Mitch K Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 (edited) This is the Airfix Gladiator, finished in Land Tropical (LT) 3 colours (dark sand/red sand on the lower wings and fuselage, dark earth/dark red sand on the upper parts) with markings from the Xtradecal set 72182. This aircraft was flown by P/O Percy Oliver Valentine Green, and the whole of 112 Squadron was involved in fairly intense flying and fighting against Italian aicraft during the East African campaign. P/O Green claimed a Caproni Ca.133 shot down on 1st August 1940 whilst flying this aircraft. She was finally written off on 22nd December 1940 in a take-off accident (pilot at the time not known). Green later flew Hurricanes, was shot down and captured in North Africa and survived the war. She's built pretty out of the box except for added details in the cockpit and the rigging, which is 1.1lb BS fishing line. The base is my standard scrap of airfield, with a bit of soft sand scrubbed into the grass. I have no idea what the exact conditions at Summit in the Sudan were, but I would imagine they were arid at best. Here's a view of the underside. I can't think of a good way of doing this. It shows the tyre grot and gunsmoke though. Other side, with gunsmoke again, and a view of the upper wing colours. All the paints were mixed using Tamiya acrylics. Atmospheric shot of the plane ready to go after Italian intruders. Edited December 22, 2014 by Mitch K 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Hi, Very unusual and interesting camo, I did not know that something like this even existed... Cheers Jerzy-Wojtek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul A H Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Now there's something you don't see every day. Nice work! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted December 21, 2014 Author Share Posted December 21, 2014 Jerzy, there were a series of these schemes, designed for different areas of the Middle East, some adding Sea Green or the standard colours in order to account for the different ground conditions and foliage. I think they look really good, and it's worth building some weird planes or doing some "what ifs" just to try them out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWM Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 Mitch, "what if " is not my story, definitly...- I am sorry. . However, thank you very much for this hint on RAF colours in Middle East . I see that I have to read more about it I forgot to add, that besides interesting camo, your Gladiator is also a nice build! Regards Jerzy-Wojtek 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyot Posted December 21, 2014 Share Posted December 21, 2014 I love the old Gladiator and your model is fantastic, really capturing the look of the real thing and the scheme looks great too, good choice of subject, Cheers Tony 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darby Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Nice to see an old dame in a new party frock 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cookenbacher Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Excellent build, scheme and rigging. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 A fantastic scheme Mitch, gives me ideas to jazz up my Revell Gladiator when I get around to it, and a very nice build, Sean 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stew Dapple Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 That's a really attractive camouflage scheme Mitch, and nicely done good work Cheers, Stew 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beard Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 It's a really eye-catching scheme (something it's not supposed to be). One gets so used to seeing RAF fighters in the same colours, it's easy to forget about schemes like this one. It's also easy to forget the hard-fighting in East Africa. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
claudius Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Very, very interesting camo scheme. With lower wing lighter tones as common on Gladiators. Watch out for Cr-42s!!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JOCKNEY Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Thanks for reminding us of an arena which is all too often overlooked. Love the Gladiator, Malta, Norway and now the Sudan ! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich G Posted December 23, 2014 Share Posted December 23, 2014 Really nice, an unusual scheme that you don't often see, really nice weathering too. Rich 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted December 23, 2014 Author Share Posted December 23, 2014 It's a really eye-catching scheme (something it's not supposed to be). One gets so used to seeing RAF fighters in the same colours, it's easy to forget about schemes like this one. It's also easy to forget the hard-fighting in East Africa. I can imagine that over varying dusty ground it would have faded quite nicely, but I think it's very smart. Pure luck I found a reference to it. Very, very interesting camo scheme. With lower wing lighter tones as common on Gladiators. Watch out for Cr-42s!!! I'm taking a break from biplanes for a few months, but I want a CR42 (or several! Belgian, Italian) and an Avia 534 Thanks for reminding us of an arena which is all too often overlooked. Love the Gladiator, Malta, Norway and now the Sudan ! And Greece and North Africa! Like sand, it got everywhere! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 I'm resurrecting this one, because we've had a very interesting email from a chap by the name of Tim Green. Tim is the son of of the pilot of this aircraft, and he writes to say: P/O POV Green is living in Australia and is now 95 and very lucid – I showed him this model which he did fly. How cool is that? Thanks to Tim for getting in touch and putting a little extra history into your build. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitch K Posted September 28, 2015 Author Share Posted September 28, 2015 I'm resurrecting this one, because we've had a very interesting email from a chap by the name of Tim Green. Tim is the son of of the pilot of this aircraft, and he writes to say: How cool is that? Thanks to Tim for getting in touch and putting a little extra history into your build. How fantastic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lancbuilder219 Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Very nice work. Hope my Gladiator turns out as good....when I get round to building it. 👌 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanfrandragon Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Great model, interesting scheme and what a coincidence! Great story. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted September 29, 2015 Share Posted September 29, 2015 There's more! Tim has sent a link to a speech given my his dad, which you can view below: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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