Kagero Gloster Gladiator Monograph 3D Edition (9788365437860)

[Mike]

Gloster Gladiator Monograph 3D Edition (9788365437860)

Kagero via Casemate UK

 

 

The Gladiator was Gloster's (late) winning entry for the competition to find the next frontline fighter that Supermarine submitted the 224 that later became the Spitfire after a ground-up redesign.  The War Department went to the safer option and commissioned production of the aircraft that was to become the Gladiator, the RAF's last biplane fighter that although outclassed even at the start of WWII it still saw extensive service in areas where its lack of speed and manoeuvrability wasn't so fatal.  Its designer Henry Folland was a firm believer in evolution over revolution and the Glad was an update of the Gauntlet that was already underway at the Gloster design works.

 

It was still a biplane but efforts had been made to streamline the design by removing some of the interplane struts and other streamlining efforts.  The Hurricane and Spitfire were in development at the time so the Gladiator's future was almost immediately a shorter one as there is a huge leap in performance when you dispense with one set of wings, especially if you pair the airframe with a Rolls-Royce Merlin.

 

The Book

This is #65 in the Monographs in 3D line, and it of course covers the Gloster Gladiators Mk.I, Mk.II and the Sea Gladiator.  It is perfect bound in a card cover extending to 215 pages, so it's a weighty tome.  It was written by Adam Cotton and 3D artwork by Marek Ryś.

 

• Introduction
• Evolving the last of the line
• The Gladiator enters the arena
• The Mk.I anatomy in detail
• Gladiator Mk.II
• The Sea Gladiator
• The last days of peace
• The Sea Gladiator joins the fleet
• The phoney war
• Norway – The token sacrifice
• The Sea Gladiator in Norway
• The Battle of France and Battle of Britain
• Malta, the legend of Faith, Hope & Charity, and the wider Mediterranean
• North Africa
• Onward to Greece
• East Africa and Aden
• Foreign users
• RAF camouflage and markings
• End Notes
• Visualisations by Marek Ryś (87 pages)
• Isometric camouflage schemes and profiles (28 pages)

 

 

 

There is a substantial amount of text in the first part of the book which gives a lot of detail on the development, entry into service and the subsequent action that it saw during WWII in RAF, FAA and foreign service.  The photographs are of great interest to anyone with a historical bent although some are a little saddening as they depict ruined airframes, one of which is the last of the famous three Faith, Hope and Charity looking a bit sorry for itself in a quarry.  Coupled with the captions there will be plenty of reading time after which you'll be a bit of an instant expert on the type, and ready to dig into the 3D computer renderings that take you deep into the heart of the machine, peeling it away like layers of an onion.  The detail shown here is extremely impressive and would be an absolute boon for the modeller with an eye for it that perhaps wants to strip away some of the skin of their model to reveal what's underneath.  This will be especially of interest once the 1:32 kit from ICM arrives with your favourite model shop.

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

The Glad is a well-loved aircraft amongst the residents of Britmodeller, perhaps because of its origins, or maybe because we love an underdog.  There are a few kits in each of the major scales from the diminutive Mark.I kit in 1:144 through the Airfix kits in 1:72, and the Roden kit in 1:48.  There have been a few limited run kits in 1:32, but ICM are going to fix that this year, as mentioned above.  Can't wait!

 

Highly recommended.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of