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Squadron Leader Marmaduke Thomas St John Pattle DFC*, usually known as Pat Pattle, was a South African-born Second World War fighter pilot and flying ace of the Royal Air Force. Wikipedia His score could be as high as 51. A total of 26 of Pattle's victims were Italian; 15 were downed with Gloster Gladiators, the rest with Hawker Hurricanes.[He is considered to be the highest-scoring ace on both Gladiator and Hurricane (35 victories) I have chosen to model his Gloster Galdaitaor using the current Airfix 1/72 Gloster Gladiator MkI when he was based in North Africa. The kit its self has had great reviews and is typical of the current high standard that Airfix are delivering. There are however a few areas in the kit presents omissions and challenges to the modeller The biggest omission is the lack of a gunsight in the cockpit. Pictures of the actual aircraft show a a simple frame above the instrument panel on which the gunsight was mounted. I built the frame from bent wire and stretched sprue, the gunsight is from Quickboost and is a GM2 which was the standard RAF Gunsight on Spitfire & Hurricane I and I have seen images of this sight in place on Gladiators used in N African, Greek and Cypriot campaigns. I like to include pilot figures and the Gladiator has the newest incarnation of Airfix WW2 Pilot. You can pick out the may west, goggles, and harness with buckle. Whereas earlier pilots were wearing flying jackets this one appears to be wearing the standard RAF uniform often worn in warm weather conditions. The moment you add the pilot you can basically forget about seeing most of the cockpit detail and in the case of the Airfix that detail is very good with accurate decals of the instruments and detailed control column, compass binnacle and trim wheel. Oh beware adding the pilot in my kit meant the his legs stopped the upper decking fitting properly, which meant trimming the forward cockpit bulkhead to fit. Any way hera are some pictures of the Pilot and Gunsight in situ the Gunsight frame may be a bit heavy but I am really happy with it ( oh the pilot and cockpit area is bit shiny so next step is some matt varnish). Thanks
