue afterall.

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The decals are very crisp indeed, printed in Italy, and in good register. From the box you can model a Gladiator from No.3(f) Squadron RAF Kenley in 1938, painted an overall silver dope. Inclusion of a number of stencils as well as the tail flash and roundels help add detail to the build.

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Conclusion

It may be an old kit, and some of the detail may be a little "agricultural", but the basics are there, and the decals should really lift the kit out of the 60s. A little work in the cockpit, and a hunt for a replacement canopy would soon improve your lot.

The silver plastic does it no favours, as you can see flow swirls in the surface, and modellers of a certain age will remember the color well from their youth and shudder.

Review sample courtesy of

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Have Revell just released/re-released this as one of their own? I've a couple of the Matchbox ones in my stash but wouldn't mind another one or two. :D

Steve.

Yes. The 3 Squadron markings are new though - the previous Revell release (albeit under the MB name) had different decals again.

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Well the silver plastic is certainly an improvement on the original release - red and buff. It builds into a very nice looking replica. I notice the box artwork like the re-released Fury involves steam trains - something about calling to mind a particular nostalgic image perhaps?

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  • 4 years later...

The quality of the silver plastic is not as good as the original Matchbox material. It is brittle, it reacts badly with polystyrene glues and seems to reject superglue. As for the Matchbox colours, once the model is painted, who notices them?

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